Science-As-Practice Research Lab
My research lab focuses on examining the complex ecology of K-12 science learning that occurs in addition to developments in science content knowledge. I do this by advancing learning theory that conceptualizes learning for both students and teachers as shifts in practice (e.g., Lave & Wenger, 1991) and by examining practice to identify underexplored dimensions that undergird those shifts, such as productive epistemologies for science and students’ epistemic agency. In addition, studying these complex learning ecologies requires advances in methodologies and methodological tools, both of which we are doing with my current research projects. By studying the complexities of science learning and teaching, we aim to build learning theory; to inform instructional design and practice; and to develop methodological criteria and tools.
My lab has conducted theory-building research in two areas: (1) articulating the epistemologies-in-practice guiding students’ science knowledge building and how they develop over time; and (2) identifying how ethics of care, agency, and trust can support a productive knowledge-building classroom culture. These dimensions reflect a serious examination of social and cultural dimensions of learning that are also at least partly discipline-specific. This theory-building work has informed the design of professional development experiences for teachers that I use to examine teacher learning with and from curriculum materials; and the development of computational tools to support methodological advances in qualitative data analysis.
Explore the specific projects we are currently working on below.
My lab has conducted theory-building research in two areas: (1) articulating the epistemologies-in-practice guiding students’ science knowledge building and how they develop over time; and (2) identifying how ethics of care, agency, and trust can support a productive knowledge-building classroom culture. These dimensions reflect a serious examination of social and cultural dimensions of learning that are also at least partly discipline-specific. This theory-building work has informed the design of professional development experiences for teachers that I use to examine teacher learning with and from curriculum materials; and the development of computational tools to support methodological advances in qualitative data analysis.
Explore the specific projects we are currently working on below.
Past Projects
Scientific Practices
(PI: Brian Reiser, Northwestern University, funded by the National Science Foundation grant DRL 1020316.)
(PI: Brian Reiser, Northwestern University, funded by the National Science Foundation grant DRL 1020316.)