Chapter 3: The Epistemic Climate of Mrs. M’S Science Lesson about the Woodlands as an Ecosystem: A Classroom-Based Research Study

Little is known about the epistemic nature of science lesson plans as they unfold in elementary classrooms. The epistemic nature of lesson plans is an interplay of many different components that are in part orchestrated by teachers and at times may develop a dynamic of their own. As such, epistemic climates emerge from components that reflect the nature of knowledge and processes of knowing when learning and instruction occurs. What is the epistemic climate of a classroom when a science lesson plan unfolds? What are the epistemic components, and how do they contribute to the epistemic underpinnings of a lesson plan? Answering these questions will provide insight into how students’ epistemic development might be influenced within the epistemic climate of the actual teaching and learning processes and suggest implications for improving classroom education and teacher training and development.