Constructing understanding in science

I will be researching how students construct understanding in science, but for this post I'll be primarily focusing on how the absence of learning theories can affect the understanding of a student.

After discussing and analyzing the differences in student thinking, I now realize that most of my science experiences in grade school consisted of lower level discussions, activities and exams. Just as I did, most students use memorization skills to "learn" a concept (Berger, 2003). So, how can we apply this "learned" concept to other ideas? For most of us, we can't. Important, theoretical learning ideas such as: active mental engagement, concrete to abstract models and Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) are left out during activities like memorization.

Students can apply concepts more successfully when they have a deeper understanding of that concept. A deeper understanding entails assimilation and accommodation of new information into a student's existing schema (Kruse, 2009). The idea of assimilation and accommodation can be achieved by presenting a new concept in a concrete manner, and then progressively moving that same concept in an abstract direction; repeating this process if a student still doesn't understand. Questions, discussions and activities will be determined from observations of the class, made by the teacher.

Applying learning theories can better inform teacher instruction and help students achieve a deeper level of understanding for a concept (Kruse, 2009). Once connections and relationships are made between the learner and concept, application of the concept can be applied to a variety of areas by the learner (Berger, 2003).

References:

Berger, C.  F.,  &  Czerniak, C.  M.,  &  Krajcik, J.  K. (2003). Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School Classrooms: A Project-Based Approach. New York, New York: Mc-Graw Hill.

Kruse, J (2009).  Iowa Science Teachers Journal. Learning theories: Pillars of Teacher Decision-Making,  2 (36),  2-7.