;
Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016
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classroom observation protocols in science education center primarily on
what and how the teacher is teaching and give scant attention to what the
students are actually doing (Sawada & Piburn, 2000; Minner & DeLisi, 2012).
This research was focused solely on the behavior of students.
The content items of the Student Inquiry Review are based upon the
science and engineering practices developed in A Framework for K-12
Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (NRC,
2012). These eight components define how inquiry should be conducted in K-
12 classrooms. The emphasis in the Framework is on students actually
employing the practices rather than reading about scientists using them or
watching the teacher model the practices.
Participants were observed two or three times in 30 minute time blocks
during the inquiry periods of the camp. During the observation, the observers
noted every five minutes what the participant was doing in terms of the eight
categories of the SIR. Additional data were collected by examining the
students' written research notebooks, and observing student presentations of
their findings. Researchers asked the students informal questions while the
students were working to clarify what the students were doing and why. Many
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