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Beyond “asking questions”: Problematizing as a disciplinary activity
Author(s) -
Phillips Anna McLean,
Watkins Jessica,
Hammer David
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.21477
Subject(s) - next generation science standards , discipline , construct (python library) , science education , sociology , work (physics) , engineering ethics , nature of science , epistemology , pedagogy , mathematics education , psychology , social science , computer science , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , programming language
Abstract The Next Generation Science Standards states that “science begins with a question.” (NGSS Lead States [2013] Next generation science standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: National Academies Press). Yet scientific inquiry among students and scientists alike often begins without a clear question. In this article, we describe problematizing as the intellectual work to identify, articulate, and motivate a gap or inconsistency in a community's or one's own current understanding. We describe problematizing in professional science to show how it is central to disciplinary practices of science. We then present an episode of fifth‐grade students’ problematizing, as a detailed illustration of the construct and as an example of evidence that students can engage in this work. Through these two approaches, we show problematizing is central to the disciplinary practice of science and that it is a part of students’ engagement. We further show that it is missing from the description of practices in the Next Generation Science Standards. Lastly, we make recommendations for research on student problematizing, for revisions to the Standards, and for instruction.