Orientador: Ana Maria de Andrade Caldeira / Banca: Fernanda Aparecida Meglhioratti / Banca: Marcelo Carbone Carneiro / Banca: Marcos Rodrigues da Silva / Banca: Thais Gimenez da Silva Augusto / Resumo: A formação de professores tem sido objeto de inúmeras discussões no âmbito da pesquisa em ensino de ciências e biologia. O objetivo deste trabalho é trazer à tona novos elementos que corroborem em esta discussão, evidenciando a relevância e como a abordagem epistemológica da biologia pode ser inserida na formação inicial de professores e pesquisadores. O presente trabalho está centrado em quatro momentos básicos: (1) Algumas reflexões acerca da formação inicial de professores e pesquisadores de biologia; (2) Possibilidades e limites da articulação da epistemologia, da história e do ensino de biologia; (3) A construção dos conceitos de genótipo e fenótipo - do episódio histórico de sua proposição conceitual inicial, passando pelo enfoque em uma perspectiva sistêmica, a uma visão plural; (4) A investigação empírica junto a um Grupo de Pesquisadores em Epistemologia da Biologia - GEBCA. A análise dos resultados obtidos junto ao GEBCA sugere que a inserção de discussões de cunho histórico e epistemológico em um grupo de pesquisa pode favorecer reflexões que contribuem para a construção de uma visão epistemológica consistente sobre a biologia em seus diferentes contextos, por parte de professores e pesquisadores / Abstract: The training of teachers has been the subject of numerous discussions in the context of research in science and biology education. The objective of this paper is to light new evidence that support this discussion, demonstrating the relevance and how the epistemological approach of biology can be inserted into the initial training of teachers and researches in biology. This papaer focuses on four basic moments. (1) Some reflections on the initial training of teachers and researchers in biology, (2) Possibilities and limits of articulation of epistemology, history and biology education, (3) The construction of the concepts of genotype and phenotype - the historical episode its initial conceptual proposotion, through a focus on systemic perspective of a plural vies; (4) Empirical enquiry with a Group of Researchers in Epistemology of Biology - GEBCA. The results obtained from the GEBCA suggests that the incusion of discussions of the historical and epistemological in a research group can promote reflections that contribute to building a consistent epistemological view on biology in different contexts, by teachers and researchers / Doutor

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Esta dissertação se insere no estudo de políticas de currículo em múltiplos contextos educacionais, com base na abordagem teórico-metodológica do ciclo de políticas de Stephen Ball, na forma como interpretado para o campo do Currículo por Lopes e Macedo. Essa análise é subsidiada também pela concepção de comunidade disciplinar de Ivor Goodson e pela teoria do discurso de Ernesto Laclau. O objeto desta pesquisa é a investigação da produção de políticas curriculares pela comunidade disciplinar de ensino de Biologia. Para tanto, são analisados os principais documentos curriculares relacionados à Biologia no nível médio produzidos em âmbito federal os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Médio (PCNEm), as Orientações Complementares aos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Médio (PCN+) e as Orientações Curriculares Nacionais para o Ensino Médio (OCNEM). Igualmente buscando entender o processo de produção da política, foram realizadas entrevistas com professores e pesquisadores reconhecidos nessa comunidade disciplinar que participaram da elaboração dos documentos curriculares supramencionados. Nessa análise, são identificadas demandas em disputa no âmbito dessa comunidade disciplinar assim como distanciamentos e aproximações entre esses documentos. Concluímos que mesmo em governos diferentes, representantes das comunidades disciplinares podem se manter atuantes no contexto de produção de textos das políticas e produzir sentidos e significados semelhantes nas políticas. / This dissertation is part of a study of curriculum policies in multiple educational contexts, based on the theoretical-methodological approach of Stephen Balls policies cycle, as interpreted for the Curriculum field by Lopes and Macedo. That analysis is supported also by Ivor Goodsons concept of disciplinary community and by Ernesto Laclaus theory of discourse. The aim of this research is to investigate the production of curriculum policies by the disciplinary community of Biology teaching. For that purpose, an analysis is made of the principal curricular documents relating to Biology at medium level produced in the federal sphere the National Curricular Standards for High School Teaching (PCNEm), Complementary Guidance for National Curricular Standards for High School Teaching (PCN+) and National Curricular Guidance for High School Teaching (OCNEM). Similarly seeking to understand the policy production process, interviews were conducted with teachers and researchers acclaimed in that disciplinary community who participated in the preparation of the above-mentioned curricular documents. In that analysis, claims disputed in the sphere of that disciplinary community are identified, as well as withdrawals and approximations between those documents. We concluded that even under different governments, representatives of the disciplinary communities can continue active in the context of producing texts of policies and producing similar senses and meanings in the policies.

abstract: In 1997, developmental biologist Michael Richardson compared his research team's embryo photographs to Ernst Haeckel's 1874 embryo drawings and called Haeckel's work noncredible.Science soon published <&ldquo;>Haeckel's Embryos: Fraud Rediscovered,<&rdquo;> and Richardson's comments further reinvigorated criticism of Haeckel by others with articles in The American Biology Teacher, <&ldquo;>Haeckel's Embryos and Evolution: Setting the Record Straight <&rdquo;> and the New York Times, <&ldquo;>Biology Text Illustrations more Fiction than Fact.<&rdquo;> Meanwhile, others emphatically stated that the goal of comparative embryology was not to resurrect Haeckel's work. At the center of the controversy was Haeckel's no-longer-accepted idea of recapitulation. Haeckel believed that the development of an embryo revealed the adult stages of the organism's ancestors. Haeckel represented this idea with drawings of vertebrate embryos at similar developmental stages. This is Haeckel's embryo grid, the most common of all illustrations in biology textbooks. Yet, Haeckel's embryo grids are much more complex than any textbook explanation. I examined 240 high school biology textbooks, from 1907 to 2010, for embryo grids. I coded and categorized the grids according to accompanying discussion of (a) embryonic similarities (b) recapitulation, (c) common ancestors, and (d) evolution. The textbooks show changing narratives. Embryo grids gained prominence in the 1940s, and the trend continued until criticisms of Haeckel reemerged in the late 1990s, resulting in (a) grids with fewer organisms and developmental stages or (b) no grid at all. Discussion about embryos and evolution dropped significantly. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Biology 2014

Submitted by Mario BC (mario@bc.ufrpe.br) on 2016-08-19T14:07:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alessandra Maria Pereira Martins da SIlva.pdf: 1446728 bytes, checksum: 58865a133aaca6de6c406004547ac6a5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-19T14:07:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alessandra Maria Pereira Martins da SIlva.pdf: 1446728 bytes, checksum: 58865a133aaca6de6c406004547ac6a5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This study aimed to research the contribution of the Practice as a Curricular Component (PCC) on Biology teacher´s formation. In order to do the research, we analyzed the official documents that talk about the PCC courses; we interviewed three teachers who were responsible for these courses and we applied a questionnaire with ten students who had taken all the PCC´s disciplines. There were created analysis categories, based on the legislation related to PCC activity, according to its distribution on curricular base and on workload and according to the theoretical texts that argue about the inherent knowledge and competences to the teacher´s practice, like: a) kind of knowledge emphasized and b) competences developed. The range of the answers we found allowed us to identify that PCC is concretized at the mentioned graduation course through courses disposed into blocks, which are distributed along the graduation course, during a 400 class hours workload. Related to the kind of knowledge emphasized, the class plans on PCC courses emphasize the theoretical knowledge, either related to the specific knowledge, or to the pedagogical knowledge, diverging from the legislation. The answers given by the students suggest that both theoretical knowledge and practical specific and pedagogical knowledge are emphasized in most of PCC courses. In the interview with the teachers, two of them suggest an emphasis on the theoretic-practical part of the pedagogical knowledge, while the third one emphasizes the specific and pedagogical knowledge´s theory. Related to the competences, the teacher´s answers indicate that both the class plans and the courses attendance aim do develop the reflexive competence. The pedagogical competence is found in some courses and the technological competence is the less developed. We reckon that, in relation to current legislation to the PCC activity on teacher training courses, the researched graduation course follows the recommended rules. However, the fact of not offering some courses related to pedagogical and specific contents before two PCC courses (Morphology and Physiology Practice and Genetic Practice) might compromise students development and, consequently, their formation. We conclude that, according to the knowledge and competences described on the professional profile of Biological Sciences graduated, the courses need to be adjusted and improved to follow the aimed official profile, once we found incoherencies between the documents, the teacher´s speech and the way the students see the course. / Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar a contribuição da Prática como Componente Curricular (PCC) na formação do professor de Biologia. Para a realização da pesquisa, analisamos os documentos oficiais que tratam das disciplinas de PCC, entrevistamos três docentes responsáveis pela regência dessas disciplinas e aplicamos um questionário com dez estudantes que já haviam cursado todas as disciplinas de PCC. Foram criadas categorias de análise com base na legislação vigente que rege a atividade de PCC, quanto à distribuição na matriz curricular e carga horária e nos pressupostos teóricos que discutem os conhecimentos e as competências inerentes ao exercício da docência, como se segue: (a) tipo de conhecimento enfatizado e (b) competências mobilizadas. O conjunto de respostas encontradas nos permitiu identificar que a atividade de PCC no curso investigado é vivenciada em disciplinas dispostas em blocos, distribuídos ao longo do curso, perfazendo uma carga horária de 400h/a. No que se refere ao tipo de conhecimento enfatizado, os planos de ensino das disciplinas de PCC dão ênfase ao conhecimento teórico, seja quanto ao conteúdo específico, seja quanto ao pedagógico, o que diverge da resolução. Já as respostas dadas pelos discentes sinalizam que é enfatizado tanto o conhecimento teórico como o prático do conteúdo específico e pedagógico na maioria das disciplinas de PCC. Com relação aos docentes, dois deles em suas falas sugerem uma ênfase no conhecimento teórico-prático do conteúdo pedagógico, enquanto que o terceiro docente aponta para a ênfase na teoria tanto do conhecimento específico como do pedagógico. No que tange às competências, as respostas indicam que tanto os planos de ensino, quanto a vivência das disciplinas mobilizam a competência reflexiva. Já a competência pedagógica é encontrada em algumas disciplinas, A competência tecnológica é a menos mobilizada. Constatamos que, no que se refere às normas vigentes que regem a atividade de PCC nos cursos de licenciatura, o curso investigado atende ao recomendado. Entretanto, o fato de não dispor de algumas disciplinas do conteúdo específico e do conteúdo pedagógico, antecedendo duas das disciplinas de PCC (Prática de Morfologia e Fisiologia e Prática de Genética) pode comprometer o desempenho dos estudantes e, consequentemente, sua formação. Concluímos que à luz dos conhecimentos e das competências descritas no perfil profissional do licenciado em Ciências Biológicas e vivenciados pelos estudantes, as disciplinas precisariam passar por ajustes e adequações para favorecer plenamente o perfil oficial almejado, pois encontramos incoerências entre os documentos, o discurso dos docentes e a percepção dos estudantes.

Um dos debates mais importantes na Filosofia da Ciência é aquele sobre as relações entre os níveis de explicação dos fenômenos e, portanto, os níveis da ciência. Esta controvérsia, intimamente relacionada ao problema metafísico dos níveis da realidade, tem sido marcada por uma polarização entre os reducionistas e seus críticos, geralmente caracterizados como holistas. O primeiro capítulo deste trabalho tem como objetivo a proposição de uma tipologia das posições metodológicas sobre a explicação na qual esta polarização entre holismo e reducionismo seja evitada. Argumenta-se que esta polarização resulta em uma série de mal-entendidos, que contribuem para que as explicações reducionistas sejam vistas, inclusive no ensino de ciências, como as únicas explicações científicas, sendo qualquer posição alternativa considerada contrária aos cânones da ciência. Uma tipologia proposta por Levine e colaboradores em 1987 é tomada como ponto de partida. Esta tipologia evita a polarização comentada acima, incluindo as seguintes posições: individualismo metodológico (reducionismo), holismo, antireducionismo e atomismo. Tendo-se em vista alguns problemas na proposta de Levine e colaboradores, sustenta-se a necessidade da construção de uma nova tipologia. São examinadas algumas tendências, como o fisicalismo de tipos na Filosofia da Mente, os programas da unidade da ciência de Carnap e de Oppenheim & Putnam, e o selecionismo gênico e o gene-centrismo na Biologia, que podem ser caracterizadas como formas de reducionismo, de acordo com a tipologia de Levine e colaboradores. O termo fisicalismo não-redutivo é preferido, em relação a antireducionismo, destacando-se que, apesar de qualificada como não-redutiva, esta variedade de fisicalismo atribui um papel à redução na explicação dos macrofenômenos. Embora os fisicalistas não-redutivos rejeitem a redução ontológica ou epistemológica completa, eles admitem a redução epistemológica parcial, que não resulta em um nivelamento dos fenômenos ao domínio de uma única ciência, mas apenas na explicação, em termos causais/mecânicos, de como e por que macrofenômenos ocorrem em sistemas ou objetos mereologicamente complexos. Variedades moderadas de reducionismo, como as de Bunge e Campbell, são consideradas, bem como algumas variedades de holismo, como o paradigma holístico de Capra, o holismo de Taylor e a abordagem holista de Mayr. A análise destas diferentes abordagens conduz a uma tipologia contendo seis posições metodológicas: atomismo, reducionismo radical, reducionismo moderado, fisicalismo não-redutivo, holismo moderado e holismo radical. O segundo capítulo trata da primeira formulação sistemática do fisicalismo nãoredutivo, o emergentismo. O objetivo principal é chegar a um conceito de emergência de propriedades capaz de contornar as dificuldades apontadas na literatura, propiciando a ontologia ao mesmo tempo materialista e não-reducionista necessária para uma formulação consistente do fisicalismo não-redutivo. Inicialmente, examinam-se as origens do emergentismo, suas relações com o vitalismo e as proposições que constituem seu núcleo duro (sensu Lakatos). As teorias de níveis propostas por Salthe, Bunge, Blitz e Emmeche e colaboradores são discutidas, tomando-se como marcos de referência para o tratamento do conceito de emergência a ontologia de Emmeche e colaboradores e o realismo moderado de Dennet. São examinados problemas acerca do 2 conceito de emergência apontados na literatura, destacando-se o problema da causação descendente: Como explicar a modificação a que um sistema ou uma totalidade submete seus componentes, resultando na emergência da novidade qualitativa, sem violar-se premissas fisicalistas como a crença na universalidade da Física ou o fechamento causal do domínio físico? Após argumentar-se que o fisicalismo de superveniência, apresentado como uma variedade de fisicalismo não-redutivo alternativa ao emergentismo, fracassa em suas intenções não-redutivas, propõe-se a investigação de uma posição filosófica combinando as noções de superveniência e emergência de propriedades. O problema da causação descendente é então discutido em detalhe, considerando-se, primeiro, a possibilidade de o tratamento da causalidade na filosofia aristotélica propiciar uma solução para este problema em um contexto fisicalista. Os quatro modos causais aristotélicos e a distinção entre forma e matéria são examinados, preparando-se o terreno para uma discussão das três versões de causação descendente (forte, fraca e média) distinguidas por Emmeche e colaboradores. A versão média da causação descendente propicia uma maneira de combinar as noções de superveniência e emergência em uma formulação do emergentismo compatível com a identificação das entidades de nível superior com casos especiais de sistemas físicos, sem apresentar as conseqüências reducionistas (radicais) que muitos cientistas e filósofos consideram indesejáveis. No contexto desta variedade de emergentismo, uma nova definição de propriedade emergente é proposta. Por fim, discute-se o problema da realidade dos emergentes com base no realismo moderado de Dennett. No terceiro capítulo, são discutidas algumas conseqüências dos aspectos ontológicos, epistemológicos e metodológicos abordados neste trabalho para o ensino de Biologia e outras ciências. / One of the most important debates in the philosophy of science concerns the relations between levels of explanation and, therefore, levels of science. This controversy, closely related to the metaphysical problem regarding the levels of reality, has been marked by a polarization between reductionists and their critics, generally described as holists. The first chapter of this work is intended to offer a typology of methodological stances on explanation avoiding this polarization between holism and reductionism. Such a marked disagreement results in a series of misunderstandings, contributing to the belief, also found in science teaching, that reductionism provides the only scientific explanations, being any alternative stance regarded as opposed to the canons of science. A typology proposed by Levine and colleagues in 1987 is taken as a starting-point for the discussion. This typology avoids the above-mentioned polarization, including the following positions: methodological individualism (reductionism), holism, antireductionism, and atomism. Due to some problems found in Levine and colleagues approach to the problem, the construction of a new typology is taken as a desirable objective. Some tendencies, like type physicalism in the philosophy of mind, the unity of science programmes of Carnap and Oppenheim & Putnam, and genic selectionism and gene-centrism in biology, are examined, being characterized as forms of reductionism, according to Levine and colleagues typology. The term nonreductive physicalism is preferred to antireductionism, being emphasized that, despite being qualified as nonreductive, this variety of physicalism assigns a role to reduction in the explanation of macrophenomena. Although nonreductive physicalists reject ontological and full epistemological reduction, they admit partial epistemological reduction, which does not result in a leveling of the phenomena to the domain of a single science, but only in the causal/mechanical explanation of why and how macrophenomena occur in mereologically-complex systems or objects. Moderate versions of reductionism, such as those of Bunge and Campbell, are examined, as well as some varieties of holism, such as Capras holistic paradigm, Taylors holism, and Mayrs holistic approach. An analysis of those diverse approaches leads to a typology including six methodological stances: atomism, radical reductionism, moderate reductionism, nonreductive physicalism, moderate holism, and radical holism. In the second chapter, the first systematic formulation of non-reductive physicalism, emergentism, is examined. The main goal is to propose a concept of property emergence that avoids the difficulties presented in the literature, providing the ontology simultaneously materialist and non-reductionist demanded by a cogent formulation of nonreductive physicalism. Initially, the origins of emergentism, its relations to vitalism, and the tenets that compose its hard core (sensu Lakatos) are examined. The theories of levels advanced by Salthe, Bunge, Blitz, and Emmeche and coworkers are discussed, being taken as the frames of reference for the treatment of the emergence concept Emmeche and coworkers ontology and Dennetts mild realism. A series of problems concerning the concept of emergence is examined, emphasis being given to the problem of downward causation: How to explain in what sense a system or 4 whole modifies its component parts, resulting in the emergence of qualitative novelty, without violating physicalist premises, such as the belief in the universality of Physics or the physical causal closure? After arguing that supervenience physicalism, presented as a version of non-reductive physicalism alternative to emergentism, fails in fulfilling its non-reductive purposes, the investigation of a philosophical alternative combining the notions of supervenience and property emergence is proposed. The problem of downward causation is then discussed in detail and the first issue to be dealt with is the possibility that the treatment of causality in Aristotelian philosophy offers a solution to this problem in a physicalist framework. The four Aristotelian causal modes and the distinction between form and matter are examined, as a basis for the discussion of the three versions of downward causation (strong, weak, and medium) distinguished by Emmeche and coworkers. Medium downward causation provides a way of combining the notions of supervenience and property emergence in a formulation of emergentism compatible with the identification of higher-level entities with special cases of physical systems, without the (radical) reductionist consequences that many scientists and philosophers regard as undesirable. In the frame of this variety of emergentism, a new definition of an emergent property is put forward. At last, The problem of the reality of emergents is discussed, from the standpoint of Dennetts mild realism. In the third chapter, some consequences of the ontological, epistemological and methodological features discussed in this work for the teaching of Biology and other sciences are discussed.

O ponto de partida deste trabalho é a perspectiva do ensino de ciências que tem como foco o desenvolvimento de indivíduos como membros conscientes e críticos na sociedade. Diante da ascensão da cultura científica e tecnológica, é importante que a educação científica promova condições para que os alunos participem ativamente dessas questões, sendo dessa forma alfabetizados cientificamente. Nesse sentido, a linguagem torna-se imprescindível, uma vez que é o elemento essencial de interação e comunicação; é intrínseca nas culturas da sociedade, inclusive na cultura científica, constituindo-se como meio de produção do conhecimento e também de construção de uma identidade social. Partindo desse referencial, compreendemos que a produção textual pode ser resultado de várias interações ocorridas não apenas em sala de aula, mas sim diante de um quadro enunciativo mais abrangente. Sendo assim, sob a perspectiva de Bakhtin e seu círculo, nos propomos a investigar essas interações (estabelecidas durante a preparação e a aplicação da sequência didática) e suas relações com a mediação da professora e a produção textual dos alunos a partir de uma sequência didática. Para isso, buscamos caracterizar os comportamentos responsivos dos sujeitos envolvidos a partir das transcrições das falas e dos textos escritos dos alunos. Por comportamento responsivo entendemos que em um movimento dialógico, a intenção ou atitude de um sujeito é compreendida pelo seu interlocutor e a partir dessa compreensão adotará atitudes em resposta ao primeiro, e vice-versa. Essas atitudes, por sua vez, esboçam determinados comportamentos responsivos que conduzem basicamente à reprodução de conhecimentos (passivo) ou à reinterpretação de conhecimentos (ativo). De acordo com os resultados, vimos que a mediação da professora pode ser influenciada por comportamentos responsivos que não estão exclusivamente na aula dada. No caso desta pesquisa, a interação com o mediador e o contato prévio que a professora teve com o material da sequência didática influenciou sua postura em sala de aula. Além disso, foi possível observar que o aluno em seu processo de construção de conhecimento durante a elaboração de um texto escrito apresenta fases em que se apropria de discursos alheios e fases em que a internalização desses discursos já se tornaram um discurso próprio. Nesse aspecto, concluímos que no processo de alfabetização científica, é importante que o discurso do professor e o material utilizado em sala de aula estejam conectados, uma vez que os alunos podem reproduzir tanto o que é considerado cientificamente aceito, mas também termos e ideias equivocadas. Além disso, um material que não dá possibilidades de criação por parte do professor pode restringir suas atitudes e dos alunos em comportamentos passivos. / The starting point of this work is the perspective of science teaching that focuses on development individuals as society members who are aware and critical. Given the rise of scientific and technological culture, it is important for science education to promote conditions for students to participate actively in these issues, and thus being scientifically literate. In this sense, the language becomes indispensable, since it is the essential element of interaction and communication; it is inherent in society\'s cultures, including the scientific, establishing itself as a means of production of knowledge as well as to build a social identity. Considering this, we understand that textual production can be resulted from several interactions occurred not only in the classroom, but also before a framework of enunciation. Thus, from the perspective of Bakhtin and his circle, we propose to investigate these interactions (established during the preparation and implementation of didactic sequence) and their relations with the teacher\'s mediation and the student\'s textual production from a didactic sequence. For this we sought to picture the responsive behaviors of the involved subjects by the transcription of speeches and the texts written by the students. By responsive behavior we understand that in a dialogical movement, the intention or attitude of a subject is understood by the other party, and from this understanding it will adopt attitudes in response to the first, and vice versa. These attitudes, by their turn, picture specific responsive behaviors that lead basically to reproduction of knowledge (passive) or to reinterpretation of knowledge (active). According to the results, we have seen that the teacher\'s mediation can be influenced by responsive behaviors which are not exclusively given in class. In the case of this research, the interaction with the mediator and the previous contact that the teacher had with the material of the didactic sequence influenced her attitude in the classroom. Furthermore, it was possible to observe that the student in its process of building knowledge during the elaboration of a written text presents stages in which it appropriates third parties speeches and stages in which this speeches\' internalization had already become a personal one. In this respect, we conclude that in the process of scientific literacy it is important that the teacher\'s speech and the material used in class are connected, once the students can reproduce both what is considered scientifically accepted, but also terms and misconceptions. In addition, a material which does not allow creative possibilities for the teacher can restrict its attitude and that of the students in passive behavior.

There has been a call to reform science education to integrate scientific thinking practices, such as data interpretation and modeling, with learning content in science classrooms. This call to reform has taken place in both K-12 science education through Next Generation Science Standards and undergraduate education through AAAS initiative Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education. This dissertation work examines undergraduate students' learning of multiple scientific thinking skills in a curricular format called Teaching Real data Interpretation with Models (TRIM) applied to a large-enrollment course in Cellular and Developmental Biology. In TRIM, students are provided worksheets in groups and tasked to interpret authentic biological data. Importantly, groups are tasked to relate their data interpretations to a 2D visual model representation of the relevant biological process. This dissertation work consists of two studies with the overarching question: How do students use model representations to interpret data interpretations? In the first study, we primarily describe how students learn to navigate and interpret discipline-based data representations. We found the majority of groups could construct quality written data interpretations. Qualitative coding analysis on group discourse found students relied on strategies such as decoding the data representation and noticing data patterns together to construct claims. Claims were refined through spontaneous collaborative argumentation. We also found groups used the provided model to connect their data inferences to a biological context. In the second study, we primarily target our analysis on how individual students relate their data interpretations to different modeling tasks, including student-generation of their own model drawing. I interviewed students one-on-one as they worked through TRIM-style worksheets. From iterative qualitative analysis of transcripts and collected video on hand movements, I characterize the forms of reasoning at play at the interface of data and model representations. I propose a model at the end of Study 2 describing three modes of reasoning in data abstraction into models. I found when relating between data and models, students needed to link signs in both representations to a common referent in the real-world phenomenon. Establishing this sign-referent relationship seemed to depend on bringing in outside mechanistic information about the phenomenon. Once a mechanism was established, students could fluidly move between data and model representations through mechanistic reasoning. Thus data abstraction seems to rely on mechanistic reasoning with models. The findings from this dissertation work support the feasibility of student development of multiple scientific thinking skills within a large lecture course, and provide targets for curriculum and assignment designs centered on teaching higher order reasoning skills.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a HIV/AIDS module, taught for approximately 24 hours over eight weeks in six schools, on the knowledge, behaviour and attitudes of grade 11 biology learners, and to identify problems their teachers had in teaching the module. The module contains detailed scientific content on HIV/AIDS and outcomes-based assessment activities. The answers written by each learner in a pre-, post- and retention test and questionnaire that included both open and closed questions on general and functional knowledge, attitudes and skills were analysed for significant changes. A narrative written by each learner was analysed to determine how the module had dealt with issues that affected his I her life. A structured interview was conducted with each teacher to identify difficulties he I she experienced in implementing the module. Classroom observations were used to monitor the implementation of the intervention in order to provide information to verify the findings of the tests, questionnaires, narratives and interviews. Analysis of the tests and questionnaires showed a significant improvement in the means scored in the pre, post- and retention tests. An ANOVA showed that the difference was unlikely to be attributable to chance. Narrative analysis resulted in a number of common themes being identified. The learners were profoundly glad to have been taught this information and many of them provided evidence of how the module impacted on their lives and sexual behaviour. Their knowledge has empowered and motivated them to control their own lives. The teacher interviews established some of the common difficulties that the teachers experienced in teaching the module. These were verified by the classroom observations. The main problems were the lack of facilities and limited time to teach about HIV/AIDS. / Dissertation (MEd (Curriculum and Instructional Design and Development))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Science education research continues to demonstrate improved learning with active-learning techniques compared to lectures. However, the question of which active-learning methods are the most effective for learning complex scientific principles in various context still remains. Models are commonly used in activities that allow students to simplify complex systems and understand how components interact. I investigated the outcomes for student learning and engagement of two model-based activities - concept models and game simulations. The activities were conducted in an introductory biology course in sixteen discussion sections. Eight sections were assigned to the concept model activity and eight to the simulation activity. To assess engagement, students filled out a Likert-scale questionnaire on enjoyment and usefulness of activity (concept model: 130 students for food web activity and 131 for carbon cycle activity; game simulation: 131 students for food web activity and 126 game simulation students during the carbon cycle activity). To assess student learning, 152 students completed pre-post homework assignment based on conservation and transformation of matter. Over 80% of students enjoyed both the concept-mapping and simulation activities. Students reported that the hands-on nature of the concept activity was helpful for understanding the connections in food webs. For the homework assessment, all students significantly increased in their scores from pre to post on the MC (paired t-test, meanpre = 4.86±1.6; meanpost = 5.23±1.6;p<.05) and TF assessments (paired t-test; meanpre = 2.06±1.0 meanpost = 2.32± 1.0; p<0.05). For the TF assessments, we observed the trend that students in the simulation group showed a greater improvement in their scores than students in the concept-mapping group (t-test; meanΔconcept = 0.11±1.4; meanΔsimulation =0 .43±1.0 p=.059). There was no difference between student improvement for the two groups on the MC assessment ( t-test meanΔconcept = 0.27±2.1; meanΔsimulation = 0.51±1.8 p=.474). Students’ responses to short answer questions showed those students’ ideas about the concept of matter conservation varied from naive to scientific. For example, students failed to conserve matter during nutrient cycling. More scientific responses demonstrated principled reasoning such as references to conservation of matter. The students within the two activities did not demonstrate large differences between their text responses for the short answer. Overall, students in both activity type demonstrated learning gains, though there was no significant difference between the activity types.

This collected papers dissertation focused on the argument for the need to adapt and develop a model-centered General Biology I course through the analyses of current instructional practices at a large, public, Hispanic-serving university. This dissertation included a comparison of General Biology I course sections taught in two differing formats, one is a traditional lecture with face-to-face meetings and the other is an online instruction setting. The comparison of these sections was accomplished through the use of a conceptual inventory, student attitude survey, drop-fail-withdraw (DFW) rates, and Social Network Analysis. This comparison found that there was no detectible significant difference between course type for both the conceptual understanding and formation of student-to-student networks. It was also found that there was a significant difference between course type when looking at students’ attitudes towards Biology and success in the two course types. Additionally in a second study the project used a phenomoenographic analysis of student interviews that explored the students’ use of scientific models when asked about plant cells and animal cells. It was found that during the analysis of students’ ideas that students predominantly used a single model function. The cell types of focus in the second study were two models that were identified, in a third study, through a coded analysis of faculty interviews and textbook analysis. These models are viewed as essential for students to possess an understanding of upon completion of General Biology I. The model-based course that this study argued for is based on a curricular framework initially developed for use in introductory physics courses. University Modeling Instruction courses in physics (UMI-P) have been linked to improved student conceptual understanding positive attitudinal shifts, and decreased DFW rates. UMI, however, has not been expanded for implementation within the other science disciplines. Drawing from the success of UMI within physics this dissertation focused on the argument for the need for the adaptation and development of UMI for introductory biology.