2007/07/31 by Katherine L. McNeill, Joseph Krajcik · 345 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Best practice #Computer science #Construct (python library) #Context (archaeology) #Educational Strategies and Epistemologies #Epistemology #Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods #Mathematics education #Nature of Science #Pedagogy #Psychology #Quality (philosophy) #Science Education and Pedagogy #Science education #Scientific literacy #Scientific misconceptions #Scientific modelling #Social science #Sociology #Sociology of scientific knowledge #Teaching method #Unit (ring theory)
paper · open access · doi:10.1002/tea.20201
published in Journal of Research in Science Teaching 45(1), 53-78 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2007/07/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract Teacher practices are essential for supporting students in scientific inquiry practices, such as the construction of scientific explanations. In this study, we examine what instructional practices teachers engage in when they introduce scientific explanation and whether these practices influence students' ability to construct scientific explanations during a middle school chemistry unit. Thirteen teachers enacted a project‐based chemistry unit, How can I make new stuff from old stuff? , with 1197 seventh grade students. We videotaped each teacher's enactment of the focal lesson on scientific explanation and then coded the videotape for four different instructional practices: modeling scientific explanation, making the rationale of scientific explanation explicit, defining scientific explanation, and connecting scientific explanation to everyday explanation. Our results suggest that when teachers introduce scientific explanation, they vary in the practices they engage in as well as the quality of their use of these practices. We also found that teachers' use of instructional practices can influence student learning of scientific explanation and that the effect of these instructional practices depends on the context in terms of what other instructional practices the teacher uses. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 53–78, 2008