Kevin D. Finson – författare

Visual Data in Science Education builds upon previous work done by the editors to bring some definition to the meaning of visual data as it relates to education, and highlighted the breadth of types and uses of visual data across the major academic disciplines. In this book, the editors have brought this focus specifically to science education through the contributions of colleagues in the field who actively research about and engage in teaching with visual data. The book begins by examining how the brain functions with respect to processing visual data, then explores models of conceptual frameworks, which then leads into how related ideas are actuated in education settings ranging from elementary science classrooms to college environments. As a whole, this book fosters a more coherent image of the multifaceted process of science teaching and learning that is informed by current understandings of science knowledge construction, the scientific enterprise, and the millennium student as they relate to visual data.

This book is the first volume of an attempt to capture and record some of the answers to these questions—either from the pioneers themselves or from those persons who worked most closely with them. We know there are many pioneers and early trailblazers who are not included in this volume, but there are other volumes to follow. As we have posed questions, rummaged through files and oft-neglected books, and probed the memories of many individuals, we have come to realize our list of true pioneers is ever growing. There are names on the list that most of us readily recognize, and there are names of whom few of us have heard—yet who were significant in their roles as mentors or idea development and teaching. We quickly discovered that the “family tree” showing connections between these people is not a neat, clean simple branching tree, but is more like spaghetti. The connections are many, are intertwined, and all have their significance. The stories in this volume demonstrate how vital this network was in supporting the individual pioneers during their journey in difficult times and continues to be for those of us today in our own enterprise.

This book examines visual data use with students (PK-16) as well as in pre-service in- service science teacher preparation. Each chapter includes discussion about the current state of the art with respect to science classroom application and utilization of the particular visual data targeted by the author(s), discussion and explanation about the targeted visual data as applied by the author in his/her classroom, use of visual data as a diagnostic tool, its use as an assessment tool, and discussion of implications for science teaching and/or science teacher preparation.

Although the body of research and practice in this field is growing, there remains a gap in the literature about clearly explicating the use of visual data in the science classroom. A growing body of literature discusses what visual data are (although this topic is still viewed as being at the beginning of its development in educators’ thinking), and there are some scattered examples of studies exploring the use of visual data in science classrooms, although those studies have not necessarily clearly identified their foci as visual data, per se. As interest and attention has become more focused on visual data, a logical progression of questioning has been how visual data are actually applied in the science classroom, whether it be early elementary, college, or somewhere in between. Visual data applications of interest to the science education community include how it is identified, how it can be used with students and how students can generate it themselves, how it can be employed as a diagnostic tool in concept development, and how it can be utilized as an assessment tool. This book explores that, as well as a variety of pragmatic ways to help science educators more effectively utilize visual data and representations in their instruction.

"Who were the pioneers in science education, and what motivated them to do what they did?" This book is the second volume of an attempt to capture and record some of the answers to these questions—either from the pioneers themselves or from those persons who worked most closely with them. As with the first volume, we have attempted to include as many pioneers as possible, but we know that there are still many that are not included in this or the previous volume. As we have posed questions, rummaged through files and oft-neglected books, and probed the memories of many individuals, we have come to realize our list of true pioneers is ever growing.

As we consider our list of pioneers, we know that there are names on the list that most of us readily recognize. We also fully realize that there are names of whom few of us have heard—yet who were significant in their roles as mentors or idea development and teaching. We continue to be impressed with our science education “family tree” ever branching out to more individuals and connections. The stories in this volume continue to demonstrate how vital this network was in supporting the individual pioneers during their journey in difficult times and continues to be for those of us today in our own enterprise.