Changing the Metacognitive Orientation of a Classroom Environment to Stimulate Metacognitive Reflection Regarding the Nature of Physics Learning

Problems persist with physics learning in relation to students' understanding and use of representations for making sense of physics concepts. Further, students' views of physics learning and their physics learning processes have been predominantly found to reflect a ‘surface’ approach to learning that focuses on mathematical aspects of physics learning that are often passed on via textbooks and lecture-style teaching. This paper reports on a teacher's effort to stimulate students' metacognitive reflection regarding their views of physics learning and their physics learning processes via a pedagogical change that incorporated the use of a representational framework and metaphors. As a consequence of the teacher's pedagogical change, students metacognitively reflected on their views of physics and their learning processes and some reported changes in their views of what it meant to understand physics and how they might learn and understand physics concepts. The findings provide a basis for further explicit teaching of representational frameworks to students in physics education as a potential means of addressing issues with their physics learning.     

Understanding teaching or teaching for understanding: Alternative frameworks for science classrooms

We came to this study with a set of beliefs about good science teaching that had been heavily influenced by the constructivist literature of the past decade. In this article we reexamine some of our own assumptions about good teaching by exploring the classroom practices of an experienced physics teacher. This teacher did not fit the mold of the constructivist teacher and, yet, there was much to suggest that he was meeting the needs of the students in his class. His methods were almost entirely whole class—focusing mainly on physics content, examination technique and algorithm practice. Our close observation of this teacher in his Grade 11 classroom over several months suggests an alternative framework for examining his work. We examine this framework through a number of themes: teacher confidence, the structure of the discipline, student motivation, trust, and the cultural context of learning. We argue for a broader view of good science teaching than that proposed by the constructivist literature, one that takes into account teachers' and students' understandings of science in relation to their social and cultural contexts.     

Quality lies in the eyes of the beholder: A mismatch between student evaluation and peer observation of teaching

Abstract

The study described in this article was prompted by the poor performance of students in an ‘at risk subject’ in a science faculty at a university in South Africa. Teacher performance could contribute to poor performance among students, therefore the performance of one of the science teachers whose students were performing poorly was evaluated by his students and through peer observation of his teaching. The article draws on a merger between Bernstein's ideas on framing as well as deep and surface approaches to learning to form a theoretical framework that underpinned the study. Peer observation showed that the teacher employed predominantly teacher-centred, passive approaches to teaching, and the facilitation of active learning was minimal, that is, framing was strong. Students, however, evaluated their teacher positively, indicating that he was an ‘effective’ teacher. Therefore, the perception of what constitutes ‘quality teaching’ is viewed differently by peers and students. This is most likely due to the incompatibility between peers' conception of teaching and students' conception of learning. Therefore, students' feedback on teaching is not necessarily accurate or useful.     

Knowing and teaching science: the constructivist paradox

This paper addresses the parallel between the changes in students' and teachers' learning advocated by constructivist science educators. It begins with a summary of the epistemology of constructivism and uses a vignette drawn from a set of case studies to explore the impact of a constructivist science in‐service programme on an experienced and formal elementary science teacher. Judged by constructivist standards, the teacher described in the vignette makes very little progress. The irony of applying a constructivist critique to his work, however, is that it fails to treat the teachers' imperfect knowledge of teaching with the same respect as constructivists treat students' imperfect learning of science. The remainder of the paper explores this constructivist paradox, and suggests that‐like students' knowledge of science‐teachers' knowledge of constructivist science teaching is likely to grow through slow and gradual re‐formation of their established understanding of classroom theory and practice.     

The interaction of learning environments and student discourse about knowing,learning, and the nature of science: Two longitudinal case studies

This is one of a series of studies conducted by a high school physics teacher, who used constructivist referents to plan and enact the curriculum, and to understand and improve the learning environment in his physics classes. Data were collected in the course of a two-year physics course including (a) repeated administrations of a classroom learning environment survey, (b) written essays on the topics of knowing, learning, and classroom learning environment, and (c) interviews. While there was a general trend for students to adopt more constructivist views of knowing and learning, there was also a small number who resisted to adapt to the constructivist learning environment in their physics course. Two case studies of individual students are used to illustrate the interactions of the learning environment, student understanding of scientific knowledge, and the nature of science, and students' views of their own learning.     

Dichotomy in thinking,dilemma in actions: Researcher and teacher perspectives on a chemistry teaching practice

This article is a case study of the thinking and actions of Mr. Corrigan, an experienced high school chemistry teacher. We explored Corrigan's ideas on teaching science by conducting two types of interviews, and wrote a case summary for Corrigan to read that compared his ideas with our classroom observations. We described his practice as centering on structured classroom and laboratory time, and contrasted it with his emphasis on students' exploratory thinking in the interviews. Corrigan's reflections on the case summary revealed a set of tacit conceptions of teaching science centered on the necessity of having a highly organized classroom and laboratory to ensure students' content understanding and success on tests and in college. We felt Corrigan faced a dilemma in that he values both his control of learning activities and the students' learning through exploration. Corrigan was confident in his practice and did not see much of a dilemma, and felt he was attending to both aspects of his thinking in an adequate fashion. Corrigan's reflections on the case summary are presented as a commentary on our perspective of the relationship between his thinking and actions. Working with Corrigan revealed to us the complexity of characterizing a teacher's thinking and its relationship to actions, and the value of the insight researchers gain from discussing their conclusions with the teacher. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 239–254, 1997.     

Role of the microcomputer‐based laboratory display in supporting the construction of new understandings in thermal physics

Teachers' failure to use the microcomputer‐based laboratory (MBL) more widely may be a result of not recognizing its capacity to transform laboratory activities. This research aimed to increase understanding of how MBL activities designed to be consistent with a constructivist theory of learning support or constrain student construction of understanding. The first author conducted the research with his Year 11 physics class of 15 students. Dyads addressed 10 tasks in thermal physics using a predict–observe–explain format. Data sources included video and audio recordings of students and teacher during four 70‐minute sessions, students' computer data and written notes, semistructured student interviews, and the teacher's journal. Analysis of students' discourse identified many instances in which students' initial understandings of thermal physics were mediated in multiple ways by the screen display. The findings are presented as eight assertions. Recommendations are made for developing pedagogical strategies incorporating MBL activities that will likely catalyze student construction of understanding. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 165–185, 2004     

Courseware development with animated pedagogical agents in learning system to improve learning motivation

The addition of animated pedagogical agents (APAs) in computer-assisted learning (CAL) systems could successfully enhance students' learning motivation and engagement in learning activities. Conventionally, the APA incorporated multimedia materials are constructed through the cooperation of teachers and software programmers. However, the thinking and technical gap between two roles, a concept/content provider (teacher) and an implementer (software programmer), may lead to the concept distortion and loss in the final teaching material implementations. This often results in preventing a teacher from preparing his or her own APA-based multimedia learning systems. This study aims to develop a courseware to facilitate the CAL through the combination of the two roles into a single one and then teachers can use it freely by themselves. The courseware can help teachers to develop appropriate multimedia instructional materials incorporating APAs, which attracts students' attention and enhances their interest in learning. Furthermore, in this study two separate trial experiments were conducted to measure the teachers' satisfaction with the courseware and students' learning motivation after using APA-based multimedia learning systems. The results show that the participating teachers were satisfied with the courseware and would like to apply it in their instruction. Moreover, the participating students were strongly motivated by the customized APA-based multimedia learning systems. Therefore, the proposed courseware could give teachers a good opportunity to add pedagogical value to the curriculum, so that students' learning interest and motivation could be enhanced.     

Understanding classroom practice: ethnographic reflection as a methodological tool for professional development

To identify the possibilities for collaborative professional development; a research-driven model was adopted to assist an English First Additional Language teacher to appreciate how he could teach effectively by using an approach that takes into account the students' culture. Using critical observation and stimulated recall discussion, this study examined how his teaching addressed the requirements of the curriculum policy. Evidence points to a reluctance to consider this policy. The teacher's disposition posed challenges to the research process. We suggest that such research could be used effectively if policy were to clarify how a ‘new field’ could contribute to the public good and teachers' development of a ‘new habitus’. In conclusion, we explain how the envisaged outcomes of policy are underpinned by a notion of cultural harmony that has to inform teaching.     

Analysing cognitive or non‐cognitive factors involved in the process of physics problem‐solving in an everyday context

Recently, the importance of an everyday context in physics learning, teaching, and problem‐solving has been emphasized. However, do students or physics educators really want to learn or teach physics problem‐solving in an everyday context? Are there not any obstructive factors to be considered in solving the everyday context physics problems? To obtain the answer to these questions, 93 high school students, 36 physics teachers, and nine university physics educators participated in this study. Using two types of physics problems—everyday contextual problems (E‐problems) and decontextualized problems (D‐problems)—it was found that even though there was no difference in the actual performance between E‐problems and D‐problems, subjects predicted that E‐problems were more difficult to solve. Subjects preferred E‐problems on a school physics test because they thought E‐problems were better problems. Based on the observations of students' problem‐solving processes and interviews with them, six factors were identified that could impede the successful solution of E‐problems. We also found that many physics teachers agreed that students should be able to cope with those factors; however, teachers' perceptions regarding the need for teaching those factors were low. Therefore, we suggested teacher reform through in‐service training courses to enhance skills for teaching problem‐solving in an everyday context.     

Relations of middle school students' perceptions of family and school contexts with academic achievement

The purposes of this study were to examine the relations of both family and school contexts on students' academic achievement and to explore the mediating effects of students' perceptions of their motivations and academic self‐competence between the family and school contexts and achievement. Participants were 230 fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students. Students' perceptions of parenting style (demandingness and responsiveness), parental involvement (parental values and involvement in school functions), teaching style (teacher control and responsiveness), and school atmosphere (school responsiveness and supportive social environment) significantly predicted their school achievement; however, students' motivations and self‐competence mediated the relations between students' contexts and their academic achievement. Furthermore, parental values, teacher responsiveness, school responsiveness, and supportive social environment predicted students' motivations and academic competence above and beyond parenting style, parental involvement, and teacher control. The importance of students' supportive relationships and the internalization of the messages conveyed to them underscore the need for a contextual view by school psychologists when consulting with parents and education staff regarding achievement concerns. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Development of PCK for novice and experienced university physics instructors: a case study

The current study assessed and compared university students' perceptions' of a novice and an experienced physics instructor's Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Two college physics instructors and 116 students voluntarily participated in this study. The research model comprised three workshops, mid-term and final evaluations and instructor interviews. The results showed that each instructor's PCK performance in four categories was slightly improved, though the difference was not statistically significant and only the category of Instructional Representation and Strategies (IRS) was found to be statistically different by students' evaluations of their instructor's PCK. The experienced instructor emphasized life examples and experiments, whereas, the novice instructor emphasized explanations and quizzes. Furthermore, the PCK questionnaire provided university instructors with adequate information so the instructors could receive students' feedback as available sources to reflect on their teaching to improve their quality of teaching. Research implications of this study are provided along with suggestions for future research.     

Connecting high school physics experiences,outcome expectations,physics identity,and physics career choice: A gender study

This study explores how students' physics identities are shaped by their experiences in high school physics classes and by their career outcome expectations. The theoretical framework focuses on physics identity and includes the dimensions of student performance, competence, recognition by others, and interest. Drawing data from the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) project, which surveyed college English students nationally about their backgrounds, high school science experiences, and science attitudes, the study uses multiple regression to examine the responses of 3,829 students from 34 randomly selected US colleges/universities. Confirming the salience of the identity dimension for young persons' occupational plans, the measure for students' physics identity used in this study was found to strongly predict their intended choice of a physics career. Physics identity, in turn, was found to correlate positively with a desire for an intrinsically fulfilling career and negatively with a desire for personal/family time and opportunities to work with others. Physics identity was also positively predicted by several high school physics characteristics/experiences such as a focus on conceptual understanding, real‐world/contextual connections, students answering questions or making comments, students teaching classmates, and having an encouraging teacher. Even though equally beneficial for both genders, females reported experiencing a conceptual focus and real‐world/contextual connections less frequently. The explicit discussion of under‐representation of women in science was positively related to physics identity for female students but had no impact for male students. Surprisingly, several experiences that were hypothesized to be important for females' physics identity were found to be non‐significant including having female scientist guest speakers, discussion of women scientists' work, and the frequency of group work. This study exemplifies a useful theoretical framework based on identity, which can be employed to further examine persistence in science, and illustrates possible avenues for change in high school physics teaching. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 978–1003, 2010     

Stability of teaching patterns in physics instruction: Findings from a video study

The study investigated variant and invariant physics teaching patterns across time and topics. It is assumed that the analysis perspective is decisive for identifying variant and invariant teaching patterns. Therefore, we focused on three perspectives: (1) organisation of activities, (2) quality of teacher–student interactions, and (3) students' perception of learning conditions. The design included three lessons of two topics (13 classes × 2 topics × 3 lessons) that were videotaped in each class. The findings indicate variants in teaching for the organisation of activities. Invariants were identified for teacher–student interactions and the students' perception of learning conditions.     

Students' Evaluation of Teachers and Instructional Quality--Analysis of Relevant Factors Based on Empirical Evaluation Research

This paper explores the factors that determine the student evaluation of teachers. Unlike many previous studies, the effect of potential biases on global ratings is examined in the context of teaching behaviour (that should in fact--in contrast to the potential biases--have an influence on global ratings). Our research takes into account that biases like the students' interest in the subject or their liking for the teacher may be a result of good teaching behaviour and may not be considered a mere bias of student ratings. Furthermore, it also concentrates on the students' attitudes towards evaluating their teachers. The empirical results are based on qualitative interviews with 40 students at Austrian commercial colleges and on a quantitative survey of 2,121 students who were asked to evaluate their Accounting teachers. Structural equation models show that the students' global ratings of teachers mainly depend on their teaching behaviour. However, global ratings are also affected by the students' attitudes towards evaluating their teachers, as well as by the students' liking for their teacher and their interest in the subject of Accounting.     

A research‐based teaching sequence for teaching the concept of modelling to seventh‐grade students

The purpose of this study was to construct and study the impact of a research‐based sequence for teaching the concept of modelling to seventh‐grade science students. We identified students' notions of models and the aspects of school science to be addressed regarding the model concept, which were then taken into account when we planned the learning sequence. The idea of modelling in science was taught while the students were learning about the change of states of matter in seventh‐grade physics. A pre‐interview revealed that the students' notions of models were very limited, while a post‐interview showed that this improved in the course of the series of lessons. There was also a statistically significant difference in the students' understanding of modelling between our target group and a control group consisting of ninth‐grade students who had received only the normal teaching. However, a delayed post‐questionnaire completed a few months after the teaching sequence showed that the stability of learning results were dependent on whether models and modelling were used in the normal teaching conducted after the teaching sequence. Implications for teaching, teacher education and research are also addressed in this paper.     

Experienced teachers' informal learning: Learning activities and changes in behavior and cognition

In this study on 32 teachers' learning in an informal learning environment, we analyzed changes in conceptions and behavior regarding students' active and self-regulated learning (ASL), and relations with the teachers' learning activities. Few relations were found between observed changes in behavior and learning activities. Changes in conceptions appeared to correlate with the activities obtaining new ideas, experimenting with new methods, and reflecting on why certain teaching methods seem to be effective and others not. Only one teacher became more ASL-oriented in both behavior and conceptions. The apparent variation in teachers' informal learning should lead to differentiated support for teacher learning in the workplace.     

Feeling and showing: A new conceptualization of dispositional teacher enthusiasm and its relation to students' interest

Although teacher enthusiasm is a relevant variable in the teaching context, a clear definition is still lacking. Research on teacher enthusiasm is characterized by ambiguous conceptualizations of enthusiasm as either an affective characteristic of teachers or behaviors of expressiveness. Integrating these two notions, a new conceptualization of dispositional teacher enthusiasm, defined by teachers' positive affect and positive emotional expressivity, was developed. It was hypothesized that dispositional teacher enthusiasm would relate to students' interest, mediated by students' perceived teacher enthusiasm. Based on a correlational study design, secondary teachers (N = 75) from Switzerland reported on their enthusiasm, complemented by student ratings (N = 1523) on perceived enthusiasm and interest. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that dispositional teacher enthusiasm positively predicted students' interest, which was fully mediated by students' perceived enthusiasm, providing the basis of a valid definition of teacher enthusiasm. Based on this integrative definition, implications for future research are discussed.     

Developing Teachers' Classroom Interactions: A Description of a Video Review Process for Early Childhood Education Students

This article describes a video review process for providing feedback to students and documents students' teaching practices using the CLASS in a practicum course and student teaching. Students videotaped themselves in their field-based settings and then met with the course instructors and classmates in small groups to review strengths and challenges of their teaching using the CLASS framework of teacher–child interactions. These videos were also coded by trained CLASS observers across 10 dimensions in the areas of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Results from preservice teachers' CLASS ratings indicate a pattern similar to national data sets using the CLASS, higher scores in the emotional support and classroom organization domains than in the domain of instructional support. Also, findings from the current study revealed that CLASS scores declined from students' practicum placement to the end of student teaching in the domain of emotional support and specifically in the dimensions of regard for student perspectives and behavior management. The process of using videos for providing feedback in field-based experiences is discussed as well as implications for teacher development in light of students' CLASS scores and changes in CLASS scores.