Characterizing Integrated Learning of Disciplinary Core Ideas and Science Practices in a Computational Thinking (CT)–Integrated Biology Curriculum

Calls for science education reforms emphasize integrated learning of science practices and disciplinary ideas established using those practices. In this paper, we present a novel approach to model and analyze student participation in Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) and learning of Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) in a Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)–aligned curricular unit. We studied student participation and learning in a Computational Thinking (CT)–integrated biology unit about natural selection taught in an urban under-resourced high school. Students (n = 88) designed and conducted different experiments using an agent-based computational model and answered questions about their experimental investigations. Using Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA), we analyzed student responses (n = 2026) to model and investigate connections among DCIs and SEPs, which we call epistemic connections. An aggregate-level analysis of the centroids of networks of epistemic connections shows statistically significant clusters indicating differences in participation in practices and ideas in different lessons. The detailed analysis of the epistemic connections in networks of two students and their written responses showed how various kinds of participation in science practices supported students in making sense of disciplinary ideas, and their engagement in disciplinary ideas reciprocally supported the refinement of science practices. Ours demonstrates the usefulness of analyzing students’ epistemic connections using ENA to investigate their integrated learning of practices and disciplinary ideas. We discuss the implications of such analysis for improving curricular designs and instructional strategies and studying student learning in NGSS-aligned curricular units.