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GORDON ELDRIDGE: LESSONS IN LEARNING

Teaching the Skills of Scientific Observation

By Gordon Eldridge, TIE Columnist
10-Sep-15


Children are natural observers, right? That is how they go about learning about the world around them. However everyday observation is significantly different from the kind of observation skills necessary for success in science.
Trumbull, Bonney, and Grudens-Schuck (2005) investigated the use of Cornell Ornithology Lab’s Classroom Feeder watch curriculum. The idea was simple: students would place bird feeders around the school grounds and make systematic observations. They would thus learn about birds through conducting authentic inquiry.
Evaluations at the end of the inquiry, however, revealed that students had gained no disciplinary knowledge, nor had they learned anything about the process of inquiry. Observation had been conceived of as a simple skill, when real scientific observation is far from simple.
So what is the difference between everyday observation and scientific observation? Eberbach and Crowley reviewed research into science education and developmental psychology to examine what it means to observe within a disciplinary context.
They propose a framework that hypothesizes how learners move from being everyday observers to developing practices more consistent with the needs of scientific observation. The framework that grew out of their research review identifies four components of observation that need to be developed. They investigated the difference between novices and experts in relation to each of these components, and produced a continuum that could be used to assess learner proficiency and develop classroom experiences to guide students towards increasing expertise as observers.
The observation framework
The dimensions along which novices and experts were found to vary with regard to observation skills were:
1. The types of things that were noticed.
2. The expectations and preconceptions (including misconceptions) the observer brought with them to the task.
3. The ways in which observations were recorded or not recorded.
4. The dispositions of the observer towards observation and the phenomenon being observed.
The framework is designed around the observation of birds, but could easily be made more generic to assess and plan for the teaching of observation skills in general. [TIE readers may contact Mr. Eldridge for a copy of his adapted Observation Framework.]
So what does this mean for our classrooms?
The researchers note that too often, observation is treated as a “general everyday skill that requires little more than noticing and describing surface features” (p. 40). The framework gives the basis for recognizing, assessing, and planning for explicit teaching of the skills necessary for students to become proficient observers in the realm of science.
One of the key findings of this research was that a movement across this continuum of skills was less dependent on developmental concerns than on the level of knowledge of the observer.
It is not the case that young children are incapable of working beyond the novice levels. In a study where five-year-olds were observing shorebirds, Johnson and Mervis (1994) found that as the children’s knowledge of shorebirds grew, so did their ability to notice and compare multiple features, and to make relevant inferences about behavior related to the features they had observed.
Thus if we are to support our students in becoming proficient in scientific observation, we must give them opportunities and support in developing the skills outlined in this framework, and we must do it in a knowledge-rich environment.
In short, students must be prepared for and supported in their observations if they are to use them to reason as young scientists.
The study
Eberbach, C. and Crowley, K. (2009). “From Everyday to Scientific Observation: How Children Learn to Observe the Biologist’s World.” Review of Educational Research 79 1, pp. 39-68.
Other references
Johnson, K. E. and Mervis, C. B. (1994). “Microgenetic Analysis of First Steps in Children’s Acquisition of Expertise on Shorebirds. Developmental Psychology 30, pp. 418-435.
Trumbull, D., Bonney, R., and Grudens-Schuck, N. (2005). “Developing Materials to Promote Inquiry: Lessons Learned.” Science Education 89, pp. 1-22.




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