Students’ perceptions of science teachers’ interpersonal behaviour in secondary schools: Development of a Turkish version of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction

The purpose of the study was to investigate the reliability and validity of a Turkish adaptation of an existing instrument for measuring teacher interpersonal behaviour. The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) maps teacher behaviour in terms of two dimensions: Influence (Dominance–Submission) and Proximity (Cooperation–Opposition). A sample of 674 students from 24 classes (Grades 9–11) of experienced teachers in two Turkish secondary schools participated in the study. Development of the instrument involved several steps: translation and back translation by teacher educators; piloting of different versions while refining the items; interviews with students and teachers to establish the importance of teacher interpersonal behaviour in the Turkish context; and a final administration of the questionnaire to the sample described. Interview data and statistical analyses supported the reliability and validity of the instrument. Turkish teachers were perceived by their students as very cooperative and moderately dominant.

The Nature of Pre-service Science Teachers’ Argumentation in Inquiry-oriented Laboratory Context

The aim of this study was to investigate the kinds of argumentation schemes generated by pre-service elementary science teachers (PSTs) as they perform inquiry-oriented laboratory tasks, and to explore how argumentation schemes vary by task as well as by experimentation and discussion sessions. The model of argumentative and scienti?c inquiry was used as a design framework in the present study. According to the model, the inquiry of scientific topics was employed by groups of participants through experimentation and critical discussion sessions. The participants of the study were 35 PSTs, who teach middle school science to sixth through eighth grade students after graduation. The data were collected through video- and audio-recordings of the discussions made by PSTs in six inquiry-oriented laboratory sessions. For the analysis of data, pre-determined argumentation schemes by Walton were employed. The results illustrated that PSTs applied varied premises rather than only observations or reliable sources to ground their claims or to argue for a case or an action. It is also worthy of notice that the construction and evaluation of scientific knowledge claims resulted in different numbers and kinds of arguments. Results of this study suggest that designing inquiry-oriented laboratory environments, which are enriched with critical discussion, provides discourse opportunities that can support argumentation. Moreover, PSTs can be encouraged to support and promote argumentation in their future science classrooms if they engage in argumentation integrated instructional strategies.     

Too Philosophical,Therefore Useless for Science Education?

Science & Education -     

Trust in Science and Science Education — Part 1

Science & Education -     

Regaining focus in Irish Junior Cycle Science: potential new directions for curriculum and assessment on Nature of Science

The Irish national discourse on curriculum and assessment reform at the Junior Cycle level has been fraught with controversy in the past two years. The introduction of the new curriculum and assessment framework in 2012 by the then Minister of Education, Ruairi Quinn has led to significant media coverage and teacher union response. In this paper, we argue that in the midst of the reaction toward the particular assessment elements of the framework, the focus has been lost on key revisions made in the draft science curriculum and assessment specification released in September 2014. A central aspect of the draft document released for consultation includes the introduction of a ‘Nature of Science’ (NOS) theme intended to be an overarching feature of all science teaching and learning. We examine the coverage of NOS in the draft document and analyze it relative to a model of NOS developed in our recent book. Our analysis illustrates that the draft science curriculum and assessment specification for Junior Cycle incorporates contemporary research and aligns the Irish curriculum with most features of NOS, although some aspects need further development including the articulation of a nuanced model of NOS. We highlight some future directions for curriculum and assessment development for a comprehensive, coherent and holistic coverage of NOS in Junior Cycle Science in Ireland.     

Learning environment profiles of Turkish secondary biology classrooms

The purposes of this study were to examine how Turkish students perceived their biology classroom environment, how their perceptions compared to those of students in other countries, and what classroom learning environment profiles could be discerned in Turkish high school biology classrooms. Data were gathered from 1,474 high school students in four inner city schools, in Bursa, Turkey. A total of 11 biology teachers participated in the study with 52 of their classes. Data on students’ perceptions of their learning environment were collected with the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire. Results indicated that Turkish classrooms were perceived as being low in terms of Teacher Support and high in terms of Task Orientation. Six distinct classroom learning environment profiles were found: the ‘self-directed learning classroom’, ‘task-oriented cooperative learning classroom’, ‘mainstream classroom’, ‘task-oriented individualised classroom’, ‘low-effective learning classroom’ and ‘high-effective learning classroom’. The most common profile was the ‘mainstream classroom’ for which all WIHIC scales had medium–high scores.     

Contributions of the Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science in Science Education

Science & Education - The emergence of the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) to nature of science (NOS) has prompted a fresh wave of scholarship embracing this new approach in science...