Sharing Good Practice
Using NGSS to foster
scientific enquiry in students
By Sudha G. Sunder
direct and content based.
Provocative/Debatable
Questions,
on the other hand, enable students
to approach the responses through a
variety of different perspectives and
as the name suggests, often provokes
student
thinking.
Provocative/
Debatable Questions also help in
keeping the learner engaged and
motivated in learning.
O
ne of the dimensions of the
Next
Generation
Science
Standards (NGSS) is the
crosscutting concepts. The
National Research Council (NRC)
Framework describes crosscutting
concepts as those that bridge
disciplinary boundaries and having
explanatory value throughout much
of science and engineering. In this
sense, the cross cutting concepts, as
identified by the NGSS, are selected
for their value across the sciences
and in engineering, and they provide
students with an organizational
framework for connecting knowledge,
so as to develop a coherent and
scientifically based view of the world1.
The emphasis here is the need for
students to be able to engage in
deep conceptual understanding, so
as to make patterns and connections
between and across disciplines. The
role of the crosscutting concepts is
also to enable students to enrich their
application of scientific practices and
their understanding of core scientific
ideas in a conceptual manner, so as to
facilitate deep higher order thinking.
The question then is how do we begin
unpacking the standards without
losing focus on the importance
of
conceptual
engagement
of
the learner? 2Erickson argues that
facilitating conceptual understanding
calls for a shift from the traditional
two-dimensional model of curriculum
and instruction to a three-dimensional
model of curriculum and instruction.
Traditional, two-dimensional models
of curriculum and instruction focus
more on the topics and delivering of
factual content and most often assume
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that students acquire conceptual
understanding, while a conceptbased, three-dimensional model of
curriculum and instruction uses the
topics and facts as the foundation
to support students in gaining a
deeper conceptual understanding.
3
Anderson and Krathwohl argue that
when we separate the factual and
conceptual knowledge of a discipline,
we are able to emphasize that teaching
and learning need to facilitate deep
conceptual understanding rather than
just focusing on remembering isolated
and small bits of factual information.
In a classroom environment, this can
be facilitated through a structured
inquiry-based approach. It is pertinent
to note that part of the NRC’s intent is
also to better explain and extend what
is meant by ‘inquiry’ in the sciences,
and the range of cognitive, social,
and physical practices that it requires.
The NRC framework also highlights
the need for teachers to keep in
mind that scientific inquiry involves
the formulation of questions that can
be answered through engaging in
scientific investigation.
Erickson proposes that a teacher
can scaffold student learning from
the factual to conceptual domains
by formulating ‘guiding questions’.
Guiding questions help in directing
students through their learning and
are of three different levels: Factual
Questions,
Debatable/Provocative
Questions, and Conceptual Questions.
Factual Questions draw on the factual
domain of the discipline and have
a right or a wrong answer. They are
Class Time
Conceptual Questions are broad
open-ended questions that require
students to use their understanding in
a variety of disciplines, so as to engage
in deep conceptual understanding.
Such a structured inquiry-driven
approach will enable the teacher to
unpack the standards collaboratively
with the students. 4Bransford et al
point out that in order to develop
competence in an area of inquiry,
students must have a deep foundation
of factual knowledge; understand
facts and ideas in the context of a
conceptual framework; and also be
able to organize knowledge in ways
that facilitate retrieval and application.
It needs to be remembered that
moving
between
the
factual,
provocative and conceptual levels of
knowledge and inquiry should not be
viewed as something to be practiced
in a linear fashion. According to
Erickson, teachers need to recognize
the ‘synergy’ between the factual
and conceptual domains. This is what
makes the inquiry meaningful and
powerful.
First presented at MENA Common Core
Conference 2014.
1. NRC Framework, 2012 p. 233, NRC (2012). A
Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices,
Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
2. Erickson, HL. 2007. Concept-based Curriculum
and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom.
Thousand Oaks, California, USA. Corwin Press.
3.Anderson and Krathwohl (2001, p. 42).
Anderson, LW and Krathwohl, DR. 2001. A
Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning and Assessing:
A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives. New York, USA - Addison Wesley
Longman.
4. Bransford, JD, Brown, A and Cocking, R. 2000;
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience
and School. Washington, DC, USA… National
Academy of Sciences and the National Research
Council