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Transacting with autobiography to transform the learning and teaching of elementary science

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Abstract

This is an autobiographical case study that examines the multiple ways autobiography informed the restructuring of science education in my elementary classroom. I weave together the biographies of scientists captured in written text with the autobiographies of science students composed orally as they coparticipated in science investigations. Highlights of my own autobiography about learning that science is a tool for knowing are juxtaposed with narratives from college and elementary students whose childhood passions and worldviews framed their self-selected science inquiries. Using journals, transcriptions of interviews, and electronic mail archives, I document with thick description how I provided a voice to students and used their perspectives to construct a teaching framework for elementary science education.

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Correspondence to Judith A. McGonigal.

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McGonigal, J.A. Transacting with autobiography to transform the learning and teaching of elementary science. Research in Science Education 30, 75–88 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02461654

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