In this Article,

by Emdin, Christopher

In this article I explore research in urban science education inspired by the work of Kris Gutierrez in a paper based on her 2005 Scribner Award. It addresses key points in Gutierrez’s work by exploring theoretical frameworks for research and approaches to teaching and research that expand the discourse on the agency of urban youth in corporate school settings. The work serves as an overview of under-discussed approaches and theoretical frameworks to consider in teaching and conducting research with marginalized urban youth in urban science classrooms.

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-008-9162-5
Online Date: 11/4/2008
Print publication date: 3/1/2009
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by Furberg, Anniken; Arnseth, Hans Christian

In the learning sciences, students’ understanding of scientific concepts has often been approached in terms of conceptual change. These studies are grounded in a cognitive or a socio-cognitive approach to students’ understanding and imply a focus on the individuals’ mental representations of scientific concepts and ideas. We approach students’ conceptual change from a socio-cultural perspective as they make new meaning in genetics. Adhering to a socio-cultural perspective, we emphasize the discursive and interactional aspects of human learning and understanding. This perspective implies that the focus is on students’ meaning making processes in collaborative learning activities. In the study, we conduct an analysis of a group of students’ who interact while working to

by Richardson Bruna, Katherine

One hundred years ago, Upton Sinclair, in The Jungle, exposed the deplorable working conditions of eastern European immigrants in the meatpacking houses of Chicago. The backdrop of this article is the new Jungle of the 21st century—the hog plants of the rural Midwest. Here I speak to the lives of the Mexican workers they employ, and, more specifically, the science-learning experiences and aspirations of third-shifters, Jesús and María. I use these students’ stories as an opportunity to examine the take-up, in education, of the concept of hybridity, and, more particularly, to interrogate what I have come to regard as the “third space fetish.” My principle argument is that Bhabha’s understanding of liberatory Third Space

by Kindfield, Ann C. H.

In this volume, Furberg and Arnseth report on a study of genetics learning from a socio-cultural perspective, focusing on students’ meaning making as they engage in collaborative problem solving. Throughout the paper, they criticize research on student understanding and conceptual change conducted from a cognitive/socio-cognitive perspective on several reasonable grounds. However, their characterization of work undertaken from this perspective sometimes borders on caricature, failing to acknowledge the complexities of the research and the contexts within which it has been carried out. In this commentary, I expand their characterization of the cognitive/socio-cognitive perspective in general and situate my own work on genetics learning so as to provide a richer view of the enterprise. From

by Furberg, Anniken; Arnseth, Hans Christian

In this rejoinder to Ann Kindfield and Grady Venville’s comments on our article “Reconsidering conceptual change from a socio-cultural perspective: Analyzing students’ meaning making in genetics in collaborative learning activities,” we elaborate on some of the critical issues they raise. Their comments make apparent some of the crucial differences between a socio-cultural and a socio-cognitive approach towards conceptual change. We have selected some issues that are addressed, either implicitly or explicitly, in their comments. The main issues discussed are talk and interaction as data, the significance of context in interaction studies, the feasibility of generic claims in small-scale interaction studies, and the difference between studying students’ understanding of science concepts as opposed

by Venville, Grady

This commentary brings additional theoretical perspectives to bear on data and findings presented by Anniken Furberg and Hans Christian Arnseth in their paper on students’ meaning making in genetics in collaborative learning activities. The theoretical perspectives converge on the importance of maximizing students’ learning in genetics. The perspectives include the notion of powerful knowledge which raises the issue of whether the curriculum being delivered is a means by which students can acquire powerful knowledge that will provide them with more reliable explanations and new ways of thinking about the world. The role of the teacher in fostering social interactions that result in conceptually focused discussions within small group work also is considered. Finally, the issue

by DeGennaro, Donna; Brown, Tiffany

We examine the inseparability of one’s environment with the elements of adaptation and identity. Specifically, we revisit the Project H.O.M.E. learning environment as we suggest that the entities of adaption and environment are not only binding, but also naturally in constant flux as they interact with each other. Contrary to nature, however, the social distance between the instructors and learners is the result of a human construct that often hinders adaptation and identity development. We address the factors that afforded participants overcoming social distance and ultimately cultivating a shift in the learning structure of Project H.O.M.E.

DOI: 10.1007/s11422-008-9146-5
Online Date: 9/24/2008
Print publication date: 3/1/2009
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by Kress, Tricia M.

Who we are, our identities, as educators and learners cannot be considered separately from our histories and cultures. As such, many attempts at improving education for historically marginalized minority groups often revolve around finding ways to connect youth culture to curricula. What remains largely unexamined, however, are the history, culture, and identities of White educators and how these forces necessarily impact the ways in which curricula are designed for youth of color. By reconsidering DeGennaro and Brown’s article “Youth Voices: Exploring Connections between History, Enacted Culture and Identity in a Digital Divide Initiative” through a lens of Whiteness, this article aims to illustrate that the histories and identities of African–American learners are dialectically related