Knut Neumann

Sascha Bernholt

Peter Nentwig

One of the central features in current educational reforms is a focus on learning outcomes. Many countries have established or revised standards to describe what teachers are supposed to teach and students are expected to learn. More recently, the emphasis has shifted to considerations of how standards can be operationalized in order to make the outcomes of educational efforts more tangible. This book is the result of a symposium held in Kiel, that was arranged by two science education groups, one at the IPN (Leibniz-Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Kiel) in Germany and the other at the University of York, UK. The seminar brought together renowned experts from 12 countries with different notions of the nature and quality of learning outcomes. The aim was to clarify central conceptions and approaches for a better understanding among the international science education community. The book is divided into five parts. In Part A, the organizers set the scene, describing the rationale for arranging the symposium. Part B provides a broad overview about different approaches, challenges, and pitfalls on the road to the clarification of meaningful and fruitful learning outcomes. The set of papers in Part C provides deep insights into different, although comparable approaches which aim to frame, to assess, and to promote learning and learning outcomes in science education. Smaller projects are presented as well as broad, coordinated national programs. The papers in Part D outline the individual historical development from different national perspectives, reflecting the deficits and problems that led to current reforms. Finally, a summary of the organizers analyses the conclusions from different vantage points.

Making it tangible. Learning outcomes in science education

Joseph Krajcik

Robert F. Chen

Arthur Eisenkraft

David Fortus

Jeffrey Nordine

Allison Scheff

This volume presents current thoughts, research, and findings that were presented at a summit focusing on energy as a cross-cutting concept in education, involving scientists, science education researchers and science educators from across the world. The chapters cover four key questions: what should students know about energy, what can we learn from research on teaching and learning about energy, what are the challenges we are currently facing in teaching students this knowledge, and what needs be done to meet these challenges in the future? Energy is one of the most important ideas in all of science and it is useful for predicting and explaining phenomena within every scientific discipline. The challenge for teachers is to respond to recent policies requiring them to teach not only about energy as a disciplinary idea but also about energy as an analytical framework that cuts across disciplines. Teaching energy as a crosscutting concept can equip a new generation of scientists and engineers to think about the latest cross-disciplinary problems, and it requires a new approach to the idea of energy. This book examines the latest challenges of K-12 teaching about energy, including how a comprehensive understanding of energy can be developed. The authors present innovative strategies for learning and teaching about energy, revealing overlapping and diverging views from scientists and science educators. The reader will discover investigations into the learning progression of energy, how understanding of energy can be examined, and proposals for future directions for work in this arena. Science teachers and educators, science education researchers and scientists themselves will all find the discussions and research presented in this book engaging and informative.

Teaching and Learning of Energy in K – 12 Education

Knut Neumann

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