May, Hammer & Roy, Science Education (2006)

Children's analogical reasoning in a 3rd-grade science discussion

D. B. May, D. Hammer & P. Roy, Science Education, 90(2), p 316-330 (2006). (link to journal article)

Abstract: Expert scientific inquiry involves the generation and use of analogies. How and when students might develop this aspect of expertise has implications for understanding how and when instruction might facilitate that development. In a study of K-8 student inquiry in physical science, we are examining cases of spontaneous analogy generation. In the case we present here, a third-grader generates an analogy and modifies it to reconcile his classmates' counterarguments, allowing us to identify in these third-graders specific aspects of nascent expertise in analogy use. Promoting abilities and inclinations such as these children display requires that educators recognize and respond to them.

van Zee, Hammer, Bell, Roy & Peter, Science Education (2005)

Learning and teaching science as inquiry: A case study of elementary school teachers' investigations of light

E. H. van Zee, D. Hammer, M. Bell, P. Roy & J. Peter, Science Education, 89(6), p 1007-1042 (2005). (link to journal article)

Abstract: This case study documents an example of inquiry learning and teaching during a summer institute for elementary and middle school teachers. A small group constructed an explanatory model for an intriguing optical phenomenon that they were observing. Research questions included: What physics thinking did the learners express? What aspects of scientific inquiry were evident in what the learners said and did? What questions did the learners ask one another as they worked? How did these learners collaborate in constructing understanding? How did the instructor foster their learning? Data sources included video- and audio- tapes of instruction, copies of the participants' writings and drawings, field notes, interviews, and staff reflections. An interpretative narrative of what three group members said and did presents a detailed account of their learning process. Analyses of their utterances provide evidence of physics thinking, scientific inquiry, questioning, collaborative sense making, and insight into ways to foster inquiry learning.