Probing the Relation between Students’ Integrated Knowledge and Knowledge-in-Use about Energy using Network Analysis
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Marcus Kubsch 1 * , Jeffrey Nordine 1, Knut Neumann 1, David Fortus 2, Joseph Krajcik 3
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1 IPN - Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at Kiel University, GERMANY2 Department of Science Teaching, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, ISRAEL3 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Modern science standards emphasize knowledge-in-use, i.e., connecting scientific practices with content. For knowledge to become usable in knowledge-in-use performances, students need well organized knowledge networks that allow them to activate and connect sets of relevant ideas across contexts, i.e. students need integrated knowledge. We conducted a longitudinal interview study with 30 students in a 7th grade energy unit and used network analysis to investigate students’ integrated knowledge, i.e., their knowledge networks. Linking these results with results from knowledge-in-use assessments, we found a strong connection between integrated knowledge and knowledge-in-use about energy. Further, we found evidence that well-connected ideas around the idea of energy transfer were particularly helpful for using energy ideas in the knowledge-in-use assessments. We present network analysis as a valuable extension of existing approaches to investigating students’ knowledge networks and the connection between them and knowledge-in-use.

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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 8, Article No: em1728

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/104404

Publication date: 09 Apr 2019

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Article Downloads: 1004

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