This paper deals with a number of conceptual and theoretical issues that underlie the proposal to... more This paper deals with a number of conceptual and theoretical issues that underlie the proposal to employ narrative explanations in science education: What is narrative? What is explanation? and What is narrative explanation? In answering these questions, we develop a framework of narrative elements and characteristics of narrative explanations. Two possible examples of narrative explanation are presented and examined in light of the framework. This examination brings to light various conceptual and empirical questions related to the examples and to the larger issue of the use of examples like them in science instruction. The value of the framework lies partly in its power to point to such questions. The questions can guide a program of theoretical and empirical research into the psychological reality of the narrative form of explanation, the existence of narrative explanations in science, the use of narrative explanations in science teaching, and the nature and extent of the narrative effect upon which proposals for the use of narrative often are justified.
This report describes the development and validation of the Test of Inference Ability in Reading ... more This report describes the development and validation of the Test of Inference Ability in Reading Comprehension: a scaled-answer, multiple-choice test intended for use in Grades 6, 7, and 8. The report discusses the need for and conceptualization of assessment of inference ability; proposes standards and principles of inference appraisal; and discusses test design issues, specifically audience, kinds of discourse, topic familiarity, readability, test format, test length, and passage and item development. Five pilot studies are then presented to show test evolution, providing details of the modifications at each phase of test development. The fifth pilot study (focusing on test validation) is discussed, involving verbal reports of students ' thinking as they worked through the test, and providing a reading score for the answer selected and a corresponding thinking score for a student's explanation of why that
Unlike inquiry-based instruction and hands-on scientific activities, which are generally recommen... more Unlike inquiry-based instruction and hands-on scientific activities, which are generally recommended in teaching science, scientific vocabulary instruction has played a subordinate role in teaching scientific concepts. The reason for this might be that science ...
The design and development of a test of inference ability in reading comprehension for grades 6, ... more The design and development of a test of inference ability in reading comprehension for grades 6, 7, and 8 (the Phillips-Patterson Test of Inference Ability in Reading Comprehension) are described. After development of a contemporary theoretical framework for the test of inference ability in reading comprehension, the design, item development, and test development iterations of the test are outlined. The test was administered to 999 students from schools in Alberta,
The question of whether visualizations help develop mathematical concepts has an ambiguous, and o... more The question of whether visualizations help develop mathematical concepts has an ambiguous, and oftentimes contradicting, response. We reviewed over 40 articles focusing on visualizations in mathematics classrooms, with the majority focused on general mathematics, followed by geometry (see Fig. 5.1).
The call for evidence-based educational practice presumes that science is a way to good knowing a... more The call for evidence-based educational practice presumes that science is a way to good knowing and often presumes as well that good knowing leads more or less directly to good acting. We will not critique science as a means to good knowing, particularly regarding the effectiveness of educational interventions. Rather, we shall urge educators to pay more attention to the
Throughout the literature, the themes of technology and computer development recur. We found 40 a... more Throughout the literature, the themes of technology and computer development recur. We found 40 articles dealing with computer software and animations in general, as well as many other articles that emphasized computer -based visualization in the context of the specific subjects of mathematics , reading , and science . The impact that technology is having on educational visualization is already significant and is showing signs of growth. We further note that a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to computer issues in visualization has emerged, the IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.
We opened this book with the question: Is there a single defensible theoretical model of visualiz... more We opened this book with the question: Is there a single defensible theoretical model of visualization? The short answer is that there is not, at least not at this time. The current state of research does not point to a single model of visualization but, rather, to partial models. We expect that in the short run educators and researchers should use the available results in contexts similar to those in which they were found, because we do not have theories adequate to the task of determining their generalizability to other situations. First, in this chapter, we review three important distinctions that we have made.
By way of contrast to the situation in mathematics education, there has been a general consensus ... more By way of contrast to the situation in mathematics education, there has been a general consensus among researchers during the past 20 years that visualization object s assist in explaining, developing, and learning concepts in the field of science.
There is no shortage of interest in visualization in mathematics education. Mathematics textbooks... more There is no shortage of interest in visualization in mathematics education. Mathematics textbooks are filled with pictures, diagrams, and graphs. There are video lessons available for countless topics. Graphing calculators have become commonplace in secondary school classrooms. Dedicated computer programs such as Geometer’s Sketchpad, Mathematica, Maple, and the open-source programs that are intended to replicate many of their functions are now in use in secondary and postsecondary mathematics classrooms. Data visualization programs are becoming common in statistics classes. And there are countless applets available on line. Given the sheer volume of visualization materials available for mathematics education, it is surprising how little empirical support there is for their use. In addition, there are no robust educational theories of how to use best visualization in mathematics education. There are two powerful but conflicting cognitive theories of visualization, and both point to some practical application of visualization in spite of their mutual inconsistency.
Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal, 2013
This study investigated 1) whether mothers' measured reading has predictive power for their presc... more This study investigated 1) whether mothers' measured reading has predictive power for their preschool children's language and reading over and above SES predictors, and 2) whether mothers' measured reading can help to compensate for negative influences on children's language and reading that arise from SES factors such as speaking a minority language and belonging to some ethnic minorities. One hundred fifty-eight children (aged 3-5 years) and 156 mothers of low income and low educational background from a large city in Western Canada participated. Mothers were interviewed regarding demographic information and their reading was measured. Children were administered language and reading tests. The findings support the conclusion that mothers' measured reading predicts their children's language and reading prior to schooling, (b = .63, p ≤ .05, on TERA-2; b = 4.04, p ≤ .001, on PPVT-III; coefficients are unstandardized) and that mothers' education and mothers' reading proficiency do not serve as proxies for each other. Our results not only confirm the predictive power of mothers' education on their children's language and reading already shown in the literature, but also provide evidence of the predictive power of mothers' measured reading level over and above their education level. Our results also point to the crucial importance of finishing high school with commensurate reading attainment. Benefits from high school completion accrue not only to the adults but also to their children. Intervention programs must shift focus to improvements to mothers' reading as their primary goal in addition to their children's language and reading.
We introduce some commonsense notions of visualization for two reasons. First, we establish some ... more We introduce some commonsense notions of visualization for two reasons. First, we establish some basic ideas and vocabulary by looking at everyday examples of visualization in learning. Second, we establish a baseline for the sort of activities and objects that are the main focus of this book. Let us begin by conceiving of a visualization object as any object that a student observes to assist in the learning or understanding of some topic of educational importance. A visualization object could be a picture , a schematic diagram, a computer simulation, or a video. The student who uses the visualization object we will say is visualizing. The student who uses visual imagery in the absence of visualization object s we will say is introspectively visualizing. These terms will undergo refinement as the book proceeds, but these general notions will be sufficient to introduce our main themes.
Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) was used to study regional changes in the brain... more Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) was used to study regional changes in the brain's development from childhood (8-12 years, mean 11.1 T 1.3, N = 32) to young adulthood (21-27 years, mean 24.4 T 1.8, N = 28). Mean diffusivity (Trace/3 apparent diffusion coefficient, ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured in 30 regions of interest (ROIs) in 13 distinct brain structures. Correlational analysis was performed to detect changes within 8-12 years and within 21-27 years, and group analysis to compare childhood diffusion properties with young adult values. Increases of fractional anisotropy were seen in the genu of the corpus callosum, splenium of the corpus callosum, corona radiata, putamen, and head of the caudate nucleus within 8-12 years, and also between childhood and young adulthood. Reductions in Trace/3 ADC were observed in 9 of 13 structures within 8-12 years and into young adulthood as well. DTI demonstrates more widespread changes in the brain's microstructure with maturation than previous reports using conventional T1-weighted MRI scans. These findings suggest a continuation of the brain's microstructural development through adolescence.
Preface vii representations will form a major part in the public presentations of topical scienti... more Preface vii representations will form a major part in the public presentations of topical scientific ideas, the former thus enabling easier access to the latter. Switching the focus on visualization from science education in the foreground to the background, considerable benefits can be seen for both reading education and mathematics education. These form one clear argument: science provides a body of phenomena, facts, and ideas that can be visualized through both reading and mathematical representations. The bringing together of these three educational areas under the umbrella of visualization should enable students to become better educated and not merely instructed in separate subjects. Phillips, Norris, and Macnab are thus very appropriately placed within the "Models and Modelling in Science Education" series.
This study addresses the differences between literature in children's trade books and the lit... more This study addresses the differences between literature in children's trade books and the literature in commercial elementary language arts reading programs used in Canada. Although the nature of the literature included in language arts programs has received considerable scrutiny in the United States, there is no parallel body of research in the Canadian context. Using a textual content analysis, all the literature selections contained in the three most extensively used reading programs in Canada were where possible compared with the corresponding trade books. Numerous differences between trade book literature and the corresponding selections in the reading programs suggest that the two are not equivalent in the reading experiences they provide for children. The changes included alterations to format such as omissions, additions, substitutions, and reordering of text and illustrations. Many of the original selections reconstituted in the reading programs were impoverished by the...
This research is part of a larger study of commercial reading programs used in Canada in grades 1... more This research is part of a larger study of commercial reading programs used in Canada in grades 1-6. The specific purposes of the results reported here were to identify and quantify the assessment techniques suggested for the selections that contain scientific content, to show how the assessments differ by grade, to evaluate the nature and quality of the assessments, and to examine the extent to which the assessments help foster scientific literacy. It was found that the assessments occurred in six major forms and employed about a dozen assessment tools that engage students in nearly 20 tasks. Such variety is endorsed in both literacy and science education position statements. The assessments showed some weak trends by grade, but primarily left the purpose of the assessments to teachers' judgment. The consequence is that teachers probably will choose the assessments for formative rather than summative evaluation, an approach also endorsed by literacy and science education policy...
This paper deals with a number of conceptual and theoretical issues that underlie the proposal to... more This paper deals with a number of conceptual and theoretical issues that underlie the proposal to employ narrative explanations in science education: What is narrative? What is explanation? and What is narrative explanation? In answering these questions, we develop a framework of narrative elements and characteristics of narrative explanations. Two possible examples of narrative explanation are presented and examined in light of the framework. This examination brings to light various conceptual and empirical questions related to the examples and to the larger issue of the use of examples like them in science instruction. The value of the framework lies partly in its power to point to such questions. The questions can guide a program of theoretical and empirical research into the psychological reality of the narrative form of explanation, the existence of narrative explanations in science, the use of narrative explanations in science teaching, and the nature and extent of the narrative effect upon which proposals for the use of narrative often are justified.
This report describes the development and validation of the Test of Inference Ability in Reading ... more This report describes the development and validation of the Test of Inference Ability in Reading Comprehension: a scaled-answer, multiple-choice test intended for use in Grades 6, 7, and 8. The report discusses the need for and conceptualization of assessment of inference ability; proposes standards and principles of inference appraisal; and discusses test design issues, specifically audience, kinds of discourse, topic familiarity, readability, test format, test length, and passage and item development. Five pilot studies are then presented to show test evolution, providing details of the modifications at each phase of test development. The fifth pilot study (focusing on test validation) is discussed, involving verbal reports of students ' thinking as they worked through the test, and providing a reading score for the answer selected and a corresponding thinking score for a student's explanation of why that
Unlike inquiry-based instruction and hands-on scientific activities, which are generally recommen... more Unlike inquiry-based instruction and hands-on scientific activities, which are generally recommended in teaching science, scientific vocabulary instruction has played a subordinate role in teaching scientific concepts. The reason for this might be that science ...
The design and development of a test of inference ability in reading comprehension for grades 6, ... more The design and development of a test of inference ability in reading comprehension for grades 6, 7, and 8 (the Phillips-Patterson Test of Inference Ability in Reading Comprehension) are described. After development of a contemporary theoretical framework for the test of inference ability in reading comprehension, the design, item development, and test development iterations of the test are outlined. The test was administered to 999 students from schools in Alberta,
The question of whether visualizations help develop mathematical concepts has an ambiguous, and o... more The question of whether visualizations help develop mathematical concepts has an ambiguous, and oftentimes contradicting, response. We reviewed over 40 articles focusing on visualizations in mathematics classrooms, with the majority focused on general mathematics, followed by geometry (see Fig. 5.1).
The call for evidence-based educational practice presumes that science is a way to good knowing a... more The call for evidence-based educational practice presumes that science is a way to good knowing and often presumes as well that good knowing leads more or less directly to good acting. We will not critique science as a means to good knowing, particularly regarding the effectiveness of educational interventions. Rather, we shall urge educators to pay more attention to the
Throughout the literature, the themes of technology and computer development recur. We found 40 a... more Throughout the literature, the themes of technology and computer development recur. We found 40 articles dealing with computer software and animations in general, as well as many other articles that emphasized computer -based visualization in the context of the specific subjects of mathematics , reading , and science . The impact that technology is having on educational visualization is already significant and is showing signs of growth. We further note that a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to computer issues in visualization has emerged, the IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.
We opened this book with the question: Is there a single defensible theoretical model of visualiz... more We opened this book with the question: Is there a single defensible theoretical model of visualization? The short answer is that there is not, at least not at this time. The current state of research does not point to a single model of visualization but, rather, to partial models. We expect that in the short run educators and researchers should use the available results in contexts similar to those in which they were found, because we do not have theories adequate to the task of determining their generalizability to other situations. First, in this chapter, we review three important distinctions that we have made.
By way of contrast to the situation in mathematics education, there has been a general consensus ... more By way of contrast to the situation in mathematics education, there has been a general consensus among researchers during the past 20 years that visualization object s assist in explaining, developing, and learning concepts in the field of science.
There is no shortage of interest in visualization in mathematics education. Mathematics textbooks... more There is no shortage of interest in visualization in mathematics education. Mathematics textbooks are filled with pictures, diagrams, and graphs. There are video lessons available for countless topics. Graphing calculators have become commonplace in secondary school classrooms. Dedicated computer programs such as Geometer’s Sketchpad, Mathematica, Maple, and the open-source programs that are intended to replicate many of their functions are now in use in secondary and postsecondary mathematics classrooms. Data visualization programs are becoming common in statistics classes. And there are countless applets available on line. Given the sheer volume of visualization materials available for mathematics education, it is surprising how little empirical support there is for their use. In addition, there are no robust educational theories of how to use best visualization in mathematics education. There are two powerful but conflicting cognitive theories of visualization, and both point to some practical application of visualization in spite of their mutual inconsistency.
Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal, 2013
This study investigated 1) whether mothers' measured reading has predictive power for their presc... more This study investigated 1) whether mothers' measured reading has predictive power for their preschool children's language and reading over and above SES predictors, and 2) whether mothers' measured reading can help to compensate for negative influences on children's language and reading that arise from SES factors such as speaking a minority language and belonging to some ethnic minorities. One hundred fifty-eight children (aged 3-5 years) and 156 mothers of low income and low educational background from a large city in Western Canada participated. Mothers were interviewed regarding demographic information and their reading was measured. Children were administered language and reading tests. The findings support the conclusion that mothers' measured reading predicts their children's language and reading prior to schooling, (b = .63, p ≤ .05, on TERA-2; b = 4.04, p ≤ .001, on PPVT-III; coefficients are unstandardized) and that mothers' education and mothers' reading proficiency do not serve as proxies for each other. Our results not only confirm the predictive power of mothers' education on their children's language and reading already shown in the literature, but also provide evidence of the predictive power of mothers' measured reading level over and above their education level. Our results also point to the crucial importance of finishing high school with commensurate reading attainment. Benefits from high school completion accrue not only to the adults but also to their children. Intervention programs must shift focus to improvements to mothers' reading as their primary goal in addition to their children's language and reading.
We introduce some commonsense notions of visualization for two reasons. First, we establish some ... more We introduce some commonsense notions of visualization for two reasons. First, we establish some basic ideas and vocabulary by looking at everyday examples of visualization in learning. Second, we establish a baseline for the sort of activities and objects that are the main focus of this book. Let us begin by conceiving of a visualization object as any object that a student observes to assist in the learning or understanding of some topic of educational importance. A visualization object could be a picture , a schematic diagram, a computer simulation, or a video. The student who uses the visualization object we will say is visualizing. The student who uses visual imagery in the absence of visualization object s we will say is introspectively visualizing. These terms will undergo refinement as the book proceeds, but these general notions will be sufficient to introduce our main themes.
Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) was used to study regional changes in the brain... more Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) was used to study regional changes in the brain's development from childhood (8-12 years, mean 11.1 T 1.3, N = 32) to young adulthood (21-27 years, mean 24.4 T 1.8, N = 28). Mean diffusivity (Trace/3 apparent diffusion coefficient, ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured in 30 regions of interest (ROIs) in 13 distinct brain structures. Correlational analysis was performed to detect changes within 8-12 years and within 21-27 years, and group analysis to compare childhood diffusion properties with young adult values. Increases of fractional anisotropy were seen in the genu of the corpus callosum, splenium of the corpus callosum, corona radiata, putamen, and head of the caudate nucleus within 8-12 years, and also between childhood and young adulthood. Reductions in Trace/3 ADC were observed in 9 of 13 structures within 8-12 years and into young adulthood as well. DTI demonstrates more widespread changes in the brain's microstructure with maturation than previous reports using conventional T1-weighted MRI scans. These findings suggest a continuation of the brain's microstructural development through adolescence.
Preface vii representations will form a major part in the public presentations of topical scienti... more Preface vii representations will form a major part in the public presentations of topical scientific ideas, the former thus enabling easier access to the latter. Switching the focus on visualization from science education in the foreground to the background, considerable benefits can be seen for both reading education and mathematics education. These form one clear argument: science provides a body of phenomena, facts, and ideas that can be visualized through both reading and mathematical representations. The bringing together of these three educational areas under the umbrella of visualization should enable students to become better educated and not merely instructed in separate subjects. Phillips, Norris, and Macnab are thus very appropriately placed within the "Models and Modelling in Science Education" series.
This study addresses the differences between literature in children's trade books and the lit... more This study addresses the differences between literature in children's trade books and the literature in commercial elementary language arts reading programs used in Canada. Although the nature of the literature included in language arts programs has received considerable scrutiny in the United States, there is no parallel body of research in the Canadian context. Using a textual content analysis, all the literature selections contained in the three most extensively used reading programs in Canada were where possible compared with the corresponding trade books. Numerous differences between trade book literature and the corresponding selections in the reading programs suggest that the two are not equivalent in the reading experiences they provide for children. The changes included alterations to format such as omissions, additions, substitutions, and reordering of text and illustrations. Many of the original selections reconstituted in the reading programs were impoverished by the...
This research is part of a larger study of commercial reading programs used in Canada in grades 1... more This research is part of a larger study of commercial reading programs used in Canada in grades 1-6. The specific purposes of the results reported here were to identify and quantify the assessment techniques suggested for the selections that contain scientific content, to show how the assessments differ by grade, to evaluate the nature and quality of the assessments, and to examine the extent to which the assessments help foster scientific literacy. It was found that the assessments occurred in six major forms and employed about a dozen assessment tools that engage students in nearly 20 tasks. Such variety is endorsed in both literacy and science education position statements. The assessments showed some weak trends by grade, but primarily left the purpose of the assessments to teachers' judgment. The consequence is that teachers probably will choose the assessments for formative rather than summative evaluation, an approach also endorsed by literacy and science education policy...
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