Productive Uncertainty in Science Education

Productive Uncertainty in Science Education provides the support that teachers and students need for more complex science investigations.

Science is driven by the need to manage uncertainty—uncertainty about how to explain the world, but also how to represent the world in an investigation, what to measure, and how to convince peers to see what the scientist wants them to see. For children, uncertainty supports engagement with materials, more purposeful science practice, and deeper conceptual understanding, yet classroom investigations typically reflect little of the uncertainty that scientists grapple with. How can we move past cookbook science investigations and provide the support that teachers and students need for more complex work?

This book introduces a framework describing specific forms of science activity, shares stories of children engaging with uncertainty, and provides practical supports to help K–12 teachers deepen their science teaching practice. The text includes tools for building classroom norms, planning and adapting investigations, leading discussions, and designing student sheets and other forms of support. The framework, tools, and examples are drawn from research conducted in partnership with elementary teachers and instructional leaders and have been applied in secondary science classrooms as well.

Book Features:

• A new way of building engagement and supporting science practice through centering uncertainty, an essential human and scientific experience.
• Inspiring examples of students engaging in science practices, developed with teacher collaborators.
• A suite of tools to support the design, adaptation, and implementation of rich investigations for the science classroom.
• Sample classroom dialogue showing how teachers can facilitate student discussions that foster and build from uncertainty.
• A companion website with additional investigations, real classroom case studies, and helpful resources and tools (investigationsproject.org).

Eve Manz is an associate professor of science education at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. She has received the 2019 NARST Early Career Research Award and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. Collaborators on the book include elementary teachers and coaches and doctoral researchers with expertise in language, classroom culture, and secondary school science teaching.

"This is an essential read for educators who want their students to take an active role in purpose-driven and authentic investigations. Each chapter provides classroom-tested tools for helping young learners explore alternative ways of testing ideas, make sense of ambiguity in outcomes, and explain phenomena that matter to them."
—Mark Windschitl, professor of science education, University of Washington

“The voices of children and teachers enliven Productive Uncertainty in Science Education, and Manz's writing is clear and engaging. Each chapter presents tools, frameworks, principles, and strategies—and lots of examples—to help educators move toward this inspiring vision of science instruction.”
—Elizabeth A. Davis, professor, Marsal Family School of Education, University of Michigan

“With grounded, useful tools and rich stories of practice, this fascinating book explores how identifying and grappling with uncertainty can make science investigations a meaningful process of figuring out in a classroom community. Its accessible tools invite teachers, researchers, and designers to bring these approaches to life in their own classrooms.”
—Brian J. Reiser, Orrington Lunt Professor of Learning Sciences, Northwestern University

Contents

Preface  ix

1.  The Power of Uncertainty in Classroom Science  1

Uncertainty Is Inherent to Scientists’ and Engineers’ Work  4

Uncertainty Supports Students’ Learning  5

Challenges to Incorporating Uncertainty in Science Learning  9

Our Approach to Incorporating Productive Uncertainty in Science Investigations  11

How the Book Will Help You Understand and Take Up This Approach  14

Summary and Getting Started  15

2.  Uncertainty in Science Investigations  17

What Are Science Investigations?  17

The Investigations Framework  20

How Students Experience and Express Uncertainty  31

The Meeting Points of the Investigations Framework and Students’ Uncertainty  33

Summary  36

3.  Conditions That Foster Productive Uncertainty  42

Moving Beyond an All-or-Nothing Approach: Principles for Working With Uncertainty in Investigations  42

Teacher Practice in a Moment of Uncertainty  50

Teacher Dispositions  51

Putting It Together: Returning to the Maple Seed  56

Summary  60

4.  Developing a Caring and Collective Classroom Culture  61
With Annabel Stoler

Uncertainty in Action  62

Classroom Culture  65

Classroom Norms That Support a Caring and Collective Classroom Culture  69

Introducing, Using, and Refining Norms to Support a Caring and Collective Classroom Culture  73

Summary  79

5.  Helping Children Plan and Conduct Science Investigations  81
With Annabel Stoler

Uncertainty in Action  82

Opportunities and Challenges in Planning and Conducting Investigations  84

Supporting Students Planning Science Investigations  87

Classroom Examples of Planning Investigations  94

Supporting Students Conducting Investigations  100

Summary  104

6.  Working With Observations and Data  106

Uncertainty in Action  107

Opportunities and Challenges in Working With Observations and Data  110

Supporting Students Working With Observations, Measurements, and Data  113

Classroom Examples of Supporting Observations and Data  120

Making Claims in Light of Variability in Data  128

Summary  129

7.  Making Sense of Evidence From Investigations  130

Uncertainty in Action  131

Opportunities and Challenges in Making Sense of Investigations  133

Supporting Students Making Sense of Evidence From an Investigation  136

A Classroom Example  147

Summary  156

8.  Explanations and Resources for Explanation  158

Uncertainty in Action  158

Opportunities and Challenges in Developing Explanations  162

Supporting Students Developing Explanations of Phenomena  166

A Classroom Example: Explanation in the Conservation of Matter Investigation  177

Summary  184

9.  Putting the Pieces Together  186

Learn to See and Value Uncertainty  186

Adapt an Investigation for Uncertainty  188

Learn With and From Students  194

Acknowledgments  197

References  199

Index  203

About the Author  209