Summarized by: Blessy B.

Martin BSE3 General Science

Technology for Teaching and Learning II

Submitted: April 14 2021

Submitted to: Dr. Arra A. Quitaneg

Special Issue: Science

teaching, learning, and assessment with 21st
century, cutting‐edge digital ecologies

Received: 27 August 2020 | Accepted: 27 August 2020

First Published: 11 September 2020

SUMMARIZATION:

Objective

Aimed to examine the use and impact of 21st‐century cutting‐edge technologies,

technological platforms, technological activity, and digital ecologies on science
teaching, learning, and assessment through the following:

 To understand professional networks and their role in policy implementation

 To address the difficulties of productive scientific argumentation at the
elementary level
 In order to understand students' interactions while engaging with complex inquiry
tasks
 To examine the potential of ML in science education assessment
 To understand how SEGs lead to learning and compare the impact of learning
with SEGs versus traditional science learning contexts
Method Used
The method used focused on conceptual and/or critical analyses related to theories and
frameworks needed to advance the ways in which digital ecologies and technological
activity can transform science teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as the potential
of these technologies and platforms to realize equity in access and outcomes in science
education for all learners.
To understand professional networks and their role in policy implementation:
Analyzed the social structure of the #NGSSchat community via Twitter and focused on
members' participation and interactions, the depth and types of conversations, the
frequency of some kinds of interactions, and the factors that informed participation over
time. The authors argued that the #NGSSchat provides an ideal platform to understand
how science education professional networks operate online in the context of large-scale
science reforms, such as NGSS.
To address the difficulties of productive scientific argumentation at the elementary
level:
Explored the use of a TeachLive simulated environment as a practice based space for
preservice elementary teachers (PSETs) to engage student avatars in scientific
argumentation—argument construction and critique.
In order to understand students' interactions while engaging with complex inquiry
tasks:
Examined students' log files to identify patterns of students' interactions with computer-
based assessments and determine if unique characteristics of these interactions emerge as
distinct profiles of inquiry performance. The authors argue that the characteristics of
these profiles could inform why some students are successful with simulated inquiry
tasks compared to students who experienced difficulties. The underlying information
could be instructive to support students' understanding of scientific inquiry via computer-
based learning environments. The 2015 Norwegian PISA log file data, science
performance, and a background questionnaire were analyzed focusing on two inquiry
tasks, which involved scientific reasoning, coordinating the effects of multiple variables,
and coordinating theory and evidence.
To examine the potential of ML in science education assessment:
Developed a framework to conceptualize ML applications in science assessment. First,
47 studies that applied ML in science assessment were reviewed and classified into five
categories: constructed response, essay, simulation, educational game, and neural
integrated science. Next, the MLbased and conventional science assessments were
compared, and 12 critical characteristics were extracted and used to map three variables
in a three-dimensional framework: construct, functionality, and automaticity. Then, 12
 characteristics were generated to construct a profile for ML-based science assessments
for each article, and these were further analyzed by a two-step cluster analysis.
To understand how SEGs lead to learning and compare the impact of learning with SEGs
versus traditional science learning contexts:
investigated the learning gains with Virtual Vet, a role-playing SEG designed for
elementary students to address the fundamental science concepts associated with the
human body systems and the subsequent effect of diabetes and obesity-related illnesses
on the given body systems. Two quasiexperimental studies were conducted; for Study 1,
students were randomly assigned to play Virtual Vet or participate in guided inquiry
lessons that addressed the same objectives.
Results
Altogether, 45 extended abstracts were submitted in response to JRST's call for special
issue manuscripts. Of these, 12 authors and author groups were invited to submit full
manuscripts, which were put through the double-blind peer review process. Following
multiple rounds of review and revisions, six manuscripts were accepted for final
publication. Thematically, the manuscripts focused on social media, teacher professional
networks, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS); preservice teachers; teacher
education, scientific argumentation, and simulated classrooms; computer-based
assessment and complex inquiry tasks and log files data to identify student profiles with
assessment practices; machine learning (ML) and assessment; serious educational games
(SEGs), elementary science, and learning gains; and collaborative inquiry learning,
scaffolding, and game-based learning. Learning contexts focused on social media
platforms, game-based learning, simulated environments, ML, and computer-based
assessment. The research contexts focused on teacher education, pre- and in-service
teachers, and students at the elementary and high school levels.
To understand professional networks and their role in policy implementation:
the findings revealed that there was a greater number of transactional, social, and
substantive conversations and that individuals with varying roles engaged in these
conversations.
To address the difficulties of productive scientific argumentation at the elementary
level:
It was reported that most of the PSETs targeted structural and dialogic components of
scientific argumentation in the simulated classroom with more focus on argument
construction and less so on argument critique. In general, there was consensus of the
value of the TeachLive environment among the PSETS
In order to understand students' interactions while engaging with complex inquiry
tasks:
 The findings reported three distinct profiles of students' inquiry performance: strategic,
emergent, and disengaged. These profiles revealed different characteristics of students'
exploration behavior, inquiry strategy, time-on-task, and item accuracy. Further analyses
showed that students' assignment to these profiles varied according to their demographic
characteristics (gender, socioeconomic status, and language at home), attitudes
(enjoyment in science, self-efficacy, and test anxiety), and science achievement.
To examine the potential of ML in science education assessment:
The clusters identified for each variable were summarized into four levels to illustrate the
evolution of each. Along with the three-dimensional framework, they proposed five
anticipated trends for incorporating ML in science assessment practice for future studies:
addressing developmental cognition, changing the process of educational decision-
making, personalized science learning, borrowing “good” to advance “good,” and
integrating knowledge from other disciplines into science assessment.
To understand how SEGs lead to learning and compare the impact of learning with
SEGs versus traditional science learning contexts:
The findings revealed that students in the game condition outperformed the nongame
condition. Study 2, which evolved based on the findings of Study 1, compared learning
outcomes associated with two conditions: students play only Virtual Vet or students play
Virtual Vet and participate in the guided inquiry activities (instructional time was
doubled). Interestingly, there was no significant increase in learning gains for the students
who participated in both activities. Overall, the findings supported the fact that well-
designed SEGs have the potential to facilitate and support science learning in elementary
settings.
Implications
To understand professional networks and their role in policy implementation:
The implications focused on the role and opportunities of social media platforms to foster
and promote professional learning related to reform policy adoption and implementation.
To address the difficulties of productive scientific argumentation at the elementary
level:
The implications addressed an important need for the preparation of elementary teachers
to enact practices that promote scientific argumentation and, by extension, develop
scientific literacy. Furthermore, the simulated environment offered a space for PSETs to
practice prior to actual classroom enactment.
In order to understand students' interactions while engaging with complex inquiry
tasks:
This work has implications for understanding student practices with computer-based
assessment and support for more effective engagement with complex inquiry tasks.
To examine the potential of ML in science education assessment:
The implications focus on the potential of ML to redefine science education assessment
by addressing developmental cognition in science learning, change the process of
educational decision-making, provide personalized science learning, inform good
teaching practices, and allow for the integration of interdisciplinary knowledge.
To understand how SEGs lead to learning and compare the impact of learning with
SEGs versus traditional science learning contexts:
The study suggests that learning environments grounded in pedagogically sound
instructional practices have the potential to engender science learning gains for
elementary-level students.