Chapter 6: Instructional Design Process

Science teachers whose epistemological beliefs are rooted in traditional pedagogies may understand the inherent benefits of constructivist open-inquiry in the classroom, but struggle with how to implement it. From data collected through observations, student artifacts, and focus group interviews, this qualitative action research study investigated how Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) aligned open inquiry tasks impacted my students’ engagement and conceptual understanding, as well as the transition in my epistemological beliefs. While I found that a complete epistemological shift in favor of constructivist pedagogies may not be possible without the use of traditional pedagogies to support the transition, I also learned that teachers must embrace the probability that student struggle is likely during constructivist learning tasks and is an expected part of the student learning process in constructivist classrooms. These findings have significant implications for science education practitioners wishing to enact epistemological change in favor of constructivism confidently and strategically.