Outline of Activities

1. NSTA Short Course: Using Learning Progressions to Improve Science Teaching and Learning Thursday, March 29, 2012  Hannah Sevian, University of Massachusetts, Boston, James Hamos, National Science Foundation, Charles W. Anderson, Michigan State University, Jennifer Doherty, Michigan State University

2. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

3. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

4. Learning Progressions “Learning progressions are descriptions of the successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about a topic that can follow one another as students learn about and investigate a topic over a broad span of time.” (NRC, Taking Science to School, 2007)

5. Learning Progressions Include: • A learning progression framework, describing levels of achievement for students learning • Assessment tools that reveal students’ reasoning: written assessments and clinical interviews • Teaching tools and strategies that help students make transitions from one level to the next

6. Why aren’t these just new labels for standards, assessments, and curricula? What’s the difference?

7. Learning Progressions vs. Current Standards: Nature of Learning • Traditional standards: Accumulation of knowledge • Standards at all levels are scientifically correct facts and skills • Students make progress by learning more facts and more complicated skills • Learning progressions: Succession in “conceptual ecologies” (like learning a second language) • Interconnected and mutually supporting ideas and practices at all levels, embedded in discourses • Non-canonical ideas and practices can be both useful and important developmental steps

8. Learning Progressions vs. Current Standards: Empirical vs. Normative • Traditional standards: Normative goals • Statements about what students SHOULD learn • Based on part on experience of standards writers, conceptual change research (what’s reasonable) • Learning progressions: Focus on more rigorous empirical validation • Descriptions of knowledge and practice based on actual student performances • Iterative research and development cycle

9. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

10. c. Research Methods: Iterative Research Process ASSESSMENTS: Develop/revise interview protocol and written assessment items; Collect data INTERPRETATION: Analyze data and identify patterns of students’ learning performances MODEL OF COGNITION: Develop/Revise Learning progression framework

11. Model of Cognition: Learning Progression Frameworks • Learning progressions are descriptions of increasingly sophisticated ways of thinking about a subject • Knowledge, practice, discourse • Anchored at the lower end by what we know about how younger students reason • Anchored at upper end by what experts in the field believe students should understand when they graduate • Intermediate levels of achievement describing pathways and strategies for student progress through levels

12. Numbers of Tests and Interviews See page 4 of Research Tab

13. Interpretation: Coding Test and Interview Data • Exploratory coding: Developing initial ideas about student knowledge, practice, discourse and learning progression frameworks (2009-10) • Developmental coding: Establishing rubrics and initial reliability • Learning progression framework • Written Exemplar Worksheets (coding rubrics) • Developmental coding workbook (sample student responses; coding by multiple coders and reconciliation) • Full coding • Initial training using developmental coding materials • Coding by main coders and reliability coders • Reconciling differences

14. Interpretation: Validation Analyses • Basic reliability analyses of various progress variables, including overall reliability of measures, item-total correlation, inter-rater reliability, and individual item fit • Validity of item scores with respect to progress variables (i.e. are IRT-based difficulties of item score levels consistent with theoretical expectations) • Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses • Comparison of test and interview coding

15. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

16. Three Dimensions of NRC Framework Frameworks Vision: Learning objectives are three-dimensional • Practices • Major practices employed by scientists as they investigate and build models and theories about the world • Key set of engineering practices that engineers use as they design and build systems • Crosscutting concepts • Application across all domains of science • Disciplinary core ideas • Ideas that have broad importance across multiple sciences or engineering, or a key organizing principle of a single discipline • Provide a key tool for understanding or investigating more complex ideas and solving problems • Relate to interests and life experiences of students or connect to societal or personal concerns requiring scientific/technical knowledge • Teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication

17. Integration of the dimensions in practice Not separate treatment of “content” and “inquiry” (no more Chapter 1: Scientific Method) Less of: More of: Build on prior knowledge Practices that embody inquiry as how one does and learns science Science is content learned through practices Young children are quite capable and interested Focus on ambitious learning goals for all students • Focus on eradicating misconceptions • Inquiry as an activity • Science as just a body of knowledge • Only older children able to learn science • Focus on ambitious learning goals for select students Slide borrowed from http://hub.mspnet.org/index.cfm/mspnet_academy_nrc_framework

18. Environmental Science Literacy as Our Shared Goal • CORE GOAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION: • Give people the ability to use scientific knowledge to understand the consequences of our policies and practices • Make a place for scientific knowledge and arguments from scientific evidence in political discourse and personal decision making. • NOTE that this is a different goal from getting people to accept the authority of science or to support particular policies or practices.

19. Practices of Environmentally Literate Citizens Discourses: Communities of practice, identities, values, funds of knowledge Explaining and Predicting (Accounts) What is happening in this situation? What are the likely consequences of different courses of action? Investigating (Inquiry) What is the problem? Who do I trust? What’s the evidence? Deciding What will I do?

20. Strands of Environmental Science Literacy • Carbon. Carbon-transforming processes in socio-ecological systems at multiple scales, including cellular and organismal metabolism, ecosystem energetics and carbon cycling, carbon sequestration, and combustion of fossil fuels. • Water. The role of water and substances carried by water in earth, living, and engineered systems, including the atmosphere, surface water and ice, ground water, human water systems, and water in living systems. • Biodiversity. The diversity of living systems, including variability among individuals in population, evolutionary changes in populations, diversity in natural ecosystems and in human systems that produce food, fiber, and wood.

21. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

22. The Keeling Curve as an Example

23. What Does it Mean to “Understand” the Keeling Curve? • Scientific accounts: Students should be able to explain the mechanisms and predict the effects of atmospheric change • Yearly cycle • Long-term trend • Citizenship decisions: Students should be able to use their understanding of how the atmosphere is changing in order to act as informed citizens

24. Keeling Curve Question Keeling Curve Question: The graph given below shows changes in concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over a 47-year span at Mauna Loa observatory at Hawaii, and the annual variation of this concentration. a. Why do you think this graph shows atmospheric carbon dioxide levels decreasing in the summer and fall every year and increasing in the winter and spring? b. Why do you think this graph shows atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increasing from 1960 to 2000?

25. BUT…. • Middle school students can’t answer the Keeling curve question. What is the alternative? • Solution: ask about carbon transforming processes that all students are familiar with: • Plant growth • Animal growth • Animal movement • Decay • Combustion

26. FATLOSS Question When a person exercises and loses weight, what happens to the fat in the person’s body? Fat is mostly made of molecules such as stearic acid: C18H36O2. Decide and circle whether each of the following statements is true (T) or false (F) about what happens to the atoms in a man’s fat when he loses weight. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are incorporated into carbon dioxide in the air. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are converted into energy that he uses when he exercises. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are burned up and disappear. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are converted into heat. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are incorporated into water vapor in the atmosphere. Is air needed for the man to lose weight? If so, what role do gases from the air play in the man’s losing fat?

27. FATLOSS Correct Answers When a person exercises and loses weight, what happens to the fat in the person’s body? Fat is mostly made of molecules such as stearic acid: C18H36O2. Decide and circle whether each of the following statements is true (T) or false (F) about what happens to the atoms in a man’s fat when he loses weight. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are incorporated into carbon dioxide in the air. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are converted into energy that he uses when he exercises. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are burned up and disappear. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are converted into heat. T F Some of the atoms in the man’s fat are incorporated into water vapor in the atmosphere. Is air needed for the man to lose weight? If so, what role do gases from the air play in the man’s losing fat? Oxygen combines with organic molecules (including fat) in cellular respiration.

28. OAKTREE Question OAKTREE (Plants): A mature oak tree can have a mass of 500 kg, or more, even after all the water in the tree is removed. Yet it start from an acorn that weighs only a few grams. Where did this huge increase in mass come from? Which of the following statements is true? Circle the letter of the correct answer. a. ALL of the mass came from matter that was originally outside the tree, OR b. SOME of mass came from matter that the tree made as it grew. Circle the best choice to complete each of the statements about possible sources of mass from outside the tree. How much of the dry mass came from the AIR? All or most, some, none How much of the dry mass came from SUNLIGHT? All or most, some, none How much of the dry mass came from WATER? All or most, some, none How much of the dry mass came from SOIL NUTRIENTS? All or most, some, none Explain your choices. How does the oak tree gain mass as it grows?

29. OAKTREE Correct Answers OAKTREE (Plants): A mature oak tree can have a mass of 500 kg, or more, even after all the water in the tree is removed. Yet it start from an acorn that weighs only a few grams. Where did this huge increase in mass come from? Which of the following statements is true? Circle the letter of the correct answer. a. ALL of the mass came from matter that was originally outside the tree, b. SOME of mass came from matter that the tree made as it grew. Circle the best choice to complete each of the statements about possible sources of mass from outside the tree. How much of the dry mass came from the AIR? All or most, some, none How much of the dry mass came from SUNLIGHT? All or most, some, none How much of the dry mass came from WATER? All or most, some, none How much of the dry mass came from SOIL NUTRIENTS? All or most, some, none Explain your choices. How does the oak tree gain mass as it grows? C and O atoms in the organic molecules of the oak tree came from CO2 through photosynthesis. H atoms came from water through photosynthesis. N, P, and other mineral atoms came from soil minerals.

30. The Role of Scale and Principles in Scientific Accounts • Connecting scales: • Macroscopic scale: plant growth, growth and functioning of consumers and decomposers, combustion as key carbon transforming processes • Atomic-molecular scale: photosynthesis, cellular respiration, combustion, digestion and biosynthesis • Large scale: carbon reservoirs and fluxes in earth systems, affected by human populations and technologies • Key principles • Conservation of matter: Carbon atoms gotta go somewhere • Conservation of energy • Degradation of energy (matter cycles, energy flows)

31. To do in groups • Work in pairs on the two questions • Sort responses into 3-5 groups • Write descriptions of the groups: What do the responses in a group have in common? How are they different from other groups? • Key question for lower groups: What ARE they saying (not just what is wrong with their responses) • If you have time, compare your groups and descriptions with other pairs at your table

32. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

33. What Progresses? • Discourse:“a socially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group” (Gee, 1991, p. 3) • Practices: inquiry, accounts, citizenship • Knowledge of processes in human and environmental systems

34. Contrasts between Force-dynamic and Scientific Discourse (Pinker, Talmy) • Force-dynamic discourse:Actors (e.g., animals, plants, machines) make things happen with the help of enablers that satisfy their “needs.” • This is everyone’s “first language” that we have to master in order to speak grammatical English (or French, Spanish, Chinese, etc.) • Scientific discourse:Systems are composed of enduring entities (e.g., matter, energy) which change according to laws or principles (e.g., conservation laws) • This is a “second language” that is powerful for analyzing the material world • We often have the illusion of communication because speakers of these languages use the same words with different meanings (e.g., energy, carbon, nutrient, etc.)

35. Learning Progression Levels of Achievement Level 4: Correct qualitative tracing of matter and energy through processes at multiple scales. Level 3: Attempts to trace matter and energy, but with errors (e.g., matter-energy confusion, failure to fully account for mass of gases). Level 2: Elaborated force-dynamic accounts (e.g., different functions for different organs) Level 1: Simple force-dynamic accounts.

36. A Learning Progression Story: Food Chain on a BEST Plot Black Medick Rabbit Coyote Death anddecomposition

37. Level 1 Account of the Food Chain • This is a story with heroes (e.g., the bunny as Bambi’s friend Thumper) and villains (the marauding coyote) • This is emotionally different from other food chain stories (e.g., cricket and garter snake, mouse and owl) • The plant is there for the rabbit to eat, but it has a purpose in life, too—to grow • Death of the coyote is what he deserves • Explanations focus on why the plants and animals act as they do, not how

38. Level 2 Account of the Food Chain • Recognizing material constraints on what actors can do: Rabbits NEED food (compared to Level 1 focus on actions: Rabbits need to eat) • Moving toward microscopic scale: Rabbit, coyote, and medick all have internal parts • Starting to account for how plants and animals accomplish their purposes, not just why • Internal organs with special functions (but not yet transformation of matter • Large-scale connections: the circle of life • Food chain as cause-effect sequence (not flow of matter or energy) • Plants help animals by providing food and oxygen • Decay of plants and animals enriches soil

39. Learners’ Accounts “Matter and Energy Cycles” Sunlight People& animals Carbon Dioxide Nutrients People& animals Decay • This is really about actors and their actions. • People are the main actors, then animals, then plants • Everything else is there to meet the needs of actors

40. Level 3 Account of the Food Chain • Microscopic scale: Rabbit, coyote, medick and decomposers all are systems (not just actors) made of living cells • Internal systems move food and oxygen to cells and waste away from cells • Photosynthesis and cellular respiration as important cellular processes (functions still not entirely clear) • Food as source of matter and energy for growth and life functions (distinctions between matter and energy still not very clear) • Molecules present in food and in cells, but connections between living systems and chemical change still fuzzy • Large-scale connections: matter and energy cycles • Food chain as flow of matter or energy (matter and energy both recycle) • Still separate nutrient and O2-CO2 cycles • Animals, decomposers, combustion all require food/fuel and O2 and produce CO2

41. Level 3: Nutrient and O2-CO2 Cycles

42. Level 4 Account of the Food Chain • Microscopic scale: Rabbit, coyote, medick and decomposers all are systems that chemically transform matter and energy • Food and tissues of organisms are made of organic matter (biomass) including carbohydrates, fats, proteins, nucleic acids • Organelles in cells make organic matter from inorganic matter (photosynthesis), make other organic substances from glucose and minerals (biosynthesis, digestion), and oxidize organic matter (cellular respiration • Energy is stored in C-C and C-H bonds of organic molecules • Large-scale connections: the circle of life • Matter cycles, with the most important matter cycle being the carbon cycle: CO2 and H2O to biomass and O2 • Energy flows: sunlight to chemical energy to motion and heat

43. Upper Anchor: Scientific Account Carbon Cycling and Energy Flow

44. Atmosphere CO2 LE Human Socio-economical Systems Using Electric appliances Driving Vehicles Burning fossil fuels Ecosystem Plant Growth Animal Growth Organic Carbon Transformation (Biosynthesis, digestion) OrgC Organic Carbon Generation (Photosynthesis) Organic Carbon Oxidation (Combustion) OrgC CE CE Body Movement; Dead Organism Body Decay Organic Carbon Oxidation (Cellular Respiration) Complete Level 4 Framework: Carbon “Loop Diagram” CO2 CO2 OrgC CE CE OrgC Heat Heat CE: Chemical Energy; LE: Light Energy; OrgC: Organic Carbon-containing Molecules

45. Macroscopic Scale: Grouping and Explaining Carbon-transforming Processes Black: Linking processes that students at all levels can tell us about Red: Lower anchor accounts based on informal discourse Green: Upper anchor accounts based on scientific models

46. Final Questions about Sorting • How did your groups compare to the sorting based on the learning progression framework and rubrics? • How did your descriptions of groups compare with the learning progression level descriptions? • What questions do you have?

47. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

48. Outline of Activities • Presentation: Overview of learning progression research • Defining learning progressions • Learning progression research cycle • Introduction to environmental literacy project • Group work: Working with examples from Environmental Literacy project • Presentation: Carbon cycling learning progression framework • Break • Group work: Working with examples from the Structure and Motion of Matter (SAMM) project • Presentations: Applications to instruction and professional development • Carbon TIME project • SAMM project • Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science

49. Questions about Environmental Literacy and SAMM LP’s • What do you see that the two learning progressions have in common? • How are they different from standards, scope and sequence documents, and assessments that you are familiar with?

50. General Structure of LP Frameworks • Levels of achievement/mental models: broad levels in movement from lower anchor to upper anchor • Progress variables: more detailed analysis of student performances that allows coding and comparison • Interview tasks and test items: specific things for students to do