探究教學對國中資優學生科學推理類型轉變之影響

The Influence of Inquiry-based Instruction on the Changes of Junior-high Gifted Students' Science Reasoning

學生以探究的方式學習科學，不但能發展出各種推理類型，並能增進推理能力，尤其是資優生，更適宜採探究教學來引導，以增進其推理能力。本研究目的在探討實施巢狀探究教學模式對於國中資優生的推理類型發展之影響，並分析其影響的因素。研究者選取中部某公立國中資優班（28 名學生），由該班科學教師在八年級至九年級上學期（一年半）於理化課程中進行巢狀探究教學。研究者選取九位同學課堂錄影轉錄的文字稿，以質性研究法分析課室中的對話內涵，探討學生科學推理類型在研究歷程中的轉變，並與其他資料（學習單、反思心得、研究者的教案設計、觀察札記、訪談紀錄）進行分析與比較之三角校正。研究發現，在探究教學情境下，資優生在第一階段只展現分析式與推論式的推理類型，在第二階段則展現分析式、推論式與對話式等較多推理類型，到了第三階段，更發展出分析式、推論式、對話式、評價式、統整式的多元推理類型。不但如此，個案學生亦能活用各種推理類型於探究活動中。其中，對話式推理一直占有相當比例，此類型的推理扮演促使學生發展各種類型推理基礎。對話與討論提供給資優生驗證自己想法、批判與思考他人意見的機會，這能增進學習者本身論證的信心，進而到達更高階推理的層次。本研究建議，教師應長期針對資優生進行探究教學，且應不斷地與學生對話並引導學生討論，如此，才能促進資優生運用推理進行科學探究。

Purpose: Inquiry-based teaching can improve the cognitive skills, learning motivation, and scientific achievements of students. However, few studies explore inquiry-based teaching's influence on gifted students, especially their scientific reasoning. Therefore, this study examines the effects of inquiry-based teaching on the development of scientific reasoning in gifted students from a junior high school. Methods: A gifted science class (28 gifted students) from a government school in central Taiwan was selected for this study. The first author who was also the science teacher for this class, applied NestInquiry teaching model (Tsai, Tuan & Chin, 2007) to this gifted science class from the first semester of eighth grade to the first semester of the ninth grade. Several topics from the science textbook were modified to fit the Nested-Inquiry teaching model: sound waves, distinguishing elements, reaction rates, acids, bases and salts, circular motion, work, and energy. The case teacher used inquiry-based teaching to help students familiarize themselves with science inquiry, conduct experiments, group discussion, data analysis, and communicate their findings. Nine gifted students were selected in this study to analyze their findings. There were various sources of data: classroom observation, videotaping of all the inquiry-based teaching, interviews of student groups after each inquirybased teaching, students' worksheets, students' reflections, and case teachers' lesson plans and reflection notes, videotaping of students' lab experiment skills test, and so on. We employed Halpern's (1996) argumentation criteria and Hogan and Fisherkeller's (1999) categories of scientific reasoning to analyze 9 students' data for the entire duration of the study period. Two researchers independently analyzed data and discussed their findings to reach a consensus (Erickson, 1986). Findings: This study revealed that the various types of students' reasoning (analytical, inferential, dialogical, evaluative, and integrative reasoning) gradually transformed during 3 stages of the study period. Students' reasoning patterns during inquiry activities possessed the following pattern during the first stage: analytic reasoning (47%), inferential reasoning (30%), and no reasoning (17%). Students' reasoning pattern during the second stage: no reasoning disappeared, analytic reasoning (43%), inferential reasoning (43%), and their dialogical reasoning (11%). Students' reasoning pattern during the third stage: analytic reasoning (32%), dialogical reasoning (22%), inferential reasoning (29%), evaluative reasoning (10%), and integrated reasoning (7%). Moreover, students also simultaneously displayed diverse reasoning forms. Dialogical reasoning was the underlying component that facilitated the competency of students' scientific reasoning. Conclusions/Implications: Investigating the impact of inquiry-based teaching on the development of scientific reasoning in gifted students from a junior high school was the purpose of this study. Findings indicate that long-term inquiry-based teaching can enhance gifted students' various reasoning performances. Dialogical reasoning can manifest during student-student interactions and teacher-student interactions. Students can develop higher-order reasoning abilities with dialogical reasoning. This study suggests that future science teachers implement longterm inquiry-based teaching to gifted classes to enhance the development of students' reasoning abilities.