Scientific Process Mapping: Documenting Student Experiences in Open Inquiry K-12 STEM Curricula

Research scientists understand the complexity of the scientific process and that new questions and discoveries result from continuous data analysis, self-reflection, and peer review. Students often fail to grasp this complexity and instead treat the scientific process as a linear progression wherein a question leads to a hypothesis that is tested via an experiment with (predicted) results and conclusions that are published. As part of an NSF GK-12 project, we explored how independent scientific investigations developed in middle and high school classrooms using a scientific process mapping strategy. Mapping the scientific process helps students visualize the progress they have made towards their research goals and understand what must be accomplished to answer their scientific questions. We are developing interactive electronic versions of scientific process maps for student use in the classroom that will also allow educators to summarize and compare student learning progress and pathways in open inquiry curricula among participating schools and grade levels. The process maps track student progress through an open inquiry curricula during which graduate student fellows and classroom teachers facilitated the development and execution of independent research projects. Students worked collaboratively to develop their research questions, design and execute their experiments, analyze data and present and discuss their findings with mentors and peers. Through this process, students become familiar with the complexities of conducting scientific research and learn to think and act like scientists. All students experience five main components of the scientific process: exploration and discovery, gathering data, interpreting data, receiving and giving feedback, and reflecting on benefits and outcomes of their research. After the completion of student projects, scientific process mapping serves as a tool to illustrate individual pathways through the scientific process and summarize similarities and differences among student experiences while conducting scientific investigations.