Abstract
Given the central place IT-based research tools take in scientific research, the marginal role such tools currently play in science curricula is dissatisfying from the perspective of making students scientifically literate. To appropriately frame the role of IT-based research tools in science curricula, we propose a framework that is developed to understand the use of tools in human activity, namely cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT). Accordingly, IT-based research tools constitute central moments of scientific research activity and neither can be seen apart from its objectives, nor can it be considered apart from the cultural-historical determined forms of activity (praxis) in which human subjects participate. Based on empirical data involving students participating in research activity, we point out how an appropriate account of IT-based research tools involves subjects’ use of tools with respect to the objectives of research activity and the contribution to the praxis of research. We propose to reconceptualize the role of IT-based research tools as contributing to scientific literacy if students apply these tools with respect to the objectives of the research activity and contribute to praxis of research by evaluating and modifying the application of these tools. We conclude this paper by sketching the educational implications of this reconceptualized role of IT-based research tools.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993). Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Oxford University Press, New York
Atkin J. M., Karplus R. (1962). Discovery or invention? The Science Teacher 29:45–51
Barton R. (1993). Computers and practical science: Why isn’t everyone doing it? School Science Review 75(271): 75–86
Barton R. (2004). Teaching Secondary Science with ICT. Open University Press, Maidenhead
Benson D. A., Karsch-Mizrachi I., Lipman D. J., Ostell J., Wheeler D. L. (2006) GenBank. Nucleic Acids Research 34:D16–D20
Bereiter C. (1985). Towards a solution of the learning paradox Review of Educational Research 55: 201–226
Brown J. S., Collins A., Duguid P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher 18: 32–42
Bruce B. C., Levin J. A. (1997). Educational technology: Media for inquiry, communication, construction, and expression. Journal of Educational Computing Research 17: 79–102
Burge C., Karlin S. (1997). Prediction of complete gene structures in human genomic DNA. Journal of Molecular Biology 268:78–94
Cheney D. W. (2003). Implications of Information Technologies in Geo- and Bio-Sciences: A Literature Review. SRI International, Silver Spring, MD
DeHart Hurd P. (1998). Scientific literacy: New minds for a changing world. Science Education 82: 407–416
Duit R. (2006). Bibliography STCSE: Students’ and Teachers’ Conceptions and Science Education, retrieved June 9, 2006, from Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften Web site: http://www.ipn.uni- kiel.de/aktuell/stcse/stcse.html, Universität Kiel, Kiel
Edelson D. C. (2001). Learning-for-use: A framework for the design of technology-supported inquiry activities. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 38: 355–385
Edelson D. C., Gordon D. N., Pea R. D. (1999). Addressing the challenge of inquiry-based learning. Journal of the Learning Sciences 8: 392–450
Elwess N., Latourelle S., Cauthorn O. (2005). Visualising ‘junk’ DNA through bioinformatics. Journal of Biological Education 39: 76–80
Fraser, B. J. (1990). Individualized classroom environment questionnaire, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne
Hodson D. (1999). Going beyond cultural pluralism: Science education for sociopolitical action. Science Education 83: 775–796
Kaput J., Roschelle J. (1998). The mathematics of change and variation from a millennial perspective: New content, new context In Hoyles, C., Morgan, C., and Woodhouse, G. (Eds.), Rethinking the Mathematics Curriculum, Falmer Press, London, UK, pp. 155–170
Kuhn T. S. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL
Kuutti K. (1996) Activity theory as a potential framework for human–computer interaction research. In Nardi, B. (Ed.), Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human–Computer Interaction, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 17–44
Latour B. (1987). Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Lave J. (1988). Cognition in Practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Leont’ev A. N. (1978). Activity, Consciousness, and Personality. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Linn M. C., Hsi S. (2000). Computers, Teachers, and Peers: Science Learning Partners. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
Linn M. C., diSessa A., Pea R. D., Songer N. B. (1994). Can research on science learning and instruction inform standards for science education? Journal of Science Education and Technology 3: 7–15
Linn M. C., Clark D. B., Slotta J. D. (2003). WISE design for knowledge integration. Science Education 87: 517–538
McFarlane A., Sakellariou S. (2002). The role of ICT in science education. Cambridge Journal of Education 32: 219–232
Nardi B. (1996). Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human–Computer Interaction. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
National Research Council. (1996). National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press
Nemirovsky R., Tierney C., Wright T. (1998). Body motion and graphing. Cognition and Instruction 16: 119–172
Newton L. R. (1997). Graph talk: Some observations and reflections on students’ datalogging. School Science Review 79(287): 49–54
Newton L. R. (1998). Gathering data: Does it make sense? Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education 7: 381–396
Newton L. R. (2000). Datalogging in practical science: Research and reality. International Journal of Science Education 22: 1247–1259
Newton L. R., Rogers L. (2001). Teaching Science with ICT. Continuum, London, UK
Ofsted. (2001). ICT in Schools: The Impact of Government Initiatives, An Interim Report, April 2001, Office for Standards in Education, London, UK
Ogren P. J., Deibel M., Kelly I., Mulnix A. B., Peck C. (2004). Web camera use in developmental biology, molecular biology & biochemistry laboratories. American Biology Teacher 66: 57–63
Osborne J., Hennessy S. (2003). Literature Review in Science Education and the Role of ICT: Promise, Problems and Future Directions. NESTA Futurelab, Bristol, UK
Papanastasiou E. C., Zembylas M., Vrasidas C. (2003). Can computer use hurt science achievement? The USA results from PISA. Journal of Science Education and Technology 12: 325–332
Rea J. G., Irwin S. W. B. (2001). Fun with Flukes: The use of ICT in the study of larval trematode behaviour. Journal of Biological Education 36: 35–41
Rogers L. (1997). New datalogging tools – new investigations. School Science Review 79(287): 61–68
Rogers L. T., Wild P. (1996). Datalogging: Effects on practical science. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 12: 130–145
Roschelle J. (1996) Designing for cognitive communication: Epistemic fidelity or mediating collaborating inquiry. In Day, D. L., and Kovacs, D. K. (Eds.), Computers, Communication & Mental Models, Taylor & Francis London, UK, pp. 13–25
Roth W.-M. (1992). Bridging the gap between school and real life: Toward an integration of science, mathematics, and technology in the context of authentic practice. School Science and Mathematics 92: 307–317
Roth W.-M. (2002). Taking science education beyond schooling. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education 2: 37–48
Roth W.-M. (2003a) Toward an Anthropology of Graphing – Semiotic And Activity-Theoretic Perspectives. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Roth W.-M. (2003b). Scientific literacy as an emergent feature of human practice. Journal of Curriculum Studies 35: 9–24
Roth W.-M. (2006) Learning Science: A Singular Plural Perspective. SensePublishers, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Roth, W.-M. (in press). Toward a dialectical notion and praxis of scientific literacy. Journal of Curriculum Studies
Roth W.-M., Calabrese Barton A. (2004). Rethinking Scientific Literacy Routledge, New York
Russell D. W., Lucas K. B., McRobbie C. J. (2004). Role of the microcomputer-based laboratory display in supporting the construction of new understandings in thermal physics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 41: 165–185
Scaife J., Wellington J. (1993). Information Technology in Science and Technology Education. Open University Press Buckingham, UK
Selwyn N. (1999). Why the computer is not dominating schools: A failure of policy or a failure of practice? Cambridge Journal of Education 29: 77–91
Stothard P. (2000). The sequence manipulation suite: JavaScript programs for analyzing and formatting protein and DNA sequences. Biotechniques 28: 1102–1104
Van Eijck, M. (2006). Teaching quantitative concepts with ICT in pre-university biology education. The case of datalogging the heart (Doctoral dissertation, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2006), Eigen Beheer, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, available from http://dare.uva.nl/en/record/193143
Vygotsky, L. (1976). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. In Bruner, J., Jolly, A., and Sylva, K. (Eds.), Play: It’s Role in Development and Evolution, Penguin Books, New York, pp. 461–463 (Original work published 1933)
Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and Language. The MIT Press, Boston (Original work published 1934)
Weller H. G. (1996). Assessing the impact of computer-based learning in science. Journal of Research on Computing in Education 28: 461–485
Wellington J. (1998). Practical Work in School Science: Which Way Now? Routledge, London, UK
Westbroek, H. B. (2005). Characteristics of Meaningful Chemistry Education. The Case of Water Quality (Doctoral dissertation, Universiteit Utrecht, 2005), CD-β Press Utrecht, available at http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2005-0922-200121/index.htm
Woolnough B. E. (1991). Practical Science, the Role and Reality of Practical Work in School Science. Open University Press Buckingham, UK
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported in part by the Centres for Research in Youth, Science Teaching and Learning (CRYSTAL) grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
van Eijck, M., Roth, WM. Rethinking the Role of Information Technology-Based Research Tools in Students’ Development of Scientific Literacy. J Sci Educ Technol 16, 225–238 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-007-9045-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-007-9045-7