试论“促进概念性理解”的科学课教学

"促进概念性理解"的科学课教学是以帮助学生获得对科学概念的真正理解、发展学生的思维和科学理解力为目标的课程设计理念与实施模式,它有助于激发学生积极的思维,真正实现学生对科学概念的建构。     

From Inquiry-Based Science Education to the Approach Based on Scientific Practices

Science & Education - For years, inquiry-based learning has been conceived of and promoted as one of the best approaches to learning science. However, there is currently a movement within the...     

从生活经验到科学概念:化学教学起点的教学策略

"从学生已有生活经验出发"是化学新课程的基本理念,学生的起点能力是教学的出发点,并对教学产生直接的影响.把学生的"已知"作为教学起点设计的教学策略主要有:重视联系,促进同化;合理筛选,满足教学;有效迁移,促进学习;纠正错误,实现转变;挖掘已知,强化应用等.以生活经验作为教学起点,体现教学设计"以人为本"的人性追求和教学"生命化"的目标取向.     

核心概念在理科教学中的地位和作用——从记忆事实向理解概念的转变

核心概念的研究是国际上理科教育中的一个重要领域,我国的部分中学课程标准也提出要帮助学生深入理解学科的核心概念.如何更好的理解和实践新课程的要求,是我们面临的一个挑战.本文阐述了核心概念是什么,核心概念的表述,核心概念在课堂教学中的地位,还就核心概念的课堂教学进行了讨论,提出了建议.     

Quality Teaching in Science: an Emergent Conceptual Framework

Research in Science Education - Achieving quality in higher education is a complex task involving the interrelationship of many factors. The influence of the teacher is well established and has led...     

Teaching Neuroscience to Science Teachers: Facilitating the Translation of Inquiry-Based Teaching Instruction to the Classroom

In science education, inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning provide a framework for students to building critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Teacher professional development has been an ongoing focus for promoting such educational reforms. However, despite a strong consensus regarding best practices for professional development, relatively little systematic research has documented classroom changes consequent to these experiences. This paper reports on the impact of sustained, multiyear professional development in a program that combined neuroscience content and knowledge of the neurobiology of learning with inquiry-based pedagogy on teachers’ inquiry-based practices. Classroom observations demonstrated the value of multiyear professional development in solidifying adoption of inquiry-based practices and cultivating progressive yearly growth in the cognitive environment of impacted classrooms.Current discussion about educational reform among business leaders, politicians, and educators revolves around the idea students need “21st century skills” to be successful today (Rotherham and Willingham, 2009 ). Proponents argue that to be prepared for college and to be competitive in the 21st-century workplace, students need to be able to identify issues, acquire and use new information, understand complex systems, use technologies, and apply critical and creative thinking skills (US Department of Labor, 1991 ; Bybee et al., 2007 ; Conley, 2007 ). Advocates of 21st-century skills favor student-centered methods—for example, problem-based learning and project-based learning. In science education, inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning provide one framework for students to build these critical-thinking and problem-solving skills (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1993 ; National Research Council [NRC], 2000 ; Capps et al., 2012 ).Unfortunately, in spite of the central role of inquiry in the national and state science standards, inquiry-based instruction is rarely implemented in secondary classrooms (Weiss et al., 1994 ; Bybee, 1997 ; Hudson et al., 2002 ; Smith et al., 2002 ; Capps et al., 2012 ). Guiding a classroom through planning, executing, analyzing, and evaluating open-ended investigations requires teachers to have sufficient expertise, content knowledge, and self-confidence to be able to maneuver through multiple potential roadblocks. Researchers cite myriad reasons for the lack of widespread inquiry-based instruction in schools: traditional beliefs about teaching and learning (Roehrig and Luft, 2004 ; Saad and BouJaoude, 2012 ), lack of pedagogical skills (Shulman, 1986 ; Adams and Krockover, 1997 ; Crawford, 2007 ), lack of time (Loughran, 1994 ), inadequate knowledge of the practice of science (Duschl, 1987 ; DeBoer, 2004 ; Saad and BouJaoude, 2012 ), perceived time constraints due to high-stakes testing, and inadequate preparation in science (Krajcik et al., 2000 ). Yet teachers are necessarily at the center of reform, as they make instructional and pedagogical decisions within their own classrooms (Cuban, 1990 ). Given that effectiveness of teachers’ classroom practices is critical to the success of current science education reforms, teacher professional development has been an ongoing focus for promoting educational reform (Corcoran, 1995 ; Corcoran et al., 1998 ).A review of the education research literature yields an extensive knowledge base in “best practices” for professional development (Corcoran, 1995 ; NRC, 1996 ; Loucks-Horsley and Matsumoto, 1999 ; Loucks-Horsley et al., 2009 ; Haslam and Fabiano, 2001 ; Wei et al., 2010 ). However, in spite of a strong consensus on what constitutes best practices for professional development (Desimone, 2009 ; Wei et al., 2010 ), relatively little systematic research has been conducted to support this consensus (Garet et al., 2001 ). Similarly, when specifically considering the science education literature, several studies have been published on the impact of teacher professional development on inquiry-based practices (e.g., Supovitz and Turner, 2000 ; Banilower et al., 2007 ; Capps et al., 2012 ). Unfortunately, these studies usually rely on teacher self-report data; few studies have reported empirical evidence of what actually occurs in the classroom following a professional development experience.Thus, in this study, we set out to determine through observational empirical data whether documented effective professional development does indeed change classroom practices. In this paper, we describe an extensive professional development experience for middle school biology teachers designed to develop teachers’ neuroscience content knowledge and inquiry-based pedagogical practices. We investigate the impact of professional development delivered collaboratively by experts in science and pedagogy on promoting inquiry-based instruction and an investigative classroom culture. The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. Were teachers able to increase their neuroscience content knowledge?
2. Were teachers able to effectively implement student-centered reform or inquiry-based pedagogy?
3. Would multiple years of professional development result in greater changes in teacher practices?

Current reforms in science education require fundamental changes in how students are taught science. For most teachers, this requires rethinking their own practices and developing new roles both for themselves as teachers and for their students (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 1995 ). Many teachers learned to teach using a model of teaching and learning that focuses heavily on memorizing facts (Porter and Brophy, 1988 ; Cohen et al., 1993 ; Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 1995 ), and this traditional and didactic model of instruction still dominates instruction in U.S. classrooms. A recent national observation study found that only 14% of science lessons were of high quality, providing students an opportunity to learn important science concepts (Banilower et al., 2006 ). Shifting to an inquiry-based approach to teaching places more emphasis on conceptual understanding of subject matter, as well as an emphasis on the process of establishing and validating scientific concepts and claims (Anderson, 1989 ; Borko and Putnam, 1996 ). In effect, professional development must provide opportunities for teachers to reflect critically on their practices and to fashion new knowledge and beliefs about content, pedagogy, and learners (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 1995 ; Wei et al., 2010 ). If teachers are uncomfortable with a subject or believe they cannot teach science, they may focus less time on it and impart negative feelings about the subject to their students. In this way, content knowledge influences teachers’ beliefs about teaching and personal self-efficacy (Gresham, 2008 ). Personal self-efficacy was first defined as “the conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes” (Bandura, 1977 , p.193). Researchers have reported self-efficacy to be strongly correlated with teachers’ ability to implement reform-based practices (Mesquita and Drake, 1994 ; Marshall et al., 2009 ).Inquiry is “a multifaceted activity that involves making observations, posing questions, examining books and other sources of information, planning investigations, reviewing what is already known in light of evidence, using tools to gather, analyze and interpret data, proposing answers, explanations and predictions, and communicating the results” (NRC, 1996 , p. 23). Unfortunately, most preservice teachers rarely experience inquiry-based instruction in their undergraduate science courses. Instead, they listen to lectures on science and participate in laboratory exercises with guidelines for finding the expected answer (Gess-Newsome and Lederman, 1993 ; DeHaan, 2005 ). As such, teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learning were developed over the many years of their own educations, through “apprenticeship of observation” (Lortie, 1975 ), in traditional lecture-based settings that they then replicate in their own classrooms. To support the implementation of inquiry in K–12 classrooms, teachers need firsthand experiences of inquiry, questioning, and experimentation within professional development programs (Gess-Newsome, 1999 ; Supovitz and Turner, 2000 ; Capps et al., 2012 ).A common criticism of professional development activities is that they are too often one-shot workshops with limited follow-up after the workshop activities (Darling-Hammond, 2005 ; Wei et al., 2010 ). The literature on teacher learning and professional development calls for professional development that is sustained over time, as the duration of professional development is related to the depth of teacher change (Shields et al., 1998 ; Weiss et al., 1998 ; Supovitz and Turner, 2000 ; Banilower et al., 2007 ). If the professional development program is too short in duration, teachers may dismiss the suggested practices or at best assimilate teaching strategies into their current repertoire with little substantive change (Tyack and Cuban, 1995 ; Coburn, 2004 ). For example, Supovitz and Turner (2000 ) found that sustained professional development (more than 80 h) was needed to create an investigative classroom culture in science, as opposed to small-scale changes in practices. Teachers need professional development that is interactive with their teaching practices; in other words, professional development programs should allow time for teachers to try out new practices, to obtain feedback on their teaching, and to reflect on these new practices. Not only is duration (total number of hours) of professional development important, but also the time span of the professional development experience (number of years across which professional hours are situated) to allow for multiple cycles of presentation and reflection on practices (Blumenfeld et al., 1991 ; Garet et al., 2001 ). Supovitz and Turner''s study (2000) suggests that it is more difficult to change classroom culture than teaching practices; the greatest changes in teaching practices occurred after 80 h of professional development, while changes in classroom investigative culture did not occur until after 160 h of professional development.Finally, research indicates that professional development that focuses on science content and how children learn is important in changing teaching practices (e.g., Corcoran, 1995 ; Desimone, 2009 ), particularly when the goal is the implementation of inquiry-like instruction designed to improve students’ conceptual understanding (Fennema et al., 1996 ; Cohen and Hill, 1998 ). The science content chosen for the professional development series described in this study was neuroscience. This content is relevant for both middle and high school science teachers and has direct connections to standards. It also is unique in that it encompasses material on the neurological basis for learning, thus allowing discussions about student learning to occur within both a scientific and pedagogical context. As a final note, it is rare for even a life science teacher to have taken any coursework in neuroscience. The inquiry-based lessons and experiments encountered by the teachers during the professional development provide an authentic learning experience, allowing teachers to truly inhabit the role of a learner in an inquiry-based setting.     

多媒体条件下英语教学中从文化知识到文化理解的培养

当前英语教学中文化教学的含义包括文化知识与文化理解两个层面。在英语教学中将语言和文化融合一起,加强语言的文化导人,有效发挥多媒体优势,使英语教学从文化知识开始,培养文化意识,最终达到文化理解,提高学习者的交际能力。     

远程教学设计:从"教学交互"到"教学理解"

在远程教学设计中,有一个从“教的技术”、“学的技术”到“教与学的整合技术”的发展过程。但存在着两种不同取向的“教与学的整合技术”:“教学交互模式”和“教学理解模式”。本文分析和比较了两者的异同,并指出:只有将两者结合起来,才能促进远程教育人文性价值目标的实现。     

语篇理解中的知识利用：阅读教学中的认知科学

知识利用的前提是知识的获取和知识的储存，而知识的获取、储存和利用可以概括为“概念-关系结构”这种最基本的形式。学习者只有充分利用这一形式，通过激活扩展、推理和更新三种认知操作，分析文内衔接手段、篇章结构、信息排列特征，对作者写作目的和篇章意义进行深层次的理解，才能获取更多的信息，提高阅读效果。     

教学有效提问:从理解到行动

提问是教学过程中一种重要的师生间对话行为,提问是否有效取决于学生学习的效益。通过有效提问可以促进学生思维的发展,增强学生的学习兴趣,有助于学生知识的构建和增进学生语言表达能力。研究认为有效提问应树立对话新理念,以促进学生思维发展为目标,以创建和谐、积极的课堂学习环境为重要标志。     

教学有效提问:从理解到行动

提问是教学过程中一种重要的师生间对话行为,提问是否有效取决于学生学习的效益。通过有效提问可以促进学生思维的发展,增强学生的学习兴趣,有助于学生知识的构建和增进学生语言表达能力。研究认为有效提问应树立对话新理念,以促进学生思维发展为目标,以创建和谐、积极的课堂学习环境为重要标志。     

Developing Understanding of the Nature of Science Within a Professional Development Program for Inservice Elementary Teachers: Project Nature of Elementary Science Teaching

Establishing literacy in science is often linked to building knowledge about the Nature of Science (NOS). This paper describes and evaluates an inservice program designed to build elementary teachers’ understanding of NOS and an awareness of how NOS impacts science classroom instruction. Data sources consisted of surveys, action research plan documentation and classroom observations. Program participants tended to demonstrate some gains in understanding more about NOS and they linked positive experiences in the program to the explicit and activity-based NOS instruction provided. Yet, participation in the professional development project might not have been equally beneficial for all teachers. The understanding of NOS may have been restricted to certain NOS aspects, and the demonstration of the participants’ understanding of NOS may have been short-lived with a somewhat limited impact on sustainable, long-term NOS-based classroom instruction. Implications for designing NOS related professional development programs and suggestions for improvements to further develop teacher understanding of NOS are discussed.     

Teaching Teachers About Energy: Lessons from an Inquiry-Based Workshop for K-8 Teachers

We report results and impressions from a three-day inquiry-based workshop for K-8 teachers, aimed at improving their understanding of energy from a science and engineering perspective. Results suggest that the teachers made significant gains in understanding and appreciation of important energy concepts, but their comprehension of some key ideas remained incomplete. The dissipation of energy into thermal energy of the environment proved to be a particularly difficult idea, and one that represents a serious obstacle to understanding the principle of the conservation of energy.     

从建构主义到建造主义:面向深度学习的知识教学范式转向

面向深度学习的建构主义知识教学,在尊重学生原有知识经验、培养学生的抽象思维、关注学习的独立性、回归学生教学主体地位等方面具有积极意义.但面向深度学习的建构主义的知识教学也存在一些教育症结:在重视抽象思维梯度发展的同时,忽略学习的身体基础,易滑向学习的离身化倾向;在强调个体状态深度学习的同时,泛化学习的情境易导致学习陷入...     

Tools for Science Inquiry Learning: Tool Affordances,Experimentation Strategies,and Conceptual Understanding

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Manipulative environments play a fundamental role in inquiry-based science learning, yet how they impact learning is not fully understood. In a series...     

The Integration of Creative Drama in an Inquiry-Based Elementary Program: The Effect on Student Attitude and Conceptual Learning

Creative drama activities designed to help children learn difficult science concepts were integrated into an inquiry-based elementary science program. Children (n?=?38) in an upper elementary enrichment program at one primary school were the participants in this action research. The teacher-researcher taught students the Full Option Science System? (FOSS) modules of sound (fourth grade) and solar energy (fifth grade) with the integration of creative drama activities in treatment classes. A 2?×?2?×?(2) Mixed ANOVA was used to examine differences in the learning outcomes and attitudes toward science between groups (drama and non-drama) and grade levels (4th and 5th grades) over time (pre/post). Learning was measured using the tests included with the FOSS modules. A shortened version of the Three Dimension Elementary Science Attitude Survey measured attitudes toward science. Students in the drama treatment group had significantly higher learning gains (F?=?160.2, p?<?0.001) than students in the non-drama control group with students in grade four reporting significantly greater learning outcomes (F?=?14.3, p?<?0.001) than grade five. There was a significantly statistical decrease in student attitudes toward science (F?=?7.5, p?<?0.01), though a small change. Creative drama was an effective strategy to increase science conceptual learning in this group of diverse elementary enrichment students when used as an active extension to the pre-existing inquiry-based science curriculum.     

Escape From Metaignorance: How Children Develop an Understanding of Their Own Lack of Knowledge

Previous research yielded conflicting results about when children can accurately assess their epistemic states in different hiding tasks. In Experiment 1, ninety‐two 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds were either shown which object was hidden inside a box, were totally ignorant about what it could be, or were presented with two objects one of which was being put inside (partial exposure). Even 3‐year‐olds could assess their epistemic states in the total ignorance and the complete knowledge task. However, only children older than 5 could assess their ignorance in the partial exposure task. In Experiment 2 with one hundred and one 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds, similar results were found for children under 5 years even when more objects were shown in partial exposure tasks. Implications for children’s developing theory of knowledge are discussed.     

Science Teachers' Knowledge about Teaching Models and Modelling in the Context of a New Syllabus on Public Understanding of Science

As teachers' knowledge determines to a large extent how they respond to educational innovation, it is necessary for innovators to take this knowledge into account when implementing educational changes. This study aimed at identifying patterns in the content and the structure of science teachers' knowledge, at a point in time when they still had little experience in teaching a new subject, that is, Public Understanding of Science. We investigated three domains of teacher knowledge: Teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), subject-matter knowledge, and general pedagogical knowledge. A semi-structured interview and a questionnaire were used. From the analysis of the data, two types of teacher knowledge emerged. One of the types was more integrated and more extended in terms of PCK. Teachers who represented this type of knowledge had developed PCK that connected the various programme domains of the new science subject. In both types, PCK was found to be consistent with general pedagogical knowledge. In both types, however, subject-matter knowledge was similar, and not directly related to the other knowledge domains. Implications for the implementation of the new subject are discussed.