The effect of problem-based learning on the environmental attitudes of preservice science teachers

This study attempted to investigate the effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on the environmental attitudes of preservice science teachers. In the study, an experimental design was used with a pre-test and post-test control group. In all, 51 junior preservice science teachers participated in the study. The study was carried out over 10 weeks within the scope of an environmental science course. During the study, lessons in the experimental group were processed using a PBL approach while lessons in the control group were processed using a traditional teaching approach. Data were collected through a personal information form and environmental attitudes inventory. Data were then analysed using PASW Statistics 18 (SPSS Inc.). The findings of the study revealed a statistically significant increase in favour of the experimental group preservice science teachers’ environmental attitudes. An increase in environmental attitudes was also found in the control group; however, this increase was not statistically significant. As a result, PBL was found to be more effective than the traditional teaching approach in the development of environmental attitudes in preservice science teachers.     

The effect of cognitive responses on the attitudes of preservice elementary teachers toward energy conservation

The investigation attempted to determine if subjects' cognitive responses to a persuasive communication are more highly correlated with attitude change than the recall of arguments presented in the communication. Subjects were exposed to a systematically designed persuasive communication and then tested for their retention of arguments presented in the communication and cognitive responses. Attitude change was significantly correlated with cognitive responses elicited immediately following the persuasive communication and cognitive responses recalled three weeks later. There was no significant correlation between recall of communication arguments and attitude change. The results offer a plausible explanation for the contradictory findings reported in the science education literature regarding the dissipation of attitudes changed using persuasive communication.     

Studies on attitude toward teaching science and anxiety about teaching science in preservice elementary teachers

These studies examined attitude toward teaching science (ATTS) using an adaptation of the Bratt Attitude Test (M-BAT); anxiety about teaching science (ANX-TS), as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI A-State); and selected demographic variables in preservice elementary teachers for the 1977–1978 and 1978–1979 academic years and a follow-up of those students who completed their student teaching in May 1979. The M-BAT and STAI were administered in September at the beginning of Science 6 (earth science and biology course), in December on the next to last day of Science 6, in May on the next to the last day of Science 5 (physical science), and in May 1979 after student teaching. In the two academic years, both ATTS and ANX-TS became more positive during the sequence Science 6-5. Both changes in ATTS and ANX-TS continued to change in a positive direction after completion of Science 6-5, after student teaching. There were differences in the times that the greatest changes in ATTS and ANX-TS occurred. In both studies, the greatest change in ATTS took place between September and December, during Science 6. The greatest change in ANX-TS, however, took place during Science 5 between December and May in the 1977–1978 study. In the 1978–1979 study, the greatest changes in ANX-TS occurred in Science 6, between September and December. The delayed reduction of ANX-TS in the 1977–1978 study may be explained by differences in teaching patterns. In 1977–1978, two teachers taught only their academic specialty, biology or earth science, to students who switched teachers midsemester. In 1978–1979, the same two instructors taught both biology and earth science to the same students. Correlation coefficients for successive and corresponding administrations of both the M-BAT and STAI suggest these variables are related. Students with more positive ATTS tended to have reduced ANX-TS. Neither the number of high school or college science and math courses completed nor the level of enjoyment of these courses appears to be related to ATTS or ANX-TS for the initial administration of the M-BAT and STAI. Closer examination of data, however, indicates that students with negative ATTS and high ANX-TS were fairly evenly divided in their enjoyment of mathematics, while students with positive ATTS and low ANX-TS enjoyed math in a 3:1 like/dislike ratio. The relationship between both ATTS and ANX-TS and achievement is reasonalbly consistent for Science 6. In Science 5, however, the relationship between ATTS and achievement is inconsistent and there is no indication of a relationship between achievement and ANX-TS.     

Credibility and persuasion: A sociopsychological approach to changing the attitudes toward energy conservation of preservice elementary school science teachers

Tested was the effect of two persuasive messages presented by a credible communicator on the attitudes toward energy conservation of 180 preservice elementary teachers. The study asked the following questions: (1) Can attitudes toward energy conservation be positively changed with a brief, belief-laden communication? (2) Do positive attitude gains between pre- and post-tests, if any, dissipate within three weeks following the treatment? (3) Do the integrated and the nonintegrated communications affect energy attitudes of three subgroups (abstract, concrete differentiator and concrete thinkers) of the sample differently? The important finding was that both experimental treatments, integrated and nonintegrated, were equally effective and significantly more effective in attitude change than the control. Secondly, the finding that neither experimental treatment dissipated in effect, at least for three weeks, suggests some duration of brief treatment periods. And finally, the attitude changes are as likely to occur when concrete differentiators are presented with a nonintegrated as an integrated treatment, but abstract thinkers exposed to the integrated treatment and concrete thinkers exposed to the nonintegrated treatment sustain a changed attitude to a greater degree than other combinations of treatment and cognitive processing styles.     

A comparative study of the effect of certain factors on the teaching behavior of preservice elementary teachers of science

Undergraduate teacher education programs have long attempted to improve the prospective teacher's competence in implementing new curriculum programs, materials, teaching strategies, etc. The following study suggests that there are components of a lesson, other than program and materials, which may exert enough influence on the interaction patterns between teachers and pupils to be given closer consideration in the design of a teacher education sequence.     

Relationship between science knowledge levels and beliefs toward science instruction held by preservice elementary teachers

Aspects of science background knowledge and attitudes toward teaching science were examined among preservice elementary teachers. The results indicated a low level of science knowledge, a negative relationship between science knowledge and attitude toward teaching science, and a marked lack of confidence toward teaching science among the prospective teachers. Some interesting paradoxes were also found. Recommendations concerning preservice preparation, inclusion of academic science coursework, and collaborative efforts between college departments are offered.     

Characteristics of elementary teachers related to attitudes toward science

The purpose of this study is to ascertain what personal and professional characteristics are related to elementary attitudes toward science and the scientific institution. The Schwirian Science Support Scale (TRI-S) was administered to 191 elementary teachers and analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The personal characteristics examined are: (1) age; and (2) religious preference. The six professional characteristics explored are: (1) highest academic degree held; (2) semester hours of college science; (3) type of undergraduate institution attended; (4) years teaching experience; (5) grade level taught; and (6) the nature oj the teaching experience, i.e., continuous or interrupted. Of these eight independent variables, age is associated with the greatest attitudinal differences, the younger teachers expressing the more positive attitudes toward science. Teachers who graduated from state schools had more positive attitudes than those who came from private, liberal arts institutions. There was also a positive association found between number of hours in science and positive science attitudes.     

The influence of field experiences on stages of concern and attitudes of preservice teachers toward science and science teaching

The purpose of the study was to determine whether the field experience component of an undergraduate science methods course influenced teachers' concerns and attitudes toward science and science teaching. Age, grade-point average, openmindedness, and school assignment were examined as factors which might explain some of the variance in the dependent measures. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used. Students were administered the Teacher Concerns Questionnaire, the Science Teaching Attitude Scales, and the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale approximately eight weeks after the pretest. Results indicated that field experiences did not significantly change student concerns about teaching science but significantly improved student attitudes toward science and science teaching. Students differing in age, grade-point average, and openmindedness did not difer significantly in changes in concerns and changes in attitude toward science and science teaching. Students assigned to different schools differed significantly in changes in attitude toward science.     

Intersections of life histories and science identities: the stories of three preservice elementary teachers

Grounded within Connelly and Clandinin’s conceptualization of teachers’ professional identity in terms of ‘stories to live by’ and through a life-history lens, this multiple case study aimed to respond to the following questions: (a) How do three preservice elementary teachers view themselves as future science teachers? (b) How have the participants’ life histories shaped their science identity trajectories? In order to characterize the participants’ formation of science identities over time, various data regarding their life histories in relation to science were collected: science biographies, self-portraits, interviews, reflective journals, lesson plans, and classroom observations. The analysis of the data illustrated how the three participants’ identities have been in formation from the early years of their lives and how various events, experiences, and interactions had shaped their identities through time and across contexts. These findings are discussed alongside implications for theory, specifically, identity and life-history intersections, for teacher preparation, and for research related to explorations of beginning elementary teachers’ identity trajectories.