Relevance of Scientific Ideas And Vision

Research has shown that students best understand scientific ideas when they
actively apply their knowledge while engaging in the practices of science — for
example, modelling, developing explanations or solutions, and arguing about
evidence. Without personally engaging in these activities, students cannot come to understand the nature of scientific discovery; instead, they see science as abstract and far removed from the real world. It is difficult for students to understand scientific investigations without opportunities to design and carry them out first-hand. It is also difficult for students to see the relevance of scientific ideas and concepts unless they learn how to use them in building their own arguments and explanations. Thus, a major goal associated with the current vision for science education involves greater emphasis on immersing students in doing science rather than simply learning about science.

Learning through practice helps students of all ages understand how scientific
knowledge develops and gives them an appreciation of the wide range of
approaches that are used by scientists to investigate, model, and explain the
world. Engaging in the practices of science also pushes students to use their
knowledge and reflect on their own understanding of scientific ideas. They
thereby gain a more flexible understanding of scientific explanations of natural phenomena and can take a critical perspective on scientific claims. Learning through practice helps students of all ages understand how scientific knowledge develops and gives them an appreciation of the wide range of approaches that are used by scientists to investigate, model, and explain the world. Engaging in the practices of science also pushes students to use their knowledge and reflect on their own understanding of scientific ideas. They thereby gain a more flexible understanding of scientific explanations of natural phenomena and can take a critical perspective on scientific claims.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Learning through practice helps students of all ages understand how scientific
knowledge develops and gives them an appreciation of the wide range of
approaches that are used by scientists to investigate, model, and explain the
world. Engaging in the practices of science also pushes students to use their
knowledge and reflect on their own understanding of scientific ideas. They
thereby gain a more flexible understanding of scientific explanations of natural phenomena and can take a critical perspective on scientific claims.

Crosscutting Concepts

In science, ideas do not exist in isolation but are part of complex webs of
meaning. Thus, learning science also involves linking specific disciplinary core ideas to crosscutting concepts that lead to a coherent, scientific view of the world. For example, the concept of “cause and effect” could be discussed in the context of plant growth in a biology class or in the context of the motion of objects in a physics class.

Support for Learning over Time

The design of the Framework of MMIS is intended to support coherent sequences for learning over multiple grades. work on learning clearly shows that to develop a understanding of scientific explanations of the nature. students need sustained opportunities to engage in the practices of science and work with its underlying ideas, and to appreciate the connections among those ideas over a period of years rather than weeks or months.

Conclusions:

We will be holding a number of meetings and workshops for students as well as for parents. A list of key events is in preparation and will get posted on the website as they are set up throughout the working period. We encourage all students within the broad science community to play an active part in this exploration and host events or other opportunities to gain output.