How Chinese and American Students Construct Explanations of Carbon-Transforming Processes

Pingping Zhao; Charles W. Anderson; Emily Scott; Karen Draney; Jinho Kim

doi:10.29333/ejmste/103067

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Pingping Zhao ¹ ^* , Charles W. Anderson ², Emily Scott ³, Karen Draney ⁴, Jinho Kim ⁴

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¹ College of Life Science, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, CHINA² College of Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA³ Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA⁴ Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Previous studies reported a learning progression that described the development of American students’ explanations of carbon-transforming processes. This study examined the validity of this learning progression for Chinese middle school students. The comparison of American and Chinese students’ performances showed both similarities and differences between the two groups. They shared similar general trends in their learning progressions from simple force-dynamic accounts to scientific model-based reasoning. Most students did not construct model-based explanations: (1) they did not trace matter and energy separately, and (2) they did not connect phenomena at the macroscopic scale to mechanisms at the cellular and atomic-molecular scale. There were some key differences. These differences might be due to culture, exam systems, or other aspects of science education in these two countries. Implications for improving science education in each country are discussed.

Keywords

carbon cycling learning progression
carbon-transforming processes
crosscutting concepts
model-based explanations
three-dimensional learning

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2019, Volume 15, Issue 6, Article No: em1688

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103067

Publication date: 21 Jan 2019

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Article Downloads: 1226

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How to cite this article

APA

Zhao, P., Anderson, C. W., Scott, E., Draney, K., & Kim, J. (2019). How Chinese and American Students Construct Explanations of Carbon-Transforming Processes. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(6), em1688. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103067

Vancouver

Zhao P, Anderson CW, Scott E, Draney K, Kim J. How Chinese and American Students Construct Explanations of Carbon-Transforming Processes. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(6):em1688. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103067

AMA

Zhao P, Anderson CW, Scott E, Draney K, Kim J. How Chinese and American Students Construct Explanations of Carbon-Transforming Processes. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2019;15(6), em1688. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103067

Chicago

Zhao, Pingping, Charles W. Anderson, Emily Scott, Karen Draney, and Jinho Kim. "How Chinese and American Students Construct Explanations of Carbon-Transforming Processes". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2019 15 no. 6 (2019): em1688. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103067

Harvard

Zhao, P., Anderson, C. W., Scott, E., Draney, K., and Kim, J. (2019). How Chinese and American Students Construct Explanations of Carbon-Transforming Processes. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 15(6), em1688. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103067

MLA

Zhao, Pingping et al. "How Chinese and American Students Construct Explanations of Carbon-Transforming Processes". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 15, no. 6, 2019, em1688. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/103067