Larry Flick

Oregon State University | OSU · College of Education

This presentation covers the theory, methods, results, and implications of research examining middle school students' knowledge and beliefs about earthquakes and tsunamis.

This study examined middle school students’ knowledge and beliefs about earthquake and tsunami through a multidimensional perspective of conceptual change theory. Four related constructs of conceptual change were examined including students’ science knowledge, preparedness knowledge, ontological beliefs, and epistemic beliefs. Students responded te...

This study examined middle school students' knowledge and beliefs about earthquake and tsunami through a multidimensional perspective of conceptual change theory. Four related constructs of conceptual change were examined including students' science knowledge, preparedness knowledge, ontological beliefs, and epistemic beliefs. Students responded te...

Tutors have been shown to have positive effects on a multitude of important student outcomes in educational settings, and are a cost effective, valuable, but often under-utilized resource. Although extensive literature exists on motivation, findings have not been rigorously applied to understanding tutors' motivations for participating in unpaid tu...

This phenomenographic study documented changes in student-held electrical concepts the development of meaningful learning among students with both low and high prior knowledge within a problem-based learning (PBL) undergraduate electrical engineering course. This paper reports on four subjects: two with high prior knowledge and two with low prior k...

This paper reports on initial results from an ongoing evaluation study of a National Science Foundation project to implement reform-oriented teaching practices in college science and mathematics courses. The purpose of this study was to determine what elements of reform teaching are being utilized by college faculty members teaching undergraduate s...

The interchromosome domain (ICD) model proposes that genes are selectively positioned at the surfaces of chromosome territories to facilitate their regulation. A paper in the May 13 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology provides evidence that supports a reinterpretation of this model.

The purpose of this study was to describe relationships among instructor and student goals, course design, and student strategies for learning physics in a traditional introductory undergraduate physics course for nonmajors. The procedures included 16 hours ofnonparticipant observation, during which detailed field notes and photographs were taken a...

The purpose of this study was to understand how non-science majors view science and the scientific process before and after an introductory non-major astronomy course at Oregon State University. Two top level questions were asked during the study of the redesigned astronomy course: Do student views on the nature and process of science change after...

Researchers observed 28 university faculty in graduate and undergraduate science and mathematics courses in a three-year, longitudinal study of teaching. Subjects were selected from five higher education institutions in the state where faculty had a two- to five-year association with a reform-based NSF professional development program. Observer fie...

Social capital consists of resources embedded in social networks that are purposefully mobilized through personal interactions. This project examined the factors that affected the development of social capital in an electrical and computer engineering laboratory. Data were collected through participant observation over the course of a term, intervi...

This book synthesizes the most current literature and research on scientific inquiry and nature of science in K-12 instruction. It is unique in its presentation of the distinctions and overlaps of inquiry and nature of science as instructional outcomes. The text would be appropriate for individuals preparing to become science teachers as well as ex...

NSF/ATE Grant: Framing Student Success Contextualizing science and math in construction technology

The purposes of this study were to observe the teaching practices occurring in student teachers' science and mathematics K-12 classrooms, compare the student teachers' perceptions of their teaching with what was actually occurring in their classrooms, and determine which college faculty members and courses these student teachers felt contributed to...

This chapter is about what secondary teachers and students do when scientific inquiry is the focus of instruction. Selected historical antecedents in science education, educational psychology, and direct experiences in classroom teaching guide this analysis. This framework is similar to the one Siegler (2001) used to reflect on recent research in c...

Successful collaborations are important to implementation of systemic reforms in undergraduate engineering education. Evidence for this exists with the formation of national coalitions of engineering programs and campus collaborations between professionals in engineering and education. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State Uni...

We provide a description and rationale for the development of two instruments: 1) a classroom observation protocol; and, 2) a teacher interview protocol—designed to document the impact of reform-based professional development with undergraduate mathematics and science faculty, and its impact on the resultant preparation of teachers. Constructed upo...

Explains the use of student reflections as a way of promoting instructional scaffolding. Concludes that scaffolding helps students develop skills through a structured practice of those skills within a specific subject matter, electricity. (SOE)

The purpose of this study was to explore how children's ideas in science affects science instruction in the primary grades. The study investigated whether and how primary teachers recognize student ideas, and whether and how they react to student ideas. Two experienced second-grade teachers and one intern teacher were observed and videotaped as the...

Science and technology education have enjoyed a meaningful partnership across most of this century. The work of scientists embraces an array of technologies, and major accomplishments in science are often accompanied by sophisticated applications of technology. As a result, a complete science education has, in principle, involved a commitment to th...

This study explored whether primary teachers elicited student ideas, and whether primary students recognized the importance their teachers placed on their ideas. It was found that three primary teachers who participated in the study always elicited children's ideas prior to instruction and, thus, found student ideas to be important. It was also fou...

This paper is the written account of a panel presentation about inquiry-oriented teaching practices. The purpose of this group of papers is to provide an opportunity to explore the state of knowledge of inquiry-oriented teaching based on direct observation of teachers, and analysis of those observations from an inquiry perspective. The paper begins...

This study takes a holistic perspective towards inquiry teaching by examining the alignment among teacher intentions, teaching practices, and student perceptions of teaching practices. The first part of the study examines the alignment between teacher intentions for instruction and classroom teaching practices. The second part of the study examines...

Investigates teaching strategies that support student use of thinking skills that support use of scientific inquiry in middle school

This paper is a part of a research program whose purpose it is to design instruction for scaffolding classroom inquiry in middle school classrooms. Scaffolding is a dynamic process, reflecting teacher adjustments based on student responses. Even though a computer, textbook, or laboratory materials may serve as proxy for a "teacher", arguably the mo...

Cognitive Scaffolding is what a teacher does when working with a student to solve a problem, carry out a task, or achieve a goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts. As a psychological construct, it refers to the interaction between the knowledge and skills of teacher and student. A computer, textbook, or laboratory materials may serve as...

Presents recommendations for teachers and their instructors to help teachers master science courses. Comments for teachers include create a learning community, do not dread solving problems, think things through, and keep a positive attitude. Comments for instructors include think about who your students are, make your course learner-friendly, try...

Theories of social cognition and verbal communication were used to analyze the science teaching of an experienced fourth-grade teacher. Her teaching skills in language arts and reading were assets in negotiating the rapid flow of relatively unstructured information typical of inquiry in elementary classrooms, to help students generate relevant info...

How do children solve force and motion problems in computer simulations without explicit knowledge of the underlying physics? This question was addressed by saving the keystroke input of 19 sixth-grade children in computer memory as each interacted with a simulated, frictionless object using Logo turtle-graphics. The keystroke sequences were first...

"Preparing Tomorrow's Science Teachers to Use Technology: An Example From the Field" by Laura Henriques (2002) makes a valuable contribution to the field of science education by providing examples that operationalize guidelines published in this journal on appropriate uses of technology in science teacher education ("Guidelines"; Flick & Bell, 2000...