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.     

The importance of reflection in improving science teaching and learning

The purpose of this three-year naturalistic case study was to see whether collaborative reflection could enhance teaching and learning of science by generating desirable cognitive, metacognitive, and affective outcomes. Reflection was both individual and in groups, and involved reflection on practice in the classroom and phenomenological reflection on the nature of science teaching and learning. The study had two components. The preservice component involved 13 student teachers and teacher educators. The in-service component involved 14 novice and experienced science teachers and 350 of their students. The authors worked with both groups to devise ways of changing classroom attitudes and behaviors of teachers and students. The voluminous data collected include records of many interviews, questionnaires, and written evaluations. Findings from the study illuminate aspects of the nature of science teaching and learning, processes by which individuals improve the quality of their practice, and methods for exploring teaching and learning mechanisms and facilitating change. Central to these findings is the importance of each of the two types of reflection for fostering personal and professional development. For both teachers and students, both types of reflection acted to improve their knowledge, awareness, and control of themselves and their classroom practice.     

Preservice teachers’ implicit attitudes toward students with and without immigration background: A pilot study

Minority students are often disadvantaged in school. One factor contributing to this disadvantage may be teachers’ judgments; these may, in turn, be influenced by implicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes often guide automatic behavior, which comes into play when cognitive resources are restrained. This is particularly important for preservice teachers, who lack experience in the classroom. In an affective priming task, results showed ambivalent implicit attitudes toward students with immigration background and positive implicit attitudes toward native students. Such asymmetrical implicit evaluations could bias preservice teachers’ interactions with students in the classroom. Acquiring an understanding of the influence of implicit attitudes during their academic studies might help preservice teachers counter implicit and automatic influences.     

Study of Turkish Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes toward Science Teaching

This study aims to explore preschool teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and its impact on classroom practices through the frequency of science activities provided in the classroom. In addition, the study investigates if their attitudes are related to factors such as educational level, years of teaching experience, and the school type they work in. The present research was conducted with 292 preschool teachers who work in public and private schools in different districts of Ankara, Turkey. The data were collected by administering the Early Childhood Teachers’ Attitudes toward Science Teaching Scale. Our analyses indicate that there is a significant but weak link between preschool teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and the frequency of science activities that they provide in the classroom. Further, while teachers’ characteristics such as educational level and experience are found to play an insignificant role on the overall measures of the scale, type of school appears to be a major factor in explaining the attitudes toward science teaching.     

Preservice teachers’ implicit attitudes toward racial minority students: Evidence from three implicit measures

Implicit attitudes can be activated by the mere presence of the attitude object. They are assumed to guide behavior in demanding situations, including the educational context. Implicit attitudes toward racial minority students could be important in contributing to the disadvantages those students experience in school. This study employed three different measures to investigate implicit attitudes toward racial minority students among preservice teachers. The IAT and the AMP showed more negative implicit attitudes toward racial minority than toward racial majority students; the affective priming task revealed that implicit attitudes toward racial majority students were positive, while those toward racial minority students were neutral. Results are discussed in their implications for preservice teachers’ judgments and behaviors.     

Technology Integration in a Science Classroom: Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions

The challenge of preparing students for the information age has prompted administrators to increase technology in the public schools. Yet despite the increased availability of technology in schools, few teachers are integrating technology for instructional purposes. Preservice teachers must be equipped with adequate content knowledge of technology to create an advantageous learning experience in science classrooms. To understand preservice teachers’ conceptions of technology integration, this research study explored 15 elementary science methods students’ definitions of technology and their attitudes toward incorporating technology into their teaching. The phenomenological study took place in a science methods course that was based on a constructivist approach to teaching and learning science through science activities and class discussions, with an emphasis on a teacher beliefs framework. Data were collected throughout the semester, including an open-ended pre/post-technology integration survey, lesson plans, and reflections on activities conducted throughout the course. Through a qualitative analysis, we identified improvements in students’ technology definitions, increased technology incorporation into science lesson plans, and favorable attitudes toward technology integration in science teaching after instruction. This research project demonstrates that positive changes in beliefs and behaviors relating to technology integration in science instruction among preservice teachers are possible through explicit instruction.     

Turkish preservice science teachers’ efficacy beliefs regarding science teaching and their beliefs about classroom management

The purpose of this study was to explore Turkish preservice science teachers’ science teaching efficacy and classroom management beliefs. Data in this study were collected from a total number of 584 preservice science teachers utilizing the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument and the attitudes and beliefs on classroom control (ABCC) inventory. Data analysis indicated that preservice science teachers generally expressed positive efficacy beliefs regarding science teaching. In addition, results revealed that participants were interventionist on the instructional management dimension, whereas they favored non-interventionist style on the people management dimension of the ABCC inventory.     

The contribution of science locus of control orientation to expressions of attitude toward science teaching

Science locus of control (SciLOC) orientation is examined as a predictor of attitudes toward science teaching among 104 preservice elementary school teachers. SciLOC orientation refers to beliefs people hold regarding their personal efficacy, or ability to influence the outcome of events, in situations where decisions or actions require either the application of scientific knowledge or the use of reasoning skills associated with scientific thinking. A causal model that links such beliefs to attitudes toward science teaching was formulated and tested in this study. Multiple regression analysis demonstrates that 46% of the variance in attitudes toward science teaching expressed by subjects in the sample studied can be explained by SciLOC orientation. Path analysis of the proposed causal model accounts for 57% of the variance in expressed attitudes and 11% of the variance in SciLOC orientation. These results are interpreted as evidence that SciLOC orientation is a major contributor to attitudes expressed toward science teaching among preservice elementary teachers, with the major contributors to SciLOC orientation remaining to be identified. A troublesome relationship between expressed attitudes and academic performance in college science is also noted.     

We Look More, Listen More, Notice More: Impact of Sustained Professional Development on Head Start Teachers�� Inquiry-Based and Culturally-Relevant Science Teaching Practices

Despite many scholars?? recommendations, science is often avoided during early childhood education. Among the reasons provided by early childhood teachers for the exclusion of science from their daily routines included science anxiety, low self-efficacy with respect to teaching science, lack of experience participating in science activities as students, or the notion that literacy and language are more important during the early years. In minority populations the problem is even greater due to identification of science with the ??culture of. This article presents results from Ah Neen Dush, a sustained and transformative professional development program for Head Start teachers on an American Indian Reservation. The goal of the program is to support early childhood teachers in developing inquiry-based and culturally-relevant teaching practices. Through analysis of teachers?? classroom practices, surveys and interviews, we explore changes in teachers?? attitudes toward science and inquiry-based practices. Classroom observations were conducted using CLASS (Classroom assessment Scoring System), a tool used to evaluate the quality of classroom interactions. After 1 year of professional development teachers?? attitudes were found to improve and after 2 years teachers classroom practices were more inquiry-based with statistically significant increases in CLASS observation scores.     

Iconoclastes: Poor pedagogy

This article describes the teacher lore of Torey Hayden, its emphasis on a pedagogy of caring, and its use in preservice teacher education to address affective outcomes. Eight concepts that make up caring relationships and are reflected in Hayden's wisdom of practice are discussed. Four separate studies are then described examining the outcomes of reading Hayden on preservice and inservice teachers' affective understandings and skills. In the first two studies reading Hayden was more effective than reading professional texts in promoting positive attitude changes toward children with disabilities. In the third study decreased punitiveness toward classroom behavior management was associated with the therapeutic impact of reading Hayden. In the fourth study inservice teachers, who had read Hayden in preservice coursework over a 10‐year period, rated her stories as a strong influence in preparing them to teach and in shaping their current teacher practices, attitudes, and identity. Reasons why Hayden's teacher lore had a positive influence on teachers' affective development are offered. Hayden's philosophy of attachment and loss in forming relationships is discussed.     

Using videodisk instruction in an elementary science methods course: Remediating science knowledge deficiencies and facilitating science teaching attitudes

Inadequate science knowledge of preservice teachers enrolled in science methods courses not only limits their mastery of effective teaching practices, but also may foster negative attitudes toward science teaching. This study investigated the influence of science knowledge upon attitudes toward science teaching in a one-semester elementary science methods course by embedding a videodisk-based instructional component to remediate knowledge deficiencies. Preservice teachers in the experimental group first learned core concepts in physical and earth science through a series of 24 interactive videodisk lessons and then used the concepts as a foundation for preparing and presenting model science lessons. Results showed that the experimental group overcame their initial knowledge deficiencies by mastering the core concepts presented (mean proportion correct on mastery test = 0.91), with multivariate covariance analysis confirming that the experimentals gain in science knowledge was significantly greater than comparable controls in the parallel science methods sections. Additionally, as a result of mastering the core concepts underlying earth science, preservice teachers using the videodisk instruction also displayed significantly greater confidence in their understanding of science knowledge and more positive attitudes toward science teaching at the elementary levels. Implications for improving elementary science teaching through preservice and in-service training are discussed.     

Efficacy of a gender and ethnic equity in science education curriculum for preservice teachers

The purpose of the Gender and Ethnic Equity in Science Education (GEESE) program, conducted during the student-teaching semester, was to provide preservice science teachers with the opportunity to use clinical observations and reflection as vehicles for discovery of the disparate school experiences of the diverse students in their science classrooms. The preservice teachers examined curricular materials in use during their practicum, student and teacher behaviors, the quantity and quality of student–teacher interactions, and grouping and evaluative strategies before attempting self-analysis at the conclusion of the program. Interviews were used as the source of qualitative evidence of change in the preservice teachers' attitudes and teaching behaviors. While students approved of the program initially, they eventually dismissed issues of gender and ethnic equity as critical once they began struggling with the inadequate academic preparation of their students and scant material resources. Ultimately, the preservice teachers identified the GEESE program as useful in that it provided them with specific critical techniques, but inappropriately placed at the conclusion of their professional development sequence. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 1019–1038, 1997.     

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.     

Changes in Preservice Teacher Attitudes Toward Astronomy Within a Semester-Long Astronomy Instruction and Four-Year-Long Teacher Training Programme

Teachers’ attitudes toward science, especially toward astronomy, are considered to be an important aspect of teaching and learning astronomy in school. Research findings to date remain inconclusive as to whether attitudes toward science change with the science courses taken or with increasing achievement. Therefore, preservice teacher attitudes were investigated in two contexts: the first examined how a semester-long moon phase instruction course changed preservice teacher attitudes toward astronomy, and the second considered how preservice teacher attitudes toward astronomy may change over the course of a four-year science teacher training programme. A total of 638 preservice elementary teachers participated in the study. The results indicated that a semester-long training course does not change attitudes, but the four-year programme does significantly change participant attitudes toward astronomy. Astronomy courses should be spread over the four-year programme using modules with few credit hours instead of one course with a large number of credit hours.     

Student teachers' attitudes toward science and science teaching

Attitudes toward science and science teaching are the subject of a mounting body of research on teachers. A widely used instrument developed by researchers in the United States appears to be relevant to the Australian context and was considered appropriate for measuring attitudes of preservice student teachers attending a College of Advanced Education in Brisbane. The findings suggest that much more effort needs to be concentrated on fostering desirable attitudes toward science and the teaching of science among future primary school teachers.     

Teacher cognitive functioning as a factor in observed variety and level of classroom teaching behavior

A review of the literature suggests a relationship between life-long development of formal reasoning schema and performance in professional education careers. The study investigated implications of cognitive development of preservice teachers as it relates to their classroom teaching performance. Ninety-one seniors involved in a field-oriented teacher education program were given classroom responsibilities which included teaching a science unit. Formal thinking abilities were assessed using two types of developmental level tasks, performance on traditional type Piagetian tasks and recognition of formal thought approaches in solving educational tasks. Professional behaviors were assessed using observational ratings of classroom instructional and planning activities. Subjects assessed as formal operational, 30% of sample, using Piagetian performance tasks, had significantly higher facility in performing model classroom teaching behaviors than transitional or concrete subjects. Higher recognition ability of formal thought approaches to teaching was not related to facility in performing classroom teaching when compared to performance on Piagetian tasks. The relationship held up in seven of eight broad teaching behavior categories observed in classroom instruction. The results supported a general portrait of teaching behavior specifically related to teachers of differing cognitive functional levels. Implications for professional training programs are discussed.     

ENGAGING ELEMENTARY PRESERVICE TEACHERS WITH ACTIVE LEARNING TEACHING METHODOLOGIES

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of active learning on preservice teachers' dignity, energy, self-management, community, and awareness (DESCA) abilities, attitudes toward teaching, and attitudes toward science. Third year preservice teachers (n = 77) from two different classes were involved in the study. One intact class was assigned as the experimental group, whereas the other intact class was assigned as the comparison group. The comparison group students received the instruction by traditional teaching, and the experimental group received instruction through an active learning paradigm. DESCA abilities and attitudes were measured before and after instruction. Results revealed that there was a significant difference favoring the active learning instruction on preservice teachers' DESCA scores; however, there was no significant difference on preservice teachers' attitudes toward teaching and science.     

Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Science Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Science Content Knowledge

Self-efficacy beliefs that relate to teachers’ motivation and performance have been an important area of concern for preservice teacher education. Research suggests high-quality science coursework has the potential to shape preservice teachers’ science self-efficacy beliefs. However, there are few studies examining the relationship between science self-efficacy beliefs and science content knowledge. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to investigate changes in preservice teachers’ science self-efficacy beliefs and science content knowledge and the relationship between the two variables as they co-evolve in a specialized science content course. Results from pre- and post-course administrations of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument-B (Bleicher, 2004) and a physical science concept test along with semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and artifacts served as data sources for the study. The 18 participants belonged to three groups representing low, medium and high initial levels of self-efficacy beliefs. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance design was used to test the significance of differences between the pre- and post-surveys across time. Results indicated statistically significant gains in participants’ science self-efficacy beliefs and science conceptual understandings. Additionally, a positive moderate relationship between gains in science conceptual understandings and gains in personal science teaching efficacy beliefs was found. Qualitative analysis of the participants’ responses indicated positive shifts in their science teacher self-image and they credited their experiences in the course as sources of new levels of confidence to teach science. The study includes implications for preservice teacher education programs, science teacher education, and research.     

A program to improve elementary teacher preparation in science at Rollins College

Conclusion The goals of this project were to design and implement a series of courses that would better prepare elementary school teachers to teach science and would promote positive attitudes toward science and science teaching. The initial offering of the first series of courses met with moderate success. Although the courses fostered an increase in cognitive knowledge, the magnitude of the improvement was not what we had anticipated. There was no significant improvement in the attitudes of the students toward science or science teaching. The science course has been revised and is currently being offered for both preservice and inservice teachers. The revisions include lengthening the class time, so that the material can be covered at a more relaxed pace, and increasing the amount of active team teaching by the instructors to further emphasize the interrelations between chemistry and biology and to eliminate the fragmentation of the course. It is hoped that these changes will also have a positive impact on the students’ attitudes toward the course and thus toward science in general.     

The effect of videotape and written channels of communication on the science attitudes of preservice elementary teachers

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of two channels of communication on attitude change in preservice elementary teachers toward the teaching of science. A science attitude scale was administered as a pretest, posttest, and retention test to 66 preservice elementary school teachers. One analysis of variance for repeated measures was conducted. It was found that videotape and written channels of communication were equally effective in science attitude change.