The relationship between psychological factors and inquiry-based working by primary school teachers

Inquiry-based working by teachers includes working with an inquiry habit of mind, being data literate, contributing to a culture of inquiry at the school level, and creating a culture of inquiry at the classroom level. Inquiry-based working has been found to contribute to educational improvements and the professionalisation of teachers. This study investigates the relationship between psychological factors – attitude, experienced social pressure, self-efficacy and collective efficacy – and inquiry-based working by teachers. Questionnaire data were collected from a representative sample of 249 Dutch teachers. The results show a significant relationship between self-efficacy and all aspects of inquiry-based working. In addition, collective efficacy, attitude and experienced social pressure are all related to aspects of inquiry-based working. School leaders and teacher educators who aim to stimulate inquiry-based working should not only focus on increasing teachers’ inquiry skills, but also on psychological factors related to inquiry-based working.     

Exploring pre-service primary teachers’ progression towards inquiry-based science learning

ABSTRACT

Background

An in-depth understanding of pre-service primary teachers’ progression towards teaching science through inquiry is critical for improving teacher education programmes and, ultimately, improving the quality of science teaching and learning in the classroom.     

The interactive whiteboard in primary school science and interaction

The findings of the research literature about the necessity and contribution of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) are not unequivocal and are sometimes contradictory. The study aimed to examine the interactive attributes in lessons with an IWB and the students’ attitudes. Methodical structured observations of 26 science lessons were conducted in elementary schools in Israel. The results showed that the teachers frequently used the diverse IWB tools, but most of the learning took place in frontal, whole class learning. Most of the interaction was under the teacher’s control and the dialogic interaction was limited. The attitudes of 62 pupils showed that despite already studying with an IWB for five years, their enthusiasm did not wane. They even claimed, in contrast to the observation findings, that the IWB contributed to active learning and interaction in the class. The research findings raise fundamental questions regarding the place of the IWB in promoting interaction in the class and on the necessity to promote the teacher’s pedagogic concept in order to increase class interaction.     

A state-wide change initiative: The primary science teacher-leader project

The Primary Science Teacher-Leader Project was conducted during 1995 and 1996 as part of the Education Department of Western Australia's Science Project. This paper focuses on the implications of this project for primary science education reform. It is shown that the project inducted a cadre of skilled and enthusiastic teacher-leaders who impacted on science teaching in classrooms throughout the state. Quality professional development, networking, time and the provision of modest resources for teacher-leaders were the major structural factors contributing to the success of the model. Contextual factors included the readiness for change in primary science among schools and teachers, the collaborative approach to the project by the science education community in Western Australia and the concurrent publication and implementation of quality teaching materials in the form ofPrimary Investigations.     

The new primary school curriculum project: Malaysia, 1982

The major goal of the Malaysian education system is that of promoting national unity among her constituent ethnic groups, namely, Malays and other indigenous groups, Chinese and Indians. This objective has been operationalised nationally in terms of a common school system, common curriculum content, common public examinations and the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction.In recent investigations, the traditional subject-based, content-loaded primary school curriculum has been reviewed and found to be wanting, in that significant numbers of school leavers have been assessed as almost illiterate. This signalled the need for a skills-based primary school curriculum, which the Curriculum Development Centre launched in January 1982. Its innovatory aspects are manifest, amongst other features, in a reduced dependency on textbooks, more flexible teaching and learning strategies based on ability groupings, and enrichment and compensatory components as well as a more conscious awareness of the all-round development of the individual child.Observations to date indicate that while schooling seems to have become more pleasurable and activity-oriented, the programme may have been launched too hastily, resulting in teachers who have not quite grasped the essentials of the new approach as well as a scarcity in appropriate teaching materials.

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Zusammenfassung Das Hauptziel des malaiischen Erziehungssystems ist es, nationale Einheit unter ethnischen Gruppen, d.h. den Malaien und anderen einheimischen Gruppen — Chinesen und Indianern — zu fördern. Dieses Ziel ist in Form eines gemeinsamen Schulsystems, gemeinsamen inhaltlichen Curriculums, gemeinsamer öffentlicher Examen und unter Anwendung von Malaiisch (Bahasa Malaysia) als das Hauptlehrmedium durchgeführt worden.Vor kurzem ist in Untersuchungen das traditionelle fachorientierte und stofflichüberladene Primarschulcurriculum kritisiert und — da eine nicht geringe Zahl von Schulabgängern als fast analphabetisch eingestuft worden sind — als unzureichend beurteilt worden. Dies signalisierte die Notwendigkeit für ein entwicklungsorientiertes Primarschulcurriculum, welches das Curriculum Development Centre dann im Januar 1982 auch erstellt hat. Seine innovativen Aspekte zeigen sich u.a. in der verminderten Abhängigkeit von Textbüchern, in flexibleren, auf Fähigkeitsgruppen basierten Lehr- und Lernstrategien, in den Komponenten der Bereicherung und Kompensation, sie zeigen sich aber auch darin, daß man sich der gesamtheitlichen Entwicklung des einzelnen Kindes stärker bewußt geworden ist.Bisherige Beobachtungen deuten an, daß während der Schulbesuch angenehmer und aktivitätsbezogener geworden ist, das Programm wohl zu schnell gestartet wurde. Das hatte zur Folge, daß Lehrer die wichtigsten Aspekte des neuen Versuchs nicht völlig verstanden und es am passenden Lehrmaterial mangelte.

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Résumé L'objectif principal du système d'éducation Malais est de promouvoir l'unité nationale au sein des groupes ethniques qui constituent la population, c'est-à-dire les Malais et autres groupes indigènes, les Chinois et les Indiens. Cette politique a été mise en opération à l'échelle nationale par un système scolaire commun, un contenu curriculaire commun, des examens publics communs et l'emploi de la langue malaise comme principal véhicule d'instruction.Dans les recherches récentes, on a procédé à un réexamen du curriculum traditionnel de l'école primaire, divisé en matières académiques et encombré sur le plan de contenu dans la mesure où ce curriculum s'est avéré défectueux, la plupart des élèves l'achevant étant jugés presque analphabètes. Cette situation témoignait de la nécessité, pour l'école primaire, d'un curriculum qui soit centré sur les connaissances fondamentales, et que le Centre de Développement du Curriculum a lancé en janvier 1982. Les aspects innovateurs de ce curriculum se manifestent, entre autres traits, par une dépendance réduite vis-à-vis des manuels scolaires, par un enseignement plus flexible ainsi que par des stratégies d'apprentissage élaborées autour de la répartition des élèves en fonction de leurs aptitudes, et autour du renforcement et des composantes de l'enseignement correctif. On y remarque aussi une prise de conscience plus nette du développement complet de chaque enfant en tant qu'individu.Les observations faites à ce jour montrent que si l'enseignement semble être devenu plus agréable et mieux orienté sur l'activité, le programme a toutefois été lancé peut-être trop hâtivement, ce qui a eu pour conséquence que les enseignants n'ont pas tout à fait bien compris l'essentiel de la nouvelle approache et qu'il y a pénurie de matériel didactique approprié.

     

Embedding inquiry-based practices in schools: The strategic role of school leaders

The context of this study were research and development projects in Dutch secondary education, particularly funded by government to combine practice-based research with school development goals for inquiry-based culture. Aiming at better understanding of the strategic role that school leaders play in embedding inquiry-based practices in schools, the research question of this study was to explore to what extent and how do school leaders use the opportunity of participating in funded research and development projects for encouraging and integrating inquiry-based practices in their schools? Differences concerning the integration of inquiry-based working in the school as professional learning community were examined, distinguishing between school leaders’ strategies of capacity building. Twenty-eight school leaders of Dutch secondary schools, involved in nineteen projects, were interviewed retrospectively. Analyses showed the majority of the school leaders to be convinced that inquiry-based working is important for their schools’ development as a professional community. Their strategies for achieving school level project significance differed in school leaders’ successive attention on personal or interpersonal capacity building with regard to inquiry-based practices. Moreover, while some school leaders were actively involved with capacity building right from the start of the research and development projects projects, almost two-third of the school leaders developed interest in inquiry-based practices during the projects and started to enact in the final year of the project. In discussing the results, it is proposed that the interaction of strategy and context needs further study, for instance to inform peer learning among school leaders that are novice and experienced in inquiry-based practices as a means to develop the school as a professional learning community.     

Checklist for assessment of science teachers and its use in a science preservice teacher education project

The purposes of this study were to develop instruments to assess the nature of student-teacher relations and classroom activities, and the personal adjustment of preservice science teachers in two concurrent programs and to see if the two groups differed significantly in the three areas measured by the Checklist for Assessment of Science Teachers (CAST). The CAST was completed by university supervisors, cooperating teachers, and classroom pupils in terms of 92 secondary student teachers at the completion of three student teaching quarters. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to detect differences between treatment groups. The major differences between the two groups of science student teachers were the types of classroom activities used and the nature of their student-teacher (teacher-pupil) relations.     

The use of ICT in teaching religious education in primary school

Education and Information Technologies - The purpose of the present study is to investigate students’ understanding of Religious instruction and more specifically the understanding of the...     

Implementing curriculum-embedded formative assessment in primary school science classrooms

The implementation of formative assessment strategies is challenging for teachers. We evaluated teachers’ implementation fidelity of a curriculum-embedded formative assessment programme for primary school science education, investigating both material-supported, direct application and subsequent transfer. Furthermore, the relationship between implementation fidelity and teacher variables was explored. N = 17 German primary school teachers participated in professional development on formative assessment, N = 11 teachers formed a control group. Teachers’ implementation fidelity was evaluated via classroom observations student ratings and an analysis of students’ workbooks, focusing on the frequency and quality of intended formative assessment elements (assessments, feedback and instructional adaptations). Regarding direct application, treatment group teachers’ implementation fidelity was high, with slight variations in quality. Regarding transfer, implementation fidelity was lower but teachers still implemented more formative assessment elements than the control group. Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and their evaluation of the formative assessment intervention were associated with implementation success.     

小学品德与社会学科中人文素养的培养

人文素养是21世纪对人才的基本要求,它关注人的生存和发展,关注人类文明的传承。小学品德和社会学科包含着丰富的人文知识和道德品质,是培养学生人文素养的重要平台之一。教师通过分析人文素养内涵的基础上,分析小学品德与社会学科发展人文素养的有利条件,提出人文素养发展的有效策略。     

The effectiveness of the use of games as a revision technique in junior high school science

Conclusions It should be pointed out that the results of this study showed the students did just as well, and sometimes better, in a gaming situation when compared with traditional revision situations. Therefore games were as good as, and sometimes a better revision aid than, other more traditional means such as video tapes and slides. Hence games could be useful as a means of providing variety and active student involvement in the classroom. Further, the acceptance of games did not appear to be dependent, to any large extent, on personality factors such as need for achievement, need for affiliation, and cognitive level. This seemed to be an indication that games were suitable for use with a broad spectrum of students.     

An evaluation of local teacher support strategies for the implementation of inquiry-based science education in French primary schools

This article presents the results of an evaluation of local teacher support strategies for implementing inquiry-based science education (IBSE) in French primary schools. The research objective was to determine which aspects of the French model of IBSE are implemented in class, and the efficiency of each teacher support strategy. Data were recovered through class observations. Findings confirm the need for long and continuous forms of teacher support, and expose the advantages and disadvantages of support delivered by pedagogues and support delivered by university science students. Writing in science class, which isa fundamental aspect of the French IBSE programme, is far from being implemented according to advocated practices.     

Pre-service teachers' use of problem-solving in primary science

The use of problem-solving in science instruction implies a change in the teacher's role from dispensing content information to encouraging critical reflective thinking in the student. For problem-solving to become an integral part of the science curriculum, teachers must make it the focus of their instruction. This study investigated the extent to which pre-service primary teachers used the problem-solving approach in their science instruction. It also identified the factors affecting their efforts to teach science using this approach. The issues considered are important in whether problem-solving becomes part of the science curriculum, as teaching behaviour influences student learning outcomes. Specializations: science eeducation Specializations: educational measurement, research methodology.     

Changes in primary boys' and girls' attitudes to school and science during a two-year science in-service programme

A pupils' attitude test was developed to monitor change over the two years of a primary science in-service programme. It explores pupils' views about school in general so that changes in science attitudes can be contextualized within the whole school experience; feelings towards science experiments; and perceptions of real-world science. The test was piloted with schools outside the in-service programme. Approximately 2000 pupils were tested in January 1999, September 1999 or January 2000. A random sample of children were retested in June 1999 and compared with a ‘control’ school. All the children in the project were tested again in July 2000. The results indicate a generally positive attitude towards coming to school, with particular preferences for work with computers and working together. As the pupils get older, their enthusiasm for science falls as they find it less difficult or demanding. This relationship appears to be broken by teacher in-service to some extent. Girls in particular also showed a greater enthusiasm for independent investigative science after the programme.     

Student use of animated pedagogical agents in a middle school science inquiry program

Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) have the potential to provide one‐on‐one, just‐in‐time instruction, guidance or mentoring in classrooms where such individualized human interactions may be infeasible. Much current APA research focuses on a wide range of design variables tested with small samples or in laboratory settings, while overlooking important practical issues relating to large‐scale, school‐based implementations. The present study provides an early step in addressing this gap by investigating the patterns, affordances and challenges of sustained classroom use of APAs. During a 15‐class‐period science curriculum, middle school students in the treatment groups (n_{Dr C‐1} = 191; n_{Dr C‐2} = 181) had uninterrupted classroom access to one of the two APAs, while control group students (n = 149) completed the same curriculum without APA access. Usage patterns indicate that students accessed the APAs on a fluctuating, “as needed,” basis corresponding to the introductory, information‐gathering, and synthesis and reporting segments of the curriculum. Survey results revealed no statistically significant difference in student feelings toward the APAs between the two treatments. While treatment students reported that the APAs were unique, reliable, timely resources, interviews indicate little difference between their experiences with the curriculum and those of the control group. Results presented here provide guidance for researchers and practitioners.     

The inseparable role of emotions in the teaching and learning of primary school science

In this paper, we seek to explore the inseparable role of emotions in the teaching and the learning of science at the primary school level, as we elaborate the theoretical underpinnings and personal experiences that lead us to this notion of inseparability. We situate our perspectives on the complexity of science education in primary schools, draw on existing literature on emotions in science, and present arguments for the necessity of working towards positive emotions in our work with young children and their teachers. We layer our own perspectives and experiences as teachers and as researchers onto methodological arguments through narratives to emerge with a reflective essay that seeks to highlight the importance of emotions in our work with children and their teachers in elementary school science.