University Science Teachers as Researchers: Blurring the Scholarship Boundaries

In this paper I examine the phenomenon of university teachers as researchers in their own classrooms. I use examples of three research teams in which we studied: (1) student response to a science and society course; (2) teacher and student perceptions of inquiry in a physics course; and (3) teaching and learning about the nature of science in an elementary science pedagogy course. In addition to describing each study, I compare their purposes, researcher roles, and actions taken. I use these comparisons to address the ideological clashes and dilemmas of ownership, action, and quality that arise in this kind of research. Finally, I comment upon the significance of university teachers as researchers for themselves, their institutions, and the research community.