JOURNALOFRESEARCHINSCIENCETEACHING Research Article InvestigatingaLearningProgressionforEnergyIdeasFromUpperElementary ThroughHighSchool Cari F. Herrmann-Abell andGeorgeE.DeBoer Project2061,AmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience,1200NewYorkAve.NW, Washington,DC20005 Received9September2016;Accepted7June2017 Abstract: Thisstudytestsahypothesizedlearningprogressionfortheconceptofenergy.Itlooksat14 specificideasunderthecategoriesof(i)EnergyFormsandTransformations;(ii)EnergyTransfer;(iii)Energy Dissipation and Degradation; and (iv) Energy Conservation. It then examines students’ growth of understandingwithineachoftheseideasatthreelevelsofincreasingconceptualcomplexity.Thebasiclevel ofthemodelfocusesonsimpleenergyrelationshipsandeasilyobservableeffectsofenergyprocesses;the intermediate level focuses on more complex energy concepts and applications; and the advanced level focuses on still more complex energy concepts, often requiring an atomic/molecular model to explain phenomena.Thestudyincludesresultsfrom359distractor-driven,multiple-choicetestitemsadministered to over 20,000 students in grades 4 through 12 from across the U.S. Rasch analysis provided linear measuresofstudentperformanceanditemdifficultyonthesamescale.Resultslargelysupportedamodelof students’growthofunderstandingthatprogressesfromanunderstandingofformsandtransformationsof energytoenergytransfertoconservationwhilealsoprogressingalongaseparatedimensionofcognitive complexity. An analysis of the current state of students’ understanding with respect to the knowledge identifiedinthelearningprogressionshowedthatelementarylevelstudentsperformwellincomparison toexpectationsbutthatmiddleandhighschoolstudents’performancedoesnotmeetexpectations. # 2017 WileyPeriodicals,Inc.JResSciTeach9999:XX–XX,2017 Keywords: energy;assessment;Raschanalysis;learningprogressions With the publication of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council[NRC],2012)andtheNextGenerationScienceStandards[NGSS](NGSSLeadStates, 2013),thefocusonlearningprogressionshastakenamoreprominentroleinscienceeducation research.TheNRC,inAFrameworkforK-12ScienceEducation,summarizestheroleoflearning progressionsinscienceeducationasfollows: Todevelopathoroughunderstandingofscientificexplanationsoftheworld,studentsneed sustainedopportunitiestoworkwithanddeveloptheunderlyingideasandtoappreciate thoseideas’interconnectionsoveraperiodofyearsratherthanweeksormonths.Thissense ofdevelopmenthasbeenconceptualizedintheideaoflearningprogressions.Ifmasteryofa Contractgrantsponsor:InstituteofEducationSciences;Contractgrantnumber:R305A120138. Correspondenceto:C.F.Herrmann-Abell;E-mail:[email protected] DOI10.1002/tea.21411 PublishedonlineinWileyOnlineLibrary(wileyonlinelibrary.com). #2017WileyPeriodicals,Inc. 2 HERRMANN-ABELLANDDEBOER coreideainasciencedisciplineistheultimateeducationaldestination,thenwell-designed learningprogressionsprovideamapoftheroutesthatcanbetakentoreachthatdestination (NRC,2012,p.26). Suchroadmapsarebasedonanexaminationofthestructureofknowledgeinaparticular domain as well as on research on how students learn in that domain. Inevitably, any learning progression that is described must be a distilled version of the incredibly complex network of associatedideasandpathsthatindividualstudentstakeastheymovetowardanunderstandingof science ideas. But, even so, these learning progressions have the potential to better organize instruction,curriculum,andassessmentacrossgradebandsbymovingawayfromconceptualizing scienceasdiscretepiecesofknowledgeandtowardamorecoherentstructureorganizedarounda focused set of core ideas (NRC, 2007). The learning progression approach brings attention to wherethestudentsarecomingfromandwheretheycurrentlyareintheirdevelopmentofscience understanding in order to better help them move along the progression on the way to science literacy.Whenpairedwithformativeassessments,learningprogressionsbecomepowerfultools forteacherstousetodiagnosegapsinunderstandingandtoinformthedevelopmentoftrajectories forfutureinstruction(Heritage,2008). Researchershavedescribedlearningprogressionsforphysicalsciencetopicssuchasmatter (e.g., Hadenfeldt, Neumann, Bernholt, Liu & Parchmann, 2016) and energy (e.g., Neumann, Viering,Boone,&Fischer,2013),earthsciencetopicssuchasthewatercycle(Forbes,Zangori,& Schwarz,2015)andclimatechange(e.g.,Breslyn,McGinnis,McDonald,&Hestness,2016),and lifesciencetopicssuchasgenetics(e.g.,Todd&Kenyon,2015)andecosystems(e.g.,Hokayem& Gotwals,2016).Inadditiontolearningprogressionsinthesecontentareas,researchershavealso describedlearningprogressionsforsciencepracticessuchasargumentation(e.g.,Osborneetal., 2016). For our purpose, learning progressions are descriptions of the order in which ideas that compriseacontentdomainaremostlikelytobeeffectivelylearned.Theydescribeacontinuumof successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about a concept that develops over time (AmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience[AAAS],2001,2007;Corcoran,Mosher, & Rogat, 2009; NRC, 2007). The upper level, or “upper anchor,” of a learning progression specifies the knowledge that instruction is ultimately building toward and that students are expectedtohaveinorderforthemtobeconsideredproficientinthatarea.Thelowerlevelsidentify productive“stepsalongtheway”thatstudentsshouldfollowonthepathtoproficiency. The starting point of a learning progression is typically referred to as its “lower anchor.” Fortheir elementary grades learning progression(grades 3,4, and5), Lacy,Tobin,Wiser,and Crissman(2014)usedtheknowledgethatstudentscometothirdgradewithastheirloweranchor. Althoughitistruethatgoodinstructionmusttakeintoaccountalltheideasthatyoungchildren bringtoschool,includingtheirmisconceptions,forassessmentpurposes,wefocusedourlower anchoronthecorrectideasthatstudentsareexpectedtohavebytheendofelementaryschool. Whencreatingalearningprogression,onebeginsbyconsideringthelogicalstructureofthe relevantdisciplinarydomain(i.e.,thefactthatsomeideasnecessarilydependonothers)aswellas the available research on students’ learning. Once articulated, the hypothesized progression is empiricallyvalidated.Typicalvalidationapproachesincludeeither(i)classroominterventionsto determine what students are capable of learning or (ii) cross-sectional studies that portray the currentstatusofwhatstudentsatdifferentlevelsknow(Duncan&Hmelo-Silver,2009). Thecurrentstudyfallsintothesecondcategory.Wearenottestingwhethergoodinstruction fromelementarythroughhighschoolwillproducethedesiredresults.Instead,wearetestingthe progressionofdifficultyoftheseideasasindicatedbystudentperformanceinanenvironmentof JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching LEARNINGPROGRESSIONFORENERGYIDEAS 3 typical instruction. We use the increasing difficultyof the ideas as an indicator of the order in which the ideas are learned. The study is based on student scores on 359 multiple choice assessmentitemsacrosstheenergyideasinourproposedlearningprogression. EnergyisacentraltopicintheK-12sciencecurriculum,withmanyapplicationsintheearth, physical,lifesciences,andinengineeringandtechnology.Therefore,itisimportanttoknowhow students’ thinking about energy develops so that they can be appropriately supported in their understandingofenergy.Thisstudyteststheorderinwhichfourbroadcategoriesofenergyideas, generallyconsideredtocomprisetheenergyconcept(Duit,2014),arelearned:(i)EnergyForms and Transformations; (ii) Energy Transfer; (iii) Energy Dissipation and Degradation; and (iv)EnergyConservation.Itthenexaminesstudents’growthofunderstandingofmorespecific ideaswithineachofthesecategoriesandacrossthreelevelsofincreasingconceptualcomplexity. Anumberofstudieshaveinvestigatedlearningprogressionsfortheenergyconcept(Liu& Collard,2005;Lee&Liu,2010;Liu&McKeough,2005).LiuandMcKeough(2005)usedthe responsesfromthreepopulationsofU.S.students(3rdand4thgraders,7thand8thgraders,and 12thgraders)to27multiple-choiceandshort-answeritemsfromtheTIMSSdatabase.Inafollow upstudy,LiuandCollard(2005)administeredthreeperformanceassessmentsto67studentsfrom one4thgradeclass,one8thgradeclass,andonehighschoolphysicsclassintheU.S.LeeandLiu (2010)selectedeightmultiple-choiceitemsandtwoexplanationitemsfromitemsetsreleasedby TIMSSandtheNationalAssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP)andtestedthemwith2,688 middle school students from across the U.S. Each of these studies concluded that students’ understandingofenergyprogressedthroughfourconceptualcategories.First,studentsperceive energy as activity or the ability to do work. As students’ understanding grows, they begin to distinguishdifferentenergysourcesandformsofenergy.Nextcomesanunderstandingofenergy transfer, followed by an awareness of energy degradation. Finally, at the upper level of the progression,studentsareabletoacceptthehighlyabstractideaofconservationofenergy. The approach that has been taken by researchers to validate this energy progression is to comparetherelativedifficultyofthefourenergycategories.Morerecently,researchershavebeen investigatingstudents’growthof understanding withineach categoryasaway tofinetunethe progression.Thisistypicallydonebylookingatconceptualcomplexityasaseparatedimension onwhichprogresscanbeobservedwithinthecontentcategories.Forexample,Neumannetal. (2013)designedanassessmentthattestedaprogressionofcomplexitywithineachoffourenergy categories(i.e.,forms,transfer,degradation,etc.),startingwithstudents’understandingoffacts, thenmovingtosimpleconnections,toqualifiedrelationships,andfinallytocomplexconcepts. Theyadministeredthisassessmentto1,856Germanstudentsin6ththrough10thgrades.Although their results did not support their proposed progression of conceptual complexity within each energy category, the results did show that students’ understanding progressed in a series of overlapping rather than discrete steps through the four energy categories This suggests that studentsmakeprogressbyunderstandingaspectsofmultipleandinterrelatedenergyconceptsat thesametime,notbymasteringoneconceptbeforemovingontothenext. Theideathatstudentsmakeprogressonmultipleinterconnectedpathwaysandnotinasimple linearwayisnotsurprising.Althoughlearningprogressionsmayseemtoimplyalinearsequence, witheachsubsequentideaintheprogressionbuildingoneachpreviousidea,knowledgeismuch more complex than that and is better characterized as multiple interwoven strands that create complexnetworksofideas.Andstudentlearningoftheseideasaddsanotherlayerofcomplexity becauseofthedifferencesintheexperiencesthateachstudentbringstotheclassroomandhow studentscreateknowledgefromthosevariedexperiences.Anumberofapproachestoensuring that students learn in this interconnected way include an emphasis on curriculum coherence (Roseman,Stern,&Koppal,2010)andknowledgeintegration(Linn,2006). JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching 4 HERRMANN-ABELLANDDEBOER Any proposed learning progression should acknowledge this complexity, both in how the upperanchorisenvisionedandhowthebuildingblocksorsteppingstonesreflectthenetworkof interconnectedideasthatleadtothatupperanchor.Forexample,theideathattherearedifferent waysinwhichenergymanifestsitselfishelpfulinunderstandingthatenergycanbetransferred fromoneplacetoanother,aswhenawoodfireisusedtoheattheairinaroom.Thethermalenergy oftheairhadtocomefromsomewhere.Itcamefromachemicalreactionbetweenthewoodand oxygeninwhichchemicalenergywastransformedintothermalenergyandtransferredtotheair. Asasecondexample,conservationofenergymayseemcounterintuitivewithoutunderstanding thatenergycanbetransferredortransformedandthatthedissipationofenergytothesurrounding environment accompanies all energy transfers and transformations. In fact, the idea of conservation of energy has been specifically identified as one that requires a high level of knowledgeintegration(Goldring&Osborne,1994;Lacyetal.,2014;Lee&Liu,2010). How Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Treats the Energy Concept Whenlayingouttheideasthatstudentsshouldlearnaboutenergyandthesequenceinwhich they should be learned, the Framework for K-12 Science Education and NGSS used a similar conceptual structure to that described by other researchers referenced in this paper. The Framework,inparticular,isclearthattheendgoalisthatstudentsappreciatethatasystem’stotal energyisconservedunlessenergyentersorleavesthesystem.Whenitappearsthatenergyhas beenlost,itisbecauseenergyhasleftthesystemeveniftheamountissmall.And,althoughnot explicitlystated,theFrameworkandNGSSgenerallybeginwithconcreteandfamiliarcontexts for elementary school students and move to more abstract and less familiar contexts in high school.ByexaminingthesequenceofideasinNGSSandtheFramework,itisalsoclearthatthe writersofthosedocumentsbelievethatstudentsshouldlearnaspectsoftheenergyconceptinan integratedmannerthroughoutthegradebands,beginninginelementaryschool. Compared to the work of other researchers, however, there are a number of places where the NGSS story is not as complete as it could be. The most notable example is that NGSS does not include the idea of dissipation at the elementary and middle grades (even though it is included at both those levels in the Framework). In other places an idea may be presented in elementary school and then not carried out through middle and high school, or an idea appears only at the high school level without having been introduced earlier. A full comparison of the way that NGSS treats the energy concept compared to what is proposed in this paper can be seen in Table 2. The learning progression that was tested in the work reported on here begins with the four major categories of energy concepts that other researchers have described (forms and transformations; transfer; dissipation and degradation; and conservation), and then elaborates on this conceptual structure by including five specific energy forms and six specific modes of energy transfer. Finally, it formalizes the use of concrete and familiar contexts at the early grades and abstract, often atomic/molecular contexts, at the upper level. The goal was to create and then test a fuller description of the energy construct than had been previously described, and to systematically vary the conceptual complexity within each idea. This was all possible because of the large number of items that we had developed (359) and the large number of students we were able to test (over 20,000). Our research had two main purposes. The first was to test the validity of the comprehensive progression of understanding of energy described in this paper. The second was to determine the current state of students’ understanding of that energy concept at three grade levels—upper elementary, middle, and high school. The study sought to answer the following specific questions: JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching LEARNINGPROGRESSIONFORENERGYIDEAS 5 1) Towhatextentdotheresultsofourstudysupportthecurrentlyestablishedlearning progressionforenergyacrossfourbroadcategoriesofenergyconcepts? 2) Towhatextentdotheresultsofourstudysupportthecurrentlyestablishedlearning progressionacrossfourbroadenergycategorieswhendataareanalyzedatthelevelof specificideaswithinthosecategories? 3) To what extent do the results of our study support a hypothesized progression of understanding across three levels of conceptual complexity for each of the specific energyideas? 4) How are students currently performing at each grade band with respect to the expectationsdescribedinthehypothesizedlearningprogression? Methodology Defining the Construct for an Energy Learning Progression Asalreadynoted,theconceptofenergyistypicallyseparatedintofourcategories:(i)Energy FormsandTransformations,theideathatenergymanifestsitselfindifferentforms,suchaskinetic energyandgravitationalpotentialenergy,thatcanbeconvertedfromonetoanother;(ii)Energy Transfer,theideathatenergycanbetransferredfromonelocationtoanotherindifferentways; (iii) Energy Dissipation and Degradation, the idea that whenever energy is transformed or transferredsomeenergyisalsotransferredtotheenvironmentasthermalenergy;and(iv)Energy Conservation,theideathatthetotalamountofenergyinasystemremainsconstantunlessenergy is added to or released from the system. It was on those four broad conceptual categories that studentunderstandingwasassessed. For two of the categories—Energy Forms and Transformations and Energy Transfer—we further defined the specific ideas that make up those categories. For the Energy Forms and Transformations category, we identified and assessed student understanding of five forms of energyalongwiththeideaofenergytransformationitself,andweexpandedtheEnergyTransfer categoryintosixspecificmechanismsofenergytransfer.Theformsofenergyinclude(i)kinetic energy, the energy associated with motion; (ii) thermal energy, the energy associated with temperature; (iii) gravitational potential energy, the energy associated with distance from the centeroftheearth;(iv)elasticpotentialenergy,theenergyassociatedwiththestretching,bending, ortwistingofanelasticobject;and(v)chemicalenergy,theenergyassociatedwitharrangements ofatomsinachemicalreactionsystem.EnergyTransformations,thatis,theconversionofoneof theseformsofenergyintoanother,makesupthesixthideainthiscategory.TheEnergyTransfer categoryincludes(i)conduction,thetransferofenergyduetotemperaturedifferencesbetween objectsincontact;(ii)convection,thetransferofenergyduetothemovementofliquidsorgases; (iii)radiation,thetransferofenergybyelectromagneticwaves;(iv)mechanicalenergytransfer, thetransferofenergybyforcesexertedbyoneobjectonanother;(v)thetransferofenergyby sound;and(vi)electricaltransfer,thetransferofenergyinacompleteelectricalcircuit.Thisgives us a total of 14 specific ideas in our energy construct: five forms of energy ideas, one energy transformationidea,sixenergytransferideas,oneenergydissipation/degradationidea,andone conservationofenergyidea(seeTable1). For each of the energy ideas described above,three levels of conceptual complexity were specified. At the basic level, students were expected to be able to think about the most easily observableaspectsofenergy—objectswithmorethermalenergyarewarmer,objectswithmore motionenergymovefaster—andtorecognizeobviouseffectsofsimpleenergyprocesses—arock droppedfromagreaterheightwilldomoredamagethanonedroppedfromalowerheight.Atthe JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching 6 HERRMANN-ABELLANDDEBOER Table1 Energyideas targetedbythe assessment items IdeasAbout the Forms ofEnergy IdeasAboutEnergyTransfer Other EnergyIdeas Kineticenergy Transferringenergybyconduction Energyconservation Thermalenergy Transferringenergybyconvection Energydissipation&degradation Gravitationalpotentialenergy Transferringenergybyradiation Elasticpotentialenergy Transferringenergybyforces Chemicalenergy Transferringenergyelectrically Energytransformations Transferringenergybysound nextlevel,theintermediatelevel,studentswereexpectedtobefamiliarwithlesseasilyobservable aspectsofenergy—thermal energyisrelated tobothtemperatureandmass—and tobe ableto explainenergy-relatedphenomenaorevaluateenergyapplicationsusingmorecomplexenergy concepts. At the highest level, the advanced level, students were expected to understand even more complex and abstract energy concepts, often requiring an atomic/molecular model to explainphenomena.Forexample,studentswereexpectedtoknowthatthethermalenergyofan objectalsodependsontherandommotionofitsatomsandmolecules. Manyenergyideascaneasilybeplacedintothreedistinctlevelsofconceptualcomplexity. Forexample,atthebasiclevelstudentscan beexpected toknowthatthemotionenergyofan objectisrelatedtoitsobservablespeed;attheintermediateleveltheycanbeexpectedtoknowthat themotionenergyofanobjectisrelatedtoitsmassaswellasitsspeed;andattheadvancedlevel, theycanbeexpectedtoknowthattherelationshipbetweenspeed,mass,andmotionenergyisnon- linear.Inthecaseofconduction,atthebasiclevelstudentscanbeexpectedtoknowthatwhena warmerobjectisplacedincontactwithacoolerobject,thewarmerobjectwillgetcoolerandthe cooler objectwillget warmer.Atthenextleveltheycan beexpectedtoknow thatconduction occursbecauseenergyistransferredfromthewarmerobjecttothecoolerone.Atthehighestlevel studentscanbeexpectedtoknowthatthisenergyistransferredbytherandomcollisionsofatoms andmoleculesthatmakeuptheobjects.Forgravitationalpotentialenergy,atthebasiclevelidea studentscanbeexpectedtoknowthatthehigheranobjectisabovetheearth,themoreenergyithas andthemoreimpactitwillhavewhendropped.Atthenextlevelstudentscanbeexpectedtoknow thatforobjectsnearthesurfaceoftheearth,gravitationalpotentialenergydependsonthedistance the object is above the earth and the mass of the object. At the highest level students can be expectedtoknowthatgravitationalpotentialenergyisassociatedwiththeseparationofmutually attractingmasses. In summary, our hypothesized energy learning progression predicts growth in student understanding along a continuum of conceptual complexity that moves from: (i) an awareness of easily observable energy phenomena and the application of basic energy ideas to explain events in the world; to (ii) the use of more complex energy concepts to explain phenomena; to (iii) the use of advanced energy concepts to explain less easily observable phenomena, often requiring an atomic/molecular explanation. Descriptions of the progres- sions of understanding for each idea tested in this study are presented in Table 2. Note that for the Transferring Energy Electrically idea, we created only two levels in the progression, and for the Energy Transformations idea, only one level. The knowledge statements in Table 2 were drawn from Benchmarks for Science Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1993), Atlas of Science Literacy (AAAS, 2001, 2007), A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012), and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013). JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching LEARNINGPROGRESSIONFORENERGYIDEAS 7 (PEs) AdvancedLevel Kineticenergy(motionenergy)isproportionaltothemassofamovingobjectandincreasesrapidlywithincreasingspeed.aMS-PS3-1Thethermalenergyofanobjectdependsonthedisorderedmotionsofitsatomsormoleculesandthenumberandtypesofatomsormoleculesofwhichtheobjectismade.MS-PS1-4,HS-PS3-2Gravitationalpotentialenergyisassociatedwiththeseparationofmutuallyattractingmasses. HS-PS3-2Theamountofelasticpotentialenergystoredinanelasticobjectincreaseswhentheobjectisstretchedorcompressedbecausestretchingandcompressinganobjectchangesthedistancesbetweentheatomsandmoleculesthatmakeuptheobject.HS-PS3-2Chemicalenergyisassociatedwiththearrangementofatomsthatmakeupthemoleculesofthereactantsandproductsofachemicalreaction.Becausethearrangementofatomsmakingupthemoleculesisdifferentbeforeandafterthechemicalreactiontakesplace,theamountofchemicalenergyinthesystemisalsodifferent.HS-PS1-4continued s alignmentwithNGSSPerformanceExpectation IntermediateLevel Thekineticenergy(motionenergy)ofanobjectdependsonthespeedandthemassoftheobject.aMS-PS3-1Thethermalenergyofanobjectdependsonthetemperatureandthemassoftheobjectandthematerialofwhichtheobjectismade. MS-PS3-4Thegravitationalpotentialenergyofanobjectnearthesurfaceoftheearthdependsonthedistancetheobjectisabovethesurfaceoftheearth(oranalternatereferencepoint),andthemassoftheobject.MS-PS3-2Theelasticpotentialenergyofanelasticobjectdependsontheamounttheobjectisstretchedorcompressedandhowdifficultitistostretchorcompresstheobject. –Somechemicalreactionsreleaseenergyintothesurroundings,whereasotherchemicalreactionstakeinenergyfromthesurroundings. – onofunderstandingforenergyideasand BasicLevel heamountofenergyanobjecthasdependsonhowfastitismoving. 4-PS3-1heamountofenergyanobjecthasdependsonhowwarmitis. –heamountofenergyanobjecthasdependsonhowhighitisabovethesurfaceoftheearth. –heamountofenergyanelasticobjecthasdependsonhowmuchtheobjectisstretched,compressed,twisted,orbent. –nergyisreleasedwhenfuelisburned.Energyisalsoreleasedwhenfoodisusedasfuelinanimals. 5-PS3-1 si T T T T E s e r g y Table2Proposedpro EnergyIdea Kineticenerg PEsThermalenergy PEsGravitationalpotentialenergy PEsElasticpotentialenergy PEsChemicalenergy PEs JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching 8 HERRMANN-ABELLANDDEBOER AdvancedLevel xplodingstarsandbiologicalgrowthtotheople—involvessomeformofenergybeingnergy.HS-PS3-3Energyistransferredbyconductionthroughamaterialbytherandomcollisionsofatomsandmoleculesthatmakeupthematerial. MS-PS3-4Inafluid,regionsthathavedifferenttemperatureshavedifferentdensities.Thedifferencesindensityleadtoanimbalancebetweenthedownwardgravitationalforceandupward(buoyant)forcesexertedbythesurroundingfluid,creatingcurrentsthatcontributetothetransferofenergy.MS-ESS2-6Energycanbetransferredbyelectromagneticradiation. –Whentwoobjectschangerelativepositionasaresultofagravitational,magnetic,orelectricforce,thepotentialandkineticenergiesofthesystemchange.HS-PS3-5Electrostaticpotentialenergycanbestoredintheseparationofchargedobjects. HS-PS3-5Energyistransferredbysoundbecauseofcoordinatedcollisionsbetweentheatomsormoleculesthatmakeupthemediumthroughwhichthesoundtravels.continued eee IntermediateLevel Mostofwhatgoesonintheuniverse—fromoperationofmachinesandthemotionofpconvertedintooneormoreotherformsof4-PS3-4Conductionisthetransferofenergythatoccurswhenawarmerobject(orsampleofmatter)comesincontactwithacoolerobject(orsampleofmatter)withoutatransferofmatter.MS-PS3-3Temperaturevariationsinfluidssuchasairandwaterleadtocurrentsthatcirculatethefluidandtransfersenergyfromplacetoplaceinthefluid. –Lighttransfersenergyfromalightsourcetoareceiver. 4-PS3-2Energyistransferredmechanicallywheneveranobjectexertsaforce,eitherbycontactoratadistance,onanotherobjectthatchangestheobjects’positionorshape.MS-PS3-2 Energycanbetransferredbysoundwhenavibratingobjectproducessoundthattravelsthroughamediumtoareceiver. BasicLevel s Whenwarmerthingsaretouchingcoolerones,thewarmerthingsgetcoolerandthecoolerthingsgetwarmeruntiltheyallarethesametemperature. 4-PS3-2Whenairorwatermovestoanotherlocation,itcanchangethetemperatureatthatlocation. –Whenlightshinesonanobject,theobjecttypicallygetswarmer. K-PS3-1,K-PS3-2Pushesandpullscantransferenergyfromoneobjecttoanotherresultinginachangeintheobjects’motion. 4-PS3-3Energycanbetransferredelectricallywhenanelectricalsourceisconnectedinacompletecircuittoanelectricaldevice.4-PS3-2Soundcantransferenergyfromonelocationtoanother. n o EnergyIdea Energy transformati PEsTransferringenergybyconduction PEsTransferringenergybyconvection PEsTransferringenergybyradiationPEsTransferringenergybyforces PEsTransferringenergyelectricallyPEsTransferringenergybysound JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching LEARNINGPROGRESSIONFORENERGYIDEAS 9 will em,moor ergy asystsysteddedt AdvancedLevel –edfromdoingso,enormlydistributed. HS-PS3-4whathappenswithinountofenergyinthemeunlessenergyisasedfromthesystem.HS-PS3-1 nlesspreventbecomeunif egardlessofthetotalammainsthesarelea ergylevel. U R e n r e c IntermediateLevel –Transformationsandtransfersofenergywithinasystemusuallyresultinsomeenergybeingreleasedintoitssurroundingenvironmentcausinganincreaseinthethermalenergyoftheenvironment.–Adecreaseinenergyinoneobjectorsetofobjectsalwaysisaccompaniedbyanincreaseinenergyinanotherobjectorsetofobjects. MS-PS3-5 yingdisciplinarycoreideaalignstotheadvancedkineti erl are und y n.he BasicLevel 4-PS3-2Objectstendtogetwarmerwhentheinvolvedinenergytransfers. –Everythinghasenergy. – Esmatchthatparticularleveloftheprogressiototheintermediatekineticenergylevelwhilet Ps nergyIdea Esnergydissipation&degradation Esonservationofenergy Es ndicatethatnoMS-PS3-1align E PE PC P –Ia JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching 10 HERRMANN-ABELLANDDEBOER Aswenotedearlier,ourlearningprogressionbeginswiththefourmajorcategoriestypically used to describe the energy concept. The expectation is that students will use these ideas in progressivelymoresophisticatedwaystodevelopacoherent,integratedunderstandingofenergy, itsunitarynature,anditsconservation.Wealsonotedthatthisisthebasisforthespecificationof learninggoalsintheNRC’sAFrameworkforK-12ScienceEducationandinNGSS.Tobeexplicit abouthowcloselythelearningprogressionthatwetestedmatcheswhatisintheFrameworkand NGSS, we examined the NGSS performance expectations (PEs) listed for each grade and the underlyingdisciplinarycoreideas(DCIs)foundinthefoundationboxesundereachPE.Forthe NGSSenergycoreidea,therearesevenelementaryPEs,fivemiddleschoolPEs,andfivehigh schoolPEs.Additionally,weidentifiedtwomiddleschoolPEs(MS-PS1-4andMS-ESS2-6)and onehighschoolPE(HS-PS1-4)thatwerelistedunderotherNGSScoreideas.Wethenmatched eachPEtoourlearningprogression(seeTable2). OverallwefoundverygoodalignmentbetweentheNGSSPEsandourlearningprogression. Allofthe14energyideascouldbematchedwithatleastonePE.Whenwelookedatthealignment by cognitive complexity level, we saw that, for the most part, our basic level of conceptual complexitymatchestheNGSSelementaryschoolPEs;theintermediatelevelcorrespondswith themiddleschoolPEs;andtheadvancedlevelparallelsthehighschoolexpectations.Thereare someideasforwhichwewereunabletofindPEsthatmatcheverylevelintheprogression.For example, although there is an elementary school PE for the idea that energy is transferred by sound,therearenomiddleorhighschoolPEsforthisidea.Andalthoughtheelasticpotential energy, convection, and dissipation ideas are included at the high school level, they are not includedattheelementaryormiddleschoollevels.Additionally,thereisverylittleinNGSSabout thermalenergy,gravitationalpotentialenergy,orconservationofenergyintheelementaryschool gradeband.Inourprogression,weincludedstatementsatalllevelsforeachenergyideainorderto presentamorecompletepictureofthenatureofenergy.Introducingeachideaatabasiclevel supports younger students’ progress toward the complex understanding expected in the high schoolperformanceexpectations.Intheirenergyprogressionforelementarystudents,Lacyand colleagues (2014) included basic ideas about gravitational potential energy, thermal energy, Table3 Itemcount bylevelof progression foreach idea Numberof Items Energy Category EnergyIdeas Basic Intermediate Advanced Forms ofenergy Kineticenergy 5 27 8 Thermalenergy 3 19 18 Gravitationalpotentialenergy 6 23 6 Elastic potentialenergy 4 11 3 Chemical energy 4 16 8 Energy transformations 29 Energy transfer Transferringenergyby conduction 4 18 4 Transferring energy byconvection 3 7 7 Transferringenergyby radiation 3 10 13 Transferring energy byforces 4 13 6 Transferringenergyelectrically 2 9 Transferring energy bysound 2 3 7 Conservation ofenergy 5 5 23 Energy dissipation& degradation 6 10 5 JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching