Explicit Instruction of Scientific Uncertainty in an Undergraduate Geoscience Field-Based Course
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21585828 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kathryn M Bateman (0000-0002-2517-2816, Temple University, corresponding author), Cristina G Wilson (0000-0002-9639-2752, Moore College of Art and Design), Randolph T Williams (0000-0002-1160-8842, University of Wisconsin System), Basil Tikoff (0000-0001-6022-7002, University of Wisconsin System), Thomas F Shipley (0000-0001-8397-2486, Temple University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1541-1566 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Science & Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0926-7220 • E-ISSN: 1573-1901 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11191-022-00345-z |
| PMID | 35578695 |
| OpenAlex | W4280514792 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 55 |
Understanding and communicating uncertainty is a key skill needed in the practice of science. However, there has been little research on the instruction of uncertainty in undergraduate science education. Our team designed a module within an online geoscience field course which focused on explicit instruction around uncertainty and provided students with an uncertainty rating scale to record and communicate their uncertainty with a common language. Students then explored a complex, real-world geological problem about which expert scientists had previously made competing claims through geologic maps. Provided with data, expert uncertainty ratings, and the previous claims, students made new geologic maps of their own and presented arguments about their claims in written form. We analyzed these reports along with assessments of uncertainty. Most students explicitly requested geologists’ uncertainty judgments in a post-course assessment when asked why scientists might differ in their conclusions and/or utilized the rating scale unprompted in their written arguments. Through the examination of both pre- and post-course assessments of uncertainty and students’ course-based assessments, we argue that explicit instruction around uncertainty can be introduced during undergraduate coursework and could facilitate geoscience novices developing into practicing geoscientists
Coursework · Data science · Earth science · Geography · Mathematics education · Cognitive Science and Education Research · Computer Science · Engineering · Mathematics · Psychology · Science Education and Pedagogy · Seismology and Earthquake Studies · Geology
Grounded theory in practice
The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers
Supporting teachers to negotiate uncertainty for science, students, and teaching
Communicating scientific uncertainty
Addressing Challenges to Public Understanding of Science
Examining Classroom Science Practice Communities
Managing uncertainty in scientific argumentation
Representing Student Argumentation as Functionally Emergent From Scientific Activity
Addressing the epistemic elephant in the room
All Other Things Being Equal
Using students’ epistemic uncertainty as a pedagogical resource to develop knowledge in argumentation
Dialogic Pathways to Manage Uncertainty for Productive Engagement in Scientific Argumentation
Ethnography
Expressing Uncertainty in Computer-Mediated Discourse
Methodological and Epistemic Differences between Historical Science and Experimental Science
Dilemmas in a general theory of planning
Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning
Sociological Work
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |