How Do Instructors Navigate Supporting Students in Authentic Science Practices?

Abstract

Implementation of inquiry-based laboratories and course-based undergraduate research experiences are working to bring authentic science practices into the classroom. Successful implementation of these courses has documented positive student outcomes, raising questions about what aspects of these experiences led to these observed successes. Specifically, the instructor’s role in successful implementation requires further investigation. Implementing these reformed courses requires instructors to take a fundamentally different approach to teaching and learning. With little being known about effective science practice-based teaching strategies, we focused our investigation on understanding the ways different instructors navigate supporting students in science practices. We first characterized instructor actions and intentions with instructors who had previously demonstrated positive student outcomes. We detailed the different ways these instructors flexibly adapted their instruction to support the individual needs of students. We additionally show the important role of instructor intentions in understanding the rationale behind teaching choices. Next, we considered the ways that instructors act as research mentors in the classroom. We applied the Classroom-Research-Mentor Framework as a novel lens to examine science practice-based instruction. We uncovered the ways our instructors used goals similar to that of a research mentor, such as “acknowledging their students as scientists” and “focusing their students on skills and ideas needed to solve biological problems.” We revealed the motivations that led our instructors to use the classroom research mentor approach, emphasizing the importance of these instructors’ valuing science. Finally, we investigated the ways that TAs navigated science practice-based instruction. We described TA task intentions behind modeling and experimental design practices, finding TAs prioritizing their students' authentic engagement in each task. Additionally, we described variations in the ways TAs approached implementation. TAs' implementation approach was found to be motivated by different factors, such as their previous experiences teaching or experiences carrying out scientific research. Across each study, we provide evidence for the ways different instructors approached science practice-based instruction.