Improving Early Spatial Intelligence Through Science Notebook Graphic Production Effective Elementary Classroom Practice

1. Improving Early Spatial Intelligence Through Science Notebook Graphic ProductionEffective Elementary Classroom Practices Eric N. Wiebe Lauren P. Madden John C. Bedward Mike Carter James Minogue North Carolina State University

2. Spatial Intelligence and Science Education • General belief that SI plays a significant role learning about many of the big ideas in science and technology • Some areas have taken particular interest in exploring interventions • Physics • Geosciences • Engineering (Mechanical & Civil) • Both computer-based and traditional (pencil and paper) graphic strategies are currently being explored

3. Drawing in Elementary Science • Science notebooks • Used in conjunction with kit-based science activities • A place to record questions, ideas, concepts, reflections, and observations • Emphasis on numeracy and literacy competes with science time

4. Science Notebooks • Not generic journals • Specific structure geared for reporting • Conjectures • Procedures • Observations and other forms of data • Conclusions and summation • Synthesizing past experience, current questions or ideas, and new information being collected • A place for reflective practice

5. Notebooks and Graphics • An integral part of science notebooks but not well leveraged • Researchers note the power of graphics to develop and reveal what students know(Lehrer & Schauble, 2002; Wu & Krajcik, 2006) • Practitioner texts provide little guidance as to how to support student creation and use of graphics (e.g., Campbell & Fulton, 2003; Harlen, 2001)

6. Framework for Action • Improving scientific knowledge and ways of thinking through student-generated graphics • Work with both existing and developing spatial intelligence • Spatial intelligence central to addressing current and emerging national science standards (Duschl et al., AAAS, NRC)

7. Graphics in Action • Graphics for meaning making • Represent both spatial and temporal ideas • Both human and “invisible” scales • Organize information spatially • Facilitate discussion • Support oral or written elaboration • External store for later retrieval • Cognitive apprenticeship (paralleling professional practice)

8. Maximizing Opportunities • Graphics in conjunction with writing • Small group and whole class-generated graphics • Graphics as a formative assessment tool • What can teachers find out about what their students know via their graphics? • Strategic tool for planning next moves

9. Guiding the Choice of Graphics • What is the potential for a graphic type to communicate the science concept or phenomena of interest • Individual differences in student abilities and attitudes (e.g., Atkinson & Bannister, 1998) • What degree of latitude are students given to choose the graphic type?

10. Graphic Communication • External representations of mental imagery • Semiotics (Peirce, 1960; Bertin, 1983; MacEachren, 1995) • Rigorous analysis of the relationship between the sign(s), instructional message, and learning context • Population stereotypes for elementary ed.

11. Student Abilities • Both core abilities and past experiences with graphic types • Both classic developmental literature (Piaget & Inhelder) and more recent work (Siegler & Alibali; Liben & Downs) provide insight • Pronounced changes during the elementary years

12. Student Attitudes • Both ability and preferences can be seen along a verbalizer-visualizer continuum (Kozhevnikov, Hegarty, & Mayer, 2002; Mayer & Massa, 2003) • Cognitive style - more general preferences • Learning preferences - in the context of specific learning tasks

13. Classroom Strategies • Shaping a teacher’s perceived constraints • Science content knowledge • Comfort with graphic production and use • Curricular materials • Time devoted to science • Teacher vs. student directed choice of graphics

14. Curriculum Materials • Standard approaches to information organization • Often as part of pre-lab activities • Often provide black-line organizers • Address “big ideas” in science but don’t explicitly leverage graphic options to explore them • Provide instruction on creating graphic types, but don’t provide a context • No clear pathway from kit to science notebook

15. Sound Unit - 2nd Grade • Draw a picture of their “telephone” • No guidelines except to label • No probing or discussing graphics • Checked for completion • Draw what was observed when sand was on top of vibrating paper • Same as above • No revisiting of graphics later in the unit

16. Landforms Unit - 5th Grade • Term hanging valley came up in discussion • Asked students to draw what they thought one was • Noted categories that emerged and chose three exemplars for discussion • Examined photograph of one the next day and asked children to compare it to and revise their drawings

20. Emerging Themes • Differing comfort levels with both science content and use of graphics • Professional development teachers have received has not supported effective use of student-produced graphics • Need for • More strategic scaffolding • Opportunities to revisit and elaborate • Opportunities to re-represent

21. Graphics Infusion • Throughout the inquiry cycle • Constrained representations in pre-lab • Ineffective scaffolding during lab activities • Integration across the cycle • Articulate a graphic progression across grades • Use of master images(Matthewson, 2005) for linking the big ideas about science across grades

22. Future • Workshops, classroom observation, student interviews and graphic artifact analysis • Creation of professional development materials • Pedagogical strategies • Annotated exemplar science notebook pages • Formative assessment strategies • Video vignettes of classroom practice

23. Thank You