Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/1111
Title: Developing Mechanistic Model-Based Explanations of Phenomena: Case Studies of Two Fifth Grade Students’ Epistemologies in Practice Over Time
Authors: Schwarz, Christina V.
Ke, Li
Lee, May
Rosenberg, Joshua
Issue Date: Jun-2014
Publisher: Boulder, CO: International Society of the Learning Sciences
Citation: Schwarz, C. V., Ke, L., Lee, M., & Rosenberg, J. (2014). Developing Mechanistic Model-Based Explanations of Phenomena: Case Studies of Two Fifth Grade Students’ Epistemologies in Practice Over Time. In Joseph L. Polman, Eleni A. Kyza, D. Kevin O'Neill, Iris Tabak, William R. Penuel, A. Susan Jurow, Kevin O'Connor, Tiffany Lee, and Laura D'Amico (Eds.). Learning and Becoming in Practice: The International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2014. Volume 1. Colorado, CO: International Society of the Learning Sciences, pp. 182-189.
Abstract: To foster meaningful engagement in scientific practices within classrooms, we must better understand how students can productively develop their epistemologies in practice (EIP) across contexts. This study traces how two high-performing fifth grade students engaged in scientific modeling across three modeling-centered units over one and a half years. To analyze their epistemologies in practice over time, we examined their model-based explanations and reflective talk about the rationale and purposes of their explanations. While both students developed more mechanistic explanations of phenomena, they did so in different ways. One developed a meta-level rhetorical strategy to explain "how and why" phenomena occurred, even in non-prompted contexts. The other used a reductionist analytical strategy to look for deeper level mechanisms of phenomena. These cases provide evidence that students develop EIPs across contexts, and leads to insights about what develops, what might influence this development, and how EIPs can be further supported in classrooms.
URI: https://doi.dx.org/10.22318/icls2014.182
https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/1111
Appears in Collections:ICLS2014

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