The Action Reflection Process: Supporting All Students in Inquiry-based Science

Qualitative data analysis revealed that student learning was related to the instructional practices and modifications used by the teachers. Changes from the pre-assessment to the final assessment indicated that students had demonstrated growth in science learning and that they met the goals of the science units. Teachers acknowledged that the Action Reflection Process guided them to focus on ensuring that students understood a few goals of the science unit, rather than covering all the concepts in the unit. When the student work indicated that students did not understand major science concepts, teachers devoted more time to those concepts. For example, the goals of the fourth grade Astronomy unit are that students will use outdoor observation and the astronomy labs to investigate shadows and to model the changing relationship of the earth and sun from day to night and from season to season. Students learn the following concepts:

Outdoor shadows change predictably in length and direction during the day.
Night occurs when the earth rotates through its own shadow.
The shadow of the earth changes in a predictable way and accounts for the seasons.

Through observing student work, teachers learned that students were having difficulty learning the first two concepts of this unit. Therefore, the teachers used strategies and modifications to teach these concepts more thoroughly, spending time on them until they felt that students successfully demonstrated their understanding. Consequently, students developed a deep understanding of what causes day and night and how shadows change, rather than a superficial understanding of all the concepts in the unit.

Through looking for evidence in student work that demonstrated whether students understood or didn't understand the concepts, teachers determined how they needed to modify their teaching, what adaptations students needed, and how to measure student understanding. They developed assessments that provided students with opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge through multiple modalities. They made comments such as this:

"He does have the concept of what causes night and day because when you look at what he has written for number two on that same page, he writes, 'When the sun is facing Asia it is day, but on the other side the moon and stuff are facing us. So that makes night for us.' His drawing is confusing, but what he has written demonstrates better understanding of the concept than his drawing. When you connect the two, then you definitely see his understanding of the sun and the rotation of the earth and his understanding of the concept of night and day."

Teachers collaborated to support one another and develop a more unified curriculum. The social studies teacher responded to the teacher comment above:

"I see some connection to what we were doing in social studies, because we were really working on math and globe skills last term. Especially the concept of the globe and what was on one side and what was on the other."

Teachers' remarks about student progress were now grounded in evidence. In one group, where students had been exploring the properties of liquids, a teacher remarked, after looking at the work:

"All three [students] seem like they have some of the big picture of this liquid and of liquids in general. [They list] properties such as thickness, heaviness, and stickiness. This seems to be common to all of them. So, I think that shows good evidence that they know something about this liquid."

At the end of each session, teachers compared students' pre-assessments to the final assessments and documented changes in students' understanding of the concepts. The science curriculum specialist, who had been present at many meetings, commented:

"The students have learned more in science--they wrote more, drew more, and labeled more. They seemed to gain ownership of the science language and some science ideas."

Indeed, this was supported by the statistical data, which indicated that all students, including students with disabilities, gained this ownership of science language and science ideas at approximately the same rate.

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			Qualitative data analysis revealed that student learning was related to the instructional practices and modifications used by the teachers. Changes from the pre-assessment to the final assessment indicated that students had demonstrated growth in science learning and that they met the goals of the science units. Teachers acknowledged that the Action Reflection Process guided them to focus on ensuring that students understood a few goals of the science unit, rather than covering all the concepts in the unit. When the student work indicated that students did not understand major science concepts, teachers devoted more time to those concepts. For example, the goals of the fourth grade Astronomy unit are that students will use outdoor observation and the astronomy labs to investigate shadows and to model the changing relationship of the earth and sun from day to night and from season to season. Students learn the following concepts: Outdoor shadows change predictably in length and direction during the day. Night occurs when the earth rotates through its own shadow. The shadow of the earth changes in a predictable way and accounts for the seasons. Through observing student work, teachers learned that students were having difficulty learning the first two concepts of this unit. Therefore, the teachers used strategies and modifications to teach these concepts more thoroughly, spending time on them until they felt that students successfully demonstrated their understanding. Consequently, students developed a deep understanding of what causes day and night and how shadows change, rather than a superficial understanding of all the concepts in the unit. Through looking for evidence in student work that demonstrated whether students understood or didn't understand the concepts, teachers determined how they needed to modify their teaching, what adaptations students needed, and how to measure student understanding. They developed assessments that provided students with opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge through multiple modalities. They made comments such as this: "He does have the concept of what causes night and day because when you look at what he has written for number two on that same page, he writes, 'When the sun is facing Asia it is day, but on the other side the moon and stuff are facing us. So that makes night for us.' His drawing is confusing, but what he has written demonstrates better understanding of the concept than his drawing. When you connect the two, then you definitely see his understanding of the sun and the rotation of the earth and his understanding of the concept of night and day." Teachers collaborated to support one another and develop a more unified curriculum. The social studies teacher responded to the teacher comment above: "I see some connection to what we were doing in social studies, because we were really working on math and globe skills last term. Especially the concept of the globe and what was on one side and what was on the other." Teachers' remarks about student progress were now grounded in evidence. In one group, where students had been exploring the properties of liquids, a teacher remarked, after looking at the work: "All three [students] seem like they have some of the big picture of this liquid and of liquids in general. [They list] properties such as thickness, heaviness, and stickiness. This seems to be common to all of them. So, I think that shows good evidence that they know something about this liquid." At the end of each session, teachers compared students' pre-assessments to the final assessments and documented changes in students' understanding of the concepts. The science curriculum specialist, who had been present at many meetings, commented: "The students have learned more in science--they wrote more, drew more, and labeled more. They seemed to gain ownership of the science language and some science ideas." Indeed, this was supported by the statistical data, which indicated that all students, including students with disabilities, gained this ownership of science language and science ideas at approximately the same rate.

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