Individual Inquiry Investigations in an Elementary Science Methods Course

This study explored how preservice teachers grew in their understanding of inquiry science through conducting an in-depth individual inquiry investigation in their science methods course. Elementary preservice teachers’ understanding about inquiry investigations, their attitudes towards the assignment, and their views towards using individual inquiry investigations in their own classrooms were studied through written reflections, science notebook writings, and researcher field notes. After conducting an out-of-class inquiry investigation based on their own questions and design, the preservice teachers demonstrated a variety of strengths in their understandings of inquiry-based teaching, their attitudes towards doing science, and their projected use of inquiry in their own classrooms. Weak areas included forming researchable questions and superficial experimental design.     

Inquiring into Teaching: Lesson Study in Elementary Science Methods

This article describes an innovative approach to developing preservice elementary science teachers’ classroom confidence and skills. Based on lesson study approaches, preservice candidates designed and taught integrated science–mathematics lessons during the semester before their student teaching. Working in teams, candidates designed and taught a common lesson in 3 different classrooms, critiquing and refining their lesson between each teaching activity. Data collected from observations of classroom teaching events, team reports, and individual reflections were analyzed qualitatively. Results indicate that, over the 3 teaching events, there were dramatic improvements in lesson design and delivery, the management of the learning environment, the quality of students’ engagements with meaningful content, and the quality of assessments and generation of student data. According to the website of the Lesson Study Research Group, there were more than 2,300 teachers in over 335 schools involved in lesson study in the U.S. as of May 2004 (www.tc.edu/lessonstudy/). Additional lesson study information, projects, and resources are available through a number of other websites, including www.lessonresearch.net (at Mills College) and www.uwlax.edu/sotl.lsp (at The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse)     

Factors Influencing Science Content Accuracy in Elementary Inquiry Science Lessons

Elementary teachers face increasing demands to engage children in authentic science process and argument while simultaneously preparing them with knowledge of science facts, vocabulary, and concepts. This reform is particularly challenging due to concerns that elementary teachers lack adequate science background to teach science accurately. This study examined 81 in-classroom inquiry science lessons for preservice education majors and their cooperating teachers to determine the accuracy of the science content delivered in elementary classrooms. Our results showed that 74 % of experienced teachers and 50 % of student teachers presented science lessons with greater than 90 % accuracy. Eleven of the 81 lessons (9 preservice, 2 cooperating teachers) failed to deliver accurate science content to the class. Science content accuracy was highly correlated with the use of kit-based resources supported with professional development, a preference for teaching science, and grade level. There was no correlation between the accuracy of science content and some common measures of teacher content knowledge (i.e., number of college science courses, science grades, or scores on a general science content test). Our study concluded that when provided with high quality curricular materials and targeted professional development, elementary teachers learn needed science content and present it accurately to their students.     

Understanding Inquiry Science Teaching in Context: A Case Study of an Elementary Teacher

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

The Use and Impact of Explicit Instruction about the Nature of Science and Science Inquiry in an Elementary Science Methods Course

Teachers' understanding of the nature of science(NOS) and science inquiry (SI) can be linked to the use of the teaching methods advocated by the currentscience education reforms. The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate an elementary science methodscourse in which the NOS and SI are embedded and explicitly taught. As a result of the course, incomingconceptions of science as primarily a body of knowledge changed to a more appropriate, blended view of science as abody of knowledge generated through the active application of scientific inquiry.     

浅议探究性实验教学

提出了实施探究性实验教学,并对其定义作了界定,同时阐述了探究性实验教学的原则和实施探究性实验教学的意义。     

几何初步知识教学探究

几何初步知识是数学教学的主要内容之一 ,包括三个方面的内容 :概念教学、公式教学和应用题教学。在教学中要考虑到几何初步知识这一内容的特点、学生的可接受性 ,使学生更好地掌握知识、发展智力和提高学习能力     

Using Science Teaching Case Narratives to Evaluate the Level of Acceptance of Scientific Inquiry Teaching in Preservice Elementary Teachers

The National Science Education Standards have outlined flexible processes children perform when engaging in scientific inquiry. Cases narratives are a common component of many university science education courses but rarely are they used as a tool to evaluate the preservice teachers within these courses. This article describes the construction of a positive and negative science teaching case narrative. These case narratives can be used to evaluate the level of acceptance of scientific inquiry teaching in preservice elementary teachers.     

论小学语文教学中的探究性学习

21世纪是知识经济时代,我们必须树立崭新的教育理念。当前,改变学生的学习方式,培养学生发现问题、研究问题、解决问题的能力,已成为世界各国教育改革共同关注的焦点。在小学语文教学中,开展探究性学习有着十分重要的现实意义。     

Approaches to Inquiry Teaching: Elementary teacher's perspectives

Learning science through the process of inquiry is advocated in curriculum documents across many jurisdictions. However, a number of studies suggest that teachers struggle to help students engage in inquiry practices. This is not surprising as many teachers of science have not engaged in scientific inquiry and possibly hold naïve ideas about what constitutes scientific inquiry. This study investigates teachers' self-reported approaches to teaching science through inquiry. Phenomenographic interviews undertaken with 20 elementary teachers revealed teachers identified six approaches to teaching for inquiry, clustered within three categories. These approaches were categorized as Free and Illustrated Inquiries as part of an Experience-centered category, Solution and Method Inquiries as part of a Problem-centered category, and Topic and Chaperoned Inquiries as part of a Question-centered category. This study contributes to our theoretical understanding of how teachers approach Inquiry Teaching and suggests fertile areas of future research into this valued and influential phenomenon broadly known as ‘Inquiry Teaching'.     

科学探究:当代科学教学的基本理念

何谓“探究式科学教学”(the science teachingas inquiry)?人们一般认为它是一种科学教学模式或方法。美国教育家萨其曼和施瓦布(J.R.Suchman＆ J.J.Schwab)等对探究性学习进行了深入的研究,他们从不同角度证明了教学过程中“探究活动”的重要性。萨其曼注重实践,主张“探究方法的训练”模式,重点是帮助学生认清事实,建立正确的科学概念,并形成假说以解释新事物和新现象。施瓦布则试图把“探究的科学”与“探究的教学”结合起来,主张     

The Science Semester: Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry for Prospective Elementary Teachers

We describe the Science Semester, a semester-long course block that integrates three science courses and a science education methods course for elementary teacher education majors, and examine prospective elementary teachers’ developing conceptions about inquiry, science teaching efficacy, and reflections on learning through inquiry. The Science Semester was designed to provide inquiry-oriented and problem-based learning experiences, opportunities to examine socially relevant issues through cross-disciplinary perspectives, and align with content found in elementary curricula and standards. By the end of the semester, prospective elementary teachers moved from naïve to intermediate understandings of inquiry and significantly increased self-efficacy for science teaching as measured on one subscore of the STEBI-B. Reflecting on the semester, prospective teachers understood and appreciated the goals of the course and the PBL format, but struggled with the open-ended and student-directed elements of the course.     

Teaching the Nature of Science through Inquiry to Prospective Elementary Teachers: A Tale of Two Researchers

The teacher as researcher, Colburn, and the researcher, Bianchini, investigated Colburn's use of inquiry to teach the nature of science to prospective elementary teachers; we attempted to identify those aspects of the nature of science addressed through inquiry instruction and the varied contexts in which such insights arose. We began by videotaping small group inquiries and whole class deliberations during three units of Colburn's inquiry‐oriented general science course. We then conducted separate qualitative analyses of the resulting 20 h of videotaped data. Colburn, the teacher and informant, adopted an emic perspective and employed examples of explicit and implicit deliberations and demonstrations of the nature of science to construct his case. Bianchini also used an emic perspective, but examined only what teacher and students explicitly identified as examples of and insights into the nature of science. Taken together, our analyses highlight the difficulties in presenting a cogent and comprehensive picture of the nature of science to students, the teacher's pivotal role in initiating discussions of what science is and how scientists work, and the strengths and limitations of using classroom‐based research to investigate nature of science instruction. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 177–209, 2000     

Preparing More Confident Preservice Elementary Science Teachers: One Elementary Science Methods Teacher's Self-Study

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

小学教育专业美术基础教学改革探讨

美术基础是师范教育中小学教育专业学生的一门必修课程。随着教育改革的深入,＂以人为本,以智为基,以实践教学改革为出发点,以培养学生全面发展为根本目标＂的理念被提上日程,从而对师范教育本科层次小学教育专业的教学提出了新的要求。小学教育专业美术基础的教学应从更新和充实教学内容、改善教学方法和完善考核评价体系三个方面进行改革。     

小学科学教学要走进自然

科学教育的主要教学目标应该放在培养小学生的好奇心上。这一要求明确地指明了科学教学除了课本和课堂教学的第三种教学方式——走到大自然中进行学习。因此,小学科学教学应该和自然紧密结合,帮助学生认识到自身和大自然以及我们所生活的社会之间所存在的关联,最终实现学有所用。     

课堂教学中实施科学探究的几点认识

本文对教学目标、教学内容、教学过程和课后作业方式等几个方面的改革措施进行了阐述，并针时具体问题进行了分析。     

试论数学"探究性学习"教学的基本过程

数学科学探究包含两个层面:数学科学探究的基本精神与基本程序.数学探究教学是对这两个层面的模拟.数学探究教学的基本过程中的环节主要是:问题的提出,建立猜想与形成命题,科学解释与证明,评价与交流应用.每一教学环节有各自的教学功能.