Articulating Communities: Sociocultural Perspectives on Science Education

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize literature related to apprenticeship learning, the sociology of science, and K-12 science education to develop a set of characteristics for designing/evaluating participatory science learning experiences. Following this discussion, we further clarify and illuminate the value of these characteristics for science educators by using them as evaluative criteria for characterizing the experiences of 24 middle school learners who embarked on a 2-week long camp with "real" scientists engaged in "ʹreal" research. We also describe how middle school science teachers supported both reflectionin-practice and reflection-on-practice during the camp, and how an electronic notebook was also leveraged to support both types of reflection. Implications of these characteristics for science education more generally are discussed.