Student Thinking and Learning in Science ─ Perspectives on the Nature and Development of Learners' Ideas

Focusing on key ideas about secondary students' thinking in science, this volume relates research concepts to examples of students talking or writing about science topics, with the aim of supporting their learning and demonstrating the importance of diagnostic assessment in informing teaching. It describes why learning science is difficult for many students, the different terms that have been used to describe their thinking about science, the nature of learning and key ideas and perspectives on it, cognitive biases influencing learners' ideas, the role of intuition and language, the influence of everyday beliefs, the role of students' metathinking, the integration of students' knowledge and construction of conceptual frameworks, what can go wrong in science teaching, and how to respond to these challenges. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Keith S. Taber is University Reader in Science Education, University of Cambridge, UK.