Constructivist Science Teaching: Intellectual and Strategic Teaching Acts

This paper attempts to provide some productive starting points for discussion in the context of science teaching. Embedded in the current practice of methodologies such as messing about, hands-on, minds-on activities, science-technology-society related approaches, and inquiry-based learning, is often a sense of confusion and frustration. Such current methodologies in elementary science teaching are founded on constructivist learning theory. This paper attempts to pinpoint possible ways in which this child-centered, interactive learning theory can lead to confusion for students and teachers alike. It attempts to distinguish the necessary criteria for successful science teaching from much of today's practice in the elementary school science class. It does not attempt to draw conclusions on the reasons behind some of the practices.     

Developing a material-dialogic approach to pedagogy to guide science teacher education

Abstract

Dialogic pedagogy is being promoted in science teacher education but the literature on dialogic pedagogy tends to focus on explicit voices, and so runs the risk of overlooking the important role that material objects often play in science education. In this paper we use the findings of a teacher survey and classroom case study to argue that there is a gap in the way that science teachers think about the role of materials and that this could be addressed by changes in the theory base of teacher training, augmenting the current constructivist and dialogic theory with the addition of new materialism in the form of Barad’s ‘Agential Realism’. Our findings suggests that science teachers do not regularly explicitly consider the relationship between the material resources they deploy and the dialogic learning taking place. We argue that science teacher training and professional development should pay more attention to the material-dialogic relationships in the learning that emerges in science classrooms.     

Prevalence and predictors of out‐of‐field teaching in the first five years

Many new science teachers are assigned to teach subjects in which they have not been prepared, a practice referred to as out‐of‐field (OOF) teaching. Teaching OOF has been shown to negatively influence instruction and constrain teachers’ development. In this study, we explored the extent to which new secondary science teachers were assigned OOF across their first 5 years. Analysis of this longitudinal data set indicated that these assignments were common. While new science teachers were assigned to teach a variety of subjects over their first 5 years of teaching, they were not assigned more or fewer OOF courses over time. Furthermore, results indicated that teachers in certain situations are more likely than others to be assigned to teach OOF. Even with federal legislation in the United States seeking to eliminate OOF teaching, a large portion of new secondary science teachers are assigned to teach science disciplines for which they are inadequately prepared. Based on the findings of this study, it is worth exploring policy avenues that eliminate OOF teaching. Policymakers, administrators, and teacher educators should seek to provide supports, such as science‐specific induction programs designed for new teachers who are assigned OOF, and science teacher educators should prepare prospective teachers to teach multiple science disciplines. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1197–1218, 2017     

Future teacher scholarship programs for science education: Rationale for teaching in perceived high-need areas

Data from Oklahoma Future Scholarship Recipients were collected covering awards over a seven-year period. Scholarships ($1000–$1500 per year) were awarded by the State Regents for Higher Education to attract and retain potential teachers into the teaching of science. The study focused on the reasons that these teachers (N=58) went into the teaching of science. From the survey teachers went into teaching because (in ranked order) they want to teach subject matter; they were committed to social change; they liked to work with and be a positive force in the life of children (adolescents), etc. They did not go into teaching for money, because it was easy, because they drifted into it, or because it was not their first choice. The teachers who received scholarships like teaching science, liked teaching, and are (they say) likely to stay in the field, but they would have gone into teaching anyway: 82% were not enticed into either the field or the discipline of science by their scholarships. Those who would use scholarships in the $1000–$1500 per year range, as a marketing strategy, to attract students to a discipline such as science should rethink the efficacy of this approach.     

Can Science Test Supernatural Worldviews?

Several prominent scientists, philosophers, and scientific institutions have argued that science cannot test supernatural worldviews on the grounds that (1) science presupposes a naturalistic worldview (Naturalism) or that (2) claims involving supernatural phenomena are inherently beyond the scope of scientific investigation. The present paper argues that these assumptions are questionable and that indeed science can test supernatural claims. While scientific evidence may ultimately support a naturalistic worldview, science does not presuppose Naturalism as an a priori commitment, and supernatural claims are amenable to scientific evaluation. This conclusion challenges the rationale behind a recent judicial ruling in the United States concerning the teaching of “Intelligent Design” in public schools as an alternative to evolution and the official statements of two major scientific institutions that exert a substantial influence on science educational policies in the United States. Given that science does have implications concerning the probable truth of supernatural worldviews, claims should not be excluded a priori from science education simply because they might be characterized as supernatural, paranormal, or religious. Rather, claims should be excluded from science education when the evidence does not support them, regardless of whether they are designated as ‘natural’ or ‘supernatural’.     

幼儿园教师的科学精神与科学教育意识

科学精神是现代人应当具备的基本品格,是儿童必须发展的基本素养。儿童科学精神的形成有赖于教师的引导,这使得科学精神必然是幼儿园教师专业素养的重要组成部分。具体来说,幼儿园教师应当具有求真精神、质疑与批判精神、探究精神。在开展科学教育活动的过程中,幼儿园教师应善于将自身的科学精神转化为有效的科学教育意识,将自己对科学价值的理解与认同转化为推动幼儿科学活动开展的精神动力,支持幼儿自由、自主、自在地进行科学体验和科学探索,使幼儿在教师科学精神潜移默化的影响下,逐渐养成敢于求真、勇于探索的科学精神。     

哈耶克自由主义理论对教学自由的启示

文章试图探索哈耶克政治学自由主义内涵对于教学自由的意义。按照哈耶克的自由主义理论,教学自由有三层含义：第一,教学自由是一种不受强制的状态;第二,存在于师生关系中,是在教师与学生的交往活动中实现的;第三,是在政治权利许可的范围内进行活动的权力。教学自由必须以教与学双方遵守共同规则,承担相关责任作为前提条件。     

儿童朴素理论视阈下的幼儿园科学教育

当前幼儿园科学教育实践缺少对儿童朴素理论的了解与尊重,教师不善于对幼儿的朴素理论加以合理运用,片面强调科学知识教育,忽视幼儿的解释与预测,脱离幼儿的经验,教育评价空洞机械,教育效果不理想。幼儿园科学教育中,教师应了解并尊重幼儿的朴素理论,关注＂说＂、＂做＂、＂思＂、＂看＂,即注重倾听与提问、操作与实践、思考与探究、观察与模仿,促进幼儿理论的主动建构。     

Discovering Plate Boundaries in Data-integrated Environments: Preservice Teachers' Conceptualization and Implementation of Scientific Practices

Drawn from the norms and rules of their fields, scientists use variety of practices, such as asking questions and arguing based on evidence, to engage in research that will contribute to our understanding of Earth and beyond. In this study, we explore how preservice teachers' learn to teach scientific practices while teaching plate tectonic theory. In particular, our aim is to observe which scientific practices preservice teachers use while teaching an earth science unit, how do they integrate these practices into their lessons, and what challenges do they face during their first time teaching of an earth science content area integrated with scientific practices. The study is designed as a qualitative, exploratory case study of seven preservice teachers while they were learning to teach plate tectonic theory to a group of middle school students. The data were driven from the video records and artifacts of the preservice teachers' learning and teaching processes as well as written reflections on the teaching. Intertextual discourse analysis was used to understand what scientific practices preservice teachers choose to integrate into their teaching experience. Our results showed that preservice teachers chose to focus on four aspects of scientific practices: (1) employing historical understanding of how the theory emerged, (2) encouraging the use of evidence to build up a theory, (3) observation and interpretation of data maps, and (4) collaborative practices in making up the theory. For each of these practices, we also looked at the common challenges faced by preservice teachers by using constant comparative analysis. We observed the practices that preservice teachers decided to use and the challenges they faced, which were determined by what might have come as in their personal history as learners. Therefore, in order to strengthen preservice teachers' background, college courses should be arranged to teach important scientific ideas through scientific practices. In addition, such practices should also reflect the authentic practices of earth scientists such as use of historical record and differentiating observation versus interpretation.     

关于高师院校“学科教学论”发展的若干思考

“学科教学论”是高等师范院校非教育专业本科生的一门必修课,是研究学科教学理论及其应用的一门教育学科。“学科教学论”与课程论、教学论并列,同属于教育学的三级学科。“学科教学论”课程的建设,要从自身学科内容的优化和拓展性课程的开发两方面入手。“学科教学论”师资队伍的建设,要注重制定规划,分层培养;加强与其他相关学科的联系,加强与中小学的联系,形成集体优势;对“学科教学论”教师给予一定的政策倾斜等。     

Supporting pre-service elementary teachers in their understanding of inquiry teaching through the construction of a third discursive space

Several international reports promote the use of the inquiry teaching methodology for improvements in science education at elementary school. Nevertheless, research indicates that pre-service elementary teachers have insufficient experience with this methodology and when they try to implement it, the theory they learnt in their university education clashes with the classroom practice they observe, a problem that has also been noted with other innovative methodologies. So, it appears essential for pre-service teachers to conduct supportive reflective practice during their education to integrate theory and practice, which various studies suggest is not usually done. Our study shows how opening up a third discursive space can assist this supportive reflective practice. The third discursive space appears when pre-service teachers are involved in specific activities that allow them to contrast the discourses of theoretical knowledge taught at university with practical knowledge arising from their ideas on science and science teaching and their observations during classroom practice. The case study of three pre-service teachers shows that this strategy was fundamental in helping them to integrate theory and practice, resulting in a better understanding of the inquiry methodology and its application in the classroom.     

Reading for meaning: The foundational knowledge every teacher of science should have

Reading is fundamental to science and not an adjunct to its practice. In other words, understanding the meaning of the various forms of written discourse employed in the creation, discussion, and communication of scientific knowledge is inherent to how science works. The language used in science, however, sets up a barrier, that in order to be overcome requires all students to have a clear understanding of the features of the multimodal informational texts employed in science and the strategies they can use to decode the scientific concepts communicated in informational texts. We argue that all teachers of science must develop a functional understanding of reading comprehension as part of their professional knowledge and skill. After describing our rationale for including knowledge about reading as a professional knowledge base every teacher of science should have, we outline the knowledge about language teachers must develop, the knowledge about the challenges that reading comprehension of science texts poses for students, and the knowledge about instructional strategies science teachers should know to support their students’ reading comprehension of science texts. Implications regarding the essential role that knowledge about reading should play in the preparation of science teachers are also discussed here.     

美国中小学科学教师培养理念刍议

文章通过梳理当前美国科学教育以及科学教育师资培养理论的代表观点,指出当今科学教育师资培养理论需应答的多层次问题,旨在为国内科学教师教育实践和未来理论研究作参考。     

职前科学教育教师专业素养亟待提升——基于首届全国科学教育专业师范生教学技能大赛

教学技能大赛是一种对话、反思与研究的专业行为,论文以首届全国科学教育专业师范生教学技能创新大赛中的即席讲演、模拟上课与教学设计文本为案例,阐述职前科学教师专业素养现状。具体表现为科学教学理论的缺失,教学设计能力的失语,课堂教学技能的不足。进而提出需要建构适切职前科学教师的实践培养途径……加强对科学教育研究前沿的关注与理论学习;促进科学教学设计理论与实践的学习;创造教学实践机会,促进其教学技能的自我建构。     

Teachers as journalists?

I start by considering some of the similarities between journalists and science teachers in their work and then go on to examine three questions that are of importance in dealing with creationism in schools: Is the issue one that is worth dealing with? How might one deal with it? What does one hope to achieve by dealing with it? I conclude that (1) it is worth science teachers dealing with the issue of creationism in schools but only if they wish to; (2) science teachers should not give the impression that the theory of evolution is scientifically controversial; (3) while one is very unlikely to change the mind, as a result of school teaching, of someone who does not, on religious grounds, accept the theory of evolution, it is very worth presenting the scientific account of the theory and enabling students to review the evidence for it.     

Inquiry-Events as a Tool for Changing Science Teaching Efficacy Belief of Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers

Researchers agree that science education should begin at childhood, due to its contribution to later cognitive skill development. However, in most cases only a small portion of kindergarten and elementary school activities is related to science. Given the tremendous impact teachers have on children and on the success or failure of their curriculum, teachers' efficacy belief toward science teaching (TEBTST) should be of significant concern. It is suggested herein that in order to improve TEBTST, the science curriculum should be developed not only from the perspective of the child's needs, but will explicitly consider the teachers' needs as well. Such an approach is described in this study, and is labeled as the Inquiry Events (IE) teaching method. This method involves relating to an open-ended problem situated in real life, that encourages investigation of a variety of issues—ethical, economic, scientific, etc.—which both kindergarten and elementary school teachers are accustomed to considering. The method encourages teachers to relate to these daily situations by introducing scientific questions, which they would ordinarily ignore or omit. Using the STEBI (Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument) questionnaire before and after a 4-day workshop introducing the IE method, it was found that IE improved TEBTST and increased their confidence in teaching science.     

Science and Scientific Curiosity in Pre-school—The teacher's point of view

Nowadays, early science education is well-accepted by researchers, education professionals and policy makers. Overall, teachers’ attitudes and conceptions toward the science subject domain and science education influence their ways of teaching and engagement. However, there is a lack of research regarding factors that affect this engagement in pre-school years. The main assumption of this study is that teachers’ attitudes regarding science in pre-school can shape children's engagement in science and develop their scientific curiosity. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to investigate the attitudes of pre-school teachers toward engaging in science and to explore their views about the nature of curiosity: who is a curious child and how can a child's natural curiosity be fostered? An extensive survey was conducted among 146 pre-school teachers by employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Results indicate that most of the participants believe that scientific education should begin in early childhood; very young children can investigate and take part in a process of inquiry; and scientific activities in pre-school can influence children's long-term attitudes toward science. Despite these views, most participants felt they did not possess sufficient scientific knowledge. Furthermore, participants expressed diverse opinions when asked to identify what constitutes curiosity, how the curious child can be identified and how a child's curiosity can be fostered. The research findings carry significant implications regarding how to implement scientific activities in pre-school, and how to encourage pre-school teachers to engage children in scientific activities in a way that will nurture their natural curiosity.     

The Postmodern Sin of Intelligent Design Creationism

That Intelligent Design Creationism rejects the methodological naturalism of modern science in favor of a premodern supernaturalist worldview is well documented and by now well known. An irony that has not been sufficiently appreciated, however, is the way that ID Creationists try to advance their premodern view by adopting (if only tactically) a radical postmodern perspective. This paper will reveal the deep threads of postmodernism that run through the ID Creationist movement’s arguments, as evidenced in the writings and interviews of its key leaders. Seeing their arguments and activities from this perspective highlights the danger to science posed by both ID Creationism and radical postmodernism.     

大学本科小学教育专业建设问题

大学本科小学教育专业应定性在教育,定向在小学,定格在本科,对小学教育专业学生进行综合培养,促进学生全面发展。要合理构建小学教育专业课程体系,使学生在教育理论、学科专业知识、教育科研方法、教学实践能力等方面明显高于中师和小教大专;处理好文化基础与专业基础、教育理论与学科知识、科学与人文的关系。在提高小学教师学历层次、学术水平、科研能力、教学能力和管理能力的同时,促进教师专业化发展。     

“双能型”教师:科学课程教师专业发展的新要求

当前科学课程教师在教学中缺乏理论与实践相融合的能力和探究教学的研究能力.“双能型”教师是科学课程教师专业发展的新要求.“双能型”科学课程教师在教学中具备理论与实践相融合的能力和探究教学的研究能力.“双能型”科学课程教师的评价标准包括融合能力和研究能力两个维度.