Preservice elementary teachers’ conceptions of science: science,theories and evolution∗∗

The intent of the present study is to describe preservice elementary teachers’ understanding of science and how certain contextual variables contribute to this understanding.

Eighty students in three sections of an elementary science methods course participated in the study by completing a questionnaire. Six questions dealt with knowledge of science, theories and evolution. In addition, a 21‐item rating scale covering various aspects of science and science teaching was included.

The major theme arising out of the data is how beliefs affect preservice teachers’ understandings of science. The anthropocentricity in the subjects’ definitions and purposes of science, theories and evolution is the most explicit and pervasive of the beliefs influencing the conceptualizations of science. The often vague and misinformed definitions of theories add a further dimension of how science is perceived. When evolution is introduced, both the anthropocentric view of science and the misunderstood notion of theory come together to confound the subjects’ understanding. When asked about the teaching of evolution, the subjects’ confusion concerning the nature of science becomes strikingly evident.

     

Integrating learner and learning concerns: prospective elementary science teachers’ paths and progress

This article describes three prospective teachers’ progress toward an integrated view of learner and learning concerns. Two prospective teachers formulated similar questions by the end of their first year about how to balance concerns for individual learners’ experiences in class with concerns that they learn content. However, the two arrived at this point from very different initial conceptions via different conceptual paths during the year. In contrast, the third prospective teacher (same program, same year) prepared to give up content learning goals if they interfered with learners’ enthusiasm about the lesson. Possible explanations and implications for teacher education are discussed.     

Preservice elementary science teachers’ argumentation competence: impact of a training programme

The recent literature has shown the importance of preservice elementary science teachers (PESTs) having a deep understanding of argumentation, as this factor may affect the nature of the class activities that are taught and what students learn. A lack of understanding of this factor may represent an obstacle in the development of science education programmes in line with the development of scientific competences. This paper presents the results of the design and implementation of a training programme of 6 sessions (12 h of class participation plus 8 h of personal homework) on argumentation. The programme was carried out by 57 Spanish PESTs from Malaga, Spain. The training programme incorporates the innovative use of certain strategies to improve competence in argumentation, such as teaching PESTs to identify the elements of arguments in order to design assessment rubrics or by including peer assessment during evaluation with and without rubrics. The results obtained on implementing the training programme were evaluated based on the development of PESTs’ argumentation competence using Toulmin’s argumentative model. Data collection methods involved two tasks carried out at the beginning and the end of the programme, i.e., pre- and post-test, respectively. The conclusion of the study is that students made significant progress in their argumentation competence on completing the course. In addition, PESTs who followed the training programme achieved statistically better results at the end than those in the control group (n = 41), who followed a traditional teaching programme. A 6-month transfer task showed a slight improvement for the PESTs of the experimental group in relation to the control group in their ability to transfer argumentation to practice.     

Stories of self and science: preservice elementary teachers’ identity work through time and across contexts

Grounded in theoretical and empirical underpinnings related to identity work and figured worlds, this case study explores the nature of two preservice elementary teachers’ identities for science teaching and the experiences that impacted their development through time and across contexts. The participants in this study portray a range of competencies, interests and orientations to science and science teaching, and hence provide two different kinds of, almost contradicting, identity works. Various data were collected in a period of 3 years with the use of life history methods in order to trace the participants’ identity work over time and across contexts. The analysis of the data showed prevalent differences between the participants’ identity works and identified critical events and experiences in the context of various figured worlds: (a) figured world of family; (b) figured world of childhood; (c) figured world of schooling; (d) outside of school figured worlds; (e) figured world of university and (f) figured world of science. These findings are offered alongside implications for future research and teacher preparation.     

Prospective primary teachers’ self-efficacy and emotions in science teaching

The self-efficacy of prospective primary teachers was studied, considering in particular the relationship of that construct with the emotions they expect to experience as future science teachers, differentiating between when they will be teaching the content of the ‘nature sciences’ (biology and geology) and that of the ‘hard sciences’ (physics and chemistry). The study instrument was a questionnaire completed by 188 prospective primary school teachers in their initial education at the University of Extremadura during the academic year 2009/2010. The results showed them to mostly have positive emotions towards nature sciences and negative towards the hard sciences. While their beliefs concerning their self-efficacy are significantly related to their emotions about their future teaching of the hard sciences, high self-efficacy was significantly correlated with more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions towards physics and chemistry.     

Saudi science teachers’ perceptions of the cultural factors influencing elementary students’ science learning

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This mixed-methods research study explored Saudi Arabian elementary science teachers’ perceptions about and conceptualizations of cultural factors...     

Mathematics and science teachers’ pedagogical orientations and their use of ICT in teaching

The key concern driving policy and community interest in the pedagogical integration of ICT is the premise that ICT is important for bringing changes to classroom teaching and learning, so as to foster the development of students’ 21st century skills. An important concept underpinning the design of the SITES 2006 study is the pedagogical orientation of the teacher, which can be broadly conceptualized as traditionally important or 21 ^st century oriented. The latter can be further differentiated into lifelong learning and connectedness oriented. Indicators were created to measure teachers’ pedagogical orientation based on their espoused curriculum goals, teacher practices and student practices. Results from this study shed light on whether there is evidence that 21st century pedagogy as identified in the literature and in innovative practices can be found more generally in random samples of teachers in countries participating in SITES 2006. Relationship between ICT use and pedagogical practice in mathematics and science classrooms is reported and the associated policy implications are discussed.     

Science as experience,exploration, and experiments: elementary teachers’ notions of ‘doing science’

ABSTRACT

Much of the literature on science teaching suggests that elementary teachers lack relevant prior experiences with science. This study begins to reframe the deficit approach to research in science teaching by privileging the experiences elementary teachers have had with science – both in and out of schools – throughout their lives. Our work uses identity as a lens to examine the complexities of elementary teachers’ narrative accounts of their experiences with science over the course of their lives. Our findings identify components of teachers’ science-related experiences in order to lay the groundwork for making connections between teachers’ personal experiences and professional practice. This work demonstrates that teachers’ storied lives are important for educational researchers and teacher educators, as they reveal elements of teaching knowledge that may be productive and resourceful for refining teachers’ science practice.     

Correction to: Saudi science teachers’ perceptions of the cultural factors influencing elementary students’ science learning

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In the Original Publication of the article, second author’s name was misspelt.     

Inverse function: Pre-service teachers’ techniques and meanings

Researchers have argued teachers and students are not developing connected meanings for function inverse, thus calling for a closer examination of teachers’ and students’ inverse function meanings. Responding to this call, we characterize 25 pre-service teachers’ inverse function meanings as inferred from our analysis of clinical interviews. After summarizing relevant research, we describe the methodology and theoretical framework we used to interpret the pre-service teachers’ activities. We then present data highlighting the techniques the pre-service teachers used when responding to tasks that involved analytical and graphical representations of functions and inverse functions in both decontextualized and contextualized situations and discuss our inferences of their meanings based on their activities. We conclude with implications for the teaching and learning of inverse function and areas for future research.     

Student‐teachers’ conceptions of science,teaching and learning: a case study in preservice science education

The resort to experiment is considered to be essential for teaching physics. But it often consists of an inductivist method where students are supposed to be able to find physical laws by observing phenomena. In fact it is not as easy for the students as it is for the physicist. We propose and test another way. When studying a new phenomenon, an initial discussion is performed between students in the class. They can propose various (eventually contradictory) explanatory models. Experiments are then used to make a choice between these models. Sequences in class situation are described, with learning behaviour and results reported for pupils in French schools (grades 6 and 8, 11‐14‐year olds).     

The effects of teaching notetaking strategies on elementary students’ science learning

The research examined effects of notetaking instruction on elementary-aged students’ abilities to recall science information and their notetaking behaviors. Classes of eight to nine years old third grade students were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions: strategic notetaking, partial strategic notetaking, and control, for four training sessions. The effects of the notetaking instruction were measured by their performances on a test about science information, a long-term free recall of the information, and the number of information units recalled with or without cues. Students’ prior science achievement was used to group students into two levels (high vs. low) and functioned as another independent variable in analysis. Results indicated significant treatment effect in favor of the strategy notetaking instruction groups on cued and non-cued recall of the information units. Students with higher prior achievement in science performed better on cued recall and long-term free recall of information. The results suggest that students as young as those in third grade classes can be instructed to develop notetaking ability that promotes their learning.     

Learning from our own lessons: pre-service teachers’ narratives of teaching as an experiment

Pre-service teachers need to develop habits of mind that allow them to grow as new teachers. This article describes an elementary mathematics methods course in which teaching as an experiment was used a framework for pre-service teachers to participate in action research by developing learning goals, observing and analyzing student thinking, hypothesizing and enacting teaching strategies, and reflecting on the effectiveness of a lesson. Through analysis of reflections and lesson plans, the article explores three groups of pre-service teachers’ reflections on teaching as well as their confidence across the semester. By treating lessons as experiments, the pre-service teachers were able to develop appropriate teaching responses over time as well as gain confidence in their abilities.     

Teachers’ perceptions of effective teaching: a comparative study of elementary school teachers from China and the USA

This international study investigated Chinese and American elementary school teachers’ perceptions of effective teaching. The sample comprised Chinese (n?=?108) and US (n?=?110) participating teachers. The Effective Teaching Quality Survey (ETQS) was adopted for this comparative education research, an instrument that operationalized Stronge’s effective teaching theoretical framework. Research questions that guided this study were as follows: (1) what are the differences between the USA and China’s elementary school teachers’ perceptions regarding effective teaching? And (2) when comparing teaching experience, school location, and effective/ineffective teachers, what are the differences between the USA and China’s elementary school teachers’ perceptions on effective teaching? Statistically significant results were found when comparing nationality, teaching experience, school location, and effective/ineffective teaching. How these results related to the US and Chinese educational contexts with respect teaching and learning are discussed.     

Influencing Intended Teaching Practice: Exploring pre-service teachers’ perceptions of science teaching resources

Many researchers have identified and expressed concern over the state of science education internationally, but primary teachers face particular obstacles when teaching science due to their poor science background and low confidence with science. Research has suggested that exemplary resources, or units that work, may be an effective way to support primary teachers. This study explores the effect of one such resource on the intentions of pre-service primary teachers to teach science. The resource in question is Primary Connections, a series of learning resources produced by the Australian Academy of Science specifically designed for primary science. Evaluative studies of Primary Connections have indicated its efficacy with practising primary teachers but there is little evidence of its impact upon pre-service teachers. The purpose of this study was to investigate how effective these quality teaching resources were in influencing the intentions of primary pre-service teachers to teach science after they graduated. The theory of planned behaviour highlighted the linkage between the intentions of the pre-service teachers to teach science, and their awareness of and experiences with using Primary Connections during their education studies. This enabled key factors to be identified which influenced the intentions of the pre-service teachers to use Primary Connections to teach science after they graduate. The study also provided evidence of how quality science teaching resources can be effectively embedded in a teacher education programme as a means of encouraging and supporting pre-service teachers to teach science.     

Provision of in-service training of mathematics and science teachers in Botswana: teachers’ perspectives

Teaching is a field that is dynamic, with innovations necessitating upgrading of skills and education of teachers for the successful implementation of reforms. The behaviour and attitudes of teachers towards teaching and learning and their knowledge banks are the result of the impact of in-service training. This study investigated the perceptions of mathematics and science teachers in Botswana towards in-service provision by the Department of Mathematics and Science Education In-service Training unit (DMSE-INSET), whose mandate is to improve the quality of teaching by supporting teachers through training programmes that enable them to take ownership of their professional development. Data were collected from a sample of 42 senior Mathematics and Science secondary school teachers, using structured interviews with open-ended questions, which were analyzed qualitatively. The findings show that teachers’ concerns included the lack of impact of current in-service training programmes on the education system, no regular follow-up activities to support the one-off workshops and insufficient skills acquired to sustain the implementation of the strategies solicited by the workshops.     

Instructional support and implementation structure during elementary teachers’ science education simulation use

This investigation sought to identify patterns in elementary science teachers’ computer simulation use, particularly implementation structures and instructional supports commonly employed by teachers. Data included video-recorded science lessons of 96 elementary teachers who used computer simulations in one or more science lessons. Results indicated teachers used a one-to-one student-to-computer ratio most often either during class-wide individual computer use or during a rotating station structure. Worksheets, general support, and peer collaboration were the most common forms of instructional support. The least common instructional support forms included lesson pacing, initial play, and a closure discussion. Students’ simulation use was supported in the fewest ways during a rotating station structure. Results suggest that simulation professional development with elementary teachers needs to explicitly focus on implementation structures and instructional support to enhance participants’ pedagogical knowledge and improve instructional simulation use. In addition, research is needed to provide theoretical explanations for the observed patterns that should subsequently be addressed in supporting teachers’ instructional simulation use during professional development or in teacher preparation programs.