Articulating the Relationships Between Theory and Practice in Science Teaching: A model for teacher professional development

In-depth analysis of science teachers' idiosyncratic instructional behaviors combined with the notion of deliberated 'teacher reflection' as a means of improving professional teaching practice has become one of the most pervasive concepts to influence science teacher education during the past decade. Sweeney and coworkers have described how the notion of teacher reflection and Lytle and Cochran-Smith's typology of teacher research were utilised to examine the relationships between a beginning high school chemistry teacher's articulated personal practice theories and his actions as demonstrated by his curricular decisions and instructional practices. Using data drawn from the previous study, this report focuses on examining how the methodological approach taken in the investigation (explicit, deliberate articulation and analysis of a teacher's instructional behaviors and rationales within the context of a mentoring relationship) may serve as a useful model for teacher professional development across all areas of instruction.     

Understanding science teaching effectiveness: examining how science-specific and generic instructional practices relate to student achievement in secondary science classrooms

ABSTRACT

In order to create conditions for students’ meaningful and rigorous intellectual engagement in science classrooms, it is critically important to help science teachers learn which strategies and approaches can be used best to develop students’ scientific literacy. Better understanding how science teachers’ instructional practices relate to student achievement can provide teachers with beneficial information about how to best engage their students in meaningful science learning. To address this need, this study examined the instructional practices that 99 secondary biology teachers used in their classrooms and employed regression to determine which instructional practices are predictive of students’ science achievement. Results revealed that the secondary science teachers who had well-managed classroom environments and who provided opportunities for their students to engage in student-directed investigation-related experiences were more likely to have increased student outcomes, as determined by teachers’ value-added measures. These findings suggest that attending to both generic and subject-specific aspects of science teachers’ instructional practice is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms that result in more effective science instruction in secondary classrooms. Implications about the use of these observational measures within teacher evaluation systems are discussed.     

Using Technology to Facilitate Differentiated High School Science Instruction

This qualitative investigation explored the beliefs and practices of one secondary science teacher, Diane, who differentiated instruction and studied how technology facilitated her differentiation. Diane was selected based on the results of a previous study, in which data indicated that Diane understood how to design and implement proactively planned, flexible, engaging instructional activities in response to students’ learning needs better than the other study participants. Data for the present study included 3 h of semi-structured interview responses, 37.5 h of observations of science instruction, and other artifacts such as instructional materials. This variety of data allowed for triangulation of the evidence. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative approach. Results indicated that technology played an integral role in Diane’s planning and implementation of differentiated science lessons. The technology-enhanced differentiated lessons employed by Diane typically attended to students’ different learning profiles or interest through modification of process or product. This study provides practical strategies for science teachers beginning to differentiate instruction, and recommendations for science teacher educators and school and district administrators. Future research should explore student outcomes, supports for effective formative assessment, and technology-enhanced readiness differentiation among secondary science teachers.     

Einstellungen,Motivation und Selbstwirksamkeit von Lehrkräften

Teachers’ attitudes, motivation and self-efficacy are aspects of their professional competence affecting students’ motivation and learning via instructional behavior. In the present study, school type-specific differences in these teacher competencies and their relation to instruction when teaching with texts and integrated pictures are analyzed, further focusing on effects of school subject and teaching experience. Teachers (N?=?265) of primary school, lower and upper track secondary school filled in questionnaires. Primary school teachers were less intrinsically motivated to teach text-picture integration than secondary school teachers. They showed more negative attitudes towards texts with pictures than upper track teachers and avoided discussing the picture to a higher degree. All teacher characteristics predicted instructional behavior, further school type-specific effects of the subject occurred. The results provide starting points for teacher training and the potential for further research concerning the support of students in class.     

Teacher Quality Indicators as Predictors of Instructional Assessment Practices in Science Classrooms in Secondary Schools in Barbados

This study investigated the self-reported instructional assessment practices of a selected sample of secondary school science teachers in Barbados. The study sought to determine if there were statistically significant differences in the instructional assessment practices of teachers based on their sex and teacher quality (teaching experience, professional qualification and teacher academic qualification). It also sought to determine the extent to which each of these four selected variables individually and jointly affected the teachers’ report of their instructional assessment practices. A sample of 55 science teachers from nine secondary schools in Barbados was randomly selected to participate in this study. Data was collected by means of a survey and was analyzed using the means and standard deviations of the instructional assessment practices scores and linear, multiple and binary logistic regression. The results of the study were such that the majority of the sample reported good overall instructional assessment practices while only a few participants reported moderate assessment practices. The instructional assessment practices in the area of student knowledge were mostly moderate as indicated by the sample. There were no statistically significant differences between or among the mean scores of the teachers’ reported instructional assessment practices based on sex ( t?=?0.10; df?=?53; p?=?0.992), teaching experience ( F[4,50]?=?1.766; p?=?0.150), the level of professional qualification (F[3,45]?=?0.2117; p?=?0.111) or the level of academic qualification (F[2,52]?=?0.504; p?=?0.607). The independent variables (teacher sex, teaching experience, teacher professional qualification or teacher academic qualification) were not significant predictors of the instructional assessment practices scores. However, teacher sex was a significant predictor of the teachers’ report of good instructional assessment practices. The study also found that the joint effect of the variables teacher sex, teaching experience, teacher professional qualification and teacher academic qualification was not significant in predicting the instructional assessment practices scores of the science teachers. However, the joint effect of these variables was statistically significant (X ²?=?18.482; df?=?10; p?=?0.047) in predicting the teachers’ reported use of good instructional assessment practices. The best predictor of teachers’ report of good instructional assessment practices, though not statistically significant, was the diploma in education professional qualification.     

Using Educative Assessments to Support Science Teaching for Middle School English-language Learners

Grounded in Hallidayan perspectives on academic language, we report on our development of an educative science assessment as one component of the language-rich inquiry science for English-language learners teacher professional learning project for middle school science teachers. The project emphasizes the role of content-area writing to support teachers in diagnosing their students’ emergent understandings of science inquiry practices, science content knowledge, and the academic language of science, with a particular focus on the needs of English-language learners. In our current school policy context, writing for meaningful purposes has received decreased attention as teachers struggle to cover large numbers of discrete content standards. Additionally, high-stakes assessments presented in multiple-choice format have become the definitive measure of student science learning, further de-emphasizing the value of academic writing for developing and expressing understanding. To counter these trends, we examine the implementation of educative assessment materials—writing-rich assessments designed to support teachers’ instructional decision making. We report on the qualities of our educative assessment that supported teachers in diagnosing their students’ emergent understandings, and how teacher–researcher collaborative scoring sessions and interpretation of assessment results led to changes in teachers’ instructional decision making to better support students in expressing their scientific understandings. We conclude with implications of this work for theory, research, and practice.     

Teachers designing curriculum as professional development: A model for transformational science teaching

We have designed a model for transformational science teaching focused on linking theory and practice through curriculum decision making that has been the framework for professional development sessions for middle-grade science teachers during the past 5 years. Interviews with teachers revealed that their experiences with curriculum development were of significant value in making decisions concerning the design of classroom environments. As teachers reflected on current research about teaching and learning, in collaboration with university scientists and science educators, they were informed by theoretical perspectives which held implications for their practice. Curriculum development became a vehicle for professional development and school reform; however, it was vital that the teachers were in clear communication with their administrators and communities concerning reform issues. Students and teachers from schools implementing the model and from control sites were interviewed to determine the model's influence on instructional practices and student attitude and achievement in science. The five-phase model for transformational science teaching is discussed here, accompanied by teacher comments about tensions experienced at each phase. This discussion is followed by an analysis of teacher and student interview data that reveals teachers' use of instructional strategies and students' attitudes toward science. Results and analysis of student performance on a mandated end-of-grade science test are also included. From this evidence, we recommend a new design for professional development opportunities for teachers that engages them in decision making as they reflect about the connections between theory and practice and the value of continually testing, revising, and reevaluating curriculum and instructional issues. J Res Sci Teach 34: 773–789, 1997.     

Making learning interesting and its application to the science classroom

Generations of students are graduating from secondary school disinterested in post-secondary study of science or pursuing careers in science-related fields beyond formal education. We propose that destabilising such disinterest among future students requires science educators to begin listening to secondary school students regarding their views of how science learning is made interesting within the science classroom. Studies on students’ interest in response to instructional strategies applied in the classroom communicate the opinions (i.e. the ‘voice’) of students about the strategies they believe make their classroom learning interesting. To this end, this scoping study (1) collects empirical studies that present from various science and non-science academic domains students’ views about how to make classroom learning interesting; (2) identifies common instructional strategies across these domains that make learning interesting; and (3) forwards an instructional framework called TEDI ([T]ransdisciplinary Connections; Mediated [E]ngagement; Meaningful [D]iscovery; and Self-determined [I]nquiry), which may provide secondary school science teachers with a practical instructional approach for making learning science genuinely interesting among their students within the secondary school science classroom context.     

Profiles of middle school science teachers: Accounting for cognitive and motivational characteristics

Teachers play a critical role in successfully implementing science education reforms in the United States to provide high-quality science learning opportunities to all students. However, the differentiated ways in which teachers make decisions about their science teaching are not well understood. This study takes a person-centered approach by applying latent profile analysis to examine how cognitive (pedagogical content knowledge) and motivational (instructional goal orientations, self-efficacy beliefs, and reform values) characteristics combine to form science teacher profiles in middle school. Predictors of profile membership (bachelor's degree, school %FRL) and both teacher (science instructional practices) and student (science achievement, engagement, and self-efficacy) outcomes related to the teacher profiles were also examined. Five science teacher profiles were identified (severely discouraged but reform oriented, discouraged but reform oriented, conventional, confident and mastery oriented, and confident with multiple goal approaches) that represented unique configurations of cognitive and motivation characteristics. Additionally, findings showed that the teacher profiles were significantly related to three dimensions of science instructional practice including communication, discourse, and reasoning. Finally, the teacher profiles were significantly related to student science achievement and motivational outcomes. Implications for differentiated approaches to teacher professional learning and supports for science instruction are discussed.     

Teacher self-efficacy according to Turkish Cypriot science teachers

This study examined the self-efficacy of Turkish Cypriot science teachers working at high schools in Northern Cyprus. The study sample was 200 science teachers who participated in the survey. The Teacher Self-efficacy (TSE) Scale was used as a data source. It was observed that the science teachers’ efficacy beliefs about student engagement in class; instructional strategies; and classroom management did not change depending on their years of teaching experience, and branch of science. Moreover, the teachers’ school level and faculty from which they graduated were significant predictors of their self-efficacy for student engagement and instructional strategies, but gender was not a significant predictor of teacher self-efficacy.     

Development of evidence-based,student-learning-oriented rubrics for pre-service science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge

ABSTRACT

This paper offers pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) rubrics, that is, guides providing criteria for grading that are potentially applicable to a range of science topics and levels of teacher experience. Grading criteria applied in the rubrics are based on qualitative analyses of planned topic-specific professional knowledge (TSPK) and content knowledge (CK). Data were collected via three topic-specific vignettes from 239 pre-service science teachers (PSTs) starting a university-based, full-time, one year teacher education programme in England. The statements were analysed for TSPK and CK. PSTs’ statements proposed instructional strategies comprising demonstrations, explanations, illustrations and analogies, classified as Relevant to the science topics, others Irrelevant. Some Relevant strategies missed an aspect that may, if enacted, help students’ learning, so were judged Incomplete. Statements were also analysed for evidence of relevant and correct CK. CK and TSPK statements are aligned into grids, creating PCK rubrics. These demonstrate the precise nature of knowledge likely to lead to instruction that impacts positively on student learning. The rubrics present the possibility of PCK repertoires that contribute clarity and precision to teaching instruction. Although findings cannot be generalised, the methodology offers a strategy for supporting out-of-field teachers, and those seeking instructional strategies to add to existing repertoires.     

Teaching for Creativity by Science Teachers in Grades 5–10

This classroom observation study explored how science teachers (N = 22) teach for creativity in grades 5–10 in Oman. We designed an observation form with 4 main categories that targeted the instructional practices related to teaching for creativity: questioning strategy, teacher’s responses to students’ ideas, classroom activities to support creativity, and whole-lesson methods that foster creativity. An open-ended survey was also designed to explore participants’ justifications for their instructional decisions and practices. The findings indicate that the overall level of teaching for creativity was low and that participants’ performance was the highest for teacher’s responses to students’ ideas category and the lowest for classroom activities to support creativity category. We observed that a teacher-centered approach with instructional practices geared toward preparing students for examinations was dominant and that these science teachers were bound to the textbook, following cookbook-style activities. Participants believed that they did not have enough time to cover the content and teach for creativity and that they were not prepared to teach for creativity. Based on these findings, we recommend that programs be developed to prepare science teachers to teach for creativity.

     

The teaching of the philosophy of science in secondary classrooms: case studies of teachers’ personal theories

This study examines teachers’ philosophies of science and describes how these philosophies influence their classroom instruction. Three science teachers with very diverse views of science were interviewed and observed in their classrooms for several months. These teachers’ philosophies were found to influence laboratory instruction, the manner in which demonstrations were used, the teaching of evolution, science‐technology‐society (STS) instruction, word usage, and instructional goals. The findings are relevant to issues in teacher education as well as the institutional environment of teaching.     

Practical considerations informing teachers’ technology integration decisions: the case of tablet PCs

The unique characteristics of tablet PCs promise important benefits for education. Yet, little is known about the rationale underlying teachers’ decisions concerning their educational uses within the constraints of daily classroom practice. The current multiple case study investigated the practical considerations informing nine secondary school teachers’ decision-making processes regarding the use of tablet PCs. Stimulated recall interviews revealed 10 criteria underpinning teachers’ instructional decisions. Four criteria influenced the degree of congruence with teachers’ previous practices: familiarity, alignment with course content, opportunities to achieve (new) instructional goals efficiently, and compatibility with established pedagogical beliefs. Costs and benefits of tablet PCs were determined in terms of educational added value, lesson preparation requirements and potential disruptions to the learning environment. Finally, access to a solid technology infrastructure, supportive school policies and knowledge of how to effectively integrate tablet PCs with course content were identified as important pre-conditions for sustainable implementation. Overall, the results suggest that practical concerns constitute a critical element in teachers’ decision making, influencing not only teachers’ intention to adopt tablet PCs, but also the ways in which they use this technology to support instruction.     

Peer mentoring in the development of beginning secondary science teachers: three case studies

In this study, the researchers examined the effectiveness of a reflective model of peer mentoring in the professional growth of early‐career science teachers. The study was carried out over one academic year with three beginning secondary science teachers. The public school teachers in this study reported that participation in peer mentoring provided a support mechanism through which they developed confidence in risk‐taking and experienced professional growth. Results indicate teachers gained insight into each of the four broad domains of teacher responsibility that were measured, including specific issues relevant to curriculum structure, managing student behavior and classroom safety, utilizing new instructional approaches and negotiating relationships with various stakeholders as part of their professional responsibilities. This study has relevant implications for teacher education and provides a model for peer mentoring that could be considered for implementation as a means of initial support to beginning science teachers.     

Identifying pathways of teachers’ PCK development

This paper describes a method of analysing teacher growth in the context of science education. It focuses on the identification of pathways in the development of secondary school teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) by the use of the interconnected model of teachers’ professional growth (IMTPG).The teachers (n = 12) participated in a one-year action research project focused on their individual concerns related to teaching science. The use of the IMTPG revealed that teachers use different pathways of learning to develop different aspects of their PCK. For each PCK component, three distinct pathways could be identified, two of which clearly were associated with professional growth. When examining these two pathways in detail, it was found that (1) teachers learned about new instructional strategies and assessment methods mostly through literature reviews and discussions with peers and (2) teachers who analyzed and reflected on student learning as it happened in their classrooms developed understandings that helped them to select and apply instructional strategies to further promote student learning. Both the analytical method as well as the identification of the different developmental pathways help to better understand teacher development in the context of classroom practices.     

Speculations on teacher education: recommendations from research on teachers’ cognitions

This paper was written at the request of the Journal's editor, Professor Edgar Stones, who challenged us to translate a review of literature on teachers’ pedagogical thoughts, judgments, decisions and behavior (Shavelson and Stern, 1981) into recommendations for teacher education. We took up the challenge with some trepidation, knowing full well the pitfalls we faced in translating research into recommendations for practice. We approach our task cautiously by first discussing the assumptions underlying research on teachers’ thinking and decisions. Then, we summarize methods and findings from research on planning of instruction, judgments and decisions during recitation, and the link between decisions and behavior because they imply changes in typical teacher education programs. Finally, recommendations are made for teacher education.

We recommend that teacher educators consider adopting the decision‐making schema as a conceptual framework for organizing their programs. Such a schema implies a ‘reasonable’, professional process of making important decisions, such as selecting textbooks, grouping students, pacing work, sequencing and timing content, and changing routines during interaction. It also suggests a close correspondence between the two major components of teacher education, the foundations courses and student teaching.

Finally, we recommend that certain research methods such as process tracing, policy capturing, and stimulated recall be adapted as instructional techniques to improve the quality of instruction within foundations courses, and during supervision and feedback within the student‐teaching experience.     

Exploring the pedagogical features of integrating essential competencies of scientific inquiry in classroom teaching

ABSTRACT

Background: As inquiry-based instruction is not universally implemented in science classrooms, it is crucial to introduce instructional strategies through the use of contextualized learning activities to allow students with different background knowledge and abilities to learn the essential competencies of scientific inquiry and promote their emotional perception and engagement.

Purpose: This study explores how essential scientific competencies of inquiry can be integrated into classroom teaching practices and investigates both typical and gifted secondary students’ emotional perception and engagement in learning activities.

Sample: A case teacher along with 226 typical and 18 gifted students from a suburban secondary school at Taiwan participated in this study.

Design and methods: After attending twelve 3-hour professional development workshops that focused on scientific inquiry teaching, the case teacher voluntarily developed and elaborated her own teaching activities through the discussions and feedback that she received from workshop participants and science educators. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through activity worksheet, questionnaire, video camera, and tape recorders. Frequency distribution, Mann-Whitney U test, and discourse analysis were used for data analyses.

Results: Case teacher’s teaching activities provide contextual investigations that allow students to practice making hypotheses, planning investigations, and presenting and evaluating findings. Students’ learning outcomes reveal that typical students can engage in inquiry-based learning with positive emotional perception as well as gifted students regardless of their ability level. Both gifted and typical students’ positive emotional perception of and active engagement in learning provide fresh insight into feasible instructions for teachers who are interested in inquiry-based teaching but have little available time to implement such instructions into their classrooms.

Conclusions: The results of our work begin to address the critical issues of inquiry-based teaching by providing an exemplary teaching unit encompassing essential scientific competencies