Science Teaching and Learning as Transformation: Making Meaning with My Students

<p>As a classroom science teacher, I have experienced firsthand the disengagement and disinterest students have with science. Students often struggle to retain information from year to year, feel comfortable in the science classroom, and see the connections between the science taught in the classroom and their lived experiences. It is obvious to me that we could do more for our students. One way in which to assist students with science learning is through the incorporation of Sci-YAR (Science Youth Action Research). Sci-YAR is a curricular framework and instructional strategy that places the student at the center of their learning. It requires students to engage in collaborative action-based scientific inquires rooted in issues that are of great importance to the students. Sci-YAR challenges the traditional role of student and teacher and has the capacity to transform both the students and the teachers. The purpose of this study is to investigate how students and their teacher make meaning of their experiences while engaging in Sci-YAR. This study was conducted in my classroom with myself and several of my students as participants and offers an emic perspective of science teaching and learning. I hope to contribute to the literature on practitioner inquiry, the power of student voice and rethinking science teaching and learning.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Education

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Leider, Megan Marie

• Action Research
• Phenomenology
• Practitioner Inquiry
• Self-Study
• Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/1280

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ecommons.luc.edu:luc_diss-2279