How Do Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Views on Science, Scientists, and Science Teaching Change Over Time in a Science Teacher Training Program?

Every aspect of teaching, including the instructional method, the course content, and the types of assessments, is influenced by teachers’ attitudes and beliefs. Teacher education programs play an important role in the development of beliefs regarding teaching and learning. The purpose of the study was to document pre-service teachers’ views on science, scientists, and science teaching as well as the relations between these views and the offered courses over several years spent in an elementary science teacher training program. The sample consisted of 145 pre-service elementary science teachers who were being trained to teach general science to students in the 6th through 8th grades. The research design was a cross-sectional study. Three different instruments were used to collect the data, namely, the “Draw a Scientist Test”, “Draw a Science Teacher Test”, and “Students’ Views about Science” tests. The elementary science teacher training program influenced pre-service science teachers’ views about science, scientists and science teaching to different degrees. The most pronounced impact of the program was on views about science teaching. Participants’ impressions of science teaching changed from teacher-centered views to student-centered ones. In contrast, participants’ views about scientists and science did not change much. This result could be interpreted as indicating that science teacher training programs do not change views about science and scientists but do change beliefs regarding teaching science.     

Facilitating Preschoolers’ Scientific Knowledge Construction via Computer Games Regarding Light and Shadow: The Effect of the Prediction-Observation-Explanation (POE) Strategy

Educational researchers have suggested that computer games have a profound influence on students’ motivation, knowledge construction, and learning performance, but little empirical research has targeted preschoolers. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of implementing a computer game that integrates the prediction-observation-explanation (POE) strategy (White and Gunstone in Probing understanding. Routledge, New York, 1992) on facilitating preschoolers’ acquisition of scientific concepts regarding light and shadow. The children’s alternative conceptions were explored as well. Fifty participants were randomly assigned into either an experimental group that played a computer game integrating the POE model or a control group that played a non-POE computer game. By assessing the students’ conceptual understanding through interviews, this study revealed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the concepts regarding “shadow formation in daylight” and “shadow orientation.” However, children in both groups, after playing the games, still expressed some alternative conceptions such as “Shadows always appear behind a person” and “Shadows should be on the same side as the sun.”     

Prospective elementary science teachers and biomythographies: An exploratory approach to autobiographical research

This study explores an approach to autobiographical research based on a notion of “outlaw genre” autobiography referred to as biomythography. Outlaw genres of autobiography resist the tendency of western autobiography to craft narratives that will ultimately link the life of an individual to a universalised person—someone to whom all readers can relate. In this study, photo essays are used to learn about prospective elementary teachers' stories of science and science education. The photo essays and the theoretical framework of “biomythography” helped us reflect on layers mediating teaching and learning in our courses. Implications of the study call for us to examine hegemonies extending from our students' personal histories as science learners, and through mythologies of teacher education. Alternative research frameworks and approaches, such as those represented in this study, might help science teacher educators explore myths undermining the preparation of future science teachers and learners.     

Integrating History of Science in Science Education through Historical Microworlds to Promote Conceptual Change

This paper proposes a new way to integrate history of science in science education to promote conceptual change by introducing the notion of historical microworld, which is a computer-based interactive learning environment respecting historic conceptions. In this definition, “interactive” means that the user can act upon the virtual environment by changing some parameters to see what ensues. “Environment respecting historic conceptions” means that the “world” has been programmed to respect the conceptions of past scientists or philosophers. Three historical microworlds in the field of mechanics are presented in this article: an Aristotelian microworld respecting Aristotle’s conceptions about movement, a Buridanian microworld respecting the theory of impetus and, finally, a Newtonian microworld respecting Galileo’s conceptions and Newton’s laws of movement.     

Student teachers' conceptions of how to recognise a “Good” primary science teacher: Does two years in a teacher education program make a difference?

Several studies have suggested that preservice teacher education has little impact on student teacher conceptions about various facets of teaching and learning. Most of these studies refer to generic teaching and learning, and very few have related to primary science in particular. To explore this area eight primary student teachers were interviewed on six occasions during the first two years of their Bachelor of Teaching degree. This paper reports the findings from part of these interviews. It describes the (sometimes changing) conceptions which these eight students held about how they would recognise a “good” teacher of science and the people and experiences they believed influenced the formation of these views. The differential impact of past and present teachers and the teacher education program revealed possible implications for practica and science curriculum units in particular, if teacher education is going to have an influence on preservice teachers' conceptions about teaching and learning.     

Does Classroom Explicitation of Initial Conceptions Favour Conceptual Change or is it Counter-Productive?

This research investigates the effect of classroom explicitation of initial conceptions (CEIC) on conceptual change in the context of learning electricity. Eight hundred and seventy five thirteen year-olds were tested in laboratory conditions to see if CEIC is or is not a productive step toward conceptual change. All students experienced a problem-based pedagogical treatment called “the electronic challenge.” The randomly determined experimental group was also exposed to CEIC. Data shows a significant beneficial effect of CEIC and no unwanted “contamination effect”, particularly for female subjects.     

The Learning Research Cycle: Bridging Research and Practice

A science teacher and her mentor reflect on their participation in the Learning Research Cycle, a professional learning model that bridges research and practice in both university and public school contexts. Teachers do scientific research in scientists’ laboratories, then bridge their scientific experiences with the design of new classroom learning environments and teacher-driven educational research projects. Science students do scientific research via their teachers’ lessons that bridge laboratory research with classroom learning. Scientists and educational researchers bridge their research interests to create new questions centered on teaching and learning in authentic science learning environments. The authors engaged in this qualitative inquiry present their perspectives on “what goes on,” “what we have learned,” and “what it means to the larger community.”     

Preservice teacher education students’ epistemological beliefs and conceptions about learning

A questionnaire was administered to 231 Hong Kong preservice teacher education students to examine their epistemological beliefs and conceptions of learning. Pearson correlation analysis showed significant pairs of epistemological beliefs and conceptions of learning. Regression and path analysis showed epistemological beliefs had significant predictor relationships with conceptions of learning. Four structural equation models were proposed to examine the predictive relationships between epistemological beliefs and selected pairs of quantitative and qualitative conceptions of learning, and the models were validated by confirmatory factor analysis. The results support the hypothesis that epistemological beliefs have significant predictive relationships with quantitative and qualitative conceptions of learning, implying epistemological beliefs play an important role in students’ learning. The paper concludes with implications drawn for the future direction of educational practices and research.     

Learning/work: Turning work and lifelong learning inside out

CONFINTEA VI took place against the background of an uneven and contradictory social and economic impact of globalisation. This impact registered globally and locally, in both the political North and South, drawing new lines of inequality between “core” and “periphery”, between insiders and outsiders of contemporary society. Financial turmoil in the world has exacerbated levels of poverty and insecurity. The question is how work-related education and conceptions of learning might promote greater inclusion and security for those whose livelihoods are most severely affected by globalisation. The Belém Framework for Action implicitly recognises that lifelong learning and work cannot be discussed outside broader socio-economic and political contexts. The authors of this article draw substantially on research from around the world and argue for the re-insertion of “politics and power” into both the theory and practice of “lifelong learning” and “work”.     

Fostering High School Students’ Conceptual Understandings About Seasons: The Design of a Technology-enhanced Learning Environment

The purpose of this study is to understand in what ways a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) environment supports learning about the causes of the seasons. The environment was designed to engage students in five cognitive phases: Contextualisation, Sense making, Exploration, Modeling, and Application. Seventy-five high school students participated in this study and multiple sources of data were collected to investigate students’ conceptual understandings and the interactions between the design of the environment and students’ alternative conceptions. The findings show that the number of alternative conceptions held by students were reduced except for the incorrect concepts of “the length of sunshine” and “the distance between the sun and the earth.” The percentage of partial explanations held by students was also reduced from 60.5 to 55.3% and the percentage of students holding complete scientific explanations after using Lesson Seasons rose from 2.6 to 15.8%. While some students succeeded in modeling their science concepts closely to the expert’s concepts, some failed to do so after the invention. The unsuccessful students could not remediate their alternative conceptions without explicit guidance and scaffolding. Future research can then be focused on understanding how to provide proper scaffoldings for removing some alternative concepts which are highly resistant to change.

Student-centred instruction and learning processes in physics

During the 1970s, student-centred instruction—that is, “play orientation in physics education” (Spielorientierter Unterricht)—was at the centre of curriculum development at the Institute of Physics Education in Bremen. During the past decade, we investigated this kind of instruction with a particular focus on students' learning processes using a situated cognition perspective. Our research group at the Institute conducted several empirical studies of physics learning for different age groups. The aim of these case studies was to construct detailed understandings of how individual learning processes unfold. On the basis of these studies, we attempt to design physics lessons more effectively than they have been in the past. This paper exemplifies our approach providing information about the theoretical and methodological frameworks, the main outcomes of our studies; and reflections about the possibilities for “more effective” student-centred instruction.     

The Dialectic Relationship between Research and Practice in Mathematics Teacher Education

This paper addresses issues linking research in student teacher learning with reflection on practice in mathematics teacher education. From a situated perspective on learning and practice, we explore our own practice as teacher educators while researching student teacher learning in our classrooms. We describe a study on student teacher learning, considering student teacher learning as a “process of becoming”, and how the results of this research have affected our development as mathematics teacher educators and members of a community of inquiry. Our work shows how in the mathematics teacher education context the relationship between theory and practice becomes an element of both teacher educator and researcher development.     

Forum: dialogue about dialogue—cogeneration, research and science education

This forum discussion focuses on seven themes drawn from Sonya’s fascinating paper: the terminology of “cogenerative dialogues,” the roles of participants and their power relations within such dialogues, the use of metaphor and analogy in the paper, science and science education for all students, the ways in which students’ expectations about learning change in innovative classrooms, teacher research and the “theory-practice gap,” and the tension between conducting cogenerative dialogues with individual students or with whole classes. These themes by no means exhaust the ideas in Sonya’s paper, but we feel that they have allowed us to explore the classroom research she reports, and to extend our discussion beyond the paper to explore some of these themes more broadly.     

Four dialogues and metalogues about the nature of science

We analyse and explore, in the form of dialogues and metalogues questions about the dialogic nature of beliefs and students belief talk about the nature of science and scientific knowledge. Following recent advances in discursive psychology, this study focuses not on students' claims but on the discursive resources and dialogical practices that support the particular claims they make. We argue that students' discourse is better understood as a textual bricolage that is sensitive to conversational context, common sense, interpretive repertoires, and textual resources available in the conversational situation. Our text is reflexive as it embodies the discursive construction of knowledge and undercuts any claims to authoritative knowledge. The very conception of “belief” is itself an expression or construction from within the mundane idiom.... We learn to use “belief” in conditions when the “objective facts” are unknown or problematic and we want to indicate the tenuous character of our claim.... The notion of “real world” or “objective reality” is embedded in an extensive, pervasive language game which includes as an intelligible move or possibility the use of the very concept of “belief” itself. (Pollner, 1987, p. 21)     

Chemistry Teachers’ Emerging Expertise in Inquiry Teaching: The Effect of a Professional Development Model on Beliefs and Practice

This study investigates the beliefs and practices of seven high school chemistry teachers as a result of their participation in a year-long inquiry professional development (PD) project. An analysis of oral interviews, written reflections, and in-class observations were used to determine the extent to which the PD affected the teachers’ beliefs and practice. The data indicated that the teachers developed more complete conceptions of classroom inquiry, valued a “phenomena first” approach to scientific investigations, and viewed inquiry approaches as helpful for facilitating improved student thinking. Analysis of classroom observations with the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol indicated that features of the PD were observed in the teachers’ practice during the academic year follow-up. Implications for effective science teacher professional development models are discussed.     

A “Toolkit” for developing critically reflective science teachers

The purpose of this paper is to describe various “tools” we use to facilitate critical reflection as we teach prospective science teachers. The notion of “tools” refers to materials and experiences used to facilitate prospective teachers’ critical reflection on science teaching and learning. Reflective tools are not intrusive devices used by instructors to analyse mechanically what prospective teachers are learning; rather, these tools are intended to provide prospective teachers with the means to generate and critique their own views of science teaching and learning. Each tool is described herein with respect to its potential use and the way in which it is introduced to prospective science teachers. We conclude with discussion of the potential for reflective tools to contribute to research on reform of science teacher education, with particular attention to primary teacher preparation.     

Examining Teachers' Hurdles to ‘Science for All’

The goal of this research is to identify science teachers' beliefs and conceptions that play an important role in shaping their understandings of and attempts to enact inclusive science teaching practices. We examined the work products, both informal (online discussions, email exchanges) and formal (papers, unit plans, peer reviews), of 14 teachers enrolled in a master's degree course focused on diversity in science teaching and learning. These emerging understandings were member-checked via a series of interviews with a subset of these teachers. Our analysis was conducted in two stages: (1) describing the difficulties the teachers identified for themselves in their attempts to teach science to a wide range of students in their classes and (2) analyzing these self-identified barriers for underlying beliefs and conceptions that serve to prohibit or allow for the teachers' understanding and enactment of equitable science instruction. The teachers' self-identified barriers were grouped into three categories: students, broader social infrastructure, and self. The more fundamental barriers identified included teacher beliefs about the ethnocentrism of the mainstream, essentialism/individualism, and beliefs about the meritocracy of schooling. The implications of these hurdles for science teacher education are discussed.     

Accomplishing the Visions for Teacher Education Programs Advocated in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">National Science Education Standards</Emphasis>

The purpose of this study was to investigate the advantages of an approach to instruction using current problems and issues as curriculum organizers and illustrating how teaching must change to accomplish real learning. The study sample consisted of 41 preservice science teachers (13 males and 28 females) in a model science teacher education program. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to determine success with science discipline-specific “Societal and Educational Applications” courses as one part of a total science teacher education program at a large Midwestern university. Students were involved with idea generation, consideration of multiple points of views, collaborative inquiries, and problem solving. All of these factors promoted grounded instruction using constructivist perspectives that situated science with actual experiences in the lives of students.     

The use of examinations for revealing and distinguishing between students' misconceptions,misunderstandings and “no conceptions” in college chemistry

Students at all ages hold a wide variety of scientifically faulty knowledge structures called “misconceptions”. As far as misconceptions in chemistry are concerned, college science students are no exception. Systematic administration to freshman biology majors of specially-designed mid-term and term higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS)-oriented examinations within the courses “General and Inorganic Chemistry” and “Introduction to Modern Organic Chemistry” proved these examinations to be very effective in revealing and distinguishing between students'misconceptions, misunderstandings, and“no conceptions”. Several of these have never been mentioned before in the relevant research literature. Accordingly, reflective teaching strategies to overcome this “misconceptions problem” and affect meaningfully subsequent learning have been explored and implemented within our longitudinal effort to develop students' HOCS. The study results combined with accumulated experience indicate that properly designed HOCS-oriented examinations may be very effective for revealing, but notper se for overcoming, students' misconceptions. However, within HOCS-oriented chemistry teaching, the assessment of students by such examinations is very useful particularly for providing data for remediation purposes via appropriate modification of the teaching strategies. Eventually, this leads to gains in students' HOCS which is in line with the overall goal of the current reform in science education.