Beginning student teachers' opinions about teaching primary science

Conclusions Beginning student teachers have already acquired very definite views about teaching science before they begin their teacher training course. These views are generally similar to the views espoused by science educators, but are contrary to the classroom practices of many teachers. Their views seem to have origins in what the students perceive to have been meaningful and enjoyable learning experiences for themselves in their own schooling; and to a lesser extent for children they have observed. Female students who have studied more science at high school tend to favour the use of worksheets in experimental work. Several interesting questions arise from these findings: When these students begin to teach as qualified teachers, will they still espouse the same opinions? If so, does that mean that there is a ‘new wave’ of teachers entering the service who are more committed to hands-on activity work than their older colleagues? If not, what aspects of the teacher training process have caused them to change their opinions? Will these present students be using hands-on strategies themselves after they have been teaching for some time? That is, do system and school constraints effectively prevent teachers from using such strategies? Can secondary science teachers do more to influence positively their students' opinions about teaching science, such as engendering more positive attitudes to science, incorporating more hands-on work, and relying less on printed worksheets in laboratory work? This exploratory work has highlighted the concern expressed by Morrissey (1981) in that there is a great need for long term longitudinal studies of student teachers' attitudes to teaching science, with a particular focus on their teaching behaviours after graduation.     

An investigation of student teachers' knowledge about their own learning

Twenty-nine student teachers from a large metropolitan university in Queensland, Australia were interviewed at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of a year-long graduate diploma in education to investigate the nature of their knowledge about learning and changes in such knowledge over the year. At Time 1 and Time 2 most students thought learning should be meaningful and preferred to use transformative learning approaches. However, students indicated a willingness to engage in reproductive approaches to learning if the content to be learned was uninteresting, workloads were high, or assessment was examination-focussed. The results also indicated that while many students did not experience significant changes in their knowledge about learning over the year, they believed that transformative learning had become more of a focus for them. Investigating student teachers' knowledge about learning has implications for effective learning in teacher education programs.     

Turkish pre-service science teachers' understanding of science and their confidence in teaching it

This study examines Turkish pre-service science teachers' understanding of science concepts and their confidence in its teaching. A total of 299 senior science education major students participated in the study. Data collection instruments included the Science Concepts Test, and the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument. Although findings of the study indicated that majority of the participants held misconceptions concerning fundamental science concepts, they generally felt confident about teaching it. The relationship that might exist among pre-service science teachers' confidence in their effectiveness in teaching and the number of the science courses completed in university is examined.     

The association of school environment to student teachers' satisfaction and teaching commitment

A supportive school environment is crucial to the enhancement of student teaching experiences. This study assesses student teachers' perceptions of secondary school environments, and then relates the perceptions to their satisfaction with school experiences and teaching commitment. The results show that considerable disparities between student teachers' perceptions of actual and preferred school environments and suggest certain directions for improvement. Student teachers' perceptions about their school environments, especially in the areas of professional interest and staff freedom, were positively associated with their satisfaction. Several school environmental aspects influenced the total years they planned to teach and their intention to teach at the placement schools.     

Assessing in-service teachers' instructional beliefs about student-centered education: A Turkish perspective

The main purpose of this research is to examine in-service teachers' instructional beliefs about student-centered education. The inventory was designed to measure teachers' student-centered educational beliefs based on four components of the educational curriculum comprising of educational objectives, content, teaching strategies and instructional assessment. Data for the study were collected from 307 in-service teachers working at K-8 schools. A quantitative research analysis showed that in-service teachers held positive beliefs about student-centered education. In addition, the characteristics of teachers such as school level, teaching experience, teaching subject and educational background had statistically significant effects on their beliefs about student-centered education.     

Preservice physical education teachers' attributes related to teaching a student labeled ADHD

This study assessed the association between preservice teacher-related variables [i.e., age, adapted physical education (APE) and special education (SPED) coursework, experience teaching students with disabilities and perceive competence] on measures of the Physical Educators' Intention toward Teaching Individuals with Disabilities II – Preservice Survey (PEITID-II-PS). The PEITID-II-PS used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB) ( Ajzen, 2002) on preserive physical education teachers (n = 213) purposely selected from universities in China, Korea, and the United States. Results indicated that both intention and perceived behavioral control were predicted by teaching experience and perceived teaching competency. Attitude toward the behavior variable was predicted by prior teaching experience, special education coursework, and age. Age and perceived teaching competency were associated with behavioral beliefs.     

Jordanian student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing in kindergartens during their field training experience

The purpose of the study was to examine student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing in kindergartens and to identify to what extent the cooperating teachers influence the student teachers' perceptions. To achieve the research aims, a 31‐item questionnaire was developed by the researchers and administered to 50 student teachers and their cooperating teachers. The questionnaire was administrated to both groups as a pre‐test and to student teachers as a post‐test. The results of the study revealed that student teachers were more likely to be emergent literacy‐oriented in their perceptions of teaching writing than they were to the reading readiness philosophy. Furthermore, the influence of the cooperating teachers was insignificant as the student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing developed earlier were more stable and difficult to alter later. In light of these findings the researchers addressed a number of suggestions and recommendations.     

School experience influences on pre-service teachers' evolving beliefs about effective teaching

This study systematically tracked a group of 37 pre-service teachers' evolving beliefs about and perceptions of themselves and their experiences from the initial data collection prior to any experiential base in schools through the varied phases of their professional placements involving steadily increasing levels of professional responsibility. The results indicated that the pre-service teachers' beliefs about good teaching evolved from a belief in being in control through expertise to a belief in being in control through charisma and building relationship with their students. The first teaching practicum experience dramatically challenged the beliefs of these students where the beliefs indicated immediately after the experience to be more focussed on ‘self’ rather than students. Subsequent belief structures differed in character from both those after the first teaching experience and from those held prior to the first teaching responsibility. The study also reports on the pre-service students' self-efficacy beliefs in good teaching. Gender differences are also discussed.     

Characteristics of teachers' conversations about teaching mean,median, and mode

The study analyzed a conversation among a group of teachers responsible for teaching the concepts of mean, median, and mode. After reading an article describing some specific student difficulties in learning the concepts, teachers were asked to discuss how the teaching of the concepts could be improved. Several claims pertinent to improving teaching practice were offered. Claims focused on the appropriate age at which to introduce statistical concepts, the influence of the state-prescribed curriculum on teaching practice, content-specific teaching strategies, and content-independent teaching strategies. Teachers' claims were discussed in terms of points of departure and agreement with existing empirical research.     

物理教师创造性教学行为研究

教师的教学理念对教学行为的实施有直接的关系,物理教师树立正确的创造性教学理念并辅以创造性教学行为,能使学生的创新潜能得到保护和发展。     

Mental models of attachment as a part of kindergarten student teachers' practical knowledge about caregiving

The present study investigated beginning kindergarten student teachers' mental models of attachment as a part of their practical knowledge about caregiving. Mental models of attachment (i.e. how students construct their own attachment-related childhood experiences and relationships from their current perspective) were assessed with an Adult Attachment Interview. The participants were 82 female first-year students in the University of Helsinki. Forty-four per cent of the students were classified as dismissive of attachment, 43% as secure/autonomous, and 13% as preoccupied. The study also investigated student teachers' motives for entering kindergarten teacher education, and the possible relationship between students' mental models of attachment and their motives for entering the field. Participants' attachment status was significantly associated with their career preference, and the expression and complexity of their motives. Students with a secure/autonomous mental model of attachment were the most certain students concerning career choice, and they were the most likely to express both child-centred and self-centred motives for entering the education.     

数学教学应关注每一位学生的发展

本文从课堂、学法、教法三个方面阐述了教师应该走进全体学生,把课堂交给学生,引导学生通过亲身实践获得体验.     

增强教师执教能力之途径

本文从教师的主观态度、扎实的基本功和合理的教法三个方面。探讨增强教师执教能力的方法。     

Using a computerized concept mapping program to assess preservice teachers' thinking about effective teaching

Concept mapping with Learning Tool, a computerized mapping program, was used to assess changes in the content and organization of 17 preservice teachers' concept maps for the topic of effective teaching. Preservice teachers in their senior year of an early childhood teacher education program constructed and revised concept maps with a partner. They entered reflections on each mapping experience into their reflective journals, developing implications for teaching. Analysis of the concept maps revealed that these students had a primary concern with classroom management throughout the year, linking diverse information to that concept. They evidenced detailed and diverse understandings under the labels of knowledge and organization. Professionalism was a common item, though it was less well developed. Their reflective journals indicated that these students moved from describing emotional reactions to using the computer program as a basis for reflection on the teaching/learning process. This study illustrates how concept mapping can be useful in describing students' evolving constructions of knowledge in a particular subject area, and in promoting reflection.     

Award-winning university teachers' concepts of teaching

Twelve recipients of awards for excellence in teaching at The University of Sydney provided interview responses to a series of questions designed to tap their conceptual repertoires regarding teaching effectiveness and the evaluation of teaching. Their responses were compared to those of two groups of novice university teachers from the same university. The award-winners were found to have more complex and flexible concepts of teaching effectiveness, to use a wider range of criteria in evaluating their teaching and to rely more on personal feelings, the evaluative judgements of others and longer term student learnings than the novices. They were also more inclined to adopt systematic, formal procedures for obtaining feedback and to use it in changing their teaching than the novices.     

试论在音乐教学中培养学生的合作精神

合作是一种精神,合作精神是音乐教育的强音,合作学习是重要的学习方式。现在的学生基本上都是独生子女,从小缺乏与人合作交往的氛围,养成了以自我为中心的习惯,这样必然会影响其今后的人生。为解决这一实际问题,文章从几个方面就培养学生的合作意识进行了阐述。通过音乐合作学习,可以使学生了解合作中个体服从群体的关系,群体间分工协作的意义,从而培养学生团结友爱的集体观念和互帮互助的高尚情操。作为新世纪的音乐教师,在新的课程环境下,还应当时刻把握以学生为主体这根主线。     

University teachers' thinking about lecturing: student evaluation of lecturing as an improvement perspective for the lecturer

Student evaluation of instruction (SEI) is a common practice in higher education. Despite a great deal of progress that has been made during the last two decades of SEI-research, some questions remain unanswered. One of the unsolved problems concerns theutility of SEI, i.e., its efficacy for improving instruction. Apparently there is a need for understanding ‘how university teachershandle SEI-feedback.’ In that perspective cognitive and motivational psychology stress the importance of the so-calledsubjective theory of a teacher about his lecturing. This empirical study was focused on teachers' conceptualisation of lecturing, as related to student ratings. For representing a teacher's subjective theory and his interpretation of SEI-feedback, theHiclas-algorithm of De Boeck and Rosenberg (1988) was used, corresponding to theirHierarchical Classes Model. Results indicate that the lecturer's interpretation of student ratings and his/her ‘thinking about lecturing’ are crucial elements for an effective use of SEI as an improvement strategy. It gives one explanation why student evaluation of university teaching does (or does not) change teaching behaviour. The author is indebted to Prof. Piet J. Janssen and Prof. Joost Lowyck for their assistance in this research.