Visible Learning for Science, Grades K-12: What Works Best to Optimize Student Learning

In the best science classrooms, teachers see learning through the eyes of their students, and students view themselves as explorers. But with so many instructional approaches to choose from - inquiry, laboratory, project-based learning, discovery learning - which is most effective for student success?

In Visible Learning for Science, the authors reveal that it's not which strategy, but when, and plot a vital K-12 framework for choosing the right approach at the right time, depending on where students are within the three phases of learning: surface, deep, and transfer. Synthesising state-of-the-art science instruction and assessment with over fifteen years of John Hattie's cornerstone educational research, this framework for maximum learning spans the range of topics in the life and physical sciences. Employing classroom examples from all grade levels, the authors empower teachers to plan, develop, and implement high-impact instruction for each phase of the learning cycle:

• Surface learning: when, through precise approaches, students explore science concepts and skills that give way to a deeper exploration of scientific inquiry.
• Deep learning: when students engage with data and evidence to uncover relationships between concepts - students think metacognitively, and use knowledge to plan, investigate, and articulate generalisations about scientific connections.
• Transfer learning: when students apply knowledge of scientific principles, processes, and relationships to novel contexts, and are able to discern and innovate to solve complex problems.

Visible Learning for Science opens the door to maximum-impact science teaching, so that students demonstrate more than a year's worth of learning for a year spent in school.

Table of Contents

List of Videos

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Introduction

Chapter 1. Science Learning Made Visible

• Visible Learning
• Surface, Deep, and Transfer
• Challenging Tasks
• Science Is More Than Demonstrations and Labs
• The Role of Social Skills in Science
• Teacher Clarity
• Conclusion
• Reflection Questions

Chapter 2. Science Surface Learning Made Visible

• Surface Learning in Science
• Selecting Science Tasks That Promote Surface Learning
• Surface Learning in Science Made Visible
• Scientific Processes and Thinking
• Feedback
• Conclusion
• Reflection Questions

Chapter 3. Science Deep Learning Made Visible

• Deep Learning in Science
• Selecting Science Tasks That Promote Deep Learning
• Deep Learning in Science Made Visible
• Scientific Processes and Thinking
• Feedback
• Conclusion
• Reflection Questions

Chapter 4. Science Transfer Learning Made Visible

• Transfer Learning
• Types of Transfer: Near and Far
• The Paths for Transfer: Low-Road Hugging and High-Road Bridging
• Managing Misconceptions
• Conditions Necessary for Transfer Learning
• Selecting Science Tasks That Promote Transfer Learning
• Helping Students Transform Scientific Understanding
• Scientific Processes and Thinking
• Feedback
• Conclusion
• Reflection Questions

Chapter 5. Science Learning Made Visible Through Evaluation

• Determining Impact
• Calculating the Effect Size
• Selecting Evaluations That Promote
• Response to Intervention in the Science Classroom
• Learning From What Doesn't Work
• Conclusion
• Reflection Questions

References

Index