CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH

EDITORS

M. F. TAŞAR & G. ÇAKMAKCI

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A collection of papers presented at ESERA 2009 Conference

CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH: PRE‐SERVICE & IN‐SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH: PRESERVICE and INSERVICE

TEACHER EDUCATION

Edited by

MEHMET FATİH TAŞAR Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara, TURKEY

Gültekin ÇAKMAKCI Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Ankara, TURKEY

iv

ISBN 9786053640325 © Copyright ESERA, 2010

Referencing articles in this book

The appropriate APA style referencing of articles in this book is as follows:

Kocakülah, M. S. (2010). Mapping development in pre‐service physics students’ understanding of magnetic flux and flux change. In M.F. Taşar & G. Çakmakcı (Eds.), Contemporary science education research: preservice and inservice teacher education (pp. 167‐174). Ankara, Turkey: Pegem Akademi.

The copyrights of individual papers remain with the authors. A 3‐page synopsis of each paper in this book was reviewed by two referees of an international panel and where appropriate and possible suggestions were made for improvement. Additionally, authors had the opportunity to gather ideas from colleagues during their presentations at the ESERA 2009 Conference before they submitted the full‐text papers for this collection. Decisions and responsibility for adapting or using partly or in whole any of the methods, ideas, or the like presented in this book solely depends on the readers’ own judgment. ESERA or the editors do not necessarily endorse or share the ideas and views presented or suggest or imply the use of the methods included in this book.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

PART 1: Pre-Service Science Teacher Education

xi

Learner-orientation in teacher education: creating horizontal and vertical linkages to promote the development of diagnostic competence

3-8

Claudia von Aufschnaiter Gabi Dübbelde Janine Cappell Marco Ennemoser Jürgen Mayer Joachim Stiensmeier-Pelster Rudolf Sträßer Anett Wolgast

Professional identity and competence in science teaching among student teachers 9-15Markus Wilhelm Dorothee Brovelli Markus Rehm Alexander Kauertz

The role of teacher education courses in developing teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge

17-21

Yasemin Gödek Altuk

Pre-service primary school teachers' self-determinated behaviour for science learning 23-26Iztok Devetak Saša A. Glažar Janez Vogrinc Mojca Juriševič

Learning styles of biology teacher candidates 27-31Pınar Köseoğlu

Examination of the relationship between the knowledge level and opinions of pre-service teachers about concept maps

33-42

Fatma Şaşmaz-Ören Nilgün Tatar On the use of the virtual mach-zehnder interferometer in the teaching of quantum physics fundamental concepts: promoting discussions among pre-service physics teachers

43-50

Alexsandro P. Pereira Fernanda Ostermann Cláudio J. de H. Cavalcanti Fostering preservice elementray school teachers’ nature of science views through a situated learning model

51-57

Mehmet Aydeniz Rita A. Hagevik James Roberson

vi

Effectiveness of a course on pre-service chemistry teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and subject matter knowledge

59-69

Sevgi Aydın Betül Demirdöğen Ayşegül Tarkın Esen Uzuntiryaki An examination on pre-service and in-service teachers’ sense of efficacy beliefs 71-75Ayşegül Tarkın Sevgi Aydın Esen Uzuntiryaki Yezdan Boz Exploring conceptual integration in the pre-service chemistry teachers’ thinking 77-83Oktay Bektaş Ayla Çetin Dindar Ayşe Yalçın Çelik Pre-service teachers’ beliefs about the relationship between basic chemistry concepts, the “real world,” and their occupation

85-89

Gregory Durland Faik O. Karatas George M. Bodner Conceptual understanding of fifth grade primary and pre-service primary students about image and image formation in plain mirrors

91-96

Aysel Kocakülah

The comprasion of the conceptual understandings of science and technology teacher canditates in terms of physics chemistry and biology disciplines

97-100

Hasan Özcan Mustafa Sabri Kocakülah A model of teacher preparation aimed at favouring the diffusion of research-based teaching practice

101-110

Ugo Besson, Lidia Borghi Anna De Ambrosis Paolo Mascheretti Why do we need to know this? – connecting chemistry concepts to daily life events 111-117Ayşe Yalçın Çelik Ayla Çetin-Dindar Oktay Bektaş The Turkish adaptation of the science motivation questionnaire 119-127Ayla Çetin-Dindar Ömer Geban How practising teachers and teachers in training value key ideas about sexual reproduction

129-134

Susana García-Barros Cristina Martínez-Losada Rut Jiménez-Liso

vii

Lesson appraisals written for pre-service science teachers: the impact of different mentoring regimes.

135-141

Roger Lock Allan Soares Julie Foster The relationship among learning approaches, learning styles and critical thinking dispositions of the pre-service science teachers

143-150

İsmail Önder Şenol Beşoluk Eda Demirhan Inquiry in classrooms: what do future primary teachers say about experimental activities and formative needs?

151-155

A.L. Cortés Gracia B. Martínez Peña J.M. Calvo Hernández M.J. Gil Quílez M. de la Gándara Gómez The development of pre-school student teachers´ attitudes towards science and science teaching during their university studies

157-166

Bodil Sundberg Örebro University Christina Ottander Mapping development in pre-service physics students’ understanding of magnetic flux and flux change

167-174

Mustafa Sabri Kocakülah

PART 2: In-Service Science Teacher Education

German chemistry teachers’ curriculum emphases and their distinction between different types and levels of secondary schools

177-185

Silvija Markic Ingo Eilks Bernd Ralle

Research on the attitudes of secondary education physics, mathematics and primary education science pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratories

187-195

Betül Timur Esin Şahin

Adaptation: a field for the development of teleological views. primary school teachers’ efforts to teach a scientific explanation

197-202

Lucia Prinou Lia Halkia Constantine Skordoulis

Effect of a trial science course for primary teachers: a case study of the teacher license update system in Japan

203-209

Shiho Miyake Makiko Takenaka

viii

Design and implementation of a training program in IBSE for in-service elementary school teachers, in a developing Latin American country

211-221

Ingrid Sánchez Adry Manrique Mauricio Duque

Professional knowledge of chemistry teachers - test development and evaluation - 221-228Sabrina Witner Oliver Tepner The role of learning communities in implementing context- and competence-oriented biology instruction

229-238

Markus Lücken Doris Elster

Growth in teacher self-efficacy through participation in a high-tech instructional design community

239-244

Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz Sibel Uysal Muhsin Menekse David Birchfield

Professional development in the use of discussion and argument in secondary school science departments

245-252

Shirley Simon Katherine Richardson Christina Howell-Richardson Andri Christodoulou Jonathan Osborne

Teachers and SSI in Sweden 253-262Margareta Ekborg Eva Nyström Christina Ottander

Puppets, dialogic teaching and teacher change 263-268Stuart Naylor Brenda Keogh

The teacher and continuous formation: what goes into classroom practice 269-275Anne L. Scarinci Jesuína L. A. Pacca

Secondary science teachers and the religious arguments advanced by students: results of a prospective enquiry conducted in France

277-286

Laurence Maurines Sylvie Pugnaud

Experimental activity in primary education: restrictions and challenges 287-293Javier Arlegui De Pablos Julia Ibarra Murillo Miguel R. Wilhelmii María José Gil Quílez

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Impact of professional development on a national scale: the national network of science learning centres

295-302

Mary Ratcliffe Alison Redmore Catherine Aldridge Caroline Hurren Miranda Stephenson

Various means of enacting a program to develop physics teachers’ beliefs and instructional practice

303-311

Silke Mikelskis-Seifert Reinders Duit

Engaging girls in physics: lessons from teachers’ action research and professional development in England

313-322

Angie Daly Laura Grant Karen Bultitude

Language in science education and the influence of teachers’ professional knowledge 323-329Sandra Nitz Claudia Nerdel Helmut Prechtl

Using empirically analyzed pupils’ errors to develop a PCK test 331-340Melanie Jüttner Birgit Jana Neuhaus

Teachers’ affective learning in teacher development activities using classroom videos as the mediating artifact

341-350

Fei Yin Lo Benny Hin Wai Yung

Biology teachers as designers of context-based lessons 351-362Nienke Wieringa Fred Janssen Jan van Driel

Implementation of national standards in science education 363-372Martin Lindner Andreas Ammann Claudia H. Overath

Preliminary effects of a large in-service scheme on school program and classroom practice in elementary science and technology education ‘n the Netherlands

373-383

Thomas van Eijck Ed van den Berg Edith Louman

Evaluating the effectiveness of a learning-process oriented training of physics teachers 385-388Rainer Wackermann Georg Trendel Hans E. Fischer

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Preface This collection of papers includes scholarly works on pre-service and in-service science teacher education. There are 23 papers in part 1 while there are 25 articles in part 2. They resemble a nice blend of studies from Japan, to USA, and many countries in Europe. We are sure that the readers will find them provocative and inspiring for their own works and applications also. By looking at these articles we can find ways of improving practices in teacher education and provide suggestions for our colleagues. Thus, this book is not an end in itself but a means of further debate in the field.

We wish to thank all of the contributors in this book for their hard work.

M. Fatih Taşar Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara G. Çakmakcı Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Ankara

© ESERA, 2010

PART 1

PRESERVICE SCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATION

Contemporary Science Education Research: PRESERVICE & INSERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

2

PART 1 PRESERVICE SCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATION

3

LEARNER-ORIENTATION IN TEACHER EDUCATION: CREATING

HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LINKAGES TO PROMOTE THE

DEVELOPMENT OF DIAGNOSTIC COMPETENCE

Claudia von Aufschnaiter, Gabi Dübbelde, Janine Cappell, Marco Ennemoser, Jürgen Mayer, Joachim Stiensmeier-Pelster, Rudolf Sträßer, Anett Wolgast

Justus Liebig University Giessen

Abstract

The research project focuses on the development and evaluation of a curriculum that creates vertical and horizontal linkages between mathematics education, science education, and pedagogical psychology to promote prospective teachers to establish an understanding of learner-oriented components of professional knowledge. The curriculum not only addresses learner-oriented aspects in its content, the structure of the instruction also aims to take into account how we expect prospective teachers to develop knowledge about the teaching and learning in their subject. Addressing both levels of learner orientation, therefore, refers to what prospective teachers are supposed to learn and how this content is taught to students. Data will be gathered in two cohorts one of which will be followed for four years, the other for three years. Combining summative and formative evaluation methods, the project aims to explore what and how prospective teachers learn about assessing pupils’ competences and constructing instruction of appropriate learning demand.

Introduction

During the last couple of years, an increasing number of research projects have addressed teacher profession and teacher knowledge (for an overview see e.g., Abell, 2007). Often focusing on Shulman’s construct of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK, e.g., Shulman, 1987) these studies aim to investigate the knowledge teachers “have” at different stages of their career and/or post to specific interventions. Within the construct of PCK, knowledge of students’ content specific understanding and competences, their learning processes and how to promote students’ learning is highly valued. It is the teachers’ competence to diagnose students’ understanding and to construct instruction of appropriate learning demand that is regarded to be an integral part of teacher profession. In order to establish these competences with teachers, empirical results on how pupils conceptualize and learn particular subjects are needed. Furthermore, education itself needs to take into account (assumed) conceptions (beliefs) and teachers’ learning pathways in order to construct appropriate instruction. Therefore, the notion of “learner orientation” has a twofold meaning in teacher education: at a more content oriented level it refers to pupils and their knowledge. At a more structural level it refers to the design of teacher education programs. Both levels are addressed in our research:

(1) The content of the curriculum is constructed and taught jointly by mathematics educators, science educators, and pedagogical psychologists. Within the different disciplines, content is vertically linked; and between the disciplines content is linked horizontally by focusing on the same examples, results, and references but adding different perspectives. The reason why we have chosen to cross-connect pedagogical psychology with sciences and mathematics rather than, for instance, with subjects such as language or history is the large number of results on pupils’ (pre-)conceptions available (e.g., Duit, 2007; Driver et al., 1994). These results


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and related methods to assess learners’ understanding in science and mathematics are addressed in the curriculum.

(2) The structure of the curriculum is created to match the (assumed) learning pathway of prospective teachers. Drawing on results of students’ learning (e.g., v. Aufschnaiter, 2006; v. Aufschnaiter & v. Aufschnaiter, 2007) the curriculum pays special attention to the presentation and analysis of “cases” (including video analyses of pupils’ learning activities, analyses of pupils’ products, structured classroom observations and teaching activities, and structured reflections of the prospective teachers’ experiences as learners and teachers). During instruction, these cases are more and more interrelated and theoretical information is added rather than prospective teachers being exposed to “theory” and expecting them to transfer theoretical knowledge into teaching practice. Thus, the approach might be characterized as a “bottom-up” strategy to teacher professional knowledge.

The aims of the project are twofold:

(a) Data collected will serve for an evaluation of (1) in order to identify as to whether prospective teachers develop an understanding of the content taught and how this understanding can be characterized. (However, we are not yet aiming to compare learning outcomes with treatment groups.)

(b) The other aim of the project is to explore prospective teachers’ learning pathways and how specific learning opportunities promote or hinder them to develop concepts about teaching and learning.

Rationale

Even though knowledge about pupils’ learning and methods of assessment are considered to be important aspects of professional competences, these competences are typically not addressed in detail in current research projects. In particular, a coherent model to describe diagnostic competence can be built can hardly be found in current frameworks. In order to establish and evaluate diagnostic competence with prospective teachers at university level (for both bachelor and master studies), a group of researchers at our university has set-up a framework aiming to model diagnostic competence (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Model for diagnostic competence.


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The framework draws on Shulmans’ distinction between content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK) and identifies facets of (subject-matter) diagnostic competence in all three areas (CK, PCK, PK). These facets are either a prerequisite of assessment (such as content specific knowledge about the topic/subject that is to be assessed) or refer to methods and results of assessment (such as questionnaires to assess students’ conceptions). Furthermore, we have included those competences that utilize methods of assessment and results directly for the development of instruction. Table 1 provides some examples of standards which are described with the model.

Table 1. Examples of standards of diagnostic competence1

Content Knowledge Pedagogical Content Knowledge Pedagogical Knowledge

Prospective teachers… Prospective teachers … Prospective teachers …

(1a) specify subject-matter knowledge relevant for educational purposes, also in respect to federal frameworks for subject-matter education.

(3a) specify content-specific and process-based cognitive student learning dispositions and illustrate these with examples.

(10a) describe characteristics of high and low achievers and of learning disorders.

(1b) illustrate essential subject-matter concepts and theories by examples which are typical for math and science instruction at schools.

(3b) are able to identify levels of difficulty of tasks, task formats and contexts.

(12b) plan learning environments with respect to typical learning processes and cognitive learning dispositions.

(2a) master practical work which is used to gain knowledge within the discipline.

(6b) plan learning environments with respect to (individual) subject-matter knowledge and learning pathways as well as students’ disciplinary interests and motives.

(13a) present examples of methods for diagnosing cognitive and affective conditions.

(2c) interpret content and methods of the discipline on the basis of an adequate understanding of the characteristics of sciences.

(7f) evaluate appropriateness and success of subject-matter learning environments by referring to learner oriented criteria.

(13g) make use of diagnostic methods while working in schools in order to identify specific cognitive dispositions.

In our research, the model is used for two different purposes. It informs us about the design of the curriculum which aims to establish the competences with prospective teachers. As we are responsible for pre-service teacher education, we have not included competences which can only be established with extensive in-service training. Furthermore, the model also provides the frame of reference for evaluating prospective teachers’ competences. In order to avoid conflicting curriculum design with curriculum evaluation we mainly use established instruments which were developed by other research groups (see below).

Methods

The project will last for four years (see Figure 2). Within this span of time, two cohorts of prospective teachers (at the beginning typically about 20 years old), will be followed through their university education (which takes about 3-4 years). At least some of the students who started their education in 2008 will enter in-service training. For each cohort, all students will be included who have chosen either two sciences as subjects or a science subject and mathematics. These students are trained for middle and also partly for upper secondary level. For cohort 1 the sample size is about 70 students. We are currently calculating exact numbers from students’ answers on different questionnaires delivered to them during the last few months.

Our summative instruments comprise questionnaires on components of teacher professional knowledge and on students’ biographical data, their attitudes and their prior experiences. These are administered to all participants at the beginning of their university instruction (i.e., for our two cohorts in December/January 2008 und December/January 2009) and then about once per year. Items of the questionnaires are taken from established instruments widely used especially in Germany (such as in the German COACTIV-Project, e.g. Krauss et al., 2004; TEDS-M or MT21, e.g., Blömeke, Kaiser & Lehmann, 2008, see also Tatto et al., 2008; or the German SPEE-


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Project, Riese & Reinhold, 2009). We also use typical student questionnaires assessing conceptual understanding of math and science and their nature (such as the Force Concept Inventory in physics).

For smaller subsamples of about 30 students in each cohort, formative instruments will be added. These are student portfolio, videoing of student activity, students’ written reports about their assessment of pupils’ understanding and their approaches to constructing instruction. Coding procedures will be applied to qualitative data using categories from both, research on students’ learning (e.g., v. Aufschnaiter, 2006) and our theoretical considerations about components of teacher profession (also underlying the construction of the questionnaires) (Table 1 and e.g., Abell, 2007; Anderson & Mitchener, 1995; Borko, 2004; Tatto, 2000).

Figure 2. Overview about the design of the project.

Results

During the last months, instruments and parts of the curriculum have been piloted with cohort 1 (Figure 2). We are currently analyzing the data and will have more detailed results ready in 2010. However, so far our first results demonstrate that

• for the CK-component, prospective teachers seem to hold similar misconceptions than pupils. We are not surprised by this result, but it has implications for our project. As long as prospective teachers have subject-matter learning difficulties themselves, they will not be able to identify pupils’ misconceptions. In our further research, we will investigate what kind of effect students’ initial CK has on the development of their diagnostic competence (and vice versa). We will also analyze whether contrasting students with their own learning difficulties improves their focus towards pupils’ learning difficulties.

• initially, our students’ self-perceptions about their educational skills and their ability to consider different perspectives are relatively high. Thus, even though they are at the beginning of their pre-service teacher training they seem to regard themselves as already (almost) competent to teach.

Related research questions to this result are for instance: What kind of effect do these self-perceptions have on the development of diagnostic competence (and vice versa)? Do students with different self-perceptions work on tasks and problems of the curriculum differently? (In what way?)


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Conclusions and Implications

Even though an increasing number of projects have paid attention to teacher profession, empirical research on teacher knowledge, especially on the processes by which this knowledge develops, is still rare. By tracing prospective teachers for a longer period and by focusing on learning processes of individuals the project aims to shed more light into (prospective) teachers’ learning. Furthermore, trying to establish a linked curriculum will reveal challenges to cooperation in education at university level. At least in Germany, we do not yet have a culture of “open pockets” and, therefore, creating cross-connections between different disciplines is also a means to identify strengths and weaknesses in university education.

Notes

1The translation from German to English might have caused some misleading formulations. Therefore, these examples are only meant to illustrate some competences rather than providing precise descriptions of these competences.

References

Abell, S. K. (2007). Research on science teacher knowledge. In S. K. Abell & N. G. Lederman (eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 1105-1149). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Anderson, R. D., & Mitchener, C. P. (1995). Research on science teacher education. In D. Gabel (Ed.), Handbook of research on science teaching and learning (pp. 3-44). New York: MacMillan.

Blömeke, S., & Kaiser, G. (eds.). (2008). Professionelle Kompetenz angehender Lehrerinnen und Lehrer [Professional competencies of beginning teachers.]. Münster: Waxmann.

Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning. Mapping the terrain. Educational Researcher, 33(8), 3-15.

Driver, R., Squires, A., Rushworth, P., & Wood-Robinson, V. (1994). Making sense of secondary science. Research into children's ideas. London: Routledge.

Duit, R. (2009). Bibliography - STCSE: Students' and teachers' conceptions and science education. Online available at: http://www.ipn.uni-kiel.de/aktuell/stcse/stcse.html [12.01.2009].

Krauss, S., Kunter, M., Brunner, M., Baumert, J., Blum, W., Neubrand, M., et al. (2004). COACTIV: Professionswissen von Lehrkräften, kognitiv aktivierender Mathematikunterricht und die Entwicklung von mathematischer Kompetenz. [Professional knowledge of teachers, mathematics education which activates cognitive processes, and the development of mathematical competence.] In J. Doll & M. Prenzel (Eds.), Bildungsqualität von Schule: Lehrerprofessionalisierung, Unterrichtsentwicklung und Schülerförderung als Strategien der Qualitätsverbesserung (pp. 31-53). Münster: Waxmann.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) (2003). NBPTS Adolescence and Young Adulthood Science Standards. http://www.nbpts.org/the_standards/standards_by_cert?ID=4&x=67&y=9 [03.08.2009]

National Research Council (NRC) (1996). National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) (2003). Standards for Science Teacher Preparation. http://www.nsta.org/pdfs/NSTAstandards2003.pdf [03.08.2009]

Riese, J., & Reinhold, P. (2009). Entwicklung und Validierung eines Instruments zur Messung professioneller Handlungskompetenz bei (angehenden) Physiklehrkräften. [Development and validation of an instrument to assess professional competencies of (beginning) physics teachers.] Lehrerbildung auf dem Prüfstand, 1(2), 625-640.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.


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Tatto, M. T. (2000). Teacher quality and development: Empirical indicators and methodological issues in the comparative literature: Paper commissioned by the Board on International Comparative Studies in Education of the National Academies/National Research Council.

Tatto, M. T., Schwille, J., Senk, S. L., Ingvarson, L., Peck, R., & Rowley, G. (2008). Teacher education and development study in mathematics (TEDS-M). Conceptual framework, policy, practice, and readiness to teach primary and secondary mathematics. Online available at: https://teds.educ.msu.edu/20080803_TEDS-M_CF.pdf [25.01.2009].

von Aufschnaiter, C. (2006). Process based investigations of conceptual development: An explorative study. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 4(4), 689-725.

von Aufschnaiter, C., & von Aufschnaiter, S. (2007). University students’ activities, thinking and learning during laboratory work. European Journal of Physics, 28(3), S51-S60.


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PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND COMPETENCE IN SCIENCE

TEACHING AMONG STUDENT TEACHERS

Markus Wilhelm, Dorothee Brovelli University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland (Lucerne)

Markus Rehm University of Education Ludwigsburg

Alexander Kauertz University of Education Weingarten

Abstract

This study aims to explore the interdependence of professional identity and students’ views on teaching competence. Questionnaire data were obtained for 311 students from different teacher training programs at 6 universities in Germany and Switzerland. Three aspects of professional identity were considered: subject matter expert, pedagogical expert and didactical expert. Views on teaching competence were also investigated in three categories: competencies with respect to subject matter content (science competence), teacher (self-competence), and learner (tutorial competence). Students were asked to self-evaluate their teaching competencies and to rate the relative importance they attribute these competencies. The questionnaires were shown to have reasonable reliability and validity. Results show that perceived stronger science competence correlates with a professional identity as a subject matter expert, while perceived stronger self-competence could lead to any type of professional identity. Furthermore, a given professional identity seems to influence how much students value competence in the matching category, e.g. pedagogical experts consider tutorial competence especially important. Results vary significantly for different teacher training institutions. In particular, students from the sole teacher training institution with combined science disciplines showed significantly higher values for a professional identity as “subject matter expert” than students from institutions teaching science in separate disciplines. This suggests serious implications for the design of programs in teacher education.

Introduction

To improve pre-service teacher education it is essential to understand how different structures of science teacher education programs influence the professional development of teachers. The present study sets out to develop instruments to assess student teachers’ professional identity, their perceived competencies in science teaching, and the relative importance they attribute to these competencies. In addition, the interdependence of professional identity and students’ views on teaching competence is investigated by analyzing the data obtained for students from different teacher training programs. Data for students from different universities is compared with a particular focus on the comparison between combined vs. separate science education.


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Rationale

Professional Identity of Science Teachers

Identity has been defined in a number of ways based on mainly two lines of tradition, the psychoanalytical and interactionist perspectives. The reported study is based on the definition of identity by Keupp, Abhe & Gmür (2002). This definition synthesizes both traditions, is widely supported by empirical research, and is continuously being confirmed and enhanced by its authors. According to Keupp et al. (2002) individuals pursue identity projects, i.e. construct their identity in a creative daily process of action and reflection called identity work. Keupp et al. (2002) consider professional identity to be a partial identity within the patchwork of identity constructions.

The professional identity of science teachers has been receiving extensive attention by research. Van Veen, Sleegers, Bergen & Klaassen (2001) e.g. reveal that professional identities of mathematics and science teachers differ significantly from those of teachers of other subjects as evidenced by their orientations towards instruction and goals of education. Luehmann (2007) addresses the question of how science teacher preparation should be designed to promote the development of an identity as a reform-minded science teacher. Varelas, House, & Wenzel (2005) describe beginning teachers’ ambivalence between their “scientist” identities and their “science teacher” identities after apprenticeships at science labs.

Other investigations have examined whether teachers regard themselves primarily as subject-matter experts or pedagogical experts, following Caselmann’s classification in “logotrop” (particularly interested in subject matter) and “paidotrop” teachers (particularly interested in educating children) (Caselmann, 1970). Some researchers supplement these two aspects by a third: that of didactical expert (particularly interested in preparing and executing teaching and learning processes), which might be related to, but is not identical with, being a pedagogical expert. Beijaard, Verloop, & Vermunt (2000) conclude that “teachers derive their professional identity from (mostly combinations of) the ways they see themselves as subject matter experts, pedagogical experts, and didactical experts”.

Replacing traditional by integrated science courses can be regarded as a threat to the teacher’s sense of self, as Helms (1998) points out. Aikenhead (2003) considers the formation of an adequate professional identity to be one of the major challenges for the transformation from a discipline-based science approach to an integrated one. This raises the question of what kind of teacher education is suitable for student teachers to be able to develop an adequate professional identity, and if and how professional identity affects teaching competence.

Teaching Competence of Science Teachers

Research on teaching competence aims to increase teacher effectiveness. Teachers’ competencies can be divided up into three categories: competencies with respect to subject matter content (science competence), teacher (self competence), and learner (tutorial competence), also known as the didactic triangle (see figure 1).

Figure 1: Teaching competencies divided up into three categories following the didactic triangle.

The importance of science knowledge for effective science teaching was confirmed by the meta-analysis of students’ learning performance (Mayer, Mullens, & Moore, 2000). Moreover, teachers need the special form of subject matter knowledge for teaching that is considered part of Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge

science competence

self-competence

tutorial competence


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(Shulman, 1987; Van Dijk, & Kattmann 2007). In addition, a basic understanding of the nature of science is generally expected from teachers (AAAS, 2007).

Teachers’ competencies with respect to the learners (tutorial competence) include understanding students’ specific learning difficulties and knowing ways to overcome these difficulties, two essential elements of pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1987). The ability to stimulate student inquiry and self-directed learning of science is also part of this category, as well as competence in the assessment of learning progress.

The third category, that of the teacher, can be called the teacher’s self-competence, and includes the ability to analyze their own teaching and the willingness to engage in professional development, which impacts teacher effectiveness, according to Mayer et al. (2000). Additionally, competence in taking emotional aspects of learning and teaching into account is being increasingly considered important in teacher education (Van Veen, & Lasky, 2005). General pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of educational contexts etc. have been omitted from this study (Rocard, 2007), since it focuses on competence particularly for teaching science (Osborne, & Dillon, 2008).

Teachers’ conceptions of the relative importance of different aspects of teaching affect their behavior in the classroom. Of course, their pre-service training will affect their perceived teaching competence. It might be expected that professional identity is affected by self-assessment of teaching competencies and vice-verse, and that a strong professional identity again affects the rating of the importance of certain teaching competencies. Therefore, the present study sets out to investigate the interdependence of the structure of teacher training, the student teachers’ professional identity, their perceived teaching competence and the importance they attribute to these competencies.

Teacher Training in Separated and Integrated Science Programs

While integration of the scientific disciplines is pursued more and more in the lower grades of secondary school, education students are still being trained most commonly in separate-discipline science courses, less frequently in an interdisciplinary approach. So far it is largely unknown whether these different structures of science teacher education have significant influences on the development of the teacher students’ professional identity or professional competencies. To improve pre-service teacher education it is essential to understand whether these different structures influence the pre-service professional development of teachers.

Methods

311 science teacher students at 6 universities with different educational structures (separate-discipline and integrated) in Germany and Switzerland were surveyed using online questionnaires. Regarding “professional identity”, three sets of 11 items each were developed (subject-matter expert, pedagogical expert, and didactical expert), which were to be answered on a five-point Likert scale (I disagree… I agree). Regarding “teaching competence”, students were asked for both a self-evaluation of the above named teaching competencies and a rating of the importance they attribute to them by means of five-point scales for three sets of 8 items each (for categories science competence, self-competence, and tutorial competence). In order to test for validity, students were asked to award 100 points to the three aspects of “professional identity” (Beijaard et al., 2000). 226 students also filled in an additional questionnaire on “teaching competence” (Rehm et al., 2007).

Results

The three scales for “professional identity” show good reliability (Cronbach’s � > .70). Only for pedagogical expert and didactical expert was a substantial partial correlation found (r = .56, p < .001) as might be expected from the similarity of the underlying concepts (see Rationale). External validity was investigated by means of a regression analysis where the scale values from the questionnaire were used as predictors for the points the students awarded to each aspect (convergent and discriminant validity), and yielded satisfactory results. For the scales on “teaching competence” Cronbach’s �� was .62 < � < .75. Calculations of the correlations between the scales (internal


12

validity) and correlations with the questionnaire on teaching competence reported by Rehm et al. (2007) (external validity) suggest that the scales validly measure student teachers’ views on teaching competence.

When students are asked for a self-evaluation of their teaching competencies, the results do not significantly depend on the teacher training institution the students come from. In particular, studying science in separate or combined disciplines does not affect the student’s perceived teaching competencies, as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2: Perceived teaching competencies for students from universities with separate and combined science education.

However, significant differences can be found with respect to professional identity and the importance attributed to certain competencies. Interestingly, students studying science in an interdisciplinary approach showed significantly higher values for a professional identity as “subject matter expert” than students from institutions teaching science in separate disciplines (see figure 3). The former students also consider teacher competence in the categories “self-competence” and “tutorial competence” to be less important.

In order to investigate the interdependence of the student teachers’ professional identity, their perceived teaching competence and the importance they attribute to these competencies, six regression analyses were conducted separately. In this way the beta-weights reported in figure 4 were determined (entering predictors simultaneously). The first to third regression was calculated with the three scales for perceived teaching competencies as predictors for a professional identity as subject-matter, didactical, and pedagogical expert. For the fourth to sixth regression these professional identities were used as predictors for the three scales rating the importance of teaching competencies.

The assumption that professional identity is influenced by perceived teaching competencies can not be shown in general. While feeling competent in subject matter content correlates with a professional identity as subject matter expert, perceived self-competence could lead to any type of professional identity. Although the regression coefficients are rather small, the relation between a given professional identity and the importance attributed to competence in the matching category shows the expected correspondences with the largest coefficients.

3.80

3.60

3.40

3.20

3.00

2.80

Mea

n

1 = low 5 = high

Error bar: +/- 0.5 SD

3.41

3.53 3.43

3.34 3.323.36

tutorial competence

science competence

self- competence

Combined disciplines (N=96)

Separate disciplines (N=226)


13

Figure 3: Professional identity of students from universities with separate and combined science education.

Figure 4: Beta-weights of the regressions, adjusted p < .001 for all reported coefficients, non-significant coefficients are not reported; largest beta-weights of each regression are highlighted.

science competence

self competence

tutorial competence

subject matter expert

didactical expert

pedagogical expert

science competence

self competence

tutorial competence

professional identityperceived teaching competencies

importance attributed to teaching competencies

.33

.25

.31

.28

.32

.21

.20

.21

.16

.29

.18

.16

4.4

4.2

4.0

3.8

3.6

3.4

Mea

n

4.18 4.11

3.82

4.03

4.35

4.22

pedagogical expert

subject-matter expert

didactical expert

p < 0.05

p < 0.05

d = 0.54

d = 0.35

1 = low 5 = high

Error bar: +/- 0.5 SD

Combined disciplines (N=96)

Separate disciplines (N=226)


14


The questionnaires developed in this study were shown to have respectable reliability and validity. Results imply that different types of professional identity and self perception lead to different beliefs about teaching. Hence, student teachers might stress different teaching competencies in their classroom work and have different needs for personal professional development. Teacher education seems to impact the development of professional identity and students’ views on teaching. Subject-matter experts attribute importance to all teaching competencies, but most to science competence. Pedagogical experts attribute importance to all teaching competencies too. For those student teachers, the tutorial competence is the most important. Didactical experts do not attribute a lot of importance to science competence. This means: Only a balanced professional identity will lead to a wide range of competencies in science teaching. Teacher training must strengthen the self-competence of beginning teachers, if a balanced professional identity is to be achieved.

Further research will improve the assessment of teaching competence by including a survey with case vignettes. The ongoing pilot study seems to support the results of the questionnaire. Moreover, the effects of separate vs. combined disciplines in science teaching need to be clarified.

References

AAAS, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007): http://www.project2061.org/publications/ bsl/online/bolintro.htm.

Aikenhead (2003). Chemistry and Physics Instruction: Integration, Ideologies, and Choices. Chemical Education: Research & Practice, 4 (2), 115-130.

Beijaard, D., Verloop, N., & Vermunt, J. D. (2000). Teachers’ perceptions of professional identity: An exploratory study from a personal knowledge perspective. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 749–764.

Caselmann, C. (1970). Wesensformen des Lehrers. (4. Aufl. (zuerst 1949)). Stuttgart: Klett.

Helms, J. V. (1998). Science—and me: Subject matter and identity in secondary school science teachers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35(7), 811– 834.

Keupp, H., Ahbe, T., Gmür, W., Höfer, R., Mitzscherlich, B. Kraus, W., & Straus, F. (2002). Identitätskonstruktionen. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt.

Luehmann, A. (2007). Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation. Science Education 91(5), 822 – 839.

Mayer, D.P., Mullens, J.E., & Moore, M.T. (2000). Monitoring school quality – An Indicators Report. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.

Osborne, J., & Dillon J. (2008). Science Education in Europe: Critical reflections. A Report to the Nuffield Fundation, http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/fileLibrary/pdf/Sci_Ed_in_Europe_Report_Final.pdf.

Rehm, M., Wilhelm, M., Brovelli, D., Malti, T., & Häcker, T. (2007). Integrierte Naturwissenschaften auch in der LehrerInnenbildung? In: Höttecke, D. (Hrsg.).: Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht im internationalen Vergleich. Berlin: LIT Verlag; 589-591.

Rocard, M., Csermely, P., Jorde, D., Lenzen, D., Henriksson, H. L., & Hemmo, V. (2007), Science Education Now: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe, High Level Group on Science Education, Office of Official Publications of the European Communities, http://publications.europa.eu.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1–21.

Van Dijk, E., Kattmann, U. (2007). A research model for the study of science teachers’ PCK and improving teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education 23, 885–897.

Van Veen, K., & Lasky, S. (2005). Emotions as a lens to explore teacher identity and change: Different theoretical approaches. Teaching and Teacher Education 21, 895-898.


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Van Veen, K., Sleegers, P., Bergen, T., & Klaassen, C. (2001). Professional orientations of secondary school teachers towards their work. Teaching and Teacher Education 17(2), 175-194.

Varelas, M., House, R., & Wenzel, S. (2005). Beginning teachers immersed into science: Scientist and science teacher identities. Science Education 89(3), 492 – 516.


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17

THE ROLE OF TEACHER EDUCATION COURSES IN DEVELOPING TEACHERS’

SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE AND PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Yasemin Gödek Altuk

Ahi Evran Üniversitesi

Abstract

There have been considerable changes in initial teacher preparation in England. Since 1992, university departments of education and schools have equal responsibility in preparing teachers. The principal route for educating new teachers is through the one year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses. The aim of this study is to explore the perceptions of secondary science student teachers, newly qualified teachers and PGCE tutors about the role of the PGCE courses in knowledge base (Subject Matter Knowledge- SMK and Pedagogical Content Knowledge- PCK) development. Participants’ perceptions were revealed through in-depth interviews and a short questionnaire. The results show that there is a difference between the philosophies of the universities and the schools in terms of the support provided, participants’ conceptions concerning the process of learning to teach and the role of ‘experience’, the difficulty in the implementation of the reflective practitioner model in schools, and the difficulty in relating the theory to the practice. Unless students’ perceptions are challenged through informing them about the nature of the reflective practitioner model and students’ own role in this model, it will be difficult for the teacher education courses to have a strong effect on students’ professional development.

Introduction

In England, apprenticeship, competency, and reflective practitioner models have been the major traditions. In each models, there are different conceptions concerning the process of learning to teach, and the role of training courses (Furlong & Maynard, 1995). Since 1982, school-based competency model is in use in England, and Initial Teacher Education and Training (ITET), is mainly carried out by one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses. The competency model is understood to be the achievement of a series ‘standards’ defined by the ITET curriculum. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) sets the standards against which all student teachers must be assessed in order to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (Holden & David Hicks, 2007). In the ITET curriculum, evidence of both Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) (Shulman, 1986, 1987) is expected from student teachers, ‘trainees need to be alert to the differences between having a secure knowledge of the subject and knowing how to teach it effectively’ (DfEE, 1998: 128). On the other hand, reflective practitioner model has a significant role in the process of learning to teach (Furlong & Maynard, 1995).

Various researches were carried out on student teachers with the focus on the development of their knowledge, understanding and skills (Kyriacou, 1993). However, it is not yet possible to claim to have sufficient understanding of the nature and acquisition of the process of becoming teacher (Bennett, 1993, Kyriacou, 1993, Korthagen et al., 2006). Student teachers’ perceptions lie at the heart of teaching (Kagan, 1992) because even though their perceptions remain unrecognized by teacher educators, perceptions influence professional growth. Therefore, perceptions concerning the teacher education courses might give information about the effectiveness of the types of training experiences provided (Gödek, 2002). This research mainly aims to explore the perceptions of student teachers, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) and PGCE tutors (tutors) about the role of the PGCE courses in


18

teachers’ knowledge base (SMK and PCK) development. The sub-questions are: What are participants’ perceptions concerning the role of PGCE courses, in helping knowledge base development? Is there any weakness in the PGCE courses? What should be done to overcome these?

Methods

This study was carried out in one of the universities in England; however it is not simply a programme evaluation. In-depth interviewing, and a short questionnaire including open-ended items aimed to find out participants’ views about the main sources of SMK and PCK development, both strengths and weaknesses of their courses, and their suggestions about the possible improvement of the support given. Interviews were conducted with secondary science student teachers (students) and tutors at the last point of training year, and with NQTs at the end of their first year of teaching. In the interviews, six biology, six chemistry, and four physics students were interviewed. The NQTs who consisted of five biologists, four chemists, and two physicists completed their PGCE course in six different universities. The tutors consisted of three biologists, one chemist and one physicist. 35 students including twenty-two biologists, ten chemists, and three physicists also participated this research by filling in a questionnaire.

Results

The results mainly indicate a discrepancy between the participants’ views. This difference reflects the participants’ conceptions concerning the nature and the role of the PGCE courses. The PGCE courses consist of both the university-based and school-based elements. However, for students and NQTs the PGCE course meant only the university-based elements. When they talking about the elements of support, they were only referring to the university-based elements or the teaching practice but did not seem to consider them in partnership.

1. The role of the PGCE courses in students’ SMK development

From tutors’ views, the university-based aspect of the course was mainly based on the reflective practitioner model. Due to the philosophy of the university, the time constraints and the individual differences in terms of students’ SMK background, the development of the SMK was students’ own responsibility. The university supported students through the subject audits, resources, method sessions, and assignments, and students were expected to identify their own weaknesses mainly through the subject audits and take the initiative to develop themselves through researching, reflection, and observing other teachers. However, reading, teaching practice and experience, the help and advise from teachers, and training course sessions were found to be the main sources of SMK development (Table 1). None of the NQTs referred to the sessions.

Table 1. Things which served to develop students’ and NQTs’ SMK

Sources Students (N=16) % NQTs (N= 11) %

Reading 100 91

Having to teach 100 82

Teachers 81 82

Training course sessions 69 -


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In contrast, students and NQTs expected that SMK should be taught within the university. Their expectations were similar to the way in which they were taught during their schooling years, which is a mixture of apprenticeship and competency models. Therefore, learning the SMK through self-development and reflection did not seem to be valued.

‘It is something that obviously we have not got time to do, to actually teach them. … There are very limited opportunities to teach them their subject knowledge on the course. …We do not really fill the gap. I think it has got to be the students’ responsibility to fill the gap. Because we cannot run 45 different programmes for them. …Getting back to subject knowledge, I think a lot of that can be addressed in the school. Again, by going to observe lessons. Again, that is up to students’ initiative’ (TC1).

'So I think for them to have somebody to talk to about that gap that you have in your subject knowledge might be helpful for next year. …Possibly teach it, or possibly give you some ideas on how you could teach it, because through doing that it does actually bring up your subject knowledge and also it gives you some fresh ideas as well’. (C5)

‘… I thought, part of the PGCE course would be to increase those weaker areas and teach me the things, make sure I understood the things that I was supposed to be teaching. …‘Strengthening subject knowledge, teaching of range of practicals you do for certain topics. … It would have been nice if there had been time for that. To say “Right! This is what you need to teach. Let’s check you all understand it. Do you understand this? Have a go these problems, have a go at some exam questions” for the tutors to tell you where you have got wrong in the subject knowledge …for each bit, really. For the weaker bits anyway.’ (NB1)

'I think one of the weaknesses was that they seemed to rely very heavily on individual self-improvement, individual teaching yourself if you like. There was quite a lot of support if you went to them and they did produce quite a comprehensive training pack, if you like, step by step guidance on how to go through the planning procedures, how to apply the National Curriculum statements. … That was all in print, that was everything that was given to us. So it was almost like a self-taught aspect, really. So in many ways I would say that was the weakness. Because you have quite a lot pressure on you to actually do that as well as going into a profession’. (NC2)

2. The role of the PGCE courses in students’ PCK development

In the university, students were expected to try to relate the theory to the practice themselves, and reflect on their experiences. Even though, students were supported through sessions and assignments, these were not valued as much as teachers’ support. For all students, teachers were the main source of their PCK (Table 2). The kinds of help valued were that teachers helped them in checking lesson plans, giving advice about teaching methods, giving some tips about how to organise and structure the lessons, organising practicals and demonstrations, deciding on the practicals, materials, and worksheets. Furthermore, experience and teaching practice, reading, training course sessions, PGCE course assignments were found to be the main sources of PCK development.

Table 2. Things which served to develop students’ PCK

Sources Students (N= 16) % NQTs (N=11) %

Teachers 100 -

Reading 63 -

Having to teach (teaching practice) 56 100

Training course sessions 50 -

Observation and feedback from teachers 44 -

PGCE course assignments 31 -


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However, students and NQTs also expected the university to give some recipes about science teaching concerning identifying and overcoming pupils’ misconceptions, models and analogies, teaching strategies.

‘Giving some more concrete examples of how we could consolidate children’s ideas first [in the School of Education]. …It would have been good if we had had some definite method of consolidating ideas. …I think they did do it very well here. But the only real improvement, maybe, could be just giving us a more concrete list of ways in which we could account for their misconceptions’ (P2).

‘They (teachers) have done it for so long. …They come up with much better ideas than in books. Because they already know what works and what will not work. Because when I look in a book I find an idea I try it and some pupils get confused and some don’t but if I go and ask a teacher, they will tell me straightaway.’ (P1)

‘The people in the department have been very useful. They would say things like “Well, be careful when you’re teaching this or the other because they will think that …unless you approach it in this way …” or “Be careful with that person because that person cannot think at that level. Therefore they are not going to be able to understand that unless you put it in a different way that would not be suitable for the rest of the group’. (B2)

Therefore, their expectations were mainly based on apprenticeship and competency models. Therefore, learning the PCK through self-development and reflection also did not seem to be valued by them.

3. The role of students as learners in the process of learning to teach

For tutors, students were not expected to be over-confident in their knowledge base. They should accept own weaknesses, realise the gaps within the subject, continue to ask for help from the teachers and colleagues, and to reflect on their experiences. However, only a few students and NQTs recognised that reflection was crucial for them.

‘…If you keep teaching, the best way to improve your understanding and learning is by teaching and if you teach for one or two years then you’ll start to realise what you keep getting wrong, your misconceptions. And so eventually, after one or two years, there should be no misconceptions. …First of all you have to know that you are doing it wrong. You have to know that you’ve made a mistake, that you’ve not understood a topic right yourself. And that might become clear when kids ask you questions. Then, from their questions, you realise that you must be … teaching them wrong. …Some kids might say “No!”. One bright kid in the class might already have previous knowledge. … Then, you will look like a fool, that you don’t know your topic. …The only way you can do it is, personally, in your planning stages. …[by] evaluation, what went good about the lesson, what went bad. … [You need to evaluate but] not many people did it. Most people [have] too much work. To do twenty evaluations in a week, many people struggle to do it. Maybe do it for only half of the lesson or a quarter of the lessons. … The only way you can improve it is by thinking about it’ (P1).

‘I think I try and evaluate my own performance a lot more and, rather than putting the blame on the students, I just accept it is a very difficult thing to do. And if they aren’t getting anything, I …improve my own technique and implement the change.’ (NC3)

4. The problems of learning to teach in the PGCE courses

The problems identified were mainly, the difference between the philosophies of the university and the schools, students’ conceptions concerning the process of learning to teach and the role of ‘experience’, the difficulty in the implementation of the reflective practitioner model in the schools, and the difficulty in relating the theory to the practice. The university and schools supported students in different models of learning to teach. While the support provided by the university was based on the reflective practitioner model, the support provided by the schools seemed to be based on the apprenticeship and competency models. However, students and NQTs mainly tended to value the support based on apprenticeship and competency models. Students’ and NQTs’ expectations, therefore, point out that they had only limited knowledge about the nature of the reflective practitioner model and their role as learners in this model. Moreover, having to teach the subject was found by NQTs to be more valuable than their course.


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This indicates that NQTs believe the importance of experience. It should be argued that learning to teach by experience itself might not be helpful to develop knowledge base. Even though self-development and reflection were suggested by tutors for SMK development, the experiences of students and NQTs show that during their training year, there was very little or no opportunity to increase their knowledge base when the realities of the classroom and time constraints were considered. For three groups, the structure of the course was not appropriate in relating the theory to the practice.


Helping students is very complex task for teacher education courses if different needs of each individuals are considered. Teacher education courses needs to be considered as an initial step for teachers’ professional career. It should not be expected that these courses can cover all knowledge base development in a limited time. Therefore, continuous self-progress seems essential for students and NQTs throughout their career. Teacher education courses need to provide students opportunities to gain the knowledge and the skills necessary for developing their own knowledge base independently. So, there seems a need for more increased collaboration between universities and schools, and more awareness by the schools about the universities’ intentions to develop a more coherent model of student support. Therefore, it might be suggested that unless students’ perceptions are challenged through informing them about the nature of the reflective practitioner model and students’ own role in this model, it will be difficult for the teacher education courses to have a strong effect on students’ professional development.

References

Bennett, N., 1993, ‘Knowledge bases for learning to teach’, in Bennett, N., and Carré, C., (Eds.), ‘Learning to Teach’, London: Routledge.

DfEE (Department for Education and Employment), 1998, ‘Teaching: High Status, High Standards requirements for courses of Initial Teacher Training’, Circular 4/98, DfEE.

Furlong, J., and Maynard, T., 1995, ‘Mentoring Student Teachers: The growth of professional knowledge’, London: Routledge.

Gödek, Y., 2002, ‘The Development of Science Student Teachers’ Knowledge Base in England’, Unpublished EdD thesis, University of Nottingham, Nottingham.

Holden, C., & Hicks, D., 2007, ‘Making global connections: the knowledge, understanding and motivation of trainee teachers’, Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 13-23.

Kagan, D. M., 1992, ‘Professional growth among preservice and beginning teachers’, Review of Educational Research, 62, 2, 129-169.

Korthagen, F., Loughran, J., & Russell, T., 2006, ‘Developing fundamental principles for teacher education programs and practices’, Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 1020-1041.

Kyriacou, C., 1993, ‘Research on the Development of Expertise in Classroom Teaching during initial training and the first year of teaching’, Educational Review, 45, 1, 79-87.

Shulman, L. S., 1986, ‘Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching’, Educational Researcher, 15, 2, 4-14.

Shulman, L.S.,1987,‘Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the new reform’, Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1.


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23

PRE-SERVICE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' SELF-DETERMINATED BEHAVIOUR FOR SCIENCE

LEARNING

Iztok Devetak, Saša A. Glažar, Janez Vogrinc & Mojca Juriševič University of Ljubljana

Abstract In this study student’s motivation for learning science was analyzed. 165 pre-service primary school teachers participated in the study. The results indicated that the students displayed more controlled than autonomous motivation for learning science, and were much more motivated towards learning biology as opposed to physics and chemistry. Moreover, within the science subjects (i.e., biology, chemistry, and physics) intrinsic motivation was higher for learning concrete contents rather than more abstract ones. The results imply that some significant changes need to be made to higher education science teaching in order to bring about a marked improvement in students’ intrinsic motivation for learning science. In this way we would also have motivated teachers for teaching science in primary schools.

Introduction

According to Ryan and Deci (2000) intrinsic motivation is an individual’s inherent inclination from which stems his/her tendency to learn about particular areas of life regardless of the presence of external enticements. The self-determination theory (SDT) is a theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within the social context. It emphasizes that understanding human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The theory focuses on the degree to which human behaviors are volitional or self-determined. This means the degree to which people endorse their actions at the highest levels of reflection and engage in the action with a full sense of choice. According to this theory external activities should be designed in such a way that students would value and self-regulate these activities without external pressure. This process is realized through internalization (the process of taking in a value or regulation) and integration (a process by which individuals transform the regulation into their own so that it will emanate from their sense of self) (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In other literature on educational psychology (Stipek, 1998), intrinsic motivation is most frequently described in terms of three interconnected elements which the child develops by the end of primary school: (1) as a special inclination to tackle more demanding tasks which present a challenge; (2) as learning triggered off by curiosity or special interests; (3) as a development of competence and a mastering of learning tasks in which learning is seen as a value in itself. Intrinsically motivated learners achieve better results in knowledge tests, get higher achievement scores, and have a highly positive learning self-concept. In comparison to their peers with low intrinsic motivation, they show less academic anxiety, and are less dependent on external motivational stimuli (Gottfried, 2001). Personal satisfaction experienced through learning is also linked to higher creativity (Amabile, 1985, cited in Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 1989). Highly intrinsically motivated students are more successful in learning new concepts and show better understanding of the learning material (Stipek, 1998). Rennie (1990) concluded that higher science achievements are related to the learner’s active engagement in learning tasks, to his/her positive attitude towards the subject and to a highly positive self-concept in science, which all imply the learner’s intrinsic motivation to learn.


24

The purpose of the study is to test three hypotheses: (1) Pre-service primary teachers’ learning behaviour in science settings is significantly more controlled than autonomous; (2) Pre-service primary teachers are significantly more controlled regulated for learning chemistry and physics than biology; and (3) Pre-service primary teachers are significantly more intrinsically motivated for learning more concrete material (macroscopic concepts observable in the real world) than abstract concepts in chemistry, biology and physics.

Rationale

Students’ intrinsic motivation for learning science is rather low at all levels of education. That implies the importance to deeply understand the teachers’ motivation for learning science as their influence on students’ motivation has been widely recognized (Juriševič et al., 2009). As the influence on teacher’s cognition is possible and more sensitive during the pre-service period than later in professional development, we decided to research pre-service primary teachers’ motivation for learning science and according to our results enhance the higher education teaching of science.

Methods

A total of 165 pre-service primary teachers participated in the study. On average, the students were 18.6 years old. The sample represented an urban and rural population with mixed socioeconomic status. A 152-item paper-pencil questionnaire was used in the study. It was a modified form of two questionnaires used in previous research (Black & Deci, 2000; Juriševič et al., 2008). Each questionnaire has been shown to effectively assess motivation for learning chemistry. The modified questionnaire developed for this study is a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 - not at all true to 7 - very true. It comprises 12 items which measure the level of self-determined learning behavior and 140 items which measure the level of intrinsic motivation for learning science. The questionnaire showed satisfactory measuring characteristics. The research was a non-experimental, cross-sectional and descriptive study. The instrument was applied on the research sample in school year 2007/08 in April. Students spent about 25 minutes to complete it. Descriptive statistics were obtained for illustrating students’ level of self-determined motivation and a paired-sample t-test was used to determine the differences’ significance between students’ motivation for different science subjects.

Results

The results show that pre-service elementary teachers are significantly more non-self determined – controlled (M=30.23; SD=5.87) than self-determined – autonomous (M=26.67; SD=4.73) in learning science (t = - 7.68; df=164; p ≤ .000). Results also show that pre-service primary teachers are significantly more self-determined for learning biology than for chemistry or physics. The difference in self-determination for learning chemistry and physics is not significant (Table 1).

Table 1. Pre-service primary teachers’ level of self-determined behavior for learning different science subjects.

Self-determination for different subjects learning M SD t df p

biology 19.30 4.81 8.48 164 ≤ .000

physics 15.41 5.08 biology 19.30 4.81

9.63 164 ≤ .000 chemistry 15.29 5.01 chemistry 15.29 5.01

.36 164 .720 physics 15.41 5.08


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12,8 12,7 12,1

15,3

18,6

13,5

18,416,3

18,2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

particles symbols chemicalcalculations

chemistry ofelements

chemicalreactions

electrolytechemistry

waterchemistry

oilchemistry

foodchemistry

MMoorree aabbssttrraacctt MMoorree ccoonnccrreettee

Pre-service primary teachers show higher levels of intrinsic motivation for learning concrete levels of science concepts (e.g., experiments, human body, astronomy) rather than abstract ones (e.g. matter particles, genetics, forces) in all three science subjects (i.e., biology, chemistry, and physics).

Figure 1. Pre-service elementary teachers’ level of intrinsic motivation for learning different chemistry topics.

All the differences between the level of motivation for learning different chemistry topics are statistically significant, except: symbols – particles; symbols – calculations; particles – calculations; reactions – water; reactions – food and water – food.


According to the results the first hypothesis that says "Pre-service primary teachers self-regulated behavior is significantly more controlled than autonomous" can be confirmed. Pre-service teachers’ represent more controlled than autonomous functioning in learning science. The second hypothesis that says "Pre-service primary teachers are significantly more controlled regulated for learning chemistry and physics than biology" is not confirmed, because the differences in pre-service teachers’ autonomous behavioral regulation for learning physics is not significantly different than learning chemistry. The last hypothesis says that "Pre-service primary teachers are significantly more intrinsically motivated for learning more concrete material (macroscopic concepts observable in the real world) than abstract concept in chemistry, biology and physics." is confirmed, because it can be concluded that pre-service teachers show significantly lower level of intrinsic motivation for learning abstract concepts (chemical symbols, and calculations, and learning about particles and their interactions) than macroscopic ones (chemistry of elements, and electrolyte chemistry, chemical reactions, and water, oil, and food chemistry).

The main implications from this study are that teacher educators at university level should: (1) constantly monitor and promote pre-service teachers level’s of intrinsic motivation for learning specific topics in science; (2) if necessary extrinsically motivate pre-service teachers at the beginning for learning science; (3) stimulate towards more autonomous self-regulated learning behavior in science of pre-service teachers; (4) be interested in pre-service teachers mental models about specific science concepts; (5) accept pre-service teachers’ perspective about learning science; (6) accept pre-service teachers’ proposals for modifying learning and teaching activities and climate in science lessons; (7) stimulate positive pre-service teachers’ self-perceived competences for learning science (i.e., academic self-concept) and (8) assure adequate feed-back information about pre-service teachers’ achievements in science learning with minimal pressure and control.


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References

Black, A. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). The Effects of Instructors’ Autonomy Support and Students’ Autonomous Motivation on Learning Organic Chemistry: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective. Science Education, 84, 740–756.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Nakamura, J. (1989). The dynamics of intrinsic motivation: A study of adolescents. In R. Ames & C. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education, Vol. 3: Goals and cognitions (pp. 45–72). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Gottfried, A. E., Fleming, J. S., & Gottfried, A. W. (2001). Continuity of academic intrinsic motivation from childhood through late adolescence: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 3–13.

Juriševič, M., Razdevšek Pučko C., Devetak, I., & Glažar, S. A. (2008). Intrinsic Motivation of Pre-service Primary School Teachers for Learning Chemistry in Relation to their Academic Achievement. International Journal of Science Education, 30, 87–107.

Juriševič, M., Glažar, S. A., Vogrinc, J., & Devetak, I. (2009, January). Intrinsic Motivation for Learning Science through Educational Vertical in Slovenia. Paper presented at the Fifth Biennal Self International Conference Enabling Human Potential: The Centrality of Self and Identity, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

Rennie, L. J. (1990). Student participation and motivational orientation: What do students do in science? In K. Tobin, J. Butler, & B. J. Fraser (Eds.), Windows into science classrooms: Problems associated with higher-level cognitive learning (pp. 164–198). London: The Falmer Press.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54–67.

Stipek, D. (1998). Motivation to learn: From theory to practice. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.


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LEARNING STYLES OF BIOLOGY TEACHER CANDIDATES

Pınar Köseoğlu Hacettepe Univeristy

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the learning styles preferred by the students at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology Education and analyze them in terms of the gender variable. In the study which is of a descriptive nature, the “Kolb Learning Style Inventory” was used, which was developed by Kolb and the feasibility of which in Turkey was demonstrated by Aşkar and Akkoyunlu (1993). The study group comprised of the 132 students studying at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology Education in the 2008-2009 education year. Percentage, frequency and chi-square were used in the analysis of the data obtained as a result of the inventory. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the learning style of the great majority of biology teacher candidates was ‘assimilating’ (55.73%), and that the students with the ‘accommodating’ (9.16%) learning style constituted the smallest group. There was no significant relationship between the teacher candidates’ gender and their learning styles.

Introduction

Every student has a different learning style specific to themselves. Learning environments should be designed in a way to appeal to every learning style in order for education targets to be achieved. In order for education environments to be arranged according to learning styles, first the students’ learning styles need to be identified by the teachers. When the students’ learning styles are known, the most appropriate teaching strategy, method and technique can be selected and an education in line with the students' interests can be conducted.

Various learning style models were proposed by researchers. These are; Gregorc learning styles model, Dunn learning styles model, McCarthy 4MAT, Kolb learning styles model etc. One of these models is the Kolb learning style model. These learning style models are types emphasizing the cognitive dimension.

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory constitutes the basis of the Kolb learning style model. Different to other cognitive learning theories, experiential learning emphasizes the role of experiences in the learning process. This theory defines learning as the formation of knowledge through transformation of experiences. It is argued that there are two dimensions in the learning process, namely grasping and transforming (Kolb, 1984: 41). These two dimensions, though independent of each other, are of a supportive nature to each other. In line with this, there are four fundamental categories in the Kolb learning style model: Concrete experience, abstract conceptualization, active experimentation and reflective observation. According to the experiential learning theory, learning is a cycle. One of these four categories gains prominence for the individual occasionally and during a learning experience it is inevitable to go through this cycle an indefinite number of times. Students are classified according to which one they prefer out of the concrete experience or abstract conceptualization (how they grasp the information) and active experimentation or reflective observation (how they transform, internalize the information) (Felder, 1996).

However, when identifying the learning styles of the students, one element does not give the dominant learning style of the individual on its own. A combination of these four elements provides each individual’s learning style. The combined scores indicate the individual’s different preferences from abstract to concrete (AC-CE), active to reflective (AE-RO). These two groups of learning constitute the basis of Kolb’s two dimensional learning styles. As a result of the combination of the four elements within the two dimensions, it is identified which of the four


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dominant learning styles individuals prefer. These are; converging, assimilating, diverging and accommodating learning styles.

The characteristics of the converging, assimilating, diverging and accommodating learning styles within Kolb’s learning style and of the individuals with these learning styles are as follows (Felder, 1996; Ergür, 1998; Kolb, 1984):

1. Diverging: These individuals go from the part to the whole. Accordingly, they like detail. During the learning process, they follow certain steps meticulously. They like trial and error. Problem solving, decision making, systematic planning are the major characteristics of individuals with this learning style.

2. Converging: They prefer observation to activity. They prefer summary information. They like information to be presented systematically. The weakest points of individuals with this type of learning style is difficulty in making a choice between the options and taking a long time in decision making.

3. Assimilating: They are individuals who prefer structured, systematic information. They prefer audio and visual presentations and lectures. Their strong points are that they are able to plan very well, define problems and develop theories. Their weak points are daydreaming and lacking in practicality.

4. Accommodating: They like concrete experiences. They are inquisitive. They like learning through research and discovery. They learn by doing and feeling. Their weak points are that they make impractical plans and are lacking in completing tasks on time.

Methods

Research Model

This research is a descriptive study conducted with the survey method with the aim of identifying students’ dominant learning styles.

Study Universe and Sample

The study universe comprised of 215 students studying at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology Education in 2007-2008 education year, and the sample comprised of the 131 students from the universe who could be reached. Of these students, 79% are female, and 21% are male students.

Data Collection Tool

In the study, in order to identify the students’ learning styles, the 12 item Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) was used, which was developed by Kolb (1985) and the feasibility of which in Turkey was demonstrated by Aşkar and Akkoyunlu (1993). The Kolb (1985) LSI norms were taken into account in identifying the learning styles. There are four statements in each of the 12 items in the LSI. Of these statements, the first statement relates to concrete experience ability (CE), the second to reflective observation ability (RO), the third to abstract conceptualization ability (AC), and the fourth to active experimentation ability (AE). As a result of the scores the students give to each statement, a score between 12 and 48 is obtained for each statement. After calculating the total CE score, RO score, AC score and AE score of the 12 items, the combined scores are obtained in the form of AE-RO and AC-CE. AE-RO and AC-CE combined scores vary between -36 and +36. A positive score obtained in AC-CE indicates that learning is abstract; and a negative score that it is concrete. A positive score obtained in AE-RO indicates that learning is active; and a negative score that it is reflective (Kolb, 1985; Aşkar and Akkoyunlu, 1993). The intersection point of the two scores gives the most suitable learning style for the individual.


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Data Analysis

Percentage, frequency and chi-square were used in the analysis of the data obtained as a result of the inventory.

Findings

Distribution of the Learning Styles of the Biology Teacher Candidates

As a result of the data analysis, the dominant learning styles of the teacher candidates are shown in Table 1;

Table 1. Distribution relating to Learning Styles of Teacher Candidates Learning styles F % Assimilating 73 55.73% Diverging 29 22.14% Converging 17 12.98% Accommodating 12 9.16% Total 131 100.00%

On examining Table 1, it is concluded that the dominant learning style of the great majority of biology teacher candidates is ‘assimilating’ (55.73%), and that the students with the ‘accommodating’ (9.16%) learning style constituted the smallest group. Additionally, 22.14% of the students have a diverging learning style and 12.98% a converging learning style.

Learning Styles of the Biology Teacher Candidates According to Gender

The findings indicating whether there is a significant relationship between the dominant learning styles of the teacher candidates and their gender are shown in Table2.

Table 2. Chi-Square Test Results for the Difference in Learning Styles of Teacher Candidates According to Gender Learning Styles Total

Diverging Converging Assimilating Accommodating Female N 23 12 59 10 104

% 22.1% 11.5% 56.7% 9.6% 100.0% Male N 6 5 14 2 27

% 22.2% 18.5% 51.9% 7.4% 100.0% Total N 29 17 73 12 131

% 22.1% 13.0% 55.7% 9.2% 100.0% X2 = 1.011 sd = 3 p = .799 > 0.05

According to the values in Table 2, there is not any significant relationship between the gender of the teacher candidates and their learning styles (X2 = 1.011 = .799 > 0.05). In other words, the students’ gender is not effective in identifying the dominant learning styles.

Discussions and Recommendations

In the present study, it was concluded that 55.73% of biology teacher candidates have the ‘assimilating’ learning style according to the Kolb learning styles model. The less prevalent styles are, in the correct order, ‘diverging’, ‘converging’ and ‘accommodating’ learning styles.


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As a result of past investigations; it is concluded that the dominant learning style of the great majority of biology teacher candidates is ‘assimilating’ and that the students with the ‘accommodating’ learning style constituted the smallest group. (Kilic 2002; Peker 2003; Peker and Aydin 2003;; Mutlu 2004; Peker 2005; HASIRCI, 2006; coach; 2007 ).This research findings supports the literature .

In assimilating learning style students prefer structured, systematic information. Assimilators concern themselves with ideas and abstract concepts. The learning modes associated with accommodative learners include concrete experience and active experimentation. They like learning through research and discovery. They learn by doing and feeling. As a result of teachers uses traditional teaching methods more, students learning styles and preferences are affected in that direction.

In order for a more effective education and instruction environment to be prepared, educators should be aware of the students’ learning types and plan education activities according to the students’ learning style characteristics.

Educators can obtain information on the learning styles of the students in their classes by conducting the learning style inventory to the students in their classes at the beginning of the education and instruction year. Thus, they will need to develop the instruction method – techniques and necessary instruction materials to be used in class according to the learning objectives.

Educators should reach all of the students with different learning styles. Therefore they should create a teaching environment taking into account all the learning styles in their class.

Pre-service teacher candidates should be provided with information on learning styles and learning styles based teaching prior to service.

References

Aşkar, P. ve Akkoyunlu, B. (1993). Kolb Öğrenme Stili Envanteri. Eğitim ve Bilim, (87), 37-47.

Ergür, D.O. (1998). H.Ü. Dört Yıllık Lisans Programlarında Öğrenci ve Öğretim Üyelerinin Öğrenme Stillerinin Karsılaştırılması. Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Ankara: Türkiye.

Felder, R.M. (1996). Matters of style. ASEE Prism, 6 (4): 18-23.

Hasırcı Kaf, Ö. (2006)., Sınıf Öğretmenliği Öğrencilerinin Öğrenme Stilleri, Eğitimde Kuram ve Uygulama, 2(1), ss.15-25.

Kılıç, E. (2002)., Baskın Öğrenme Stilinin Öğrenme Etkinlikleri Tercihi ve Akademik Başarıya Etkisi, Eğitim Bilimleri ve Uygulama, Cilt: 1, Sayı :1, Temmuz.

Koç, D. (2007). İlköğretim Öğrencilerinin Öğrenme Stilleri: Fen Başarısı Ve Tutumu Arasındaki İlişki (Afyonkarahisar İli Örneği), Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye

Kolb, D. (1984), Experiential Learning: Experience As The Source Of Learning And Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall

Kolb, D.A. (1985). Learning Style Inventory: Self Scoring Inventory and Interpretation Booklet. Boston: McBer and Company.

Mutlu, M. (2005)., Öğrenme Stillerine Dayalı Fen Bilgisi Öğretimi, Y.Y.Ü. Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Cilt:2.

Özbek, Ö. (2006)., Ögrenme Stillerine Uygun Olarak Düzenlenen Ögretim Etkinliklerinin Akademik Basarı, Hatırda Tutma Düzeyi ve Tutumlara Etkisi, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Çanakkale On Sekiz Mart Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Sınıf Ögretmenligi A.B.D. Çanakkale.


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Peker, M. (2003)., Kolb Ögrenme Modeli, Milli Egitim Dergisi, sayı: 157.

Peker, M. ve Aydın, B. (2003)., Anadolu ve Fen Lisesindeki Öğrencilerin Öğrenme

Stilleri, P.Ü. Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Sayı:14, ss.167-172.

Peker, M. (2005)., İlköğretim Matematik Öğretmenliğini Kazanan Öğrencilerin Öğrenme Stilleri ve Matematik Başarısı Arasındaki İlişki, Eğitim Araştırmaları, S.Bahar, Sayı:21.

Tekkaya, C., Çakıroğlu, J., ve Özkan, Ö. (2002). A Case Study on Science Teacher Trainees. Eğitim ve Bilim, 126, 15-21.


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EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE KNOWLEDGE LEVEL AND OPINIONS

OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS ABOUT CONCEPT MAPS

Fatma Şaşmaz-Ören Celal Bayar University

Nilgün Tatar Cumhuriyet University

Abstract

Concept maps are frequently used in science and technology education. Updated curriculum, textbooks in use and the level achievement examinations made in elementary education institutions shows that concept maps are preferred in teaching new concepts and evaluating the already-learnt ones. Accurate use of concept maps by teachers in the lessons is closely related to the level of the knowledge teachers have. In the scope of this study, pre service classroom teachers were firstly taught how to prepare and use concept maps and then their level of knowledge was increased via practices. To determine the level of knowledge of the participants; they were asked to prepare concept maps which were then evaluated via rubric method. The participants were classified into low, mid and high-level groups on the basis of the scores they took from the rubric. Finally, 147 participants were asked open-ended questions to learn about their opinions on this issue. Quantitative and qualitative data obtained by this way were analyzed to determine the relationship between the level of knowledge and the opinions of the prospective teachers about preparation and use of concept maps.

Introduction

Concept maps were developed by Novak on the basis of Ausubel’s meaningful learning theory. As important graphical tools, concept maps can quickly and easily provide information about how students establish inter-conceptual relations in their minds, the way they structure information, and where they experience problems. Furthermore, other significant characteristics of concept maps are that they facilitate organization of concepts and require that students use their creativity and logical thinking abilities, and therefore, improve such abilities.

According to Chang et al. (2005), “a concept map consists of a set of propositions, which are made up of a pair of concepts (nodes) and a relation (link) connecting them”. Concept maps are graphic tools developed to arrange this complex structure, to organize the concepts and to present the relationship between the concepts. According to Novak and Gowin (1984), all the classroom activities should be organized and implemented in such way to direct students to meaningful learning. A concept map represents a person’s structural knowledge about a certain concept or subject. Learners should be carefully introduced to powerful meta-cognitive learning tools that enable them to build structural representations of the knowledge they are to acquire, such as concept mapping, in order to foster the transition from passive (rote) learning towards more engaged meaningful learning strategies (Zele et all, 2004). Teachers can easily use concept maps in planning their lessons, arranging the concepts they will teach, determining student needs and evaluating the already-taught information. From this aspect, concept maps can be used in the classroom both as a learning-teaching strategy and an alterative evaluation tool. Therefore, teachers should have knowledge of how to prepare and use concept maps.


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Concept maps are used for a wide variety of purposes in the literature: to access mentor teachers’ practical knowledge (Zanting, Verloop & Vermunt, 2003), to determine its impact on certain variables such as students’ knowledge, treatment, attitudes to science (Ugwu and Soyibo, 2004), to enhance creativity and impact on writing achievement (Riley & Ahlberg, 2004), to investigate conceptual understanding of basic ecological concept (Zak & Munson, 2008), to use on problem-based learning scenario discussions (Hsu, 2004), to find out account for relational conceptual change (Liu, 2004), to investigate leaders’ own perceptions of learning through experience (Pegg, 2007), to study school-children’s understanding of leisure-time (Gill & Persson, 2008), to enhance learning achievement in concept application (Chang & Chang, 2008), and to examine of students’ learning achievement and interests (Chiou, 2008). Obviously, a majority of the studies focus on students’ knowledge acquisition and achievement about any subject.

Studies on the use of concept maps for evaluation purposes mostly concentrate on validity, reliability (McClure, Sonak & Suen, 1999; Stoddart, Abrams, Gasper & Canaday, 2000; Ozdemir, 2005), cognitive validity (Ruiz-Primo, Schultz, Li & Shavelson), quantitatively and qualitatively evaluating (Jacobs-Lawson & Hershey, 2002), and comparison of different scoring systems (West, Park, Pomeroy & Sandoval, 2002; Rye & Ruba, 2002; Yin, Vanides, Ruiz-Primo, Ayala & Shavelson, 2005; Zele, 2004).

Different approaches have been developed in evaluating concept maps. Novak and Govin (1984) argue that concept maps can be evaluated by scoring propositions, hierarchy, cross-links, and examples. In such an evaluation, scoring will differ with the validity and significance level of established links, particularly with regard to scoring of cross-links. While a significant and valid cross-link that reveals a student’s creativity receives a high score, lower scores will be assigned to those links that are valid but do not provide a synthesis between related concepts. Kaya (2003) argues that in evaluating concept maps, one should pay attention to the accuracy, consistency, and validity of interconceptual relationships, rather than to a simple counting and scoring of the constituent elements (e.g., cross-link, hierarchy etc.).

Three different methods are usually employed to evaluate concept maps. The first method involves assigning different scores to the parts of concept maps such as hierarchy, relationships, and cross-links and evaluating a map using the sum of these scores. In the second method, a criterion map is prepared (by a teacher or an expert) and students’ maps are evaluated on the basis of this map. The third method combines the first two; that is, the criterion concept map and the student’s concept map are first evaluated according to the criteria in the first approach, which is followed by dividing the total score on the student’s concept map by the total score on the criterion concept map to obtain a percentage value (Novak & Govin 1984; Ruiz-Primo & Shavelson, 1996; Chang, Sung, Chang & Lin, 2005; Kaya, 2003).

In a study that examined the effect of concept maps and Vee mappings on students’ knowledge acquisition about nutrition and plant reproduction, Ugwu and Soyibo (2004) based their evaluation of concept maps on hierarchy, relationships, cross-links and examples. These parts that make up concept maps were scored in the study as follows: hierarchy (any six correct ones)= 3×6=18; relationships (20-25 correct ones)=25 (maximum); cross-links (if correct), any 2-3=3 (maximum); examples (if correct), any 4=4 (maximum); total points scored for each map=50. Riley and Ahlberg (2004) used ICT (information and communications technologies)-based concept mapping in their study. In this study, evaluation of concept maps was based on three components: (1) nodes (each concept counted as one), (2) links (links emanating from each node counted and totaled), (3) connectivity index (number of links divided by number of nodes).


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Hsu (2004) employed Novak and Govin’s (1984) scoring system to evaluate concept maps. Thus, proposition, hierarchy, cross-link and example were scored respectively and a total score was obtained for each student. Scoring was as follows: one point for each meaningful, valid proposition has shown (proposition), five points for each valid level of the hierarchy (hierarchy), and ten points for each valid and significant cross-link; two points for each cross-link that is valid but does not illustrate a synthesis between concepts or propositions (cross-link), one point for each example (example). Similarly, Sahin (2002) evaluated in her study the concept maps constructed by students by the method introduced by Novak and Govin (1984) and simplified by Markham, Mintzes and Jones (1994). Thus, the study assigned 1 point to each concept and each related branch, 3 points to extra branches, 5 points to each hierarchical level, and 10 points to each cross-link. Furthermore, Sahin (2002) also developed a double-ended scoring system consisting of 0 and 1 by reviewing the four maps constructed by each student during a term. Scoring was made by comparing the 1st map with the 2nd, the 2nd with the 3rd, and the 3rd with the 4th map. In each comparison, 1 point was assigned if there was any restructuring, adjustment, and addition, and 0 point was assigned if there was not. In a study by Kinchin, De-Leij and Hay (2005), concept maps constructed by students account for 20 marks in their final grades. The distribution of these marks was as follows: a maximum of 5 marks were awarded for overall structure (hierarchy, clarity and integration), 10 marks for links and annotations and 5 marks for absence of mistakes (glaring omissions and misconceptions).

Keppens and Hay (2008) distinguish between two methods used to evaluate concept maps: quantitative and qualitative methods. Researchers classify quantitative evaluation methods into three, which are holistic scoring method, weighted component scoring methods and the closeness index, and explain that the purpose of quantitative methods used to evaluated concept maps is to produce a total order of different learners’ understanding of the domain or numerical data that can be employed for statistical hypothesis testing. Qualitative assessment methods are divided into three: linkage analysis, spoke, chain, net differentiation and qualitative simulation. Authors argue that these evaluation methods allow a descriptive evaluation of concept maps. These methods make a synthesis of the various features and provide a descriptive diagnosis of underlying extent of understanding. Gill and Persson (2008) employed in their study two different methods to score concept maps: numerical and content analysis. The researchers assert that concept maps are quite useful tools to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data on students’ knowledge about abstract concepts.

Pre-service teachers’ learning and beliefs and opinions are closely related. In this context, if one is to collect evidence about the subjects’ utilization levels for a particular application on any subject after it is implemented, one of the best ways to do so is to take their opinions. Therefore, the study obtained pre-service teachers’ opinions about the applications of concept mapping. A review of the studies that took opinions about applications of concept mapping reveals that students often find this technique to be convenient and useful. Half (50%) of the students who participated in Santhanam, Leach and Dawson’s (1998) study stated about concept maps that they ‘helped in understanding relationships between concepts’. Also in this study, students believed that concept maps ‘encouraged thinking more deeply’ (%33). In Laight’s (2004) study, 63% of the subjects answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘are concept maps useful?’.

Rationale

This study aimed at improving knowledge of pre service classroom teachers on preparation and use of concept maps up to a level where they can prepare successful programs and teach the concepts effectively. Nevertheless, another purpose of the study was to determine pre-service teachers’ opinions about concept mapping applications.


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Methods

In this study mixed method was used. The scores given to the concept maps prepared by the pre service teachers constituted the quantitative data and the data obtained from the open-ended questions constituted the qualitative data of the study. Study sampling was composed of 213 pre service teachers. 116 candidates are male, 97 candidates are female. Candidates were enrolled in a “Science Education” course at the spring semester of 2008. They took this course in the sixth semester. The implementation of the study lasted for 11 weeks. Firstly they were, instructed about the aims and the nature of the concept maps, during an introduction by means of a sample map—debating the importance of clearly stated propositions to describe the interrelationships between concepts. Participants observed several types of concept maps related to different areas. Then, they were asked to construct simple concept maps in the classroom so as to increase their level of knowledge. After then, they were asked to use the concept maps in the weekly course presentations they made on science and technology subjects taught in the 4th and 5th grades. Concept maps they used while making their presentations were evaluated together with their classmates and asked for opinions and suggestions from their classmates.

In this study, analytic rubric was used in the evaluation of the concept maps. The criteria included in the rubric were determined on the basis of the criteria used by Novak and Gowin (1984) while evaluating the concept maps. Rubric contains five specific performance: absent (1), limited (2), need to improve (3), successful (4), excellent (5). The rubric has these criteria; propositions, concepts, hierarchy, crosslink, examples, connecting (linking) words, direction of the arrows. Below is an example of the parts of the rubric used in the study: For the part on “Examples”, ‘Absent’ (1 point): No examples were used in the concept map constructed, ‘Limited’ (2 points): Less than half of the text’s examples were used in the concept map constructed, ‘Need to improve’ (3 points): More than half of the text’s examples were used in the concept map constructed, ‘Successful’ (4 points): Only 1 or 2 of the text’s examples are missing in the concept map constructed, ‘Excellent’ (5 points): All of the text’s examples were used in the concept map constructed.

After the completion of the course presentations, pre service teachers were distributed a text on “Ecosystem” and they were asked to prepare concept maps by using this text. This application lasted 30 minutes. After that, their personal concept map was graded by rubric. The participant scores were classified into three groups on the basis of their scores, as low, mid and high level. At the end of the study, 147 of participants were asked open-ended questions to learn their opinions about concept maps. In the context of the interviews, prospective teachers were asked to explain their knowledge and skills related to the use of concept maps; the areas in which they succeeded and failed; whether they would use concept maps in their professional lives and, the reasons behind their thoughts.

Results

The mean score of the sampling was 21.3. The participants were classified into three groups on the basis of their scores: “high level” group (26-35 points); “mid level” group (17-25 points) and; “low level” group (8-16 points). Table 1 shows that number of participants in each level.

Table 1. Number of participants

Participants Level

Number of Participants Number of Participants (interviewed) N % N %

High level 45 21.1 32 15.0 Mid level 134 62.9 93 43.7 Low level 34 15.9 22 10.3 Total 213 100.0 147 69.0


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147 pre service teachers were asked open-ended questions to learn their opinions about the preparation and use of concept maps. First of all, they were asked questions about the knowledge and skills they adopted while preparing concept maps. Candidate teachers’ thoughts existed in Table 2.

The participants in the “high level” group stated that they understood how to establish a connection among concepts; that they learned how to prepare and use concept maps; that they learned of organizing the information in a better way and; that they adopted reasoning skills. The participants in the “mid level” group expressed that they learned how to establish meaningful relationships among concepts, how to prepare and use concept maps, how to organize/construct information hierarchically and how to give long-lasting information. Moreover, they expressed learning the general concepts of the chapters and adopting improved analysis and synthesis skills. The participants in the “low level” group stated that they learned how to establish connection among concepts and characteristics and importance of concept maps. Besides, they gained considerable skills on association, correlation and sequencing, focusing and making analysis-synthesis.

Table 2. Pre-service teachers’ thoughts about preparation and use of concept maps

Level Knowledge and skills N

High level

How to establish connection among concepts 17 How to prepare and use concept maps 6 Organizing the information in a better way 6 How to teach information visually and by relating to each other 5 An easily-remembered learning method 3 How to teach abstract concepts with concrete concepts 2 Reasoning skills 1 Analysis and synthesis skills 1 Creative and critical thinking 1

Mid level

How to establish meaningful relationships among concepts 30 How to prepare and use concept maps 15 How to organize/construct information hierarchically 12 Characteristics and importance of concept maps 11 How to give long-lasting information for students 11 How to easily achieve meaningful and effective learning 8 The general concepts in the chapters 7 How to determine misconceptions and pre knowledge 5 Deductive and inductive skills 5 Analysis and synthesis skills 3 Expression skills 2 How to evaluate my students by using alternative assessment tools 2 Mental thinking, programmed and planned skills 1 Creative and critical thinking skills 1

Lower level

How to establish connection among concepts 6 Characteristics and importance of concept maps 4 Association, correlation and sequencing skills 3 Focusing 1 Analysis and synthesis skills 1 Effective and comprehensive thinking 1 How to constructing the information in a better way 1 Summarizing the subject 1 I completely learned the subject 1 Systematic thinking 1


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Table 3. Pre-service teachers’ successes and failed areas while preparing concept maps

Level Successes/ Easily completed areas N Failed/Forced areas N

High level

Arranging the concepts according to a hierarchical order 13 Establish of crosslink 14Exemplification 5 Determine the directions of the arrows 4Determination of essential and sub essential concepts 4 Organize concepts in hierarchical order 2Constitute of concept maps with familiar concepts 4 There is no forced or failed areas 2Constitute and use of concept map with the aim of assessment 2 Determine the directions of the arrows 2

Fill in the blanks that were given essential skeleton concept maps 1

Constitute of concept maps that were given concept as a list 1

Drawing 1

Mid level

Determination of essential and sub essential concepts 32 Establishing crosslink 37Organize concepts in hierarchical order 13 Determine the directions of the arrows 8Using concept map with the aim of assessment 8 There is no forced or failed areas 7

Writing propositions 4 Read the concept map with using directions of the arrows 6

Designing of concept map 3 Determine the connecting (linking) words 3Reading of concept map 3 Exemplification 3Determination of the connecting (linking) words 3 Organize concepts in hierarchical order 3Establishing of crosslink 3 Determine of types of concept map 3

Constitute of concept maps with the help of the text 2 Determine of essential and sub essential concepts 2

Constitute of chain concept maps 2 Constitute of chain concept maps 1Constitute of hierarchic concept maps 2 Writing propositions 1Determination of types of concept map 1 Using concept with the aim of assessment 1

Low level

Arranging the concepts according to a hierarchical order 9 Establishing crosslink 6Determination of essential and sub essential concepts 4 Determine the directions of the arrows 2Establish of crosslink 1 Organization of concepts 2

Constitute of hierarchic concept maps 1 Constitute of concept maps that were given concept in a text 1

Using concept map with the aim of assessment 1 There is no forced or failed areas 1Drawing 1 Writing propositions 1

The study demonstrates that pre-service teachers at high, medium and low levels most often referred in their opinions about the construction and use of concept maps to the acquisition of the knowledge and skills required to establish inter-conceptual relationships. By the same token, Hsu (2004) argues in his study that concept mapping strategies may be useful for analysis of individual student’s thinking processes for understanding relationships between different concepts. Similarly, one of the interviewed teachers in Liu’s (2004) study found concept maps to be highly useful, stating that “concepts and relations in concept maps are a good indication about how students understood”. Participants in all levels stated that they understood how to connect among concepts and how to prepare and use the concept maps. Other common skills for all levels are analysis and synthesis skills. It is remarkable that the prospective teachers in the “high” and “mid level” groups mainly focused on the role and effective utilization of the concept maps in learning-teaching process and on adoption of related knowledge and skills. The opinions expressed by the prospective teachers in the “low level” group were mainly focused on their own learning skills. They did not process this knowledge and these skills within the framework of professional life.

Prospective teachers were asked to list the areas in which they succeeded and in which they failed in the preparation process of concept maps. Table 3 shows that preservice teacher’ opinions about their success and failed areas while preparing concept maps. The participants in the “high level” group expressed that they were successful in establishing conceptual hierarchy, exemplification, determining essential and sub essential concepts, constitution of concept maps with familiar concepts. The students in this group expressed that they found it is difficult to establish a crosslink, to determine the directions of the arrows and to put organizational concepts in hierarchical order. The participants in the “mid level” group found themselves successful in detecting the basic and sub-essential


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Table 4. Pre-service teacher’ answers about using the concept maps in their professional lives

Level I want to use it when I become a teacher because; N

High Level

It makes the subject/knowledge more concrete and understandable 13It ensures that the subject/knowledge is seen as a whole/ is taught more easily 9It ensures that knowledge is permanent 8It ensures meaningful learning 7 It helps to visualize verbal subjects/ Learning is better through seeing 7Students can better establish relationships between concepts 5It makes the class more entertaining/ prevents it from being monotonous 5It reveals illusions about concepts 4It helps to summarize the class 4It identifies the deficiencies in what the students have learnt 3It helps to construct knowledge 3It increases student participation 2It improves he students’ skills to think creatively 1It is an alternative assessment tool 1It is easy to prepare and use 1

Mid Level

It increases permanent learning 26Students can better understand relationships between concepts 22It ensures meaningful learning 16Students can visualize concepts in their minds/it is a visual material 15It makes the subject/knowledge concrete 8It facilitates learning 8It makes the class more entertaining, ensures active participation/activeness 8It helps both to reveal pre-existing knowledge and make an assessment 7It helps to summarize the subject 7It keeps the student alert/helps to motivate 7It can be used in each of the different parts(introduction, process, assessment) of the class 6It reveals illusions about concepts 6Helps to introduce the concepts to the students in a more detailed way 5Helps the students to think multi-dimensionally 4It is easy to prepare and use 3It helps to make the student aware of the target at the beginning of the class 3It improves the students’ skills to analyze, synthesize and comment 2It helps to construct knowledge /Establishes connection between old and new knowledge 2It improves the students’ creativity 1It saves time 1

Low Level

It ensures permanent and effective learning 9It is one of the best methods to summarize the topic 3It ensures meaningful learning 3It makes teaching more entertaining/Is effective in attracting students’ attention 4It felicitates the student’s construction of knowledge 2It prevents illusions about concepts 2Ensures integrity between subjects/knowledge 2It is effective in the identification, reinforcement and assessment of the student’s lacking information 2

It saves time 1It improves thinking systematically 1

Level I do not want to use it when I become a teacher because; N

High Level

I may have difficulty in rather complex subjects on which I am not really ascendant 2Timing problem may arise if planning is not good 1Preparation requires time and attention 1It may lead the student to memorize 1

Mid Level

I think it will take too much time 3It is difficult to prepare 3It is not suitable to use in classes such as Mathematics 2

Low Level

I think that it is not suitable to use in the first two classes of primary education 2I think it will take too much time 1


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concepts and in grouping the concepts and organize them in hierarchical order. They stated that they failed in establishing cross links, reading the concept map with using directions of the arrows and deciding on the connecting words. The participants in the “low level” group, on the other hand, deemed themselves successful arranging the concepts according to a hierarchical order and determining essential and sub essential concepts. They expressed that they had difficulty in establishing cross links, detecting the directions of the arrows and organizing concepts. Also, the participants in all levels found themselves successful in the hierarchical arrangement of the concepts and unsuccessful in the detection of the direction of the arrows showing the way to read the concept maps. Participants were asked whether they would use concept maps in their professional life. Their answers state Table 4.

While their answers examined, 24 prospective teachers in the “high level” group want to use concept maps when they become a teacher. Because they thought that concept maps makes the subject/knowledge more concrete and understandable, ensures that the subject/knowledge is seen as a whole/ is taught more easily, and it ensure that knowledge is permanent. Participants in the “mid level” group expressed that concept maps increases permanent learning, enable students can better understand relationships between concepts, and it ensures meaningful learning. Participants in the “low level” group explained that they would use concept maps because they ensure permanent and effective learning. But, they tended not to use concept maps as much as mid and high level of participants. This situation can result from many factors such as the approach adopted in learning-teaching process, professional self-reliance and the level of knowledge and attitudes towards the lesson. Some prospective teachers unwilling to use these tools when they are qualified as teachers have explained that there is time problem, preparation of the tools is difficult and it is not suitable for every course and class level.


In the study, the pre-service teachers were instructed on how to use concept maps and their information and opinions were identified about the concept maps following the implementation of applications. At the end of the study, the individual concept maps constructed by the pre-service teachers were evaluated and the subjects were categorized in three groups with regard to their information levels. The pre-service teachers indicated that they improved their knowledge and skills in many areas (connection among concepts, establish meaningful relationships among concepts, etc.) when constructing and applying concept maps. An examination of the pre-service teachers’ opinions (Table 2) revealed that the instruction about concept maps enriched their opinions in many aspects. Their opinions show that they will focus on student-centered education in their future instruction, rather than on traditional education. Similar to our study results, McCombs and Whisler (1997) stated that using concept maps to reflect on the teaching of a particular topic will promote the idea of students’ multiple perspectives and help the teacher to appreciate the value of a more learner-centered teaching approach. According to Kinchin, De-Leij and Hay (2005), concept mapping activities reflect a student-centered teaching philosophy. Besides, Vanleuvan (1997) suggested that prospective teachers develop stronger belief in classroom management, lesson planning, evaluation of the learned subjects and cooperation after learning how to use concept maps.

There are certain parts in which pre-service teachers are successful and have difficulty when constructing concept maps. The participants found themselves successful in the hierarchical arrangement of the concepts and unsuccessful in the detection of the direction of the arrows showing the way to read the concept maps. Connecting words and the directions of the arrows are the tools that turn concept maps into readable graphic tools. The direction of the arrows shows the order to be followed while reading the concepts and turns the map into a meaningful text. A tool without connecting words and arrows is only a diagram. One of the main points found difficult by the participants was the establishment of cross links between the concepts. Crosslink is the indicator of not only the relationship established between the concepts in the mind of the individual but also the types of the schemes that were developed in his mind. According to Kaya (2003), cross links are the most important indicators of how the person who prepares the concept map perceives and integrates the concepts related with that subject.


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A majority of the pre-service teachers indicated that they plan to use concept maps in their future teaching. They attributed this to the benefits of concept maps for students and teachers. Those pre-service teachers who do not plan to use concept maps mentioned the problem of time. They also believe that concept maps may not be appropriate for every course and every grade.

As a result of an examination of the study data and similar studies, some recommendations could be noted.

(1) Training on concept maps for pre-service teachers should contain both theoretical and applied instruction. Applied studies on how to use them in classroom will improve pre-service teachers’ levels of knowledge and skills.

(2) This study examined how concept maps improve pre-service teachers’ knowledge levels and opinions. Similar applications could be used to examine different cognitive and affective skills of pre-service teachers such as their scientific process skills, attitudes towards courses and teaching, and self-competence in teaching.

(3) Teachers’ knowledge, skills, and opinions about concept maps can also be improved through in-service training.

References

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Chang, K.-E., Sung, Y.-T., Chang, R.-B. & Lin, S.-C. (2005). A new assessment for computer-based concept mapping. Educational Technology & Society, 8 (3), 138–148.

Chiou, C.-C. (2008). The effect of concept mapping on students’ learning achievements and interests. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 45 (4), 375–387.

Gill, P.E. & Persson, M. (2008). On using concept-maps to study school-children understands of leisure-time. Leisure Studies, 27 (2), 213–220.

Hsu L.-L. (2004). Developing concept maps from problem-based learning scenario discussions. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48 (5), 510–518.

Jacobs-Lawson, J.M. & Hershey, D.A. (2002). Concept maps as an assessment tool in psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology, 29 (1), 25–29.

Kaya, O. N. (2003). An alternative evaluation method in education: concept maps. Hacettepe University’s Journal of the Faculty of Education, 25, 265–271.

Kaya, O. N. (2003). Concept maps in science education. Pamukkale University’s Journal of the Faculty of Education, 13 (1), 70–79.

Keppens, J. & Hay, D. (2008). Concept map assessment for teaching computer programming. Computer Science Education, 18 (1), 31–42.

Kinchin, I.M., De-Leij, F.A.A.M. & Hay, D.B. (2005). The evolution of a collaborative concept mapping activity for undergraduate microbiology students. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 29 (1), 1–14.

Laight, D.W. (2004). Attitudes to concept maps as a teaching/learning activity in undergraduate health professional education: influence of preferred learning style. Medical Teacher, 26 (3), 229–233.

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Student Motivation and Achievement, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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ON THE USE OF THE VIRTUAL MACH-ZEHNDER

INTERFEROMETER IN THE TEACHING OF QUANTUM PHYSICS

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS: PROMOTING DISCUSSIONS AMONG

PRE-SERVICE PHYSICS TEACHERS

Alexsandro P. Pereira, Fernanda Ostermann & Cláudio J. de H. Cavalcanti Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

This papers focus on the use of a Virtual Mach-Zehnder Interferometer in the teaching of quantum physics fundamental concepts. First, a didactical activity developed for pre-service physics teachers, based on the exploration of this computer program, is outlined. Second, an analysis of the dialogue of two students as they progress through the activity is presented. Finally, we present some arguments to support the assertion that the Virtual Mach-Zehnder Interferometer can be a powerful didactical tool to improve learning of quantum physics fundamental concepts.

Introduction

The Virtual Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (VMZI) was developed by our research group (Pereira et al 2009b) to show the students how quantum phenomena deviate from our everyday experience (Müller and Wiesner 2002). The didactical task, based on the exploration of the VMZI, stimulated a number of dialogues between pre-service physics teachers, which were examined using the analysis of discourse. This methodology helps us to better understand how meanings are created and developed within a social group. The appropriation of quantum physics concepts among students is discussed in this paper according to the dialogues of two pre-service teachers, as they progress in the didactical activity. The findings for these two students are presented in short case studies. The actual sample consisted of fourteen students, working together in pairs.

The didactical task consists on the exploration of the VMZI, considering a conceptual discussion over the quantum interference phenomenona (Pessoa Jr 2005, Scarani 2006). In order to establish an analogy between quantum physics and wave theory of light, we propose a number of VMZI observations within both classical and quantum mode. The aim of this approach is to help the students to predict, in a qualitative way, the photon’s behaviour, avoiding some usual misunderstandings. A short guide was written to direct the students throughout the task.

In order to stimulate discussions along the activity, the students were asked to interpret some phenomena observed in the VMZI, including the interference patterns for single photons at the detectors.


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Methodology

Data gathered in this study are part from a wider investigation, developed alongside a course from the seventh stage of the Physics Education course at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, during the second semester of 2007. After an initial survey of the previous conceptions of fourteen pre-service physics teachers concerning the wave-particle duality - accomplished by sixteen conceptual questions test on the photoelectric effect, the double slit experiment and the Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (Pereira et al, 2009a) - an opening sequence of eight seminars on ondulatory optics and quantum physics, ministered by the students themselves, has been carried out. In the following week, a formal presentation of the Mach-Zehnder Interferometer has been ministered by the discipline's teacher. In the eleventh meeting, one didactical task focusing on the exploration of the VMZI was implemented. In the following week, the discipline's teacher taught the mathematical formalism of the quantum physics. He applied this formalism to the Mach-Zehnder interferometer by means of a conceptual discussion, presenting some different epistemological interpretations of the theory.

The data collected consisted mainly of video-tape records (two lessons of ninety minutes per week, for approximately ten weeks). The didactical task based on the exploration of the VMZI was carried out in the computer laboratory of the Physics Institute. It took approximately three hours, distributed in two encounters. The present students (eleven in total) had five computers equipped with the VMZI, one microphone and one sound recorder. The dialogues established within each group were recorded and their transcriptions were later analyzed.

Initial hypotheses for the use of the VMZI

According to the results of other studies (Budde et al 2002, Olsen 2002), it is possible to develop teaching hypotheses on the use of the VMZI in quantum physics lessons. These hypotheses allow us to manage some activities that can avoid the inadequate appropriation of some concepts.

Teaching hypothesis 1: An analogy between quantum physics and wave theory of light.

The VMZI functioning in both classical and quantum mode can help the students to use the correspondence principle, since it shows that experiments using single photons reproduce gradually the same results as experiments using a laser beam.

Teaching hypothesis 2: The conceptual problem concerning the photon's path choice.

The experimental arrangement of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer can help the students to glimpse the conceptual problem of the photon's path choice, which can highlight the notion that quantum objects and classical particles have quite different behaviours.

Dialogues between Guto and Gerson

Following the students' arguments, it is possible to check our initial hypotheses by contrasting the students' dialogues with the observed phenomena in the VMZI. The aim here is to identify which phenomena simulated by the program, as well as which questions pointed by the written guide, support the adequate appropriation of the quantum physics' concepts.

On the following we present a synthesis of the didactical task performed by the students Guto and Gerson (fictitious names). Many of the transcribed dialogues corroborate the hypothesis traced in the previous section.


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VIRTUAL INTERFEROMETER OPERATING IN CLASSICAL MODE

Initially, the students have removed the second beam splitter and turned on the laser source, as shown in figure 1. They could then certify that the second beam splitter is the element responsible for the interference pattern formed by the two laser components, as shown in the following dialogue:

Figure 1. Laser beam division.

Dialogue 1: (01) Guto: There is no interference. These two light beams will cross each other and will not interfere. (02) Gerson: Yes.

Next, the students have placed a polaroid filter, oriented at 90° to the horizontal direction, in one of the arms of the interferometer, as shown in figure 2. It was possible for the students to identify the polarization direction of the laser beam emitted by the source, as shown in the next dialogue.

Figure 2. Determining the laser beam polarization.

Dialogue 2:


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(01) Guto: Here you can see that when the angle is zero, it's still on both of them. (02) Gerson: What? (03) Guto: When the angle here is zero. (04) Gerson: Uh-huh. (05) Guto: It means that it allows the laser to pass through both directions. When I turn it to 90°... (06) Gerson: It changes over here, have you seen it? (07) Guto: Yes! So it blocks here where we have the polaroid. Which means... (08) Gerson: It doesn't let it go through. (09) Guto: It doesn't let it go through. That's the polarization direction of the laser beam.

Right after that, the students have removed the polaroid filter and replaced the second beam splitter, as

shown in figure 3. The following dialogue shows that the students had no difficulty to interpret the phenomena.

Figure 3. Ring pattern.

Dialogue 3. (01) Guto: It's the interference patterns. (02) Gerson: Yes. (03) Guto: In the center, one is constructive and the other is destructive.

VIRTUAL INTERFEROMETER OPERATING IN QUANTUM MODE

Selecting the single photon option, the students can remove the second beam splitter and replace both

screens by photon detectors, as shown in figure 4. They naturally interpreted the phenomena in terms of probability,

as shown in the following dialogue.


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Figure 4. Photon indivisibility.

Dialogue 4. (01) Gerson: It's random. 50% chance of transmission or reflection. (02) Guto: Yes. It's random.

Next, the students replace the second beam splitter, as in figure 5. This new setup has led the students into

the following dialogue.

Dialogue 5. (01) Guto: Only one of them appears. Oh, of course! The interference pattern! If it comes in the center, isn't it here where we

had the... (02) Gerson: The constructive? (03) Guto: Constructive... Where there was a bright center... Where we got the photons... Then here I would really expect to

have photons. (04) Gerson: It's just one photon at a time, right? (05) Guto: One photon at a time. (06) Gerson: It doesn’t divide itself! (07) Guto: That's the point of quantum theory, isn't it? (08) Gerson: So if it's just one at a time, there could have been no difference, right? (09) Guto: That's the point. It interferes with itself.


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Figure 5. Quantum interference with photon detectors.

When replacing again the photon detectors by screens, as in figure 6, the students obtain, for single

photons, the same ring pattern previously observed (in dialogue 3).

Dialogue 6. (01) Guto: Now there's the beam splitter and there's interference. As you have a 50% chance (of incidence) here or here... (02) Gerson: Yes. (03) Guto: But there's an interference pattern. You'll always have a bright center. (04) Gerson: If it's one photon at a time, how does it interfere? (05) Guto: Yes, if you imagine it as a corpuscle, it travels in one of the possible paths. But in quantum mechanics, it just... (06) Gerson: is not valid.

Figure 6. Quantum interference with screens.

While answering the question "How would you explain the interference pattern observed for single

photons?" the students reached an agreement, as stated below:


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Dialogue 7. (01) Gerson: We can say that classically one could not have any interference, while in quantum mechanics... (02) Guto: In quantum mechanics, it looks like as if the photon interacts with itself! (03) Gerson: But we must consider it as a wave. (04) Guto: Yes.

Conclusions

Through the didactical task sequence suggested by the guide, the students naturally established an analogy

between quantum physics and the wave theory of light, as shown in the quotes from dialogues 5 (turns 1 to 3) and 7

(turns 3 and 4). Moreover, many of the phenomena observed in the VMZI could show the photon's odd behaviour,

avoiding the misconception in which quantum objects are seen as classical particles. This can be observed in the

quotes from dialogues 5 (turns 4 to 9), 6 (turns 4 to 6) and 7 (turns 1 and 2).

The didactical task suggested in this work was very important and positive factor in the formation of these

pre-service physics teachers. Through it, it was possible to contextualize a number of concepts and principles

introduced in courses that were taken in previous semesters, such as photon, probability density, quantum

interference, among others. In this way, the VMZI turned out to be a powerful tool, not only concerning the

motivation for studying quantum physics, but also when it comes to improve the comprehension and the

construction of meanings shared by the scientific community.

Acknowledgments

The second author of this paper thanks the partial help from the CNPq.

References

Budde, M.; Niedderer, H.; Scott, P.; Leach, J. ‘Electronium': a quantum atomic teaching model. Physics Education 37 (3): 197-203, 2002.

Müller, R.; Wiesner, H. Teaching quantum mechanics on an introductory level. American Journal of Physics 70 (3): 200-209, 2002.

Olsen, R. V. Introducing quantum mechanics in the upper secondary school: a study in Norway. International Journal of Science Education 24 (6): 565-74, 2002.

Pessoa Jr., O. Conceitos de física quântica. São Paulo: Livraria da Física, 2005.

Pereira, A. P.; Cavalcanti, C. J. H.; Ostermann, F. Concepções relativas à dualidade onda-partícula: uma investigação na formação de professores de Física. Revista Electrónica de Enseñanza de las Ciencias 8 (1): 72-92, 2009a.

Pereira, A. P.; Ostermann, F. Cavalcanti, C. J. H. On the use of a Virtual Mach-Zehnder Interferometer in the teaching of quantum mechanics Physics Education 37 (3): 197-203, 2009b.

Scarani, V. Quantum physics a first encounter: interference, entanglement, and reality. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.


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51

FOSTERING PRESERVICE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ NATURE OF SCIENCE VIEWS

THROUGH A SITUATED LEARNING MODEL

Mehmet Aydeniz, Rita A. Hagevik & James Roberson The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if, through a situated learning model, the use of inscriptions in science notebooks could change elementary pre-service teachers’ views of science. The construction of and collective interpretation of the inscriptions stimulated development of nature of science (NOS) beliefs through explicit reflection on the science inquiry-based learning activities used in the pre-service elementary teachers science methods course. This study illustrated that one way pre-service elementary teachers can develop sophisticated NOS beliefs is to engage in the use of inscriptions while reflecting on how science is done.

Introduction

Science educators have been advocating the teaching of “nature of science” in schools for the last 100 years (Lederman, 1992). Nature of science refers to understanding the epistemological assumptions of science. Epistemic assumptions of science deals with values, beliefs and norms used to produce scientific knowledge or science as a way of knowing the physical, natural and social world. This includes understanding the nature of questions that the scientists ask, the ways in which the scientific knowledge is produced and validated, the standards used for collecting and interpreting evidence, and most importantly understanding how the scientific knowledge is subject to change in lieu of new evidence or new ways of interpreting existing evidence (Abd-El-Khalick & Lederman, 2000; W. F. McComas, 1998; Schwartz, Lederman, & Crawford, 2004). McComas (1998) defines nature of science as:

The nature of science is a fertile hybrid arena which blends aspects of various social studies of science including the history, sociology, and philosophy of science combined with research from the cognitive sciences such as psychology into a rich description of what science is, how it works, how scientists operate as a social group and how society itself both directs and reacts to scientific endeavors. Through multiple lenses, the nature of science describes how science functions (pp. 4-5).

Our understanding of the nature of science has evolved with the influences of postmodernist paradigm on science education research and curriculum. Instead of viewing scientific knowledge as the only truth or an unchangeable truth, most science educators now emphasize the tentative nature of science (Abd-El-Khalick, Lederman, Bell, & Schwartz, 2001; V. L. Akerson & Hanuscin, 2007). The tentativeness nature of science implies that science is responsive to new evidence or new interpretations. The emergence of new evidence or new ways of interpreting the same evidence can lead to changes in or modifications to the established scientific truths. These contemporary views of science have been advocated in recent reform documents including Science for All Americans (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993) and National Science Education Standards[NSES] (National Research Council, 1996) and prevalent in science education literature.


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These views that include: (a) scientific knowledge is both reliable and tentative, (b) no single scientific method exists, but there are shared characteristics of scientific approaches to science (e.g., scientific explanations are supported by, and testable against, empirical observations of the natural world), (c) creativity plays a role in the development of scientific knowledge, (d) there is a crucial distinction between observations and inferences, (e) though science strives for objectivity, there is always an element of subjectivity (theory-ladeness) in the development of scientific knowledge, and (f) social and cultural contexts play a role in the development of scientific knowledge (Abd-El-Khalick et al., 2001; V. L. Akerson & Hanuscin, 2007; Schwartz et al., 2004) are commonly referred to as the tenants of science. Beliefs about science are a critical element of teachers’ professional knowledge base which includes epistemic beliefs, pedagogical beliefs and beliefs about assessment (Aydeniz, 2007). Although developing a sophisticated understanding about the nature of science has been an educational goal, many misconceptions regarding students’ understanding of what science is, how science is done and who conducts science are prevalent in science classrooms from elementary to college (Abd-El-Khalick et al., 2001; V. L. Akerson & Hanuscin, 2007; National Research Council, 1996). Of interest in this study is preservice elementary teachers’ understanding of the nature of science.

Rationale

Previous research has shown that pre-service elementary teachers hold naïve conceptions of science, meaning that they view science only through an objectivist, absolutist view. In adddition, the same line of research shows that many elementary teachers either do not teach their students about the nature of science or reinforce a view of science that is counter to the epistemologies of science. For instance, they think of science as consisting of the scientific method and an unproblematic body of knowledge consisting of facts. One cannot blame pre-service elementary teachers for holding such naïve views about the nature of science or for promoting views of science that are not congruent with the views of science advocated in science education reform documents and science education literature. School science curricula and science instruction in the classroom including college classrooms promote objectivist views of science and focus only on conceptual and procedural aspects of science with limited attention to the epistemic aspect of science (V.L. Akerson, Abd-El-Khalick, & Lederman, 2000). One place where pre-service elementary teachers can be guided to develop more sophisticated views of the nature of science is during their science methods course.

This study focused on pre-service elementary teachers’ understanding of the nature of science through engagement in conducting inquiry-based experiments and the use of inscriptions. The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of inscriptions in science notebooks along with explicit teaching and reflection on the nature of science could enhance their views of science. In an effort to make contribution to science education literature on NOS, we used an explicit, reflective instructional approach to enhance 79 pre-service elementary teachers’ understanding of NOS.

Theoretical Framework

We used the situated learning theory to understand the developmental trajectory of pre-service elementary school teachers’ understanding about science through inscriptions (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Greeno & Van De Sande, 2007). The situative approach characterizes learning in terms of students’ participation in practices of inquiry and discourse that involves interactions with the symbolic representation of knowledge and ongoing discussions among members within the learning environment (Kozma, 2003; Lave & Wenger, 1991). A situative approach to learning not only emphasizes the participatory nature of the learning process but also analyzes the participants’ use of (material tools; i.e., inscriptions) to negotiate meaning and develop understanding (Kozma, 2003). When learning is conceptualized through a situative perspective, the cognitive and social experiences and the situations in which the learning takes place becomes central to the process of learning (Engstrom, 1993; Merriam & Caffarella, 1999).


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The principles of situated learning emphasize the role of discourse, participation and peer support and ongoing challenge for facilitating students’ learning (Lave &Wegner, 1991). We describe how these principles guided the design of our instructional activities in the methods section.

Methods

Participants

Seventy-nine pre-service teachers (4 male and 75 female) who were majoring in psychology (50%), special education (21%), and political science, history, English, Spanish, anthropology, geography or liberal studies (15%), and others who had received an undergraduate degree previously (14%), would receive a Masters degree in Elementary Education the following spring or summer after completing an internship year participated in the study. The average number of science courses taken by the participants in high school and college was six with three being in high school and three in college. Most of the science courses were in biology and chemistry.

Instructional Intervention

This study took place in an elementary science methods course (SCE 422). One of the goals of SCE 422 course is to help pre-service elementary teachers to develop sophisticated beliefs about the nature of science. In order to promote pre-service elementary teachers’ understanding of science and how scientists conduct science we introduced an intervention that consisted of pre-service teachers conducting inquiry-based scientific experiments in the physical and life sciences using science notebooks.

Using science notebooks has been shown to be effective in elementary students’ learning of science, mathematics, reading and writing (Klentschy, 2005; Klentschy, Garrison, & Amaral, 1999). We challenged 79 pre-service science teachers to document their learning of science through inscriptions using science notebooks. The nature of science was explicitly taught through discussions using inscriptions constructed by the students as a context. We provided instruction on inscriptions and how they are used in science, showing many examples of those produced by scientists. Our focus was to use science notebooks as an authentic science task in order to facilitate the participation, discourse, support and challenge for learning about the nature of science as the students engaged in hands-on inquiry-based experiments that would be appropriate for their elementary students. The pre-service teachers constructed their own inscriptions in their science notebooks throughout the experiments, which were then peer reviewed and discussed before the instructor assessed them. Students reflected on the changes they made to the inscriptions or to their conclusions and/or learning in their notebooks and on the processes of science as they designed, conducted, recorded, and reflected on their results and conclusions. Their results, thoughts and reflections were shared in class. A scientist in physical or life sciences was present to offer input and/or to answer students’ questions. Through argumentative discourse they were given the opportunity to negotiate meaning and develop understanding about various aspects of science. The instructor of the course explicitly emphasized various aspects of science including tentative, social and communicative aspect of science.

Data Sources and Analysis

Data were collected through multiple means: students’ responses to VNOSD-2, a structured interview protocol, and science notebooks used by the students for designing inquiry experiments, recording the results of their inquiry experiments, construction of inscriptions, and analysis of data. Our data analyses took place in two stages. The first set of analyses focused on understanding the complexity of inscriptions constructed by the students over time. Three researchers, which included the authors as well as others, analyzed all 79 notebooks at least two


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times during the course. We examined preservice elementary teachers’ views of science and their production of inscriptions, the quality of inscriptions, changes in inscriptions over time, and the complexity of the students’ transformation of inscriptions from simple to complex as students completed inquiry science experiments in the physical and life sciences. The coders categorized each inscription in each notebook by using a color-coding system for each type. The categories included lists, diagrams, photographs, concept maps, graphs, data tables, equations, composite diagrams, and social inscriptions. We counted the total number of inscriptions for each category for each participant for each experiment, and reported the changes in the complexity of inscriptions constructed by each individual participant over time.

The second set of analyses focused on understanding the developmental trajectory of participants’ views of NOS. Three researchers, which included the authors and others, analyzed all 79 notebooks at least two times during the course. Two different researchers analyzed the VNOS-D2 instrument independently. All coders resolved differences on how to code, following patterns established by previous researchers (V.L. Akerson et al., 2000; Pozzer & Roth, 2003; Roth, Bowen, & McGinn, 1999). The pre and post interviews were transcribed. The pre and post VNOS-D2 instrument, pre and post interviews, and three online reflections were analyzed using a qualitative software, QDA Miner (Provalis Research, 2004).

Results

The results of this study show that the situated, reflective learning model both enhanced pre-service elementary science teachers’ understanding of science over the course of a semester and increased the complexity of inscriptions that the pre-service elementary teachers generated.

Changes in NOS Views

VNOS-D2 pre and post analyses showed that 12% of the participants held a naïve view of science in the beginning while none held this view at the end of the course. A total of 69% of the participants possessed a mixed view of science at the beginning, evidenced by questions being answered with an appropriate conception and others answered inappropriately, while only 47% fell into this category at the end. At the beginning of the study, only 19% of the participants held a sophisticated view, but by the end 53% exhibited a sophisticated understanding. We established the three categories of naïve, mixed, and sophisticated to highlight the movements of the participants regarding their understanding of NOS. It is of interest to note that by the end of the study those that held a naïve conception in the beginning had moved to either a mixed or sophisticated understanding. Moreover, both the naïve and mixed categories saw a decline in the number of participants within them, while the percentage of participants possessing a sophisticated understanding rose 179%.

Table 1. Changes in Students’ NOS Views NOS Sophistication Pre Post Naive 12% 0% Mixed Views 69% 47% Sophisticated 19% 53%

Changes in Construction of Inscriptions

Analysis of inscriptions showed a significant change both in the number of inscriptions constructed and the complexity of inscriptions constructed by students over time. There were significant increases in the total number of inscriptions across all categories (i.e., concept maps, graphs) from the beginning to the end of the course (t (77) = 3.73, p<0.001). Of interest, social (t (77) = 10.15, p<0.001) and those of the transformation group or most complex types of inscription (t (77) = 3.90, p<0.001) showed significant increases. The results of statistical analysis are provided in Tables II and III.


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Table 2. Paired Samples t-Test for the total inscriptions from beginning to end of course. Mean Std. Deviation Lower Upper df Sig. (2-tailed) -8.846 23.131 -14.061 -3.378 77 0.001

Table 3. Paired Samples t-Test for the transformations from beginning to end of course. Mean Std. Deviation Lower Upper df Sig. (2-tailed) -5.192 9.282 -7.285 -3.1 77 0.000

The results highlight that the use of notebooks and inscriptions through the lens of situated learning enhanced preservice elementary teachers’ understanding of the nature of science. In addition, the results highlight that learning how to do science through a situated learning perspective enhanced the quality of inscriptions produced by the participants. Participants were able to test their understanding of science by constructing and interpreting inscriptions from the beginning of the course to the end. The quality of students’ inscriptions and their interpretations improved as their understanding of the nature of science evolved over time.


The findings of this study are of interest because they illustrate a method of improving pre-service elementary teachers’ views of science using science notebooks and inscriptions through a situated learning experience. It is well documented in science education literature that in order for the teachers of elementary school to teach science for inquiry and to assess students’ learning of science for the acquisition of scientific inquiry skills, they must have sophisticated beliefs about science. Yet, many pre-service elementary school teachers do not hold beliefs that are consistent with contemporary views of science promoted in major science education documents (AAAS, 1993, NRC, 1996) and science education literature (Abd-El-Khalick, 2005; V.L. Akerson et al., 2000; V. L. Akerson & Hanuscin, 2007). This study illustrates that one way for the pre-service elementary teachers to develop sophisticated NOS beliefs, they must be engaged in “explicit-reflective” inquiry-based learning activities. However, it is always not easy for science teacher educators to provide a context in which pre-service teachers can engage both in “explicit-reflective” inquiry-based learning activities. Moreover, because most teacher educators have to cover both science content and science teaching methods in elementary science method courses there is little room for the teaching of NOS ideas through explicit reflective learning activities. The findings of this study indicates that the construction of inscriptions and collective interpretation of them in a science notebooks not only stimulates the development of NOS beliefs but also accommodates other goals such as learning about inquiry and methods of teaching science through inquiry.

This study took a situated learning perspective on the use of notebooks in a re-service elementary science methods course. The learning goals included pre-service elementary teachers’ improved understanding of NOS and their ability to use complex inscriptions to analyze the results of their scientific investigations. The results show that the situated learning perspective and the use of science notebooks contributed to the achievement of the learning goals that we had set for the preservice elementary teachers that participated in this study. The use of inscriptions in science notebooks is useful because they create a bridge for knowing and doing of science. Inscriptions are used to summarize large amounts of data and therefore in addition place a greater emphasis on articulation of data. Inscriptions can be modeled, observed, evaluated, and critiqued, providing a framework for discussing science and make the doing of science transparent to the learner. The use of inscriptions in science notebooks holds the potential to improve the learner’s view of science simply because they serve as tools for the students to engage in articulation of data and collective construction of knowledge.

Although this study proves that when science notebooks and inscriptions are used through a situated learning perspective, they can enhance preservice elementary teachers’ understanding of science. Of interest for future studies would be understanding the ways in which these teachers enact their NOS beliefs in the classroom.


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Understanding how these preservice elementary teachers enact these sophisticated NOS beliefs in their classrooms, and how they use science notebooks to facilitate their students’ acquisition of accurate NOS conceptions and scientific inquiry skills will further contribute to our understanding of how science education reform goals, of which acquisition of accurate conceptions of NOS is a central element, may be promoted in elementary school classrooms. We plan to pursue this goal during the next step of our inquiry.

References

Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2005). Developing deeper understandings of nature of science: The impact of a philosophy of science course on preservice teachers’ views and instructional planning. International Journal of Science Education, 27(1), 15-42.

Abd-El-Khalick, F., & Lederman, N. G. (2000). Improving science teachers' conceptions of the nature of science: A critical review of the literature. International Journal of Science Education, 27(7), 665-701.

Abd-El-Khalick, F., Lederman, N. G., Bell, R. L., & Schwartz, R. S. (2001). Views of nature of science questionnaire (VNOS): Toward valid and meaningful assessment of learners’ conceptions of nature of science. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science, Costa Mesa, CA.

Akerson, V. L., Abd-El-Khalick, F., & Lederman, N. G. (2000). The influence of a reflective activity-based approach on elementary teachers' conceptions of the nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37(4), 295-317.

Akerson, V. L., & Hanuscin, D. L. (2007). Teaching nature of science through inquiry: Results of a 3-year professional development program. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(5), 653 - 680.

American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Science for all Americans: A Project 2061 report. New York: Oxford University Press.

Aydeniz, M. (2007). Understanding challenges to the implementation of assessment reform in science classrooms: A case study of science teachers’ conceptions and practices of assessment. Unpublished Dissertation. Florida State University.

Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher 18, 32-42.

Engstrom, Y. (1993). Developmental studies on work as a testbench of activity theory. In S. Chaicklin & J. Lave (Eds.), Understanding Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Greeno, J. G., & Van De Sande, C. (2007). Perspectival Understanding of Conceptions and Conceptual Growth in Interaction Educational Psychologist, 42(1), 9-23.

Klentschy, M. (2005). Science notebook essentials. Science and Children, 43(3), 24-26.

Klentschy, M., Garrison, L., & Amaral, O. M. (1999). Valle imperial project in science four-year comparison of student achievement data. 1995-1999. El Centro, CA: El Centro Unified School District.

Kozma, R. (2003). The material features of multiple representations and their cognitive and social affordances for science understanding. Learning and Instruction, 13(2), 205-226.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Lederman, N. G. (1992). Students' and teachers' conceptions about the nature of science: A review of the research. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29(4), 331-359.

McComas, W. F. (1998). The principal elements of the nature of science: Dispelling the myths. In W. F. McComas (Ed.), The nature of science in science education: Rationales and strategies. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

McComas, W. F., & Olson, J. K. (1998). The nature of science in international science education standards documents. In W. F. McComas (Ed.), The nature of science in science education: Rationales and strategies (pp. 41-52). Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Merriam, S. B., & Caffarella, R. S. (1999). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.


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National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academic Press.

Pozzer, L. L., & Roth, W.-M. (2003). Prevalence, function, and structure of photographs in high school biology textbooks. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(10), 1089-1114.

Provalis Research. (2004). Qualitative Data Analysis Miner 3.0. Montreal, Canada.

Roth, W.-M., Bowen, G. M., & McGinn, M. K. (1999). Differences in graph-related practices between high school biology textbooks and scientific ecology journals. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(9), 977-1019.

Schwartz, R. S., Lederman, N. G., & Crawford, B. A. (2004). Developing views of nature of science in an authentic context: An explicit approach to bridging the gap between nature of science and scientific inquiry. Science Education, 88(4), 610-645.


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EFFECTIVENESS OF A COURSE ON PRE-SERVICE CHEMISTRY TEACHERS’

PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE AND SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE

Sevgi Aydın Yuzuncu Yil University

Betül Demirdöğen Zonguldak Karaelmas University

Ayşegül Tarkın Yuzuncu Yil University

Esen Uzuntiryaki Middle East Technical University

Abstract

The purpose of the study was twofold: (1) to investigate the course effectiveness (High School Chemistry Curriculum Review) on pre-service chemistry teachers’ Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK), Knowledge of learners, and Knowledge of instructional strategies, (2) to investigate pre-service chemistry teachers’ reflections about the course. The participants of the study were seven pre-service teachers (four male and three female) enrolled to the elective course. All of the participants were at the fifth semester of the ten-semester teacher education program. The study was carried out in the fall 2008- 2009 academic year consisting of 13 weeks. Data were collected through a test including 43 multiple choice questions and three two tier questions and three reflection papers. The test was given as pre and posttest. Analysis of the data revealed that the elective course was effective in increasing preservice chemistry teachers’ Knowledge of learners, and Knowledge of instructional strategies. Pre-service chemistry teachers showed substantial gains in their SMK. All the participants reached a consensus on the effectiveness of the course.

Introduction

It is obvious that science education has a major role for our society in this age of science and technology. We live in an age in which scientific knowledge is increasing dramatically; technological innovations are progressing rapidly and effects of science and technology are seen in every area of our daily life. Therefore, education communities have been striving for increasing the quality of science and technology education. Since teachers are considered one of the most influential factors in educational reform intended to promote student achievement (Duffee & Aikenhead, 1992) and scientific literacy, it is not surprising that teachers, both in-service and pre-service teachers, have become the target of reform efforts and educational research. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 1989) states:


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Although creative ideas for reforming education come from many resources, only teachers can provide the insights that emerge from intensive, direct experience in the classroom itself. They bring to the task of reform knowledge of students, craft, and school structure that others cannot.

Having subject matter knowledge does not mean teaching it effectively. The ability to transform teacher’s own knowledge into different form that can be understood by student is an important skill for teachers. Transformation occurs when a teacher recognizes how students can best experience the acquisition of knowledge-using various strategies, representations (Wanko, 2000). A comprehensive understanding of subject matter is fundamental for the transformation process. But it involves much more than understanding of the subject matter—it requires appreciating that children learn in different ways and that teachers need to have wide variety of strategies for helping their students to learn subject matter. The transformative process became recognized as an essential element of a teacher’s knowledge through the work of Lee Shulman and his colleagues in the mid-1980s.

Rationale

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is defined as a “special amalgam of content and pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special form of professional understanding” (Shulman, 1987, p. 8). This amalgamation is manifested by Shulman (1986) as “in a word, the ways of representing and formulating the subject that makes it comprehensible to others” (p.9), and he goes on to write that it includes:

…an understanding of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult; the conceptions and preconceptions that students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them to the learning of those most frequently taught topics and lessons (p. 9).

“What shall I do with my students to help them understand this science concept? What materials are there to help me? What are my students likely to already know and what will be difficult for them? How shall I best evaluate what my students have learned?” Answers of these questions are the fundamentals of pedagogical content knowledge (Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 2001, p. 95) and pedagogical content knowledge is critical to understanding effective science teaching. Aim of the science educators is to help and guide science teachers to teach science in an effective way. For this reason, it is crucial to understand their PCK with the aim of designing effective training programs for science teachers. Shulman’s concept of PCK is a unique contribution to research on teaching and teacher education because it integrates critical elements that are content knowledge and PCK of teacher thinking, elements that have been separated in teacher education programs (Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 2001).

Research studies showed that experience of practice teaching has a substantial effect on PCK. In other words, teachers are deepening their PCK during their real classroom experiences. However, pre-service teachers have experiences through their education life as a student and as a student teacher. Also, they have some practical courses which help them to construct knowledge about teaching. Therefore, it is assumed that prospective chemistry teachers have some knowledge about teaching and learning.

PCK is conceptualized in different manner by different researchers (Shulman, 1986; Grossman, 1990 as cited in Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 2001, p. 98; Cochran, DeRuiter, & King, 1993; Magnusson, Krajcik, & Borko, 1999; Veal & Makinster, 1999). Shulman describes PCK as the knowledge “which goes beyond knowledge of subject matter per se to the dimension of subject-matter knowledge for teaching” (Shulman, 1986, p.9). PCK includes “the most useful representation of those ideas, the most powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations, demonstrations –in a word the ways of representing and formatting the subject that make it comprehensible to others” (Shulman, 1986, p.9). The key elements in Shulman’s conception of PCK are knowledge of representations of subject matter on the one hand and understanding of specific learning difficulties and student conceptions on the other. These elements and PCK reciprocally interact with each other. The more representations teachers have and the better they recognize learning difficulties, the more effectively they can deploy their PCK.


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Another researcher conceptualized PCK was Grossman (1990, as cited in Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 2001). In this model, PCK consists of knowledge of strategies and representations for teaching particular topics and knowledge of students’ understanding, conceptions, and misconceptions of these topics. In addition, PCK is composed of knowledge and beliefs about the purposes for teaching particular topics and knowledge of curriculum materials available for teaching. PCK is at the center surrounded by three related categories in Grossman’s model of teacher knowledge. These are knowledge of subject matter, general pedagogical knowledge and contextual knowledge. Grossman specified the following sources from which PCK is generated and developed: (a) observation of classes, both as a student and as a student teacher, often leading to tacit and conservative PCK; (b) disciplinary education, which may lead to personal preferences for specific purposes or topics; (c) specific courses during teacher education, of which the impact is normally unknown; and (d) classroom teaching experience.

Furthermore, Cochran et al., (1993) have proposed a definition of the PCK based on the constructivism. According to them, the PCK isn’t a static knowledge; on the contrary, it has a dynamic nature. The term “pedagogical content knowing (PCKg)” has been used in order to emphasize this dynamic nature. PCKg is described as: “a teacher’s understanding of four components of pedagogy, subject matter content, student characteristics and the environmental context of learning” (p. 266).

Yet another model of PCK was developed by Magnusson et al., (1999) in which PCK was conceptualized for science teaching. Magnusson’s model consists of five components: a) orientations toward science teaching, b) knowledge and beliefs about science curriculum, c) knowledge and beliefs about students’ understanding of specific science topics, d) knowledge and beliefs about assessment in science, and e) knowledge and beliefs about instructional strategies for teaching science. The first component of the PCK, orientations toward science teaching, refers to teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about the purposes and goals for teaching science at a particular level. The second component of the PCK called knowledge and beliefs about science curriculum consists of two categories: mandated goals and objectives, and specific curricular programs and materials. The third component of PCK refers to the knowledge teachers must have about students in order to help them develop specific scientific knowledge. It includes two categories of knowledge: requirements for learning specific science concepts, and areas of science that students find difficult. The fourth component of the PCK as consisting of two categories: knowledge of the dimensions of science learning that are important to assess, and knowledge of the methods by which learning can be assessed. The component of instructional strategies comprises of two categories: knowledge of subject-specific strategies, and knowledge of topic specific strategies. Strategies in these categories differ with respect to their scope. The subject-specific strategies are broadly applicable; they are specific to teaching science as opposed to other subjects. The topic-specific strategies are much narrower in scope; they apply to teaching particular topics within a domain of science.

Although there has been no consensus on the PCK models and components, all scholars agree on Shulman’s two key elements—that is, knowledge of representations of subject matter and understanding of specific learning difficulties and student conceptions (Van Driel, Verloop & de Vos, 1998). Additionally, in this study, we adopted Magnusson et al.’s model. Since knowledge of representations of subject matter and understanding of specific learning difficulties and student conceptions are two key elements (Van Driel, et al., 1998), these elements will be investigated in this study. Lacking of information in these two key elements affects science teachers’ PCK and thus effective science teaching. Studies of specific learning difficulties and student conceptions with respect to specific topics are of particular interest, since PCK encompasses understanding of these difficulties of conceptions and focuses teachers’ representations and instructional strategies to overcome students’ misconceptions. Studies conducted by Jong (1992, as cited in Halim & Meerah, 2002) demonstrate that experienced teachers who were very knowledgeable in their subjects but failed to consider the pupils’ way of thinking about the subject matter often faced difficulty in teaching content.


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Purposes of the research:

(1) to investigate the effectiveness of “High School Chemistry Curriculum Review” course on pre-service chemistry teachers’ SMK, and PCK including pre-service chemistry teachers’ knowledge of representations of subject matter and knowledge of learners,

(2) to investigate pre-service chemistry students’ reflections on the course.

Methods

Sample

The participants of the study were seven pre-service chemistry teachers (four male and three female) enrolled to the elective course. All of the participants were at the fifth semester of the ten-semester teacher education program. None of the participants did take pedagogical courses before and during the course.

Data Collection

Data were collected through a test including 43 multiple choice questions and three two tier questions, and three reflection papers. All the questions were taken from the articles published in journals, and master/PhD thesis. The test was given as pre and posttest. Example items were provided in the Appendix. Additionally, the participants were asked to write reflection papers at the beginning, during and at the end of the course.

Questions asked in the reflection papers: • Have you identified any misconceptions that you hold on so far? What are they? • What are your comments on reviewing the chemistry concepts? • What are your comments on reviewing the misconceptions about chemistry concepts? • Do you think that reviewing misconceptions in chemistry affect your knowledge about

misconceptions of students? If yes, explain how? • What kind of strategies can you propose to remedy students’ misconceptions? Explain by giving

examples. • Evaluate instructor, assistants and course materials in terms of efficiency?

Data Analysis

The Wilcoxon t-test and descriptive statistics of pretest and posttest scores were used to investigate preservice chemistry teachers’ SMK. For other dimensions of PCK and their view about the course, the reflection papers were employed and analysis of them was qualitative in nature.

Data gathered from reflection papers were categorized for knowledge of learners, knowledge of instructional strategies, and participants’ view related to the course. The PCK model of Magnusson et al., (1999) was utilized for the study. The knowledge of learner category includes awareness of misconceptions, knowledge of requirements for learning, knowledge of students’ difficulty, and source of misconceptions. Knowledge of instructional strategy consists of subject-specific strategies, and topic-specific strategies. The topic-specific strategies contains topic-specific activities and topic-specific representations. For all categories mentioned above, a table including participants in rows and sequence of reflection papers in columns (Table 1).


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Table 1. Sample table for data analysis Participants 1st reflection paper 2nd reflection paper 3rd reflection paper

A

B

C

The data gathered through reflections were coded by two of the researchers independently. It was seen that coding was quite similar. Discrepancies were solved by discussion. Finally, consensus about the categories of was reached.

Information about the course

The study was carried out in the fall 2008- 2009 academic year consisting of 13 weeks. The course was comprised of three hours in a week. At the beginning of the course, high school chemistry curriculum was introduced to the preservice teachers. Then, throughout the semester, important chemistry concepts and related common misconceptions were covered. The topics were Particulate Nature of Matter (PNM), gases, solutions, chemical reactions, thermo chemistry, rate of reaction, chemical equilibrium, acids and bases, electrochemistry and chemical bonds. Each week a handout including fundamental concepts, misconceptions related to the topic, explanations to eliminate the misconceptions, conceptual questions and daily life events related to the topic were provided to discuss the topics.

The instruction in each week started with a demonstration, a video, a question or a daily life event which caused cognitive conflict related to the topic. For example, the week in which solutions were discussed was started with a discussion about “what is a supersaturated solution?” Then, we wanted participants to draw a container including supersaturated solution. After it, we showed a video related to formation of supersaturated solution. Finally, participants describe what a supersaturated solution was. In the lessons, we continue with discussion in terms of the meanings of the basic concepts, principles, rules, laws, and the rationales underlying the basic rules. For example, “Boiling point of a pure substance decreases when the altitude increases.” Why? At the final step, we provided misconceptions detected in the literature to the participants and discussed the reasons of the misconceptions.

Results

1. Results related to participants’ SMK:

Since the sample size is small (n=7), the participants were rank-ordered by the magnitude of change in their SMK scores and Wilcoxon t-test was used to evaluate whether or not there was a significant difference between the pre and posttest scores. The Wilcoxon t-test revealed a statistically significant increase in their SMK scores following taking the course, z=-2.38, p < .018, with a large effect size (r=0.64). The median score on SMK test increased from pre-course (Md=20) to post-course (Md=31). The participants had problems in basic chemistry concepts in the pretest (table 2). However, at the end of the course they answered most of the questions in the test correctly. The minimum increase in their SMK in terms of correct answers was 18,75 % whereas the maximum one was 35,42 %.


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Table 2. Number of correct answers in pretest and posttest and % increase in correct answers Participants # correct answers in

Pretest # correct answers in Posttest

% increase in correct answers

A 27 36 18,75 B 17 30 27,08 C 21 31 20,83 D 25 34 18,75 E 19 36 35,42 F 21 31 20,83 G 15 30 31,25

At the pretest, items 2, 6, 17, 21, 26, 27, 38, 41, 43, and 46 were the most problematic ones (table 3). The problem in items 2, 6, 26, and 46 were tackled by more than half of the participants. Moreover, less than half of the participants dealt with the problems in items 17, 21, 27 and 38. However, no difference was observed in items 41 and 43.

Table 3. Items and related conceptual problems Items and related conceptual problems

# correct answer in Pretest

# correct answer in Posttest

(2) Visibility of atoms and molecules with a microscope 0 6 (6)The attribution of macroscopic properties of matter to the microscopic ones 0 4 (17) problems in understanding of saturated solution which is at equilibrium with its solid 0 3 (21) the description of formation heat of substances 0 3 (26) the difference between the effective collision and collision 1 6 (27) the effect of catalysts 1 3 (38) determining anode and cathode in a galvanic cell 0 2 (41) determining the products in anode and cathode in an electrolytic cell 0 0 (43) determining the smallest particle of ionic compounds 1 1 (46) the relation between the inter molecular forces and phase change 0 4

In addition to test results, participants also mentioned their misconceptions in the reflection papers.

“Firstly, I want to talk about my misconception in thermochemistry. In this topic, I usually confuse the heat and temperature concepts. Actually, heat and temperature are related but different things…For example, I usually say “My body heat is 37 Celsius”. Of course this is wrong. However, I should say “my body temperature is 37 Celsius”.

“I had a misconception related to acid-base strength. When I think two acids which have pH values 1 and 6, I used to conclude that the former is stronger than the latter. The reason of it is I used to think that smaller pH belongs to stronger acid. However, now I realized that strength is something related to ionization percent of the acid or base. “

2. Results related to participants’ Knowledge of learners:

Increase in awareness of students’ possible misconceptions was observed. All the participants emphasized the importance of being aware of the learners’ misconceptions before teaching a topic:


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“Reviewing misconceptions is also important for teaching. I will be a teacher in the future and I have to know possible misconceptions that students may have. Generally, students’ misconceptions are different from ours because they view chemistry in a different way. Before the reviewing the misconceptions, I was not aware of them. Additionally, some of the misconceptions that learners may have were really difficult for me to predict.”

In terms of requirements for learning which is a subcomponent of knowledge of learners, two of the participants mentioned them:

“I think the most important topic in teaching chemistry is particulate nature of matter, structure of atoms, and intermolecular forces between the particles. We must teach them carefully. If students understand these concepts, it will be easy to teach solutions, gases, phase changes and etc. For example, if students understand intermolecular forces and their effect on the matter, they can easily understand the states of matter.”

For about another subcomponent of knowledge of learner that is the students’ difficulties in particular topics, two of the participants indicated the abstract nature of gases and bond concept which are difficult to learn by students:

“Showing some simulations and explaining the bond concept in detail are useful for this topic because students can not imagine bond concept. Moreover, intra and intermolecular forces should be distinguished since they may confuse them.”

“Due to the fact that ‘gases topic’ is not a visual one, the topic can be complex for same students.”

In addition to those, five of the students underlined the sources of learners’ misconceptions. Textbooks, teachers and language were specified as the sources of misconceptions by the participants.

“Textbooks show atoms as if they were colorful so learners think atoms are colorful. Moreover, the other misconception is that if atoms are moving, they may be alive. Many teachers and textbooks explain the structure of the atom by drawing circular orbit where electrons move. Therefore, some students think that there are exact places where electrons move.”

“The reason of misconceptions is teachers. They may have misconceptions in some chemistry topics and if they do not remedy their misconceptions, their misconceptions are transferred to their students so this affects students’ learning in chemistry negatively.”

3. Results related to knowledge of Knowledge of instructional strategies:

None of the participants sugessted subject-specific strategies such as conceptual change, generative learning model, guided inquiry, and learning cycle. Contrary to the subject-specific strategies, participants could develop their knowlegde of topic-specific strategies. Six of the participants could propose topic-specific activities to remedy students misconceptons.

“Teacher can use demonstrations to eliminate misconceptions in abstract topics. For example, a teacher can take 50mL alcohol and 50mL water and then s/he pours one beaker into another. Totol volume will be less than 100mL.. Therefore, students can comprehend more easily the particulate nature of matter. This knowledge will be more permanent than just giving explanation.”

Similar to topic-specific activities, five of them could suggest topic-specific representations.

“In chemical bonds, teachers do not have a chance to make the bonds visible. Therefore, we should think about employing analogies. For example, I will give an analogy: think a land which is divided by a river. There are two lovers at each side of the river. However, there is only one boat. So, one of them (boy) who has a boat should go and take the girl to the boat (attraction between ions). This is ionic bond, during formation of which electron is transferred from one atom to other. However, think that both of them have boats. Then both boy and girl sail with their own boats and meet in the river. Now they can share both of the boats, which explains the formation of covalent bond”.


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“Students may think that acids are irritating and burning. In order to explain that all acids are not harmful, examples can be given from daily life. Teachers can provide pH values of something which we eat. This is a good technique to remedy the misconception.”

4. Results related to participants’ view about the course:

All participants stated that the course was beneficial and an interesting experience for them. Participants were surprised especially about the materials utilized during the course.

“Instructor and teaching assistants helped us how to handle with learners’ misconceptions. Additionally, I realized that I had many misconceptions. When I ask questions related to my misconceptions, they answer me logically. Furthermore, course materials are perfect. Abstract concepts were tried to shown us by using animations and simulations. This helped us to learn the concept visually”.

Furthermore, instructors’ preparedness for the class was another point that they admired.

“The instructor and assistants helped us be aware of the learners’ misconceptions in chemistry. I believe that this helped us to increase our knowledge of students’ misconceptions. Demonstrations and visual materials were the best components of the course. “

“I think instructor and assistants were efficient. They were always well-prepared for the lessons. They showed some videos, gave interesting examples from daily-life and sometimes used demonstrations in the class, which made the lessons more enjoyable. During the semester I attended most of the classes and did not get bored. In this courses, I have learned many things and I have noticed my misconceptions. I think that I learned really useful things. It will be very beneficial for preservice chemistry teachers to take the course. “


The course was effective in increasing preservice chemistry teachers’ SMK and components of PCK. As in other studies in the related literature, participants of the study had problems in SMK (Halim & Meerah, 2002; Van Driel, Beijaard, & Verloop, 2002). Participants expressed that their SMK also developed during the course. According to literature the development in SMK was also effective in development of PCK.

Another crucial point indicated in the teacher education literature is the importance of teacher educators. Research results offer that they should teach pre-service teachers the effective use of instructional strategies with help of courses and teaching experiences (Mastrilli, 1997; Lumpe, 2007). Additionally, to improve pre-service teacher education, SMK and PCK interaction should be provided. To achieve PCK- SMK interaction, in pre-service teacher education, prior knowledge of participants should be examined in the courses (Halim & Meerah, 2002; Nottis & McFarland, 2001; Van Driel et al., 1998). According to the authors, the effectiveness of the course could be attributed to its achievement in PCK-SMK interaction since the SMK was not handled as a seperate kind of knowledge rather SMK was associated with PCK during the whole semester.

Although subject-specific strategies were employed in the course, participants could not develop subject-specific strategies. The possible reasons of it may be teachers’ insufficient understanding of subject-specific strategies becuase, as mentioned in the methodology part, the participants did not take teaching method courses before or during the course. In their research related to implementation of Biomind program in Israel, Zion, Cohen, & Amir (2007) stated that participant teachers had difficulties in inquiry implementation. The researchers indicated that the difficulties could be sourced from teachers’ insufficient scientific knowledge and insufficient understanding of inquiry process. Additionally, pre-service teachers may not have enough confidence to enact subject-specific strategies. Settlage (2000) showed that the more the pre-service teachers learn about learning cycle, the more they increase confidence in themselves. In the future, as they use or try to use subject-specific strategies, they may develop this component of PCK. Therefore, scientific and pedagogical support should be provided to the teachers when they are implementing inquiry and other strategies.

Pre-service teachers’ inadequate knowledge of learner causes disappointment in field experience. After having knowledge of learners, preservice teachers could focus on their teaching. Therefore, the researcher suggested that


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pre-service teachers be supported on these points by instructors with the help of courses before field experiences (Kagan, 1992).

Finally, as results and participants stated, the course was beneficial for pre-service teachers in terms of SMK, and PCK components, namely, knowledge of learners and knowledge of instructional strategies. Grossman (1990, as cited in Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 2001) specified observation of classes, both as a student and as a student teacher, and specific courses during teacher education as sources from which PCK is generated and developed. Observation of rich instruction including conceptual questions for discussions, demonstrations for cognitive conflict, simulations for abstract concepts or topics, animations, and being an active participant of the course provided valuable experiences to pre-service teachers. Unfortunately, participants generally observed traditional instructions during the high school or faculty education. Therefore, this course showed that different designs are possible. Moreover, being part of the course helped them to notice how this type of instruction more effective for students than traditional one. Finally, we suggest this type of courses for pre-service teacher education programs. The course may be more beneficial after taking teaching method courses because pre-service teachers would have knowledge about theories, applications and steps of the subject-specific strategies. Hence, they can more easily associate both courses. For other aspects of PCK such as knowledge of assessment and knowledge of curriculum, courses should be developed and provided for pre-service teachers.

References

American Association for the Advancement of Science (1989). Project 2061 - Science for all Americans Retrieved December, 11, 2007 from http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/chap14.htm

Cochran, K.F., DeRuiter, J., & King, R. (1993) Pedagogical content knowing: An integrative model for teacher preparation. Journal of Teacher Education, 44, 263-272.

Duffee, L., & Aikenhead, G. (1992). Curriculum change, student evaluation, and teacher practical knowledge. Science Education, 76, 493-506.

Gess-Newsome, J., & Lederman, N. G. (2001). Examining pedagogical content knowledge. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Halim, L. & Meerah, S. M. (2002). Science trainee teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and its influence on physics teaching. Research in Science & Technological Education, 20, 216-225.

Kagan, D. M. (1992). Professional growth among preservice and beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research, 62, 129-169.

Lumpe, A. T. (2007). Application of Effective Schools and Teacher Quality Research to Science Teacher Education. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 18, 345–348

Magnusson, S., Krajcik, J., & Borko, H. (1999). Nature, sources, and development of pedagogical content knowledge for science teaching. In J. Gess-Newsome & N. Lederman (Eds.), Examining pedagogical content knowledge (pp. 95- 132). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Mastrilli, T. M. (1997). Instructional analogies used by biology teachers: implications for practice and teacher preparation. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 8, 187-204.

Nottis, E. K. & McFarland, J. (2001). A comparative analysis of pre-service teacher analogies generated for process and structure concepts. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 5. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from http://unr.edu/homepage/crowther/ejse/ejse5n4.html

Settlage, J. (2000). Understanding the learning cycle: Influences on abilities to embrace the approach by preservice elementary school teachers. Science Education, 84, 43-50.

Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15, 4-14.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22.


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Van Driel, J. H., Verloop, N., & de Vos, W. (1998). Developing science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 673–695.

Van Driel, J. H., Beijaard, D., & Verloop, N. (2002). Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers’ practical knowledge. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 137–158.

Veal, W. R. & Makinster, J. (1999). Pedagogical content knowledge taxonomies. Electronic Journal of Science Education, Retrieved at December 01, 2007 from www.unr.edu/homepage/crowther/ejse/vealmak.html

Wanko, J. J. (2000). Going Public: The Development of a Teacher Educator’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Dissertation Abstracts International, (University Microfilms No. 3000635)

Zion, M, Cohen, S. & Amir, R. (2007). The spectrum of dynamic inquiry teaching practices. Research in Science Education, 37, 423-447.


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APPENDIX: Example items from the pretest 6) There are three states of matter at three different temperature above. Based on this information and drawings, which of the following(s) is true?

I. Water molecules in the first container are in solid phase. II. Water molecules in the second container are in liquid phase. III. Water molecules in the third container are in gas phase. IV. There is an energy difference among the water molecules in different containers.

a) I b)I-II c) I-II-III d)IV

26. Which of the following pictures is the composition of a strong acid?

2 M 0,5 M 3 M

I II III a) Only I b) Only III c) I and II d) I and III


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AN EXAMINATION ON PRE-SERVICE AND IN-SERVICE TEACHERS’

SENSE OF EFFICACY BELIEFS

Ayşegül Tarkın & Sevgi Aydın Yuzuncu Yil University

Esen Uzuntiryaki & Yezdan Boz Middle East Technical University

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was three-fold: (1) to determine whether there was a significant mean difference between the self-efficacy beliefs of in-service and senior pre-service teachers, (2) to examine whether there was a significant mean difference in efficacy beliefs of in-service teachers who had master and/or doctorate degree and who did not have and, (3) to examine whether the teaching experience created a significant difference in teaching efficacy beliefs of in-service teachers. Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen- Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001) was administered to both in-service (n= 53) and pre-service teachers (n=77). Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used for the analysis of the data. Results showed that there was no significant mean difference between in-service and pre-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Similarly, having a master and/or doctorate degree did not create a significant difference in efficacy beliefs. Finally, there was no significant mean difference between in-service teachers in terms of teaching experience.

Introduction

Beliefs are known to influence one’s behaviors and actions (Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1992). Bandura (1986) described the self-efficacy belief construct as “people’s judgements of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required attaining designated types of performances” (p. 391). Bandura (1997) hypothesized four sources of self-efficacy beliefs: mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological and emotional arousal. Of these, mastery experience is the most influential source of efficacy information about one’s ability to execute a task.

Guskey and Passaro (1994) defined teaching efficacy beliefs as “teachers’ belief or conviction that they can influence how well students learn, even those who may be difficult or unmotivated” (p.628). Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001) indicated the importance of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs by stating that “Teachers’ efficacy is a simple idea with significant implications” (p.783). Teacher self-efficacy beliefs have been found to be related to many aspects of teaching profession such as utilizing classroom management strategies (Gibson & Dembo, 1984; Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990), willingness to implement new teaching methods (Ghaith & Yaghi, 1997), and the way teachers behave to low achieving students (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). In addition to relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and their actions related to teaching, teacher efficacy beliefs have been found to affect students’ achievement (Ross, 1992) and their motivation (Midgley, Feldlaufer, & Eccles, 1989).


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Some of the studies in the teacher self-efficacy literature were about the comparison of in-service and pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs (Campbell, 1996; De la Torre Cruz & Casanova Arias, 2007; Lin & Tsai, 1999). In these studies, results showed that there was a significant mean difference in teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-service and in-service teachers. For example, Tschannen- Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2007) examined whether there was a difference between novice and experienced teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs by measuring their efficacy beliefs with Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES). The sample involved (N = 255) teachers, however, some of them (n = 74) were novice teachers who had three-year experience or less. Results showed that experienced teachers’ means were higher than those of novice teachers in terms of their efficacy beliefs for instructional strategy and classroom management. In another research (Campbell, 1996), the difference between teacher efficacy beliefs of in-service (n=71) and pre-service teachers (69) were examined in Scotland and America. The results showed that self-efficacy beliefs of in-service teachers were significantly higher than that of pre-service teachers in both countries. The higher teaching efficacy beliefs of in-service teachers were attributed to the experience that was gathered in the schools. Moreover, a significant mean difference was found between teacher efficacy beliefs of teachers who had BS degree and who had post graduate degree (Campbell, 1996). In addition, it has been found that in-service teachers’ classroom management efficacy beliefs were significantly higher than that of pre-service teachers (De la Torre Cruz & Casanova Arias, 2007).Furthermore, Tschannen Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2002) concluded that experienced teachers’ efficacy beliefs were higher than that of novice teachers in terms of classroom management and instructional strategies subscales. Results of another study (Tschannen Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2007) indicated that career teachers’ classroom management efficacy and instructional strategies efficacy beliefs were significantly higher than those of the novice teachers. Lin and Tsai (1999) studied with pre-service teachers, beginning teachers and expert teachers and found that the teaching self-efficacy beliefs of expert and beginning teachers were higher than that of pre-service teachers.

In light of the teaching self-efficacy belief literature, the purpose of the current study was three-fold:

(1) To determine whether there was a significant mean difference between the self-efficacy beliefs of in-service and senior pre-service teachers,

(2) To determine whether there was a significant mean difference in efficacy beliefs of in-service teachers, who had master or doctorate degree and who did not have, and

(3) To examine whether the teaching experience created a significant mean difference in teaching efficacy beliefs of in-service teachers.

Rationale

Self-efficacy literature indicated that although in-service teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs are higher than that of pre-service teachers in terms of classroom management efficacy and instructional strategies efficacy, there is no difference in student engagement efficacy. The present study was conducted to examine the situation related to the efficacy beliefs in our country and compare the results with the previous studies. The current study was conducted with intent to complete the teaching efficacy belief literature in terms of comparison between efficacy beliefs of pre-service, novice and experienced teachers in the same study.


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Methods

The participants of the study were 77 pre-service and 53 in-service teachers. The pre-service teachers were at the last semester of a five-year teacher education program. They completed most of the pedagogical courses such as introduction to teaching profession, development and learning, instructional planning and evaluation, classroom management, methods of teaching I and II, and school experience. At the time data were collected, the pre-service teachers were getting practice teaching class, in which they were supposed to teach their subjects at schools rather than just observing classes as they did in school experience class.

The in-service teachers with five or more year-experience was coded as experienced whereas in-service teachers with less than five-year experience were coded as novice teachers as in Tschannen Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2002). To measure participants’ teacher efficacy beliefs we used Teachers’ Sense of Teacher Efficacy Scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy [2] and adapted into Turkish by Capa, Cakiroglu, and Sarikaya (2005). TSES included 24 items under three sub-scales which were efficacy for instructional strategies (IS), for student engagement (SE) and for classroom management (CM). All three sub-scales consist of eight items with nine-point continuum between nothing (1) and a great deal (9).

Sample items from TSES are as follows:

Efficacy in student engagement subscale: “How much can you do to motivate students who show low interest in school?”

Efficacy in instructional strategies subscale: “How well can you implement alternative strategies in your classroom?”

Efficacy in classroom management subscale: “How much can you do to get children to follow classroom rules?”

The reliability of the subscales were .89, .90 and .66, respectively.

For the analysis of data gathered, three separate multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to investigate the effect of two types of teacher (pre-service and in-service), the effect of teaching experience and the effect of having MS and/or doctorate degree on the three dependent variables which are student engagement efficacy, classroom management efficacy, and instructional strategies efficacy.

Results

Table 1 below shows the descriptive statistics based on the mean scores of pre-service and in-service teachers with respect to the subscales of TSES. As seen from Table 1, in-service teachers had higher efficacy beliefs in terms of instructional strategies and classroom management, on the other hand, for student engagement subscale; pre-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs were higher. For all the subscales of TSES, experienced teachers had higher sense of efficacy beliefs compared to the novice teachers. Moreover, in-service teachers with MS/PhD degree were more efficacious in terms of instructional strategies whereas in-service teachers without MS/PhD degree had higher efficacy beliefs with respect to classroom management. On the other hand, in-service teachers with or without MS/PhD degree had the same efficacy beliefs in student engagement.


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Table 1. Descriptive statistics related to the subscales of TSES

IS mean SE mean CM mean

Type of teacher Pre-service 6,88 6,70 6,67 In-service 7,11 6,58 6,85 Experience Experienced 7,24 6,67 7,02 Novice 6,78 6,33 6,42 Having MS/PhD degree With MS/PhD 7,12 6,48 6,44 Without MS/PhD 6,92 6,48 6,86

In order to detect whether these mean differences were significant or not with respect to type of teacher, experience and having MS/PhD degree, three separate MANOVAs were conducted. Before analysis assumptions of MANOVA were checked and no violation was reported. Firstly no significant differences were found between the two types of teachers on the dependent variables, Wilks’s Λ = .95, F(3, 126) = 2.41, p>.05. The multivariate η2 based on Wilks’s Λ was .05. Secondly, there were no significant differences between experienced and novice teachers on the dependent variables, Wilks’s Λ = .92, F(3, 47) = 1.34, p>.05. The multivariate η2 based on Wilks’s Λ was .08. Finally, no significant differences were found between teachers with MS and/or doctorate degree and teachers without MS and/or doctorate degree on the dependent variables, Wilks’s Λ = .88, F(3, 47) = 2.17, p>.05. The multivariate η2 based on Wilks’s Λ was .12.


In light of the results, no significant differences were found between pre-service and in-service teachers, experienced and novice teachers, and in-service teachers with MS and/or PhD degree and in-service teachers with only BS degree on none of the subscales of the efficacy beliefs. In Campbell (1996), and Lin and Tsai (1999), in-service teachers’ efficacy beliefs scores outnumbered that of pre-service teachers. Moreover, De la Torre Cruz and Casanova Arias (2007) found a significant mean difference between in-service and pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs in terms of classroom management. However, in the same research, pre-service teachers’ general teaching efficacy beliefs were higher than those of in-service teachers.

Although a significant difference was expected in the present study, the reason of the non-significant difference may be the unrealistic efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers. Moreover, the internship provided in pre-service teacher education may not provide real and sufficient experience for pre-service teachers. Additionally, although experienced teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs mean scores were higher than that of novice teachers on each subscale (Table 1), there was no significant difference between the novice and experienced teachers’ efficacy beliefs. This result contradicted with studies of Tschannen Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2002, 2007) which showed that experienced teachers’ efficacy beliefs were higher than that of novice teachers with respect to classroom management and instructional strategies subscales. Similar to the result of the current study, there was no significant difference between the two in terms of student engagement efficacy.

Although Campbell (1996) found a significant mean difference between teaching efficacy beliefs of teachers who had BS degree and teachers who had post graduate degree, in the current study, there was no significant difference between the two. The reason may be that the graduate programs may not support teaching efficacy beliefs of teachers.


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For implication, pre-service teachers should be provided sensible and efficient teaching experience in pre-service teacher education. Additionally, in graduate teacher education programs, instructors should be aware of the significance of self-efficacy beliefs; moreover, activities and projects should be integrated to these programs to increase pre-service and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs.

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, A (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

Campbell, J. (1996). A comparison of teacher efficacy for pre and in-service teachers’ in Scotland and America. Education, 117, 2-11.

De la Torre Cruz, M. J., & Casanova Arias, P. F. (2007). Comparative analysis of expectancies of efficacy in in-service and prospective teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 641-652.

Gibson, S., & Dembo, M.H. (1984). Teacher efficacy: A construct validation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 569-582.

Ghaith, G., & Yaghi, H. (1997). Relationships among experience, teacher efficacy, and attitudes toward the implementation of instructional innovation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13, 451-458.

Guskey, T. R. & Passaro, P. D. (1994). Teacher Efficacy: A study of construct dimensions. American Educational Research Journal, 31, 627-643.

Lin, S. S. J., & Tsai, C. (1999, March). Teaching efficacy along the development of teaching expertise among science and math teachers in Taiwan. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Boston, MA.

Midgley, C., Feldlaufer, H., & Eccles, J. (1989). Change in teacher efficacy and student self and task related beliefs in mathematics during the transition to junior high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(2), 247-258.

Nespor, J. (1987). The role of beliefs in the practice of teaching. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 19, 317-328.

Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307-332.

Ross, J.A. (1992). Teacher efficacy and the effects of coaching on student achievement. Canadian Journal of Education, 17, 51-65.

Tschannen-Moran, M. & Woolfolk-Hoy, A. (2001). Teacher efficacy: capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 783-805.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2002, April). The influence of resources and support on teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2007). The differential antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs of novice and experienced teachers. Teaching and teacher Education, 23, 944-956.

Woolfolk, A.E., & Hoy, W. K. (1990). Prospective teachers' sense of efficacy and beliefs about control. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 81-91.


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EXPLORING CONCEPTUAL INTEGRATION IN PRE-SERVICE

CHEMISTRY TEACHERS’ THINKING

Oktay Bektaş Erciyes University

Ayla Çetin Dindar Selçuk University

Ayşe Yalçın Çelik Gazi University

Abstract

An important feature of meaningful learning is the connecting of new material to existing knowledge. Therefore, pre-service teachers should not only learn individual scientific models and principles, but should be taught to see how they are linked together. The focus of this research is investigating the extent to which pre-service chemistry teachers achieve conceptual integration of the science they learn about in university. The present paper describes the use of a semi-structured interview schedule designed to investigate pre-service chemistry teachers’ understanding of a range of aspects of chemistry. The ability of this approach is demonstrated through an account of one student’s scientific thinking, showing both how student applied fundamental ideas widely, and also where conceptual integration was lacking.

Introduction

Conceptual integration can be defined as the knowledge structures of an individual organized in such a way that there is strong linking between different areas of the person’s individual knowledge (Taber 2005). To achieve conceptual integration, meaningful learning is important. Constructivist models of learning emphasize that connecting the new knowledge of students to be acquired with the existing knowledge is essential in order to promote meaningful learning (Limon, 2001). Long-term maintenance of knowledge increases the levels of integration of new learning with entrenched knowledge structures. On the other hand, unsuitable linkages may well support knowledge recall to the loss of scientific understanding leading to misconceptions. From this perspective, teaching that supports students in seeing how new material links with prior learning should both facilitate meaningful learning and reinforce the prior learning (Taber, 2008).

Although much of the research has explored student thinking around particular concept areas (Boo, 1998; Cakmakçı & Leach, 2005; Hackling & Garnett, 1985; Haidar & Abraham, 1991; Harrison & Treagust, 1996), little of these has looked specifically at conceptual integration.

For example, Ganaras, Dumon, and Larcher (2008) checked whether the concept of chemical equilibrium had become an integrating concept for prospective physical sciences teachers. They conducted a quantitative survey among students from various teacher training institutes of universities in France. They tried to evaluate to what extent students aware of the dynamic nature of equilibrium, and to how far their experimental knowledge was improved by this concept. Researchers showed that the majority of prospective physical sciences teachers did not gain the concept of chemical equilibrium as an integrating and unifying concept. Students in this study integrated


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chemical equilibrium only through the chemical reaction concept. However, chemical equilibrium can be integrated with thermodynamic, kinetic, the structure of matter, etc.

Taber (2008) decided to develop an interview questionnaire that could be used to explore the extent of conceptual integration in students studying chemistry and physics in the college. Questions regarding mechanics, electricity, chemical reactions, physical changes, and bonding were used in his study in England. He used in –depth case study in his study because he wanted to analyze the individual students as discrete cases. Four volunteered students who were two males and two females took part in his case study. He examined cases under the titles which are forces, force and motion, interactions between charges, energy, and particle models. In conclusion, Taber saw that these students had some difficulties in the integration of these concepts.

Rationale

As stated above, various research studies have been conducted about the conceptual integration. However, the number of these studies is very limited. Likewise, Taber (2003b) found that students did not tend to bring the relevant physics concepts to mind when learning about the chemical bonding and Taber (1998b) stated that students considered that linking to physics during the chemistry learning was an unreasonable demand. For instance, even though the nature of forces between charged particles was understood by students, alternative mechanisms were created by them in order to explain the bond formation and the stability of chemical structures. Moreover, students thought that there are the needs of atoms, so reactions occurred. Also, students believed that octet structures were judged to mechanically have inherent stability. They thought this situation even in extreme cases like a hypothetical Na 7- ion (Taber, 2002a). Because of these reasons, conceptual integration seemed to be a potentially productive focus for this research.

The purpose of the present study is to understand whether the pre-service chemistry teachers achieve the conceptual integration across the some chemistry topics and between physics, chemistry, and biology concepts during a semester.

Research Questions

1- How much integration is there between pre-service chemistry teachers’ chemistry concepts? 2- How much integration are there between pre-service chemistry teachers’ physics, chemistry, and biology

concepts? Methods

In this section, sample, instruments, interview questions, and data analysis parts are explained.

Sample

Semi structured interviews were administered to a sample of six pre-service chemistry teachers (4 females and 2 males) enrolled in the course of Basic Chemistry Laboratory at a university in Ankara. All the participants volunteered to be interviewed. These students were selected according to their academic achievement (2 lower achiever students, 2 middle achiever students, and 2 higher achiever students). These students theoretically took basic chemistry, basic biology, and basic physics while they studied this laboratory session. These are students where we might expect significant evidence of conceptual integration, and who should manage the challenge of an interview of around an hour’s duration.


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Instrument

Targeting research on conceptual integration requires more detailed investigations with individual learners (Taber, 2008). Therefore the semi-structured interviews were carried out both at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester to see in depth the levels of integration of students. Also, it was aimed to understand whether the pre-service chemistry teachers achieve the conceptual integration. The interviews took place in a comfortable private location. Each interview was tape-recorded with the students’ knowledge and permission. The interviews began with the explanation of purpose and collection of some personal data and they were all transcribed for further analysis. It was envisaged that the interview process should be completed within a one-hour time frame.

Interview Questions

In order to form interview questions, literature review was made and integrating and unifying concepts and subjects was determined by researchers. Finally, these questions were examined by some science educators. Interview questions were related to the particles, the chemical change, the effect of pressure and temperature on solubility of gases, the atomic models, the strength of the acids, and the chemical equilibrium. Same interview questions were asked to six participants both at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. All the questions are given below:

1- Could you draw the figure of NaCl solution by means of considering particles? a. Why does the water solve the salt? And How? b. If there is no conceptual integration, what do you think about the intermolecular attractions,

polarity, and attraction / repulsion forces? 2- Are the chemical changes reversible? Why?

a. If there is no conceptual integration, what do you think about the chemical equilibrium? 3- It is better for fishes to live in cold water than hot water. Can you explain why?

a. If there is no conceptual integration, what do you think about how does temperature affect on solubility of gases?

4- What is the bends? What is the reason of the bends? a. If there is no conceptual integration, what do you think about how does pressure affect on the solubility of gases?

5- Do you know anything about models? a. If there is no conceptual integration, have you ever heard of models in the physics, chemistry, and biology? b. What do you think about the atomic models?

6- What is the pH? Or what is the meaning of pH? a. Does pH only have a mathematical meaning? (Does pH only equal –log[H+]?) b. If the concentration of hydrogen is low, how can we say about the value of pH? c. If the value of pH is big, what do you think about the strength of acid?

Data Analysis

All transcriptions were read by researchers and it was tried to understand whether the students can integrate between concepts and science courses. There were two categories which were the integration and no integration as a coding system in this study. All students’ answers were examined according to these categories at the first and second interview. Sometimes students were examined as cases, but this was not the aim of study.

Results

Analysis of data showed that participants had some difficulties when they integrate their chemistry concepts both to the other chemistry topics and to the physics and biology concepts. They tried to link among the concepts that were “the life of fishes and solubility”, “the bends and the solubility”, “the chemical equilibrium and the


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chemical change”, the chemical bonding and dissolution”, “the strength of acids and mathematics”, “atomic models and physics and biology”, “particles and physics” across the interviews. Some integrations are detailed in the below.

Draw the figure of NaCl solution by means of considering particles. The data analysis revealed that most pre-service chemistry teachers could not integrate their chemistry knowledge regarding the solubility of salt to the bonding and intermolecular forces concepts. Even though the participants could give mostly correct responses to the probe questions which look for the theory of the concepts at the second interview, the pre-service chemistry teachers could not link their chemistry knowledge to the bonding concepts, on the whole.

Two participants could be able to relate between the solubility of salt in the water and the concept of polarity at the first interview. Therefore, the others could not make any integration between concepts and they only drew on their papers. The following figure is drawn at the first interview by one of the students. It is referred to chemical phenomena at three different levels of representation at chemistry –macroscopic, symbolic and submicroscopic (Treagust, Chittleborough, and Mamiala, 2003). In this drawing, student only made a drawing at the symbolic level, but he did not mention about the surrounding Na+ and Cl- ions from water molecules and did not think about the polarity and intermolecular forces between H2O molecules and ions.

Figure 1. Figure of NaCl solution which is drawn at first interview one of the students

When the probe questions were asked to participants, one pre-service chemistry teacher mentioned about the conductivity of electricity while she was explaining ionic solution at the first interview. She also stated that the concept of the conductivity of electricity had been taught in the physics sessions. However, this participant could not give any information about the electricity or conductivity in their physics sessions. She also could not do any explanation regarding how the NaCl dissolves in the water by using her knowledge about electricity and conductivity.

At the second interview, five of the participants could integrate the relationship between these phenomena. However, these five participants could be able to make a contact between these concepts after the probe questions were asked.

At the second interview, same participant talked about conductivity of electricity. However, she developed her ideas at this time. She thought that NaCl solution conducted the electricity since the salt had got the positive and negative ions and these ions looked like the key – lock as in the biology. She also stated that NaCl solution conducts the electricity, but sugar solution does not conduct it because sugar does not have any ions. She also stated that polar substances can be solved in the polar solvent. In addition to this, she said that salt and water is a polar substance. Therefore, she thought that water has partial charges and salt has positive and negative ions. In conclusion, she made integration between the subject of solubility and the subject of intermolecular attractions, polarity, and attraction / repulsion forces. Moreover, other student mentioned about the London forces, ion – dipole interaction, and hydrogen bonding, while he explained his view. The following table shows that the extent to which pre-service chemistry teachers achieves conceptual integration at this question.


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Table 1: Conceptual integration at first question (Numbers in the table stand for the number of students) Dissolution of the salt in the water

No integration Integration

1st interview 2nd interview 1st interview 2nd interview

Conductivity of electric 5 5 1 1

Electronegativity 6 4 - 2

Polarity 5 3 1 3

Two students could make integration between the NaCl solution and the concept of electronegativity at the second interview. These students stated that oxygen in the water molecule has bigger than hydrogen with respect to electronegativity and because of this difference of electronegativity, polarity forms in the molecule. Therefore, when they did drawing regarding the solution of salt, they did not only drawing, but also they made an explanation how to solve the salt in the water by integrating the concepts of bonding. However, they had some misconceptions which are seen literature about the solutions and bonding during the integration (Coll & Treagust, 2003, Uzuntiryaki & Geban, 2005).

Are the chemical changes reversible? Why? For this question, all participants could not do the conceptual integration to the chemical equilibrium at first interview. Likewise, five pre-service chemistry teachers did not do any comment about the relationship reversibility and chemical equilibrium and only one student made an explanation about these phenomena at the second interview. It is given the manuscript regarding the explanation of this student below.

Researcher (R): I think that chemical changes are irreversible. Am I right?

Participant (P): No, there was equilibrium event. There was two-way arrow at the equilibrium. Forward and backward reactions are shown with these arrows. So, chemical changes are reversible, I think.

Researcher (R): Are all chemical events reversible?

Participant (P): I think, there are situations which are reversible such as chemical equilibrium.

Do you know anything about models? At the first interview, one participant said that she knew the models in the biology course and she reminded the human body models in biology. She did not know anything regarding the models in the chemistry. However, when the question 3b was asked to her, she reminded some knowledge regarding the atomic models. Another student mentioned that she had seen circuit models from the internet and had learned these models in the physics session. She who also was not asked the probe question thought about the atomic models. Another pre-service chemistry teacher said that he knew the particulate and waved nature of matter and learned this information at the physics session. When he was asked to draw the atom model which is true according to him, he drew the following model and stated that he learned it at the chemistry and physics session.

Figure 2. Atomic model which is drawn by participant at the first interview.


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All participants did not mention about how the relationship there is between the reality and models at first interview. They asserted that they only learned theoretical knowledge about models at the science sessions and they said that they thought the models as real in their life.

At the second interview, they integrated between the models in the science lessons and understood the relationship between the reality and models. They stated that models about science were learned at the physics, chemistry, and biology sessions and they thought that meaning of the model is the same all science lessons.

What is the pH? Or what is the meaning of pH? When they were asked the meaning of pH, they only explained it mathematically. They integrated mathematical knowledge to the chemistry knowledge, but at this time they could not do any comment about pH as chemical respect. They only defined that pH equals the logarithm of concentration of hydrogen (pH = -log [H+]). When they were asked the meaning of this definition, they did not exactly explain this definition. Therefore they did not successfully integrate the mathematical meaning of pH and the chemical meaning of pH at the first and second interview. When they were asked the probe questions, they tried to explain their knowledge about pH. For instance, one participant stated that if the concentration of hydrogen is high, then pH is low. Likewise, they truly explained regarding the strength of acids. Therefore, they tried to integrate the concepts such as inverse ratio, direct ratio, pH, the strength of acids, the concentration of hydrogen.


This study states that pre-service chemistry teachers have some difficulties in integrating both some chemistry concepts and physics, chemistry, and biology concepts. These difficulties has also been detected in the literature (Ganaras, Dumon, & Larcher 2008; Taber, 2008). For instance, when they encountered the chemical reaction, they thought that the chemical reactions are one way. When they learn the chemical equilibrium at their chemistry sessions, then they comment about two way reactions. However, for instance, when they learn acid-base reactions such as neutralisation, they do not think about chemical equilibrium. Therefore, they limit their chemistry concepts with one subject and do not try to integrate between other chemistry concepts (Ganaras, Dumon, & Larcher 2008). Likewise, they do not try to integrate among chemistry, physics, and biology concepts (Taber, 2008).

Pre-service teachers should develop self regulative abilities to learn and teach chemistry concepts. They should not see themselves as a student while they learn chemistry concepts. They should understand that they will teach chemistry their students in the future and they must be careful when they learn a new thing regarding chemistry.

Teaching staffs, assistant professors, or professors in the university should think about the pre-service teacher’s prior knowledge. They should help pre-service teachers who have learning difficulties related to chemistry concepts. Nature of science, history of science should be emphasized while some science topics such as atomic models, acids and bases, and electricity are taught in the classroom. In order to achieve conceptual integration on the students another studies should be done like that the effectiveness of instruction.


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References

Boo, H. K. (1998) Students’ understandings of chemical bonds and the energetics of chemical reactions. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 569–581.

Cakmakcı, G.; Leach, J. (2005) Turkish secondary and undergraduate students’ understanding of the effect of temperature on reaction rates. Paper presented at the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) Conference, Barcelona, Spain

Coll, R. K., & Treagust, D., F. (2003). Investigation of Secondary School, Undergraduate, and Graduate Learners’ Mental Models of Ionic Bonding Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(5), 464–486.

Ganaras, K., Dumon, A., & Larcher, C. (2008). Conceptual integration of chemical equilibrium by prospective physical sciences teachers. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 9, 240-249.

Hackling, M. W. & Garnett, P. J. (1985). Misconceptions of chemical equilibrium, European Journal of Science Education, 7, 205–214.

Haidar, A.H., & Abraham, M.R. (1991). A comparison of applied and theoretical knowledge of concepts based on the particulate nature of matter. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 28(10), 919-938.

Harrison, A.G. & Treagust, D.F. (1996). Secondary students’ mental models of atoms and molecules: Implications for teaching chemistry. Science Education, 80 (5), 509-534.

Limon, M. (2001). On the cognitive conflict as an instructional strategy for conceptual change: a critical appraisal. Learning and instruction, 11, 357-380.

Taber, K. S. (1998b). The sharing-out of nuclear attraction: or I can’t think about Physics in Chemistry, International Journal of Science Education, 20 (8), pp.1001-1014.

Taber, K. S. (2002a). Chemical misconceptions—Prevention, diagnosis and cure: Volume 1: theoretical background. London: Royal Society of Chemistry.

Taber, K. S. (2003b). Understanding ionisation energy: physical, chemical and alternative conceptions, Chemistry Education: Research and Practice, 4 (2), pp.149-169.

Taber K.S, (2005). Conceptual integration and science learners - do we expect too much? Invited seminar paper presented at the Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, University of Leeds, February 2005

Taber, K. S. (2008). Exploring conceptual integration in student thinking: Evidence from a case study. International Journal of Science Education, 1 – 29.

Treagust, D.F., Chittleborough, G. & Mamiala, T. L. (2003). The role of submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemical explanations. International Journal of Science Education, 25(11), 1353-1368.

Uzuntiryaki, E., & Geban, O. (2005). Effect of conceptual change approach accompanied with concept mapping on understanding of solution concepts. Instructional Science, 33, 311–339.


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85

PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN BASIC CHEMISTRY CONCEPTS, THE “REAL WORLD,”

AND THEIR OCCUPATION

Gregory Durland, Faik O. Karatas & George M. Bodner Purdue University

Abstract

In modern societies citizens are frequently presented with numerous issues that require them to have a basic understanding of science in order to make informed decisions. However, students often fail to connect the science concepts learned in class with real world issues. To facilitate an increase in science literacy, science education must be reformed beginning in elementary grades (K-8). Therefore, elementary teachers must provide the experiences and connections necessary for students to develop a proper understanding of, attitude toward, and intelligent beliefs about science. However, many elementary teachers find science disconnected from everyday life and thinking. Thus, if elementary education students do not believe that chemistry is related to everyday life, including their occupation, they may not feel it is important to learn and understand, therefore committing a negative attitude towards it. This study addresses the different ways students majoring in elementary education perceive the concepts presented in a chemistry course designed for them. Preliminary results suggest that pre-service elementary teachers felt that chemistry is only somewhat related or applicable to the real world and felt that most people (including some of the participants) do not need to understand basic chemistry and can get through life without it.

Introduction

Citizens of the United States are frequently presented with numerous issues that require them to have a basic understanding of science in order to make informed decisions (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993). Some examples of these issues are: global warming, stem cell research and alternative energy sources. However, students often fail to connect the science concepts learned in class with real world issues (Nakhleh et al., 1995). To facilitate an increase in science literacy, science education must be reformed beginning in elementary grades (K-8). Therefore, elementary teachers must provide the experiences and connections necessary for students to develop a proper understanding of, attitude toward, and intelligent beliefs about science (Stein, Larrabee, Barman, 2008).

However, both pre-service and in-service elementary teachers have been shown to be uncomfortable teaching science. In 1978, it was noted that elementary teachers spent an average of ninety minutes teaching reading versus seventeen minutes for science (Weiss, 1978). Later years were consistent; less time was spent teaching science than any other major subject area (Stefanich & Kelsey, 1989). Weiss (1994) reports that less than one-third of elementary teachers believe they are qualified to teach science and they doubt their ability to teach it effectively (Stevens & Wenner, 1996; Yilmaz-Tuzun, 2008). Watters and Ginns (2000) feel that these beliefs and attitudes develop as a result of the elementary teachers’ own science related experiences in primary and secondary schools. Cobern & Loving (2002) believe that this relationship exists because many elementary teachers find science disconnected from everyday life and thinking. And go on to say, “elementary teachers who feel this disconnection with science would at best approach science teaching as something one does if school authorities demanded it (p. 1017).”


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Rationale

Thus, if elementary education students do not believe that chemistry is related to everyday life, including their occupation, they may not feel it is important to learn and understand, therefore committing a negative attitude towards it (Hostettler, 1983; Kumar et al., 2005). When they do become teachers, this lack of understanding could lead to feelings of insecurity and frustration, and a need to rely heavily on outside help when teaching science (Crosby G. A., 1997). This explains why science will continue to be “a little added frill” (Schoeneberger and Russell, 1986, p. 519) in elementary classrooms. Morrisey (1981) supports this notion by stating that the degree in which elementary teachers will teach science is influenced by their knowledge of science as well as their feelings or attitudes towards those cognitions. Tobin, Tippins, and Gallard (1994) also believe that elementary teachers’ beliefs play a critical role in restructuring science education and “future research should seek to enhance our understanding of the relationship between teacher beliefs and science reform” (p.64). They continue by saying: “Teacher beliefs are a critical ingredient in the factors that determine what happens in classrooms” (p. 64). Therefore, both the quality and quantity of science that will be taught in elementary schools will rely on the elementary teachers’ attitudes and beliefs towards science and science teaching (Wallace & Louden, 1992).

This study addresses the different ways students majoring in elementary education perceive the concepts presented in a chemistry course designed for them. The research gained in this study provides insight into:

1. Students’ beliefs about the connection between the “real-world” and basic chemistry concepts.

2. Students’ beliefs about the connection between their future occupation as elementary teachers and basic chemistry concepts.

Methods

A mixed methods approach was used to explore pre-service elementary teachers’ beliefs about the relationship between basic chemistry concepts, the “real world”, and their occupation. A questionnaire was used to investigate pre-service teachers’ beliefs about the concepts associated with the respective topic previously covered in lecture (properties of matter, solution chemistry, acid-base chemistry). To further understand questionnaire responses, one-on-one interviews were conducted with each participant. These interviews were designed to elicit student discussions about their responses. Interview responses were the focus of this study; however, Likert scale data will be mentioned to serve as a guide.

Participants

The participants in this study were pre-service elementary education students enrolled in Chemistry 200 at Purdue University during the fall (pilot study) of 2007 (N=3), spring of 2008 (N=11) and fall of 2008 (N=24). The specific course under study was CHM 200, “Fundamentals of Chemistry.” This two-credit, introductory chemistry course is required by the elementary education program in the College of Education, at Purdue University. Typical class size is approximately ninety students consisting of mostly female (87% in fall semester of 2006) sophomores and junior level students. Lecture occurs once per week for fifty minutes and the course runs for sixteen weeks total. The larger lecture class is then broken down into four separate sections of no more than twenty-four students for the laboratory component of the course. Each laboratory classroom is overseen by one teaching assistant. The only variation in CHM 200 instruction is in the laboratory teaching assistant, but teaching assistants do not have the authorization to vary the laboratories. They may, however, have different teaching styles and abilities, therefore the teaching assistants will be considered a possible confounding variable in this study. Laboratory also meets once per week for two hours and fifty minutes per session.


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Questionnaires

Questionnaires were administered in order to probe participants for their beliefs about the concepts associated with the respective topic previously covered in lecture (properties of matter, solution chemistry, acid-base chemistry). The questionnaire asked participants to rate how relevant or applicable the concepts associated with that topic were to both the “real world” and to their occupation as future elementary teachers. Participants were then asked in what ways these concepts are relevant or applicable to both the “real world” and to their occupation as future elementary teachers.

Interviews

Semi-structured interviews were developed in order to probe for more details and greater understanding that the questionnaires were unable to achieve. During the interviews, both the researcher and participant had access to the participant’s previously answered questionnaire, so as to easily discuss why the participants rated the relevancy of the chemistry topic to both “the real world” and to their occupation as future elementary teachers the way they did. Other pertinent questions relating to amount of time spent teaching chemistry and other sciences were also asked during the interview. The interviews, which typical lasted 20-30 minutes, were audiotaped and then transcribed for analysis.

Qualitative Analysis

Inductive analysis was employed in order to evaluate the different ways students believed these concepts were associated with the “real world” and to their occupations as future elementary teachers.

Results

Findings from pre-service elementary teachers’ responses to four-point Likert scale and associated interviews regarding their responses to the Likert scale items are presented in this section. As seen in Table 1, participants rated the relevancy of basic chemistry concepts as 2.7 out of 4. On the other hand, the relevancy or applicability of the basic chemistry concepts to elementary teaching was rated as 3.1. This indicates that pre-service teachers did not strongly believe that chemistry is connected to the “real world,” but they believed that chemistry is to some extent worth teaching.

Table 1. Participants’ beliefs about the connection between basic chemistry concepts, the “real world” and teaching

Chemistry “real world” Chemistry teaching

Mean (sd) 2.7(0.7) 3.1(0.7)

The following are the results from the interviews. Participants felt that they experience chemistry everyday, but believe that they are not relevant or can get by without them.

“Even though people deal with these concepts every day, I believe you can get by without them” “To me, I don’t think they are very relevant, but I know that I do experience them in everyday life” “It’s not essential to know why it’s happening (referring to the green coloring of the statue of liberty)”


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Students’ responses were also found to be more pragmatic and not appreciative of scientific literacy.

“Solution chemistry is necessary to understand but I wouldn’t say it’s absolutely vital that we know it for everyday life”

“Umm… mainly because I think the average person really doesn’t need to know the basics of chemistry. They can get by in life.”

Participants were able to relate chemistry concepts in their lives mostly through food or cooking, household chemicals and sometimes natural (ocean, acid rain) or artificial (pharmaceuticals) phenomena.

“I don’t know if this sounds dumb, but just like cooking. Just like sugar and water. Just like stuff that you mix together in recipes and the order in which you do it.”

Science in general and chemistry in particular are not the primary teaching topics for these pre-service teachers. However, they are planning to teach science because of “standards” and also because students are more likely to ask questions about science and chemistry phenomena that they encounter in everyday life.

“I’m not really going to be able to get away from it (referring to standards)”

“I think teachers need to like know everything that they possible can because students are always asking just random questions and I think it’s important that you can answer them…”

“Only relevant to the fact that I’ll have to teach it. Well if it’s in the curriculum I can’t really say no. But, I have to teach it if they tell me to teach it.”

When asked how the participant will teach it if it is not in the curriculum, the participant replied with:

“If I don’t have to teach it and I don’t have time for it; I guess it wouldn’t be the first thing I’d throw in there if I did have time.”

The results indicate that when instructors and curriculum designers are designing pre-service elementary science courses, they should focus more of their time and attention on connecting the important concepts to “the real world.” More than one connection will most likely be needed as well as in class demonstrations and laboratories that illustrate where these concepts show up in our everyday lives. The importance of chemistry also needs to be reinforced and pre-service teachers need to be guided towards a greater appreciation and better understanding of chemistry. In this way, chemistry and science in general can be much more than just “a little added frill” (Schoeneberger and Russell, 1986, p. 519) in elementary classrooms.


Preliminary results suggest that pre-service elementary teachers felt that chemistry is only somewhat related or applicable to the real world and felt that most people (including some of the participants) do not need to understand basic chemistry and can get through life without it. Participants did believe that chemistry concepts were more relevant to their future occupation, but most would only teach chemistry concepts in their classes because of state standards. They also felt that chemistry or science in general would not receive the same time allotments as other more important subjects such as reading, writing and arithmetic.


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The results of this study will be valuable to future instructors of the course and may also potentially assist other universities with similar courses or even universities that would like to implement a course of this nature. These findings will allow instructors to reevaluate the course content and the manner in which it is taught. Alternate teaching strategies may be required along with additional time spent on problem areas where students are lacking the necessary connections between concepts, their occupation as teachers and the “real-world”. The knowledge gained in this study will also add to the science education literature on pre-service elementary teachers’ beliefs about basic chemistry concepts.

References

American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Benchmarks for Science Literacy: Project 2061. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Cobern, W. W., & Loving, C. C. (2002). Investigation of preservice elementary teachers’ thinking about science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(10), 1016-1031.

Crosby G. A. (1997). The necessary role of scientists in the education of elementary teachers. Journal of Chemical Education, 74(3), 271-272.

Hostettler, J. D. (1983). Introduction to the “real world” examples symposium. Journal of Chemical Education, 60(12), 1031-1032.

Kumar, D. D. & Morris, J. D. (2005). Predicting scientific understanding of prospective elementary teachers: Role of gender, education level, courses in science, and attitudes toward science and mathematics. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 14(4), 387-391.

Morrisey, J. T. (1981). An analysis of studies on changing the attitude of elementary student teachers toward science and science teaching. Science Education, 65, 157-177.

Nakhleh, M. B., Bunce, D. M. & Schwartz, A. T. (1995). Chemistry in Context: Student Opinions of a New Curriculum. Journal of College Science Teaching,, 25(3), 174-180.

Schoeneberger, M., & Russell, T. (1986). Elementary science as a little added frill: A report of two case studies. Science Education, 70, 519–538.

Stefanich, G. P., & Kelsey, K. W. (1989). Improving science attitudes of preservice elementary teachers. Science Education, 73, 187-194.

Stein, M., Larrabee, T. G., & Barman, C. R. (2008). A study of common beliefs and misconceptions in physical science. Journal of Elementary Science Education, 20(2), 1-11.

Stevens, C., & Wenner, G. (1996). Elementary preservice teachers’ knowledge and beliefs regarding science and mathematics. School Science and Mathematics, 96(1), 2-9.

Wallace, John. Louden, William. Science Teaching and Teachers' Knowledge: Prospects for Reform of Elementary Classrooms. [Journal Articles. Reports - Research] Science Education. v76 n5 p507-21 Sep 1992.

Watters, J. J., & Ginns, I. S. (2000). Developing motivation to teach elementary science: Effect of collaborative and authentic learning practices in preservice education. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 11, 301-321.

Weiss, I. R. (1978). Report of the 1977 National Survey of Science, Mathematics and Social Studies Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Weiss, I. R. (1994). A profile of science and mathematics education in the United States: 1993. A report for the national Science Foundation], Chapel Hill, NC: Horizon Research Inc.

Yimaz-Tuzun, O. (2008). Preservice elementary teachers’ beliefs about science teaching. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 19, 183-204.


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91

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF FIFTH GRADE PRIMARY AND PRE-SERVICE PRIMARY STUDENTS

ABOUT IMAGE AND IMAGE FORMATION IN PLAIN MIRRORS

Aysel Kocakülah Balıkesir Üniversitesi

Abstract

This study aims to reveal pre-service primary teachers’ and their target age group of fifth grade primary school students’ ideas about image and image formation in plain mirrors and to explore shifts in such ideas throughout teaching of the topic. The sample of the study was formed by randomly selected 203 fifth grade students of three primary schools and 148 sophomore pre-service primary teachers in Balıkesir. A conceptual understanding test, which consisted of open-ended questions, was administered before and after teaching during the data collection process. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four fifth grade students and six pre-service primary teachers after teaching. The results of the study showed that both student groups exhibited similar misconceptions in differentiating the real and virtual images on the ray diagrams drawn. The analysis results of the interviews showed that students struggled to draw the image of the object which was placed in front of the plane mirror and proposed interesting ideas about differentiating real and imaginary object. Moreover, it was found out that students confused the image formation with shadow formation or illumination phenomena. Finally, implications concerning teaching of the topic were drawn in the light of the results of this study.

Introduction

People can perceive the objects easily and quickly by seeing of which cannot be perceived by touching and tasting. Accordingly, it is inevitable that students come to the class with some experience and background knowledge as the phenomena of seeing and light are strongly related to everyday life. This fact has impelled the science educators to reveal the children’s alternative ideas concerning geometric optic. When studies about children’s conceptual understanding in the area of physics are reviewed, researchers have mostly focused on the topics of mechanics and electrics whereas the topics of heat and optics have paid little attention (Pfundt & Duit, 2005). Moreover, the studies based on the topic of optics are especially related to the concepts of light and vision and few studies have been conducted about image formation. These studies on image formation also consider older children (Goldberg & McDermott, 1987; Galili, 1996; Colin & Viennot, 2001; Tao, 2004; Andersson & Bach, 2005; Hubber, 2005) and teachers or pre-service teachers (Feher & Rice, 1987; Palacios, Cazorla & Cervantes, 1989; Lawrance & Pallrand; 2000).

The sample of this study consists of 12 year-old-primary school students and pre-service primary teachers who are chosen voluntarily and in the light of the purpose of the study. This study has two main aims. The first aim is to reveal the ideas of primary students and pre-service primary teachers about image formation in plain mirror. Secondly, it has been aimed to examine changes in the ideas of primary students and pre-service primary teachers before and after traditional teaching about image formation.


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Rationale

Studies about the conceptual understanding of students show that most of misconceptions emerge as a result of individuals’ interaction with their surroundings in effort to understand and to interpret the events occurring around themselves (Driver & Easley, 1978). It is therefore important to reveal the form of ideas of the children who come to each class with different experiences and conceptual frameworks before teaching in order to be able to arrange relevant teaching strategies in restructuring non-scientific ideas of the children. In addition, studies in the literature outline the fact that some misconceptions arise from the language used by teachers or textbooks during teaching of topics containing abstract concepts (Wandersee, Mintzes, & Novak, 1994). Hence, it is also important to reveal the conceptual understandings of pre or in-service teachers and their target group students who will be taught by them. In this sense, the forms of pre-service teachers’ and their target group students’ ideas relating to image formation were tried to be outlined and compared with each other in this study.

Methods

203 fifth grade students in three primary schools, which were randomly chosen within the primary schools in the city of Balıkesir, and 148 sophomore students, who were training to be teachers at primary teacher education department in the education faculty of Balıkesir University, participated in this study in the academic term of 2003-2004. Conceptual understanding tests and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The conceptual understanding tests, which involved six open-ended questions covering the conceptual areas of image and image formation in plain and spherical mirrors and image formation by lenses, was developed to be administered to the primary school and sophomore students.

The questions in conceptual understanding tests were identified in accordance with two basic criteria. The first one relates to the fact that questions correspond to the instructional curriculum applied to students and the second is whether the selected questions are suitable for the students’ level. Furthermore, question selection was also indirectly influenced and guided by the misconceptions revealed by relevant studies in the literature. The questions prepared by the researcher were administered as a first trial (pilot) study to a group of 45 prospective teachers and also to 38 primary students with the same characteristics as the sample groups. Following a few corrections on the questions, the students were interviewed about their clarity, preciseness, and understandability and the questions were revised and reorganized in accordance with the students’ suggestions. The questions were finalized by taking field experts’ opinions. The conceptual understanding test was applied before and after the traditional teaching of the topic.

Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were carried out with four fifth grade primary students and six sophomore primary teacher students to further probe their conceptual understandings. Data obtained from two conceptual understanding test questions, which were used both in the pre and post tests, and semi-structured interviews about the concepts of image and image formation in plain mirrors will be presented in the results. It has been reported that it is not appropriate to allocate the students’ response to predetermined response categories during coding due to the open-ended nature of the conceptual understanding test questions. Consequently, the response categories identified during the analysis of data were composed of students’ explanations given in response to the conceptual understanding test questions. Analysis of the test questions was performed by following two approaches. First, correct response to each question was determined (nomothetic) and secondly specific response categories to explanations given to the questions were allocated under suitable theme headings (idiographic) (Kocakülah, 1999).


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Results

Analysis results of responses given to the two questions related to the concepts of image and image formation in plane mirror by fifth grade primary students and pre-service primary teacher students show that the responses, which cannot be accepted scientifically, have a high percentage before teaching. In addition, primary school students reasoned more intuitive answers compared to pre-service students. Although the analysis of post test questions indicates that there is a certain increase in the percentage of scientifically acceptable responses of students in both groups, the increase in the percentage of fifth grade students’ responses in which image formation is confused with shadow formation or lighting, after teaching signals that these concepts are not clearly distinguished from each other during the formal teaching period and such a strategy causes confusion of the concepts. It has also been discovered that a group of both the primary grade five and pre-service students confuse these concepts in the post test. Moreover, semi-structured interviews conducted after teaching reveal that both sample group’s ideas contain many similar lines of arguments which cannot be accepted scientifically. Below are the sample interview transcripts reflecting ideas of a fifth grade primary school student and a pre-service primary teacher student about the properties of an image formed in a plane mirror.

Interviewer: What are the properties of the image?

Student 2: The image is reflected as it is; it is upright.

Interviewer: Is the image virtual or real?

Student 2: I think it is real.

Interviewer: Why is it real?

Student 2: Because we can see it as it is.

Interviewer: How would it look life it were virtual?

Interviewer: Then, it would look inverted.

Interviewer: How, can you explain?

Student 2: If it is inverted, it is virtual, but if we see it as it is; i.e. upright, then it is the real image.

In this interview, Student 2 stated that the image formed on a plane mirror is a real image and that a virtual image would look inverted and different from the object.

Interviewer: What are the properties of the image?

Student 8: The image has the same length as the object and its right part represents the left and its left part represents the right.

Interviewer: Is the image virtual or real?

Student 8: It is real on a plane mirror.

Interviewer: How can we differentiate a real image and a virtual image?

Student 8: It is real if we see it as upright and it is virtual if we see it inverted. Since it is upright here, then it is real.

Student 8, one of the students of pre-service primary teacher students, has the same ideas about the image forming on a plane mirror as those of the fifth grade primary student. Both students maintain that the image is real and virtual images will always be inverted. The following two quotations represent a similar case pointing out the common views held by fifth grade primary students and pre-service primary teacher students.


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Figure 3a. Representation of the formation of Figure 3b. Representation of the formation of an image in a plain mirror by Student 3. an image in a plain mirror by Student 7

Figure 3a presents a diagram drawn by a fifth grade primary student to explain image formation in a plane mirror. The student imagined the mirror just like a lens and expressed that rays are collected somewhere behind the mirror, as revealed by the following quotation. The student also stated that the forming image was on the mirror

Student 3: I will draw a mirror and an object. The rays will be collected at a point behind the mirror.

Interviewer: Where does the image form?

Student 3: On the mirror.

Interviewer: What kind of properties does this image have?

Student 3: It is upright, virtual.

Interviewer: Why is it virtual?

Student 3: It must be inverted in a real image, but I do not remember exactly.

The diagram drawn by Student 7 in 3b is in fact similar to that drawn by Student 3. The only difference is that Student 7 stated that refraction occurs in the plane mirror, as seen in the quotation below, which clearly shows that the student confused lenses with plane mirrors.

Interviewer: How does this image you see form in a plane mirror? Can you show it by drawing a ray diagram?

Student 7: (He draws a diagram) A ray passes through the mirror...

Interviewer: Why did you draw this ray in a curved manner?

Student 7: It passes by being refracted and an image forms where the rays intersect.

Interviewer: Does refraction occur?

Student 7: Yes.

Interviewer: What are the properties of this formed image?

Student 7: It is upright, symmetrical, and real.

Interviewer: Why?

Student 7: Because it is as it is. The image does not change; it is only rotated from right to left.

Student 7 stated that rays pass through the plane mirror by being refracted. Student 7 does not recognize that reflection occurs in a plane mirror. Moreover, he believes like Student 2 and Student 8 that the image formed is real, an idea which he explained by saying that the image is formed in the same way as the object. Yet, what he later said about the virtual image is highly interesting and deserves attention.


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Interviewer: If it were virtual, would it look different then?

Student 7: It would in dots.

Interviewer: What do you mean by in dots?

Student 7: I mean it would not be seen clearly.

Interviewer: Why is it real?

Student 7: Since the object is seen exactly as it is, the image formed is real.

About the virtual image, Student 7 believes that the image formed will appear in dots. In order to explain this situation, it is believed that the meanings of the terms “virtual” and “real” should be focused on. Given the lexical meaning and the place of the word “virtual” in colloquial language, it is observed that the word is used for cases “that are not real, imaginary, hypothetical and predictive.” In daily language, its uses in virtual card and virtual environment are also common. This gives to students the impression that virtual things are in fact entities of objects that cannot be seen or seen in as different from what they are. Therefore, they state that the image is real since no difference is observed in the image formed in a plane mirror. This is a phenomenon confused by most students.

Furthermore, another interesting point in Student 7’s explanation is his statement that the virtual image will be formed in dots. Since the parts behind the mirror in particular are drawn in geometrical optics in dotted lines, the student imagines that a similar image will be formed in reality. This result demonstrates that the instruction did not sufficiently underline the reason why such a representation was used.

The findings obtained both from the analysis of survey data and the interviews reveal a parallelism between the way the fifth grade primary students and prospective primary teachers think, even though there is a large age difference between these two groups. Students’ drawings concerning image formation in a plane mirror and the similar structures they used to explain virtual and real images are quite interesting and thought-provoking. For such ideas held after the instruction demonstrate that traditional instruction is actually not a very effective method to improve conceptual understanding. Furthermore, if one does not correct these similar misconceptions that are common among the prospective teachers and the age group that they will teach once they graduate, they might possibly transfer such misconceptions to many students throughout their professional lives, which make the correction of such misconceptions much more important.


The results gained from this study indicate that pre-service teachers in primary teacher education department and their target group, who were fifth grade students, have a large number of common misconceptions about image formation. They displayed similar misconceptions related to image formation on the ray diagrams, especially drawn to explain the difference between the virtual and real images. In addition, both student groups confused spherical mirrors with the plain mirrors in terms of the behaviour of the light rays and the image formed in the plain mirrors with the image formed by convex lenses in common. They mainly stated some common misunderstandings such as ‘a real image appears only if it can be seen, as can be an object’, ‘an image is real if it is formed upwards and an image is virtual if it is formed downwards’ and ‘a virtual image is the image that cannot be seen clearly’.

As image formation is the result of such ray events as reflection and refraction, it should be well debated in which conditions these events occur and should be verified by related experiments. The results of this study suggest that the students have severe difficulty drawing the images of related objects for a given optical system. Therefore, teachers should warn the students that drawings made do not mean copying the picture of experimental set up into a paper. In this respect, teachers should put every effort to be better grasped the concept of ‘light-ray’ by students. The students use the concept of virtual image as ‘the situations appear different than they are’. The word ‘virtual’ is often used as ‘not existing in reality’ or ‘not being like its reality’ also in everyday life. Therefore, the students consider that a virtual image cannot be seen. It is suggested that the term ‘only-visible’ can be used instead of


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‘virtual’ during teaching which may eliminate this kind of concept confusions. The research results show that pre-service primary teachers encounter learning difficulties on the conceptual area of image formation. So as to minimize students’ learning difficulties and remedy those misconceptions reported, lecturers in the faculties of education should review their teaching methods they use. The fact that these pre-service students will become primary school teachers teaching the concepts of image and image formation sooner or later should not be ignored. If pre-service teachers are graduated with awareness of the misconceptions that their target students may have, this may lead them to evaluate their teaching strategies and alert them to develop a better teaching approach which will be more beneficial to promote their students’ understanding of image and image formation. Therefore, there is a need for setting new university taught courses related to students’ conceptual understandings in teacher training programmes and graduating the students who are well equipped with contemporary teaching strategies and methods to be used for remedying the misconceptions reported.

References

Andersson, B., & Bach, F. (2005). On designing and evaluating teaching sequences taking geometrical optics as an example. Science Education, 89(2), 196-218.

Colin, P., & Viennot, L. (2001). Using two models in optics: Students’ difficulties and suggestions for teaching, American Journal of Physics, 69(7), 36-44.

Driver, R., & Easley, J. A. (1978). Pupils and paradigms: A review of literature related to concept development in adolescent science students. Studies in Science Education, 5, 61-84,

Feher, E., & Rice, K. (1987). A comparison of teacher-student conceptions in optics. In J. D. Novak (Ed). Proceedings of the Second International Seminar on Misconceptions and Educational Strategies in Science and Mathematics (Vol. II, pp.108-117). Ithaca, NY: Deparment of Education, Cornell University.

Galili, I. (1996). Students’ conceptual change in geometrical optics. International Journal of Science Education, 18(7), 847-868.

Goldberg, F. M., & McDermott, L. C. (1987). An investigation of student understanding of the real image formed by a converging lens or concave mirror. American Journal of Physics, 55(2), 108-119.

Hubber, P. (2005). Explorations of year 10 students’ conceptual change during instruction, Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, 6(1), Article 1.

Kocakülah, M. S. (1999). A study of the development of Turkish first year university students’ understanding of electromagnetism and the implications for instruction. Unpublished EdD. thesis, University of Leeds, School of Education, Leeds, United Kingdom.

Lawrance, M., & Pallrand, G. (2000). A case study of the effectiveness of teacher experience in the use of explanation-based assessment in high school physics, School Science and Mathematics, 100(1), 36-47.

Palacios, F. J. P., Cazorla, F. N., & Cervantes, A. (1989). Misconceptions on geometric optics and their association with relevant educational variables. International Journal of Science Education, 11(3), 273-286.

Pfundt, H., & Duit, R. (2005). Bibliography: Students' alternative frameworks and science education. Kiel, Germany: Institute for Science Education at the University of Kiel.

Tao, P. K. (2004). Developing understanding of image formation by lenses through collaborative learning mediated by multimedia computer-assisted learning programs. International Journal of Science Education, 26(10), 1171-1197.

Wandersee, J., Mintzes, J. J. & Novak, J. D. (1994). Research on Alternative Conceptions in Science. In Gabel, D. L. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning. Broadway, NY: Macmillan Library Referance.


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THE COMPARISON OF CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TEACHER CANDIDATES IN TERMS OF PHYSICS CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY DISCIPLINES

Hasan Özcan Aksaray University

Mustafa Sabri Kocakülah Balıkesir University

Abstract

This study aims to compare the conceptual understandings of the candidates for the profession of science and technology teaching, which is segregated as physics, chemistry and biology in the higher education grade, about these segregated disciplines. For this aim, the data collection instruments used in this research were developed on the basis of energy subjects including equivalent number of questions covering all these three disciplines. The data analysed by qualitative analysis method was also exposed to a quantitative analysis and evaluation as making a comparison was aimed at. The evaluation results were expounded through comparative tables.

Introduction

The science course which was a part of the primary science curriculum was replaced by science and technology course as a result of the radical and fractional transition process undergone in 2004 education programme. This movement of change and transformation, which was put into practice with the introduction of the programme aiming to train science teachers for primary schools in many universities as a result of the reconstruction process of university education in the 1998-1999 education years, also brought about many renovations in terms of philosophical basis. When the curriculum of primary education department examined, it is salient to find out that there is an equivalent incidence among the distributions and intensities point of view, ensuring an equal distribution of teacher candidates’ interest towards the courses constituting science; physics, chemistry and biology and having the candidate teachers equipped with equal knowledge about these courses can be defined as the main aims of the programme. If so, to which extent can this phenomenon be applicable? The belief that the distribution of interest in such equal terms is not possible ta achieve comes first to the mind. This research aims to prove that this belief which is ranked in the core of the research can be made perceptible. While these aims were put forward by the researchers, the concept of energy, which is an interdisciplinary concept inherent in science and technology course, was defined as the main component of the research.

The concept of energy is not only cited in physics, chemistry and biology but is also cited in the fields of engineering and mathematics due to its interdisciplinary character. Besides its interdisciplinary character, the concept of energy can be interpreted in respect of its complexity compared to the other concepts, in that it is so abstract when the matter is the storage of solar energy in the incident of photosynthesis and it is clear enough to be understood by simple observations when the matter is the operating of a turbine by converting the potential energy should be handled with a privileged approach on the basis of education. Teachers, who are responsible for education, are assigned with important roles. The sample of the study was chosen randomly among the candidate


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science and technology teachers and the physics, chemistry and biology trivets of the concepts of energy were particularly consulted.

The Importance of the Study

When the related literature was reviewed, there were found many studies on the problems of the teachers who were graduated from different subjects (physics, chemistry, biology) and are still in the profession of teaching and their attitudes towards the science and technology course (Özcan and Kocakülah, 2007; Özcan and Kocakülah, 2007; Akpınar, Unal and Ergin, 2004; Özcan, Tekin and Pekdağ, 2006). However we were unable to find any similar study on the subject which constitutes the main axis of this study and enables the comparison of science topics on the basis of disciplines it covers.

Aim of the Study

This study aims to identify how the candidate science and technology teachers situate the concept of energy in the disciplines of physics, chemistry and biology and the compare their conceptual understandings.

Method

This study involves 301 candidate teachers of primary science and technology course who got education in the primary science educational department of education faculty. As the data collection instrument, a conceptual understanding test consisting of three questions, each about the disciplines of physics, chemistry and biology relatively, was developed in accordance with the teaching programme on the basis of the subjects of energy. During the development of the questions in the test, science education experts’ views and the support of the literature were sought in order to ensure that the questions chosen for each discipline are equal in terms of their difficulty level. The conceptual understanding test which mostly consisted of open-ended questions was appraised via context analysis and the responses to the questions were categorized in to three main groups as scientifically acceptable answers, the scientifically accepted but partial answers and the scientifically unacceptable answers. These categories were also consisted of particular sub-categories corresponding with a hierarchical order itself. Additionally, as a context analysis was conducted in the first stage, the level of each answer was ranked in itself (A1, A2, A3, etc). The answers given in response to questions by the students were distributed among these levels. The opportunity to compare each discipline both with other disciplines and within itself was attained with the help of this approach.

Findings and Comments

The tables at the answers of the candidate science and technology teachers, who formed the sample of the study in the conceptual understanding test consisting of questions in the disciplines of physics, chemistry and biology is presented under the categories of “scientifically acceptable answers”, “scientifically acceptable but partial answers” and “scientifically unacceptable answers“. The percentages of the answers are presented in separate sums according to the categories in the tables. Owing to this way, the comparison of disciplines according to their answers percentages becomes possible.


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Table 1. The Scientifically Acceptable Answers

Physics Chemistry Biology

Level N % Level N % Level N %

A1 16 5.32 A 78 25.91 A 78 25.91

A2 32 10.63

A3 18 5.98

A4 6 1.99

Total 72 23.92 Total 78 25.91 Total 78 25.91

As can be seen in Table 1, the candidate science and technology teachers gave % 25.91 scientifically acceptable answers to the disciplines of chemistry and biology and % 23.92 scientifically acceptable answers to the discipline of physics in the conceptual understanding test concerning the concepts of energy.

Table 2. The Scientifically Acceptable But Partial Answers

Physics Chemistry Biology


B1 104 34.55 B1 40 13.29 B1 87 28.90

B2 22 7.31 B2 44 14.61 B2 52 17.28

B3 84 27.91


On the other hand, when these three disciplines are compared in terms of scientically accepted but partial

answers, they are listed as % 55.82 for chemistry, % 46.18 for biology and % 41.86 for physics. When it is taken into consideration that each level of B1, B2 and B3 involves separate partial responses there is no difference among the value of answers chemistry appears to be most successful discipline.

Table 3. The Scientifically Unacceptable Answers

Physics Physics Physics


C1 91 30.22 C1 3 0.99 C1 21 6.98

C2 5 1.67 C2 2 0.66 C2 5 1.67

C3 7 2.33 C3 22 7.31

C4 2 0.66 C4 13 4.32

C5 15 4.97 C5 7 2.33

C6 4 1.33

C7 11 3.65

Uncodeable 5 1.67 Uncodeable 7 2.33 Uncodeable 9 2,99

No Response 2 0.66 No Response 4 1.33 No Response 7 1.99


When the answers of the candidate teachers are studied in terms of scientifically unacceptable answers (Table 3), the disciplines are ranked as % 34.22 for physics and % 18.26 for chemistry and % 27.91 for biology.


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Results and Suggestions

When a broad evaluation is carried out with the data gathered in terms of science and technology teachers are most successful appears to be biology, the second disciplines in which they are also successful appears to be chemistry and the disciplines. In which they are least successful appears to be appears to be pyysics. When the Table 1 and Table 2 are examined closely, it is observed that while the achievement ratio of the sample is approximate to chemistry and biology the low achievement ratio of physics is astounding.

The course of science and technology ranks among the crucial courses as it is the course in which an individual becomes acquainted with science and the nature for the first time and it constitutes the basis of knowledge which will be required in secondary school and university accompanying with its role as preparative for the life in primary school. How to teach are as much important as what the course and context are. Here the institutions that train teachers and teachers who are in charge of their personal improvement are assigned with the most crucial responsibility. Candidate teachers should end their education having comprehended each discipline of science in maximal and being ready for instruction. As in this research, the extent to which the conceptual comprehension the disciplines should be appraised both qualitatively and quantitatively according to the results of the studies conducted via different methods and techniques. Through this way, a new designation in the education pragramme can be created and an opportunity for expanding the individual interest can be attained.

References

Özcan, H., & Kocakülah, M. S. (2007). İlköğretim 8. sınıf öğrencilerinin enerji kavramına ilişkin bilişsel yapıları. Eğitimde Yeni Yönelimler-IV: Yapılandırmacılık ve Öğretmen Sempozyumu, Özel Tevfik Fikret Okullari, 17 October, Ankara.

Özcan, H., & Kocakülah, M. S. (2007). Fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının enerji kavramına yükledikleri anlamlar. Türk Fizik Derneği 24. Uluslararası Fizik Kongresi, 28-31 August, 2007, Malatya, Turkey.

Akpınar, E., Ünal, G., & Ergin, Ö. (2004). Farklı alanlardan mezun fen bilgisi öğretmenlerinin fen öğretimine yönelik görüşleri. Milli Eğitim Dergisi, 168, 202-212.

Özcan, H., Tekin, G., & Pekdağ, B. (2006). Branşın fen ve teknoloji öğretimine etkisi. VII. Ulusal Fen Bilimleri ve Matematik Eğitimi Kongresi, 7-9 Eylül, Ankara.


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A MODEL OF TEACHER PREPARATION AIMED AT FAVOURING

THE DIFFUSION OF RESEARCH-BASED TEACHING PRACTICE

Ugo Besson, Lidia Borghi, Anna De Ambrosis & Paolo Mascheretti University of Pavia - Italy

Abstract

Despite the number of research results and proposals, physics learning of secondary school students remains often unsatisfactory and science teaching maintains some characteristics considered ineffective by research. To challenge this situation, we have elaborated and tested a model of teacher preparation aimed at favouring the diffusion in schools of innovative teaching practice. The model is focused on analysis and discussion of research-based teaching learning sequences developed by our group and involves three steps. In the first one, a research-based teaching learning sequence is proposed to teachers: they follow the same path designed for secondary school students, but they are guided to reflect both on the content and on the didactical aspects. Then each teacher prepares a teaching plan for a specific teaching situation and implements it in class. Finally she/he produces a report on his/her work in classroom and discusses it with the whole working group. We have experimented modules concerning different physics topics. As an example, we summarize our module on hydrostatics and the results obtained. We found that the module leads teachers to reconsider the science content, jointly with the teaching approach, and that their personal reconstruction of the topic in a didactical perspective produces a motivation to introduce innovation in their teaching.

Introduction

Eleven years ago a book edited by the ICPE (International Committee on Physics Education of IUPAP) wrote: “Despite the results of research in science education and the innovative teaching proposals available in the literature, physics learning of secondary school students remains often unsatisfactory and science teaching maintains some traditional characteristics that research has proved to be ineffective” (Pessoa and Gil-Perez 1998).

We think that the present situation could be improved by changing the teachers’ initial and in-service preparation because teachers are the necessary link between research-based innovative proposals and their effective implementation in the classroom. In recent years, a great deal of research has focused on the teacher's role as a transformer of the educational intentions of programs and researchers (Pinto 2005, Hirn & Viennot 2000) and on the design of teacher training projects and experiences (Psillos et al 2005, Eylon & Bagno 2006).

Andersson et al. (2005) argue that researchers and teachers should work together to design and assess teaching sequences. According to Tytler (2005), training programs concentrated in a short single period are ineffective in promoting changes in teaching practice: training needs to last a long time and to be inserted into a real school context to embed new ideas into a teacher’s personal experience.

Moreover, studies have been carried out on the problem of disseminating teaching sequences, developed and tested in a research environment, in the actual school context on a large scale (Leach & Scott 2002).


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In our group, we think that the science learning of secondary school students could be improved by changing the teachers’ initial preparation and in-service training. Our hypothesis is that the quality of teaching can be successfully improved by helping teachers:

to revisit their view of the scientific content they teach on the basis of research results in physics education to implement research based Teaching Learning Sequences (TLSs) in secondary school.

At this purpose it is important that teachers feel a need for restructuring their own view of each topic in the teaching perspective. This process of restructuration, which should be sustained with appropriate training activities and materials, includes a reflection on one’s personal understanding of physics and on pupils’ learning processes.

The context of our study is the initial and in-service preparation of Italian physics teachers.

From initial tests, questionnaires, exams, worksheets, discussions in workshops we got evidence that student teachers have an unsatisfactory understanding of basic phenomena with doubts and problems not resolved in their previous studies and a difficulty to apply general laws and rules to real-world physical situations. Perhaps these limitations are not an obstacle for students who will become professional physicists or engineers because they will have the chance to go in depth into particular aspects or specific topics of physics, but they may create serious difficulties to future teachers.

Rationale and Methods

To overcome these difficulties and to fill the gap between research and school practice, we have developed modules for teacher preparation (MTP) focused on the analysis, discussion and implementation of research-based teaching learning sequences prepared by our group. The modules have been tested in initial and in-service teacher preparation. They involve the following steps:

a) Presentation of a research-based teaching sequence: teachers follow the same path designed for secondary school students, but they are guided to reflect on the content, on the cognitive concatenation of the path, on pupils’ conceptions and difficulties, and on communication means and models useful in teaching (developing their PCK on the topic).

b) Teaching plan. The teachers prepare a teaching plan for a specific class situation, adapting the proposed TLS.

c) Implementation in classroom. Teachers implement the adapted TLS in class during their teaching practice in school.

d) Report and group discussion. Each teacher writes a report on her/his teaching plan and her/his work in the classroom, and discusses it within the group.

The aim is that teachers become able: to develop a stable and rich pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) on some specific topics, including a critical reflexion on the scientific content, the learning processes involved, the pupils’ conceptions and difficulties, the communication means and models useful in teaching.

to connect their PCK with the teaching practice, reflecting on the relationships between research projects, teaching plan and actual work in class, including the various constraints and unexpected difficulties typical in schools, and the means for surmounting them.

The TLSs are the result of a research work based on our “three-dimensional approach” to the design of TLSs, comprising (figure 1):

critical analysis of the scientific content, considering also its historical development and its practical applications; analysis of the research results on pupils’ conceptions and on TLSs on the topic; overview of the usual treatments of the subject in textbooks and common teaching practice together with

preliminary testing of materials with small groups of students and teachers.


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To facilitate the diffusion in a real school context and to try to bridge the gap between research and practice, TLSs have an open structure, with a distinction between a core of contents, conceptual correlations and methodological choices, which we consider essential for the rationale of the proposal, and a cloud of elements that can be re-designed, omitted or added by the teachers. We think that this core-clouds structure can be useful both to facilitate teacher’ changes and to control them. Teachers’ work can give a useful feedback not only to test the effectiveness and weakness points of the TLS, but also to enrich it with new elements. Some documents were given to teachers to illustrate the aims and features of the TLS.

Figure 1. Our “three-dimensional approach” to the design of a TLS.

The TLSs we use have a common approach that aims to:

• underline continuity between perceptions and formalization processes, • find coherence between general physical laws and explanations of specific simple phenomena, • favour a qualitative understanding, • encourage to express and to discuss doubts and misunderstandings.

As for the use of models, when possible, we try to propose some physical structural models, which aim to account not only for how the system behaves, but also for how and of what the system is made, and for which causal processes and mechanisms can produce the observed phenomena. Such models have an explanatory function and are cognitively fertile, since they promote reasoning, interpretations and predictions and stimulate research on entities and processes which are presumed to exist within the material system. The incompleteness of the models is discussed, together with the degree to which they fit physical reality, i.e. their similarity to material elements and mechanisms that do really exist.

We have experimented, in particular, modules concerning fluids, friction, electrostatics, interaction between radiation and matter and greenhouse effect (Borghi et al 2003 and 2007, Besson et al 2007 and 2009). As example, in the next sections we will summarize the teaching path proposed in the MTP on hydrostatics and give some results concerning its experimentation.

The teaching path proposed in the MTP on hydrostatics

As an example, we summarize the teaching path proposed in the MTP on hydrostatics. Usual presentations of hydrostatics in Italian high-school textbooks are essentially descriptive, introduce the

concept of pressure by using examples related to solids and often neglect to relate among them the laws and concepts introduced, such as Archimedes’ principle, hydrostatic pressure, dependence of pressure on the depth inside a liquid, Pascal’s principle. This approach does not help students understand the idea of pressure inside a liquid and differentiate between the concept of pressure and that of force; as a consequence, the students’ learning difficulties described in the literature are not addressed.


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Our proposal suggests a conceptual path based on the analysis of the fundamental properties of a liquid which follows the steps briefly described below:

a) Introductory experiments and observations. b) Construction of a model of liquid to interpret the observed phenomena. c) Use of animation to develop the model and to introduce the concept of pressure. d) Experiments and animation to study the effect of gravity on liquids.

a) Introductory experiments and observations

Phenomenological aspects such as fluidity, weight and interaction between air and liquid are focused. At this purpose simple experimental activities are proposed, aimed at promoting students’ observations and discussion on the behaviour of liquids (figure 2).

Figure 2. Introductory experiments on fluids. For example, by using a sealed syringe and a little open vial it is possible to observe the contraction of the air

bubble in the vial due to a force exerted on the plunger and discuss the role of the liquid in transmitting forces. It is stressed that the force on the surface of the air bubble due to the water can have a direction different of that of the force applied to the plunger.

Discussion of the experiments carried out by the teachers is accompanied by a reflection on common students’ difficulties and conceptions as reported in the literature (Besson 2004, Engel & Driver 1985, Kariotoglou & Psillos 1993, Loverude et al 2003).

b) Construction of a model of liquid to interpret the observed phenomena

A model is proposed both by means of real objects and of animation. In its most simple configuration the model consists of a small number of rigid disks in contact. As can be seen in the figures, when a disk is pushed in a given direction, it exerts forces on the other disks in different directions. If the disks are confined they exert forces on the walls. The model is then enriched by considering a larger and larger number of rigid spheres in contact (lead pellets) in a disordered configuration. Despite its simplicity, the model evokes the idea of fluidity and suggests why a liquid in a container exerts forces perpendicular to the walls, when subjected to external forces. Even if incomplete (and its incompleteness is discussed with teachers), this kind of models can lead to richer explanations and suggest new questions and inquiries. Our hypothesis is that physical, analogical models, involving visual representations and stimulating intuition, can help students build mental models of phenomena, improving their understanding and preparing successive abstractions.


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Figure 5. Animation in the hypertext.

Figure 3. Vial with air bubble in a syringe

c) Use of animation to develop the model and to introduce the concept of pressure

A multimedia hypertext, prepared by our group, guides students towards a progressive construction of a stable understanding and allows them following different paths according to their personal needs and choices (see http://fisicavolta.unipv.it/didattica/idrostatica/index2.html).

Animations lead to enrich the initial model of liquid, introduce formal elements, and define pressure as a scalar parameter. By considering a larger number of spheres in a disordered configuration, a uniform distribution of the

Figure 4 Model of liquid


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Figure 6. How pressure increases with depth.

forces on the walls of the container is obtained. Animations are used also to visualize forces inside the liquid and to define the pressure as the quantity that describes the compression state of the liquid (fig. 5). Animation represents only two-dimension images, but an extension to three-dimensional systems is considered in a discussion with the students to explain the forces exerted by a liquid against the container walls. Pascal’s principle is introduced to formalize the behavior of a liquid when forces on its surface are applied. The consideration of Pascal’s principle is also essential to understand the behavior of a liquid under the action of gravity and to prevent the pitfalls of hydrostatic paradoxes. Students use the hypertext by working in group, they explore autonomously its different parts, answer questions and solve the proposed exercises, while the teacher gives information, helps students, plays a role of guide and tutoring. Teachers are led to reflect on conceptual doubts and difficulties, different possible cognitive paths and common misunderstandings.

d) Experiments and animation to study the effect of gravity on liquids

Initial observations on the behaviour of liquids are reconsidered and enriched with more quantitative experiments to show how pressure increases with depth as a consequence of gravity, according to Stevin’s law. Measurements show that the force (thus the pressure) is proportional to the depth of the disk inside the liquid (fig. 6).

Then experiments on buoyant force are proposed, aimed to help students understand how the Archimedes’

principle is strictly correlated to the increase of pressure with depth, due to gravity. This point is critical because the link between Archimedes’ upthrust and the forces due to the pressure is commonly not considered or not well understood by students. Applets in the hypertext integrate the experimental activities by presenting some crucial aspects of the effects of gravity in order to gradually formalize them by means of Stevin’s law and Pascal’s and Archimedes’ principles.

Some critical problems are discussed with student teachers to encourage them to deepen their understanding and to suggest possible ways for helping students surmount misconceptions and difficulties.

For example, the question: “Is floating possible in a volume of water smaller then the submerged volume of the body?” is proposed. A simple experiment helps to give an answer (fig. 7). While the difference of level H between the liquid surface and the bottom of the floating body is always the same, the quantity of liquid ensuring floating diminishes with the volume of the container. One of the typical comments of teachers were “It is enough a thin vertical layer of water to support the glass!”. By carrying out and discussing this experiment, student teachers recognize the importance of explaining buoyancy by means of the gradient of pressure in the liquid due to gravity. It is focused how the reference to the displaced liquid in the usual formulation of Archimedes' principle is not general (is true when the volume of the vessel is much greater than that of the submerged body) and can be misleading.


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Figure 7. Floating in a little volume of water

Results

Data for the evaluation of the MTPs include: answers to tests, worksheets filled in by the teachers during the working sessions, reports on the experiments, doubts and comments expressed by the teachers, teaching plans, and reports on the work in classroom.

We present here only few results concerning some typical aspects of the science teacher competence: Recognizing the complexity of explanation of simple actual experiences Making connections between different content areas Revisiting and deepening other correlated topics Adapting the research products for the use in classroom Promoting diffusion in schools of research products

Complexity of explanation of simple actual experiences

Interpreting even the simplest experiment requires an extended view of a content area and the ability to stress prevalent aspects on which to focus the attention. For example, how do we explain why water stops flowing through a little hole on the wall of a plastic bottle when the bottle is sealed? In this condition, it is necessary to take into account not only the hydrostatic pressure but also the roles of the air inside the bottle, of atmospheric pressure and of the surface tension, and to correlate all these aspects in order to explain the equilibrium condition.

Connections between different content areas

The analysis of the concept of pressure has led teachers to reconsider the behaviour of extended systems. To this aim, the concept of tension in a rope or in a spring is compared to that of pressure in fluids. It is interesting to see that in their teaching practice some of the student teachers developed this point, according to the age and interests of their students.

Revisiting and deepening other correlated topics

Most of the teachers considered useful the proposed model of liquid in interpreting macroscopic properties and, generally, expressed the need of exploring it in more detail. This led to study the mechanics of a system made of a number of rigid spheres, to develop new experiments and to stress the role of models in guiding inquiry. For example, one of the student teachers asked "Our model explains how the ratio between the force acting on a surface and the area of the surface is the same everywhere on the walls of the container but it does not explain the relationship between the force acting on the piston and the force acting on the walls of the container. In a liquid the


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Figure 8. Forces in a solid system

force acting on the walls can be greater than the force on the piston: the liquid can transmit and amplify forces. How can our system of solid and rigid spheres amplify forces?" In discussing this question, the attention was focussed on the role of walls in determining the direction and the value of the forces, according to the model. Simple examples like the one presented in figure 8 were discussed, to recognize how in a solid system forces can be amplified.

Adapting the research products for the use in classroom

Concerning the implementation of the sequence in classroom, we observed that, even if teachers use the same tools, such as our multimedia hypertext and experimental devices, they adapt their intervention both to the class situation and to students’ reactions. Changes were introduced to overcome didactical problems, ensuring the continuity of the sequence with the previously covered program, and to solve practical constraints connected to the availability of materials necessary for the experiments. Nevertheless, in most cases teachers kept coherence with the rationale of the proposal and its innovative aspects, which were explicitly described during the training activity. As an example, an excerpt of a student teacher’s report is shown in Appendix.

It is worth to stress that the analysis and discussion of the material prepared by the student teachers for their teaching practice have given a significant chance to consider again the physics content, jointly with the teaching approach.

Diffusion of research products

A number of teachers continue to use in school and enrich the sequences they have experimented within the modules for teacher preparation.

Another positive feedback is that other teachers in the school where the sequences were experimented showed interest in the sequence and expressed the intention of introducing similar activities in their classrooms. In this way a slow, informal diffusion of research products takes place.


Our experience shows that to favour the diffusion in school of research-based innovative teaching proposals it is essential that teachers:

analyze and discuss research-based materials, compare them with their usual approach, based on this work, prepare teaching plans, implement them in schools, report the results obtained. The experience has shown the effectiveness of the open source structure (core-clouds) of the TLS to facilitate

the reproducibility in a real classroom context. The teachers have changed and adapted the sequence while maintaining a good coherence with our goals and the rationale of our approach as described to them.


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Many observations and quotations indicate that teachers felt personal interest to better and differently understand the topic and that this led to personal engagement to change traditional presentations by introducing the new acquisitions into their teaching. Moreover, analysis and discussion of the materials prepared by the teachers led them to reconsider the science content, jointly with their teaching approach. This reconstruction of the topic in a didactical perspective appeared essential in producing in the teachers a personal motivation to change their teaching.

A number of in-service teachers of the involved schools decided to implement in their classrooms activities based on the material developed in our modules, thus starting an informal diffusion in school of research products.

We think that a large scale implementation of the proposed model of teacher education could contribute to improve the quality of science learning in secondary school.

References

Andersson, B., Bach F., Hagman, M., Olander, C. & Wallin, A. (2005). Discussing a research programme for the improvement of science teaching. In K. Boersma et al (Eds.) Research and the Quality of Science Education (pp. 221-230). Dordrecht NL, Springer.

Besson U. (2004) Students' conceptions of fluids. International Journal of Science Education, 26 (14), 1683-1714.

Besson U., Borghi L., De Ambrosis A., Mascheretti P. (2007) How to teach friction: Experiments and models. American Journal of Physics, 75, 1106-1113.

Besson U., Borghi L., De Ambrosis A., Mascheretti P. (2009) A three-dimensional approach and open source structure for the design and experimentation of teaching learning sequences: the case of friction, International Journal of Science Education, DOI: 10.1080/09500690903023350.

Borghi L., De Ambrosis A., Mascheretti P. (2003) Developing relevant teaching strategies during in-service training. Physics Education, 38 (1), 41-46.

Borghi L., De Ambrosis A., Mascheretti P. (2007) Microscopic models for bridging electrostatics and currents, Physics Education, 42, 146-155.

Eylon B-S. and Bagno E. (2006). Research-design model for professional development of teachers: Designing lessons with physics education research. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 2, 020106, 1-14.

Hirn C. &Viennot L. (2000) Transformation of Didactic Intention by Teachers: the case of Geometrical Optics in Grade 8 in France. Int. J. Sci. Ed., 22 (4), 357-384.

Leach, J. & Scott, P. (2002). Designing and evaluating science teaching sequences: an approach drawing upon the concept of learning demand and a social constructivist perspective on learning. Studies in Science Education, 38, 115-142.

Loverude M.E, Kautz C.H., Heron P.R.L. (2003) Helping students develop an understanding of Archimedes’ principle. I. Research on student understanding. American Journal of Physics 71 (11), 1178-1187.

Pessoa de Carvalho A.M. & Gil-Perez D. (1998) Physics Teacher Training: Analysis and Proposals. In A. Tiberghien, E.L. Jossem, and J. Barojas (Eds): Connecting Research in Physics Education with Teacher Education, IUPAP - ICPE Publications: Ohio. http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~jossem/ICPE/BOOKS.html. (Chap. D4).

Pinto, R. (2005). Introducing Curriculum Innovations in Science: Identifying Teachers’ Transformations and the Design of Related Teacher Education. Science Education, 89, 1-12.

Psillos, D., Spyrtou, A. & Kariotoglou, P. (2005). Science teacher education: issues and proposals. In K. Boersma et al (Eds.) Research and the Quality of Science Education (pp. 119-128). Dordrecht, Springer.

Tytler R. (2005) School Innovation in Science: change, culture, complexity. In Boersma K. et al (Eds.) Research and the Quality of Science Education, Dordrecht: Springer, pp.89-106.


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Appendix. Excerpt of a student teacher’s report on one of the lessons she designed and implemented with 15-year-old pupils.

WORKING PLAN

By means of simple experiments and questions students are guided to observe the behaviour of fluids (liquids and gases) and their characteristics. Liquids and their actions on the container are then studied and, based of the idea of transmission of forces, what happens inside a liquid is considered. At this stage the concept of pressure is not used.

ACTIVITY 1

MATERIALS QUESTIONS ACTIVITIES WHAT SHOULD BE LEARNED DURATION

A syringe A) What differences do you notice between the behaviour of a sealed syringe full of water and a sealed syringe full of air?

B) Make a prediction of what will happen when the syringe is opened?

C) Make a prediction of what will happen if little holes are drilled on the syringe surface.

A) Students make observations and register on their logbook

B) They are asked to draw the direction of the water jets

C) They make a prediction. Then they carry out the experiment and compare their prediction with the results

Compressibility of gases and practical non compressibility of liquids.

Transmission of forces in the liquid.

2 hours

IMPLEMENTATION

I prepared in the laboratory syringes of different diameters, glasses with water and I asked the students the questions above reported. Students recognize without difficulties that water is not compressible, while air is compressible: A student (P) noticed that “A syringe full of air behaves like a spring. Air is compressible because it is elastic like a spring, while water behaves like the desk. The desk pressed by a hand does not get crushed: it is not elastic”

Another discussion started when the students tried to fill with water a syringe with the piston positioned at half of its length. A student (B) predicted that water could not enter because “there is an air pocket inside”. At this point another student (L) made the following demonstration: after closing the hole of the syringe, he pushed the piston down and then released it: the piston came back to the initial position. L’s conclusion was: “there is air inside the syringe. It was initially compressed and then it expanded causing the motion of the piston”. Then he pushed the piston down with the syringe left open, closed the hole and tried to pull the piston up. He noticed that he had to make a strong force to move the piston. All the students wanted to try and were surprised by the results.

B expressed the conviction that even if half of the syringe contains air, it can be partially filled with water. But in this condition it is impossible to push the water out.

I invited her to check her prediction by pushing on the piston. P and L described what was happening: ”B’s hand makes force on the piston, this in turn presses the air and air presses water making it flow out”. They shared the idea that force is transmitted by the air. At the end I asked students to write on their logbook what impressed them more in the class-work. P wrote

about transmission of forces, D mentioned the compressibility of gases and non compressibility of liquids… others the beauty of being able to squirt water on the roof.


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WHY DO WE NEED TO KNOW THIS? – CONNECTING CHEMISTRY

CONCEPTS TO DAILY LIFE EVENTS

Ayşe Yalçın Çelik Gazi Univeristy

Ayla Çetin-Dindar Selçuk Üniversitesi

Oktay Bektaş Erciyes University

Abstract

It is a very familiar question to any level science teacher when they are posed “Why do we need to know this?”. Students are usually more relaxed and motivated when they are told that why they are learning concepts or how that concepts are related to their lives. Furthermore, students who are applying learned knowledge in other situations in order to make decisions in daily life events reveal that meaningful understanding. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify whether first grade undergraduate chemistry education students can link daily life events with chemistry. The participants were six first grade undergraduate chemistry education students enrolled in the course of Basic Chemistry Laboratory at a university in Ankara. Semi-structured interviews were conducted whether the participants make connections between chemistry concepts and daily life events. Based on the results, it can be said that even though students know the scientific explanation of the questions, they could not relate these scientific facts to the real life applications. It is crucial to link daily life events with what students learn in classroom. Then, it will be more meaningful for students when they recognize that why they need to learn about chemistry or science.

Introduction

Teachers in science classrooms at any level often come across with the same question “Why do we need to know this?”. Students are usually more relaxed and motivated when they are told that why they are learning concepts or how that concepts are related to their lives. In fact, one of the important goals in science education is to educate scientific literate individuals in decision making and critical thinking about how science and technology influence society. The other goal is to provide the application of scientific knowledge in explaining daily life events.

Students have difficulties in identifying scientific issues, explaining phenomena scientifically, or using scientific evidence because their ideas do not evolve as fast as the instruction is done. The introduction of scientific issues is not always meaningful to students if they do not have sufficient experience with the preexisting knowledge since students already have ideas about how the natural world works. It is reported in studies that students may hold alternative conceptions because of unexpected contradictions between textbooks or instruction and daily life events (Canpolat, Pinarbasi, Bayrakceken, & Geban, 2004; Lin, Chiu, & Liang, 2004; Osborne & Freyberg, 1985). When instruction do not emphasize that the science at school and students’ real life are not different from each other, various alternative conceptions can often hold by students since students may develop two unconnected knowledge systems related to science.


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Studies in chemistry education reveal that students have difficulties in explaining daily life events considering scientific knowledge (Cetin-Dindar, Boz, Aydin, Bektas, & Aydemir, 2008; Özmen, 2003; Pinarbasi & Canpolat, 2003). When students are posed to daily life based questions, it is generally hard for them to explain the reason behind the events even though they give the correct answers to scientific ones (Ben-Zvi & Gai, 1994). For example, when students are asked the explanation of a daily life question like; although carbonated mineral water is good for upset stomach, it is not helpful in excessive drinking. Their incorrect answers can be like: “stomach has acidic environment and works in specific pH. If pH level is not appropriate, carbonated mineral water does not effect to upset stomach”, “some chemicals in carbonated mineral water act as a catalyst in a reaction between foods and stomach juices; therefore, carbonated mineral water is good for upset stomach because the reaction goes faster” or “suffering from upset stomach means there is excess in acid level in stomach, carbonated mineral water is drunk to neutralize this acidity” (Ozmen, 2004). The students’ incorrect answers reveal their misunderstandings in chemistry concepts and the students did not relate their knowledge to a real life issue.

Students often memorize scientific issues to get high grades; unfortunately, after a while it is common to realize that they forget the scientific knowledge they have learnt since they could not conceptualize scientific thinking and internalize that scientific knowledge into their daily life events. This may because science curriculums, teachers or science books do not really link scientific knowledge in explaining daily life events. However, when science courses are linked to daily life events, this also increases students’ motivation to learn science (Shen, 1993). Because students are more motivated while investigating how everyday events work. However, there are not many studies in the literature which report how students relate the science at school to daily life events (Ozmen, 2003). Therefore, this study aims to investigate students’ understanding about how they link chemical questions to real life experiences. In this study, real life experiences or daily life events refer to the experiences students have outside the school.

Rationale

In order to educate scientifically literate individuals, it is important to educate scientifically literate teachers. Taking chemistry courses should change students’ point of view to their daily life and understand the impact of chemistry on society, in order words; they should look at boiling water, dissolving sugar in water, salt crystals, and fishes in a sea in a different way. For instance, they should know that adding table salt into water increases its boiling point, how acid rains occur and understand that how everything-the air they breathe, the pencil they write, and even their own body-is composed of atoms. Students who are applying learned knowledge in other situations in order to make decisions in daily life events reveal that meaningful understanding and realize the world around them. However, there are limited studies which report the linkage between daily life events and chemistry concepts not only in university level but also in high school level. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify whether first grade undergraduate chemistry education students can link daily life events with chemistry concepts.

Research Questions

1. Do first grade undergraduate chemistry education students make connections between daily life events and chemistry concepts?

2. Do students who have enough knowledge about chemistry concepts link real life experienced questions to chemistry concepts?


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Methods

The method part is consists of three sections, participants, interview questions, and data analysis parts.

Participants

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with six first grade undergraduate chemistry education students (4 female and 2 male) enrolled in the course of Basic Chemistry Laboratory at a university in Ankara. These students who were volunteered to be interviewed were selected according to their academic achievement (2 lower achiever students, 2 middle achiever students, and 2 higher achiever students). These students theoretically took basic chemistry, basic biology, and basic physics courses while they studied this laboratory session.

Interview Questions

Each interview was done individually and volunteer students were chosen. During the interviews, students were posed questions to explain how they relate daily life events considering chemistry concepts. The questions covered solubility, evaporation and vapor pressure concepts in chemistry. The reason of choosing theses subjects are; firstly, students are very familiar to these subjects since middle school level science courses and secondly these subjects are very common in real life experiences; for example, the students can read news about decompression sickness or watch documentaries about fish lives, etc. Additionally, related literature was searched and interview questions were constructed.

Students were asked questions like:

• When scuba divers come out to surface suddenly, there is death risk. Can you explain why? (Q1)

• It is better for fishes to live in cold water than hot water. Can you explain why? (Q2)

• While water boils at 1000C at the sea level, as altitude increases, let’s say at the Agri Mountain (The highest mountain in the Turkey), water boils at lower temperatures. Can you explain why? (Q3)

Probe Questions

When the students had difficulties in answering these questions, they were posed the probe questions like;

• How does pressure affect on the solubility of gases? How could you relate the solubility of gases with the death risk of scuba divers?

• How does temperature affect on solubility of gases? How could you relate the solubility of gases with the life of fishes in water?

• How is the boiling point affected by altitude? How can you relate altitude changing in boiling process?

Data Analysis

In order to analyze the data, recorded interviews were transcribed and based on these transcriptions coding was made. The coding of each transcription was done individually by each researcher and inconsistencies in coding parts were discussed. After constructing the coding part, in order to analyze daily life based questions categories were arranged. There were three categories, which were correct answers with explanation, correct answer without explanation, and incorrect answers.


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Results

Semi-structured interviews were analyzed by each researcher individually. Based on these analyses the categories were formed and participants’ responses were tallied (Table 1).

Table 1. Categories related to students’ responses Questions Correct Answers

with Explanation Correct Answers without Explanation

Incorrect Answers

After Probe Questions

Correct Answers to Probe Questions

Incorrect Answers to Probe Questions

Q1 S4 S1, S2, S3, S5, S6

S1, S5, S6 S2, S3

Q2 S4, S5 S2, S6 S1, S3 S1, S3 Q3 S5 S6 S1, S2, S3, S4 S2, S3, S4 S1

Q: Question, S: Student

It can be seen in Table 1 that the participants have difficulties in explaining the questions which they are asked about daily life events. The first question was the most challenging for them to explain. They were first posed questions, if they could not give any answer to that question and then the probe questions were asked. Only one participant gave the correct answer to the first question, which was the solubility of gases is affected by pressure although she could not explain why there is death risk for scuba divers when they come out to surface suddenly. The other five participants did not give any reasonable explanations to the question. Then, the probe questions were asked to them how pressure affects on the solubility of gases. Three students answered that pressure affects the solubility of gases and as pressure increases, solubility increases. However, they still could not relate the solubility of gases with the death risk of scuba divers. The other two who answered the question incorrectly could not respond to the probe questions, either.

The second question was less challenging for them to explain. Two participants gave the correct answers with correct explanations that the solubility of gases is affected by temperature; as temperature decreases the gases are more soluble and because fishes need oxygen for living, it is better for them to live in cold water because of having more soluble oxygen. The other two participants gave the correct answer that temperature affects solubility; however, they could not explain that how this is related to fishes’ living. The probe questions were asked to the students who gave incorrect answers; however, they could not answer the questions.

The third question was challenging for participants, too. Only one participant gave the correct answer with correct explanation. The other one only gave the correct answer that the boiling point is affected by altitude because of the pressure differences; however she could not explain how pressure causes this changing in boiling point. The rest of them responded incorrectly and probe questions were posed. The three of them respond correctly to the question about how the boiling point is affected by altitude; however, they could not explain altitude changing in boiling process correctly. One student who was also asked the probe question could not respond correctly how the boiling point is affected by altitude.

Some examples can be given like; one of the participants gave the following explanation for the second question:

R (Researcher): It is better for fishes to live in cold water than hot water. Can you explain why?

P (Participant): Because there is much oxygen in cold water.

R: Why?

P: Because gases are more soluble in cold water and fish can pull oxygen from water via gills.


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The participant took places in the first category which was ‘the correct answer with explanation’ since she answered the question correctly and gave the expected explanation. The other student gave the following explanation for the same question:

R: It is better for fishes to live in cold water than hot water. Can you explain why?

P: Because there is much air in cold water.

R: Why?

P: I don’t know.

This participant took place in the second category which was ‘the correct answer without explanation’ since the response was partly correct. The student could not give the explanation of why there is much air in cold water. In order to investigate whether the student know the scientific explanation of this daily life question probe questions were posed and the following explanation was given by the same participant:

R: How does temperature affect on solubility of gases?

P: If temperature increases, solubility of gases decreases.

R: How could you relate the solubility of gases with the life of fishes in water?

P: I think about aquariums and sea; if they were hot, there would not be many fishes.

R: How can you infer this thought?

P: … (no answer)

The student knew the scientific explanation of the question that solubility of gases decreases if temperature increases. However, he could not relate this knowledge to the life of fishes. For the third category example, another student gave the following explanation for the same question:

R: It is better for fishes to live in cold water than hot water. Can you explain why?

P: Because some minerals can be lost in hot water.

R: Can you relate this fact with oxygen?

P: … (no answer)

This student took place in the third category which was ‘incorrect answers’ since the answer was unrelated to the question. Although the student gave the incorrect answer, it was investigated that whether the participant knew the correct scientific explanation about the solubility of gases. After posing the probe questions, the following explanation was given by the same student:

R: How does temperature affect on solubility of gases?

P: The solubility of gases is related to temperature.

R: Can you explain how?

P: I am not sure.

R: Can you relate the solubility of gases with the life of fishes in water?

P: I don’t know.

Based on this explanation, the participant took place in the category labeled as ‘incorrect answers to probe questions’. Then, it could be inferred that this student not only have difficulties in making connections to real life experiences but she also did not know the scientific explanations of the question.


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In the light of results obtained, it can be concluded that students have difficulties in making connections between scientific knowledge and daily life events. Posing daily life based questions to undergraduate first grade chemistry education students implied that even student know the scientific explanations of chemistry concepts, they could not relate these knowledge to real-life experiences. For example, the first solubility question about decompression sickness was the most challenging for the students since five students out of six gave incorrect answer to this question. Three students out of five gave correct answers to probe questions, which means although students knew the correct answers of the scientific explanations could not make connections between scientific ones and daily life events.

This study reveals that most first grade undergraduate chemistry education students cannot make connections to daily life events. Based on the results, it can be said that even though students know the scientific explanation of the questions, they could not relate these scientific facts to the real life applications. When the students are directly asked the scientific explanations, most of them can give the correct explanations; however, when the same subject integrated with daily life event is asked, it is more challenging for them to answer. It is crucial to link daily life events with what students learn in classroom. Then, it will be more meaningful for students when they recognize that why they need to learn about chemistry or science. Therefore, daily life events should be integrated to both teacher education programs and science curriculums. Because chemistry is in everywhere, many kinds of investigations which are familiar to students from everyday life can be conducted in classrooms. These investigations can be done via inquiry learning, hands-on activities, etc.; inquiry skills and conceptual understanding can also be developed as well (Ashbrook, 2006; Banchi & Bell, 2008; Ben-Zvi & Gai, 1994; Gabel, 2003).

In order to make the instructions more meaningful, we suggest implying more inquiry-based daily life integrated activities into classrooms and make students see the connections between real life experiences and chemistry or science concepts. These integrated activities can help students constructing the scientific phenomena more meaningfully while exploring how science is integrated to daily life events. Therefore, students can be provided opportunities to realize that how science at school is related to their daily life and how the scientific knowledge is integrated in real life situations.

In addition, in terms of teachers, teachers should make the students understand how chemistry affects their lives and understanding the world will enrich their lives; for example, students can understand why some materials are dangerous to the environment or to human life and why others are not. Therefore, teachers’ role should be to help students connecting what they already know with new information encountered in the classroom. Consequently, students can realize that there are applications of science outside the textbook and they can be more motivated to learn science by working with realistic situations.


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References

Ashbrook, P. (2006). The matter of melting. Science and Children, 43 (4), 19-20.

Banchi, H. & Bell, R. (2008). The many levels of inquiry. Science and Children, 46 (2), 26-29

Ben-Zvi, N. & Gai, R. (1994). Macro- and micro- chemical comprehension of real-world phenomena. Journal of Chemical Education, 71 (9), 730-732.

Canpolat, N., Pinarbasi, T., Bayrakceken, S., & Geben, O. (2004). Kimyadaki bazı yanlış kavramalar [Some Common Misconceptions in Chemistry]. GÜ, Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 24 (1), 135-146.

Cetin-Dindar, A., Boz, Y., Aydin, S., Bektas, O., & Aydemir, N. (2008, July). How do pre-service chemistry teachers link chemistry to daily life? Paper presented at the meeting of the European Conference on Research in Chemical Education (ECRICE), Istanbul, Turkiye.

Gabel, D. (2003). Enhancing the conceptual understanding of science. Educational Horizons, 81 (2), 70-76.

Lin, J. W., Chiu, M. H., & Liang, J. C., (2004, April). Exploring mental models and causes of students’ misconceptions in acids and bases. Paper presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Vancouver, Canada.

Osborne, R., & Freyberg, P. (1985). Learning in science: The implications of children’s science. Auckland, New Zealand: Heinemann Education.

Özmen, H. (2003). Kimya öğretmen adaylarının asit ve baz kavramlarıyla ilgili bilgilerini günlük olaylarla ilişkilendirebilme düzeyleri [The relatedness level of pre-service chemistry teachers’ acid and base concepts into daily life events]. Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 11 (2), 317–324.

Pinarbasi, T. & Canpolat, N. (2003). Students’ understanding of solution chemistry concepts. Journal of Chemical Education, 80 (11), 1328-1332.

Shen, K. (1993). Happy chemical education. Journal of Chemical Education, 70, 816-818.


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THE TURKISH ADAPTATION OF THE SCIENCE MOTIVATION

QUESTIONNAIRE

Ayla Çetin-Dindar Selçuk University

Ömer Geban Middle East Technical University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to create a laboratory environment in which students could behave like scientists. This study is an adaptation of the Science Motivation Questionnaire developed by Glynn and Koballa (2006) into Turkish and reports validity and reliability of the study. The sample was 669 university students from two universities in Turkey. The data collected from two universities was analyzed and similar factor structures were found as in the original questionnaire. Based on the principal component analysis six dimensions which were intrinsically motivated science learning, extrinsically motivated science learning, confidence in learning science, relevance of learning science to personal goals, anxiety about science assessment, and self-determination for learning science were found out. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability was found to be 0.880. This questionnaire aims to determine university students’ motivation to learn science. When the positive effect of motivation on learning science and achievement is thought, it is important to determine students’ motivation; therefore, the motivational constructs can be investigated and activities which improve motivation to learn science can be developed. Additionally, possible gender differences on motivation to learn science were analyzed to identify whether there is discrepancy between females and males score on motivation to learn science.

Introduction

Linus Pauling said, “Chemistry is wonderful. I feel sorry for people who don’t know anything about chemistry. They are missing an important source of happiness” (Gaither & Cavasos-Gaither, 2002, pp.118). In fact, making students feeling this way should be the goal of chemistry or science courses since realizing the importance of science courses will increase students’ motivation to learn since motivation has positive effect on achievement (Singh, Granville, & Dika, 2002).

According to Pintrich & Schunk (2002), motivation can be defined as “the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained” (pp.5). Motivation has effects on initiation or duration of behaviors. The studies on motivation report that the students learning outcomes are positively correlated to their motivation to learn (Zusho, Pintrich, & Coppalo, 2003; Jacobsen, Eggen, & Kauchak, 2002; Pintrich, Marx, & Boyle, 1993). For that reason, curriculum developers and teachers should consider the importance of motivation to learn. Studies in the literature also reported that students are more intrinsically motivated when teachers increase students’ interests and relevance in a motivational designed course (Singh, Granville, & Dika, 2002; Entwistle 1986). Additionally, these studies suggest active learning environments for students and in order to increase students’ motivation, motivational tools to be developed. For assessing students’ motivation to learn science a questionnaire can be used. In order to evaluate students’ motivation to learn science the Science Motivation Questionnaire was developed by Glynn and Koballa (2006). However, there are not many studies on motivation to learn science in our country. The reason of


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this may be is that there is not a reliable and valid questionnaire which measures students’ motivation to learn science. The aim of the study was to adapt the Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) into Turkish.

Furthermore, there are some studies which report there are gender differences in motivation in science (Britner & Pajares, 2001; Debacker & Nelson, 2000; Meece & Jones, 1996; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Hence, this study also aims to examine whether there are gender differences in motivation to learn science.

Research questions of this study were as follows:

1. Is Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) reliable to use into Turkish culture to assess university students’ motivation to learn science?

2. Do females and males differ in terms of overall motivation to learn science?

3. Are females more motivated than males in terms of intrinsically motivated science learning, extrinsically motivated science learning, relevance of learning science to personal goals, responsibility for learning science, confidence in learning science, and anxiety about science assessment?

Rationale

Constructing a motivational environment in class is important for meaningful science learning although it is challenging to do so. When the positive effect of motivation on learning science and achievement is thought, it is crucial to determine students’ motivation; therefore, the motivational constructs can be investigated and activities which improve students’ motivation to learn science can be developed. For this reason, assessing students’ motivation to learn science takes an important role and; therefore, the main purpose of the study was to adapt SMQ to the Turkish cultural context and to identify the factorial structure. The SMQ aims to assess university students’ motivation to learn science. Additionally, gender related differences in motivation to learn science were analyzed in order to identify whether there is discrepancy between females and males score on motivation.

Methods

The methods section consists of three parts which are instrument, translation, sample, and data analysis.

Instrument

The SMQ (see the original questionnaire in the Appendix) consist of 30 items on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The response categories were “never”, “rarely”, “sometimes”, “usually”, and “always”. The components of questionnaire are intrinsically motivated science learning (labeled as intrinsic), extrinsically motivated science learning (extrinsic), relevance of learning science to personal goals (relevance), responsibility (self-determination) for learning science (responsibility), confidence (self-efficacy) in learning science (confidence), and anxiety about science assessment (anxiety). The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient is 0.93, which means that at least 93% of the total score variance is due to true score variance.

Translation

The initial translation of the SMQ was done by Filyet Aslı Ersöz into Turkish (Ersoz). In terms of validity, the translation process was again carried out by the researchers. Addition to researchers, two more independent bilingual researchers translated the original questionnaire into Turkish, allowing divergent interpretation of items with ambiguous meaning in the original questionnaire. Every translation was done individually and then the inconsistencies were compared. Afterwards, the translated questionnaire was back translated into English by another two researchers who have no knowledge of the questionnaire in order to check the consistency with the translated questionnaire and the original one. The purpose was to find out whether there is any ambiguity in the items and also


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conceptual and cultural equivalence was aimed. Afterwards, the Turkish version of the questionnaire was reviewed. Additionally for the final stage of the adaptation and in order to check the face and content validity, the translated questionnaire was administered to 10 university students. Based on the feedbacks, the questionnaire was revised and minor changes were made with consensus; and a final version of the translated SMQ was formed. Lastly, the final version of the questionnaire was administered to 669 university students.

Sample

The sample of this study was 669 university students from two different universities in Turkey. The study was conducted with 314 female students and 348 male students, seven students did not report their gender. 89.39% of the sample was freshman students, 9.27% was second year university students, and the rest 1.34% of sample was senior students. The questionnaire was administered during their science courses and lasted approximately fifteen minutes.

Data Analysis

The data collected from university students analyzed via SPSS 13.0 for Windows. Students’ response were tallied according to their response (for example; never=1 or always=5). The anxiety about science assessment items were reverse coded items; therefore, the items consisting the anxiety about science assessment component were recoded (for example; if a student’s response is 1, it is tallied as a 5.). The maximum score is 150 and the minimum score is 30.

The reliability of the SMQ was analyzed by internal consistency which is assessed via Cronbach’s alpha. For educational studies, the suggested alpha value is at least .70 and preferably higher (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2003, pp. 168).

Results

The SMQ items were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.913, expressing the suitability of data for factor analysis, exceed the recommended value of 0.6 (Field, 2000). Additionally, Barlett’s Test of Sphericity reach statistical significance supporting the factorability of the correlation

matrix ( 2χ =7593.427, df = 435, 0.000). The PCA revealed six components exceeding eigen-values 1, which were 8.621, 3.253, 1.893, 1.263, 1.172, and 1.067, respectively.

Considering the meaning the of items the components were labeled as intrinsically motivated science learning (6 items), anxiety about science assessment (4 items), confidence in science learning (6 items), relevance for learning science to personal goal (5 items), extrinsically motivated science learning (6 items), and responsibility for learning science (3 items), respectfully (for factor loadings for each component see Table 1).

The reliability coefficient for the full questionnaire estimated by Cronbach’s alpha was 0.880, indicating high internal consistency and the Spearman-Brown reliability coefficient was found to be 0.895. The each component’s Cronbach’s alpha reliability was 0.809, 0.717, 0.776, 0.816, 0.492, and 0.399, respectively (Table 2).

The six factors explained a total of 57.563% of the variance, with component intrinsic contributing 28.735%, component anxiety contributing 10.844%, component confidence contributing 6.309%, component relevance contributing 4.211%, component extrinsic contributing 3.908%, and component responsibility contributing 3.556% (Table 2).


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Table 1. Factor loadings for each component. Items Factor 1

(Intrinsic) Factor 2 (Anxiety)

Factor 3 (Confidence)

Factor 4 (Relevance)

Factor 5 (Extrinsic)

Factor 6 (Responsibility)

Item 1 .675 Item 22 .632 Item 16 .623 Item 2 .497 Item 5 .482 Item 23 .405 Item 4 .871 Item 6 .865 Item 18 .315 .549 .344 Item 13 .545 -.473 Item 28 -.784 Item 29 -.712 Item 24 -.664 Item 21 -.628 Item 26 -.428 Item 19 .394 -.428 Item 17 .876 Item 10 .829 Item 11 .746 Item 27 .691 Item 25 .329 .359 Item 3 .761 Item 12 .752 Item 7 .673 Item 30 .491 Item 14 .383 -.471 Item 15 .400 Item 20 .701 Item 8 .363 -.490 Item 9 .331 -.471 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Oblimin with Kaiser Normalization. Note. Only loadings above .3 are displayed.

Table 2. Factor analysis scores for each component.

Eigen Values Variance explained

Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha)

Components Intrinsic 8.621 28.735% 0.809 Anxiety 3.253 10.844% 0.717 Confidence 1.893 6.309% 0.776 Relevance 1.263 4.211% 0.816 Extrinsic 1.172 3.908% 0.492 Responsibility 1.067 3.556% 0.399

Total variance explained 57.563% Cronbach’s alpha 0.88


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In order to detect possible gender differences on motivation to learn science independent t test and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were applied. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the total motivation scores for males and females. There was no statistically significant difference in total motivation scores for females ( 78.14,51.102 == SDM ), and males

[ 633.,478.)481(;45.15,85.101 ==== ptSDM ]. The six dimensions were determined in the science motivation questionnaire; in order to analyze whether there were gender differences in these dimensions multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted. Because these six dimensions theoretically and practically were correlated to each other (intrinsic, anxiety, confidence, relevance, extrinsic, and responsibility), MANOVA analysis was conducted via SPSS 13.0 for Windows. In terms of assumptions, MANOVA assumes that the correlation and variances among the dependent variables is the same across cells of the design and Box’s test of equality of covariance matrices was not significant ( 628.<p ); therefore, the assumption was not violated. On the other hand, the Levene’s test examines only variance for individual dependent variables, which were all not significant for six dependent variables (intrinsically motivated science learning )465.( <p , anxiety about science

assessment )733.( <p , confidence in science learning scores )828.( <p , relevance for learning science to

personal goal )120.( <p , extrinsically motivated science learning )189.( <p , and responsibility for learning

science )143.( <p ). It was seen that there was no statistically significant violation for each variable, suggesting reliability of F tests. Based on the results, there was statistically significant main effect for gender

)103.,000.,062.9,897.'( 2)483,6( =<== ηλ partialpFWilks . Because the Wilks' lambda is the most common

statistics, which is also recommended statistics by Tabachnick and Fidell (2001) was used to interpret for each effect. Although statistically significant difference was found between female and male university students in terms of their overall motivation to learn science, the effect size of this difference was weak as indicated by partial eta-squared = .103. In order to reduce the chance of a Type 1 error, a Bonferroni adjustment was applied, which is dividing alpha level .05 by the number of analysis. In this study, because of having six dependent variables, .05 was divided by six and an adjusted alpha level was .0083 (for mean scores for each dependent variable see Table 3). Univariate between-subjects tests showed that anxiety about science assessment was significantly and weakly related to gender favoring male participants ( 000.,79.26)481,1( == pF , partial eta-squared = .053) and extrinsically motivated

science learning favoring female participants ( 000.,30.12)481,1( == pF , partial eta-squared = .025), but not to relevance for learning science to personal goal (p<.027; partial eta-squared = .01), intrinsically motivated science learning (p<.115; partial eta-squared = .005), confidence in science learning scores (p<.093; partial eta-squared = .006), or responsibility for learning science (p<.051; partial eta-squared = .008).

Table 3. Mean scores for each dependent variable. Dependent variable Gender Mean Intrinsic Female 21.40

Male 20.75 Anxiety Female 10.34

Male 11.93 Confidence Female 19.20

Male 19.87 Relevance Female 17.52

Male 16.70 Extrinsic Female 23.81

Male 22.73 Responsibility Female 10.24

Male 9.87


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In the light of these results, it can be said that there are statistically significant gender differences on anxiety about science assessment and extrinsically motivated science learning. Both female and male university students are moderate (from “sometimes to often”) anxious about science assessment because of having means of 10.34 for females and 11.93 for males. Studies on anxiety show that female students are generally more anxious in learning science (Akbas & Kan, 2007; Mallow, 2006; Mallow, 1994). Similar to these studies, in this study it was found that female university students feel more anxious about science assessment than male university students. Effect size of this difference was small, partial eta square was just .051, which means that gender by itself accounted for only 5.1% of the overall variance. Another dimension which gave statistically significance gender difference was extrinsically motivated science learning in favor of female university students (mean was 23.81) as opposed to male university students (mean was 22.73), effectiveness percentage by gender was small 1.1. In fact, male university students are moderate (from “sometimes to often”) extrinsically motivated science learning as well, but not as high as female university students. In other words, female university students need more extrinsic motivators to be motivated to learn science than male university students. The other components confidence in science learning, relevance for learning science, responsibility for learning science and intrinsically motivated science learning were not statistically significant in terms of gender. In other words, there was no difference between female and male university students in taking responsibilities for learning science, having confidence in science learning, relevance for learning science to personal goals, or in their intrinsic motivation to learn science.

The interpretation of the questionnaire was consistent with previous research on the SMQ with six components, which are theoretically and statistically justified (Glynn & Koballa, 2006; Glynn, Taasoobshirazi, & Brickman, 2007). These components are intrinsically motivated science learning, anxiety about science assessment, confidence in learning science, relevance of learning science to personal goals, extrinsically motivated science learning, and responsibility for learning science. The each component’s Cronbach’s alpha reliability was 0.809, 0.717, 0.776, 0.816, 0.492, and 0.399, respectively. However, the last two subcomponents’ reliability value was not met, possibly because of the decreasing number of items. The Cronbach’s alpha (α=0.880) and Spearman-Brown reliability (r= 0.895) for the full motivation science questionnaire was acceptable (recommended Cronbach’s alpha value should be greater than 0.70). The Turkish version of the SMQ’s internal consistency (α=0.880) is just a bit smaller than the English version of the questionnaire’s internal consistency (α=0.93). Based on these findings, it can be interpreted that the adaptation of this questionnaire is successful because of showing satisfactory reliability and validity results and is appropriate to use SMQ in the Turkish culture to assess students’ motivation to learn science. Additionally, the similar versions of this questionnaire could be adapted to the other disciplines like chemistry, physics, or biology.

In addition to reliability and validity studies, possible gender differences on motivation to learn science were aimed to be searched. As considering the total motivation scores for female and male university students, no statistically significant difference was found. Female university students’ mean score was 102.51 and males’ mean score was 101.85, which expressed moderate motivation (sometimes to often) to learn science. However, when each component was analyzed, statistically significant differences were found in terms of gender. Anxiety about science assessment and extrinsically motivated science learning scores were found statistically different in terms of gender; which means that considering these components female and male university students’ anxiety and extrinsic scores are different from each other. In other words, this gender differences imply that female and male university students are not similar in terms of anxiety about science assessment and extrinsically motivated science learning. On the other hand, as gender differences were analyzed on responsibility for learning science scores, no significant difference was found; which means that female and male university students’ responsibility for learning science do not differ. The similar results were found for the other components which were intrinsically motivated science learning, confidence in learning science, and relevance for learning science. The data results for these components imply that there was no gender difference considering these components, either. Even though, there was no


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statistically significant difference was found between female and male university students in terms of intrinsically motivated science learning, both female and male students were moderate intrinsically motivated in science learning (21.40 for females and 20.75 for males out of 30). Both female and male university students had moderate confidence in learning science (19.20 for females and 19.87 for males out of 30), moderate relevance for learning science to their personal goals (17.52 for females and 16.70 for males out of 25), and moderate responsibility in learning science (10.24 for females and 9.87 for males out of 15).

The results imply that some significant changes need to be made to higher education program considering students’ motivation in order to get improvement in students’ motivation to learn science. While teaching science, it is crucial to pay attention to female and male students needs. Studies on science anxiety illustrate that female students are generally more anxious about science and science assessment. Science anxiety reducing techniques should be investigated in order to reduce female students’ science anxiety. Male university students feel more confident about their ability to succeed in a field of science compared to female university students. In order to increase female students’ self-efficacy related techniques should be investigated or developed. Female students are more motivated to learn science when they realize that science is relevant to their personal goals. Therefore, the idea of “science is useful” should be stated via, for example, real life events. Although there was statistically significant difference in extrinsically motivated science learning between female and male university students, the effect size was small (it was just .011). However, the mean score of female students were 23.55 and the mean score of male students were 22.87 (out of 30) for extrinsically motivated science learning. Both these means were relatively high, which means that both female and male university students were more motivated when there were extrinsic motivators like awards, grades, etc. though it is usually recommended that not to use extrinsic motivators all the time while teaching. Students can be either, for sure, intrinsically motivated or extrinsically motivated because both motivations can exist within students at different levels (Vallerand, 2002). Therefore, both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated activities are suggested to apply into science teaching. Consequently, if motivational activities are taken into consideration, we would have motivated teachers for teaching science and then also motivated students to learn science.

References

Akbas, A. & Kan, A. (2007). Affective factors that influence chemistry achievement (Motivation and Anxiety) and the power of these factors to predict chemistry achievement-II. Journal of Turkish Science Education, 4 (1), 10-19.

Britner, S. L. & Pajares, F. (2001). Self-efficacy beliefs, motivation, race, and gender in middle school science. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 7, 271-285.

Debacker, T. K. & Nelson, R. M. (2000). Motivation to Learn Science: Differences Related to Gender, Class Type, and Ability. The Journal of Educational Research, 93 (4), 245-54.

Entwistle, N. (1986, April). Approaches to learning in higher education: Effects of motivation and perceptions of the learning environment. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

Ersoz, F. A. Science Motivation Questionnaire [Fen Bilimleri Motivasyon Anketi]. Retreived November 9, 2007, from http://www.coe.uga.edu/smq/turkish.pdf

Field, A. (2000). Discovering statistics using SPSS for Windows. London: Sage Publications.

Fraenkel, J. R. & Wallen, N. E. (2003). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York, NY: the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.


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Gaither, C. G. & Cavasos-Gaither, A. E. (2002). Chemically speaking: A dictionary of quotations. Bristol: Institute of Physics.

Glynn, S. M. & Koballa, T. R., Jr., (2006). Motivation to learn science. In Joel J. Mintzes and William H. Leonard (Eds.) Handbook of College Science Teaching (pp. 25-32). Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association Press.

Glynn, S. M., Taasoobshirazi, G. & Brickman, P. (2007). Nonscience majors learning science: A theoretical model of motivation. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44 (8), 1088-1107.

Jacobsen, D.A., Eggen, P., & Kauchak, D. (2002). Methods for Teaching, Promoting Student Learning (Sixth Ed.). New Jersey: Meririll Prentice Hall.

Joreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (1993). LISREL8 User’s Reference Guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International, Inc.

Mallow, J. (2006). Science Anxiety: Research and Action. In Joel J. Mintzes and William H. Leonard (Eds.) Handbook of college science teaching (pp.3-14). Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association Press.

Mallow, J. (1994). Gender-related science anxiety: a first binational study. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 3 (4), 227-238.

Meece, J. L. & Jones, M. G. (1996). Gender differences in motivation and strategy use in science: Are girls rote learners? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(4), 393-406.

Pintrich, P. & Schunk, D. (2002). Motivation in Education: Theory, Research & Applications (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc..

Pintrich, P. R., Marx, R. W., & Boyle, R. A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual change: The role of motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual change. Review of Educational Research, 63(2), 167-199.

Singh, K., Granville, M., & Dika, S. (2002). Mathematics and science achievement: Effects of motivation, interest, and academic engagement. The Journal of Educational Research, 95 (6), 323-332.

Tabachnick B. G. & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using Multivariate Statistics (4th ed.).Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Vallerand, R. J. (2002). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: a hierarchical model. In Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan. Handbook of self-determination research (37-63). Rochester, NY: the University of Rochester Press.

Zusho A., Pintrich P. R. & Coppalo, B. (2003). Skill and will: the role of motivation and cognition in the learning of college chemistry. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1081-1094.


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Appendix – Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ)

01. I enjoy learning the science.

02. The science I learn relates to my personal goals.

03. I like to do better than the other students on the science tests.

04. I am nervous about how I will do on the science tests.

05. If I am having trouble learning the science, I try to figure out why.

06. I become anxious when it is time to take a science test.

07. Earning a good science grade is important to me.

08. I put enough effort into learning the science.

09. I use strategies that ensure I learn the science well.

10. I think about how learning the science can help me get a good job.

11. I think about how the science I learn will be helpful to me.

12. I expect to do as well as or better than other students in the science course.

13. I worry about failing the science tests.

14. I am concerned that the other students are better in science.

15. I think about how my science grade will affect my overall grade point average.

16. The science I learn is more important to me than the grade I receive.

17. I think about how learning the science can help my career.

18. I hate taking the science tests.

19. I think about how I will use the science I learn.

20. It is my fault, if I do not understand the science.

21. I am confident I will do well on the science labs and projects.

22. I find learning the science interesting.

23. The science I learn is relevant to my life.

24. I believe I can master the knowledge and skills in the science course.

25. The science I learn has practical value for me.

26. I prepare well for the science tests and labs.

27. I like science that challenges me.

28. I am confident I will do well on the science tests.

29. I believe I can earn a grade of “A” in the science course.

30. Understanding the science gives me a sense of accomplishment.


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HOW PRACTISING TEACHERS AND TEACHERS IN TRAINING VALUE

KEY IDEAS ABOUT SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

Susana García-Barros & Cristina Martínez-Losada

A Coruña University (Spain)

Rut Jiménez-Liso Almería University (Spain)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to look into the way 72 practising teachers and teachers in training value certain key ideas about sexual reproduction, and it does so by focusing on the last two years of Spanish Primary School and the first two years of Spanish Secondary School, i.e. ages 10-14. The data are gathered by means of a closed survey and are analysed not only globally, but individually as well, establishing valuation types. Our analysis shows that the participants give a great deal of importance to the different key ideas about sexual reproduction, although they set greater store by the descriptive aspects than by the interpretative ones, especially practising teachers, but some teachers in training as well. Introduction

The work of teaching about the reproduction of living beings is characterised by its descriptiveness and also by relating different concepts to each other poorly (Knippels et al., 2005). On the other hand, the Spanish schoolbook texts pertaining to the last two years of Primary School and the first two years of Secondary School, i.e. ages 10-14, usually omit interpretative aspects that are particularly important in terms of understanding the natural environment, such as the influence of sexual reproduction on the diversity within populations or the influence of this diversity on the survival of individuals in a changing environment (García-Barros and Martínez Losada, 2007). Moreover, pupils have at their disposal inadequate ideas about these aspects (Wood-Robinson, 1994). Overcoming these problems requires knowledge about how teachers value the interpretative aspects connected with sexual reproduction, because teacher training needs to take the reflections of practising teachers (Mellado 2003; Da Silva et al. 2007) and teachers in training (Hewson, 1999) on such ideas into account in order to promote an adequate professional development.

Based on what comes to light in this paper, the aim of our research work is to learn and analyse what educational value practising teachers and teachers in training give to the descriptive and interpretative aspects related to the sexual reproduction of living beings.

Rationale

The reproduction is one of the living beings’ vital functions. In schools it may be studied along with the other vital functions, what allows the pupils to develop an appropriate model of living beings, constantly interacted with its environment. The functions of living beings may be studied according to three dimensions that are related to


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each other: a) the living being as an organism: b) the living being in connection with the ecosystem and c) the living being in connections with the anatomical and functional units –cells– what it is constituted of and allow it to work (García Rovira, 2005). This is in line with the recommendation that the biological contents have to be studied at different levels of organization (Andersson & Wallin, 2006) and it is also in line with the conception of science that may direct the 'scholar science'. In schools, the students have to learn how to use theories to explain the phenomena of the world (Izquierdo, 2005). In this way, the facts, data and phenomena are interpreted using theoretical models gradually more complex and appropriate from the scientific point of view (Sanmartí, 2002).

On the other hand, this conception of school-science demands the use of cognitive and communication skills that have different grades of difficulty, for instance: a) the description of facts/phenomena and b) their interpretation, which gives an answer to a why-question using a theoretic model (Jorba, 2002). The first skill is easier than the second, but both are essential to learn Science.

Bearing in mind these ideas, the sexual reproduction should be focused not only from the descriptive point of view, but also the interpretative (García Barros & Martínez Losada, 2006). From the descriptive point of view, it can be studied that in the sexual reproduction two individual (male and female) take part and the descendants are different to their parents. From the interpretative point of view, this question can be answered: Why the descendants of sexual reproduction are different? The answer may have several depth grades. The easiest answer could be that male and female provide a different “material” to create a new individual. A more complex answer would use the cell model –males and females produce gametes that combined to each other create another new individual-l (Pujol, 2003). From the interpretative point of view, this question can also be answered: sexual reproduction causes diversity among the population, which are the consequences for the environment? To answer this question, the students may have a complex and changing model of the environment that determines the survival of some individual within the population.

Methodology

A closed survey of 72 teachers was carried out: There were 19 Primary School teachers in training (group 1), 31 Secondary School teachers in training (group 2) as well as 22 practising ones of both levels (group 3).

Primary and Secondary school teachers in training answered the survey when in class they were studying the chapter “the teaching of reproduction”. The practising teachers answered the survey voluntarily and anonymously. To carry it out more than 30 schools were contacted, where an initial presentation of the job was showed. To preserve the anonymity, the teachers who answered the survey sent it by post.

The survey includes 10 items regarding sexual reproduction (5 about animal reproduction and 5 similar ones about plant reproduction). The participating teachers were required to value the educational importance of these items (A – High; B – Intermediate; C – Little; D – None) for Second-Stage Primary School pupils (10/12 years of age) and First-Stage Secondary School pupils (12/14 years of age). The first item is descriptive (Q1p aimed at plants; Q1a aimed at animals) and it refers to the sexual reproduction process: living beings which have gamete-producing organs that lead to the creation of new individuals when united. The second and the least important one (Q2p/Q2a) refers to the knowledge of terms regarding the union of gametes (pollination/fertilisation) and the rest are interpretative. More specifically, Q3p/Q3a refers to the fact that the mother and father both pass on characteristics and they give rise to diversity in their offspring; Q4p/Q4a introduces the cellular interpretation of this fact (sex cells carry the genetic information) and Q5p/Q5a refers to the fact that the previously mentioned diversity favours the survival of a population existing in a changing environment. The survey was revised by two practising secondary teachers of science education and by two teachers in charge of the teaching training.


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The teachers’ answers to each item were analysed. Additionally, an individual analysis was carried out, establishing value types depending on whether a high or low degree of importance was given to the most important descriptive item in question (Q1) in comparison with the value given to all, or merely some, of the interpretative ones (Q3, Q4, Q5) (Table 1). Since items Q3 and Q4 both refer to the macroscopic as well as the microscopic interpretation of the same fact, the most highly valued one is always the one taken into consideration.

Table 1. Valuation type

VALUATION TYPE CARACTERISTICS

I. Equal valuation descriptive aspects and interpretative aspects

I Equal valuation of Q1, Q3/Q4 and Q5

II. Higher valuation of descriptive aspects than interpretative aspects

IIa Higher valuation of Q1 than Q3/Q4 and Q5

IIb Higher valuation of Q1 than only Q3/Q4

IIc Higher valuation of Q1 than only Q5

III. Higher valuation of interpretative aspects than descriptive aspects

IIIa Higher valuation of Q3/Q4 and Q5 than Q1

IIIb Higher valuation of Q3/T4 than Q1

IIIc Higher valuation of Q5 than Q1

Note. These valuations types are applied to plants and animals.

Findings

The teachers value (High or Intermediate) the different ideas about sexual reproduction positively, not only the ones concerning plants (Figure 1), but the ones pertaining to animals too (Figure 2). The least valued of the ideas, especially by the Primary School teachers in training, is Q4p and Q4a (cellular interpretation of the fact that sexual reproduction leads to diversity). More than 36% of the teachers give this idea the lowest rating of all, i.e. C/D.

As far as valuating the items is concerned, there are perceptible differences between the three groups of teachers. The Primary School teachers in training and the practising ones (Groups 1 and 3) value the descriptive items more highly (Q1 v/a and Q2 v/a) than the interpretative ones (Q3 v/a, Q4 v/a and Q5 v/a). This is true for plants, and animals alike (Figures 1 and 2). Between 42% and 95.5% gave the descriptive items an A rating and between 21% and 52% gave the same rating to the interpretative ones. The C/D rating is detected to a higher degree in the latter. The Secondary School teachers in training (Group 2), value the items more similarly, above all concerning plants (Figure 1) (the A rating: between 51% and 61%; the B rating: between 30% and 40%, and the C rating: between 4% and 12%). As for animals, a certain difference between the two descriptive items is detected (87% of the subjects give Q1a an A rating, and 55% give Q2a the same rating) and a higher rating of the interpretative ones is likewise perceived (Figure 2).


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

P1v P2v P3v P4v P5v P1v P2v P3v P4v P5v P1v P2v P3v P4v P5v

Grupo I Grupo II Grupo III

C/D

B

A

Figure 1. Valuation of key ideas about the sexual reproduction of plants.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

P1a P2a P3a P4a P5a P1a P2a P3a P4a P5a P1a P2a P3a P4a P5a

Grupo I Grupo II Grupo III

C/DB

A

Figure 2. Valuation of key ideas about the sexual reproduction of animals.

As far as valuating the items is concerned, there are perceptible differences between the three groups of teachers. The Primary School teachers in training and the practising ones (Groups 1 and 3) value the descriptive items more highly (Q1 v/a and Q2 v/a) than the interpretative ones (Q3 v/a, Q4 v/a and Q5 v/a). This is true for plants, and animals alike (Figures 1 and 2). Between 42% and 95.5% gave the descriptive items an A rating and between 21% and 5 2% gave the same rating to the interpretative ones. The C/D rating is detected to a higher


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degree in the latter. The Secondary School teachers in training (Group 2), value the items more similarly, above all concerning plants (Figure 1) (the A rating: between 51% and 61%; the B rating: between 30% and 40%, and the C rating: between 4% and 12%). As for animals, a certain difference between the two descriptive items is detected (87% of the subjects give Q1a an A rating, and 55% give Q2a the same rating) and a higher rating of the interpretative ones is likewise perceived (Figure 2).

In table 2, the valuation types identified during the individual analysis are shown. In group 2 (Secondary School teachers in training), the most frequently found type, in animals and, particularly, in plants, is type I (the same value given to the descriptive as to the interpretative). In groups 1 and 3 (Primary School teachers in training and practising teachers), the most frequently encountered valuation types are IIa,b.c (greater importance is given to the descriptive item). Those valuation types which take the interpretative ideas into greater consideration than the descriptive ones (types IIa,b.c), are chiefly detected in those groups that are made up of teachers in training. Only one practising teacher made such a valuation.

Table 2. Valuation types that were identified among the teaching staff.

VALUA- TION TYPE

PLANTS ANIMALS

Group 1

N=19

Group 2

N=31

Group 3

N=22

Group 1

N=19

Group 2

N=31

Group 3

N=22

I 4 (21.1%) 14 (45.2%) 6 (27.3%) 6 (31.6%) 19 (61.3%) 9 (40.9%)

IIa 7 (36.8%) 3 (9.7%) 8 (36.4%) 6 (31.6%) 1 (3.2%) 6 (27.3%)

IIb 1 (5.3%) 2 (6.5%) 5 (22.7%) 2 (10.5%) 1 (4.5%)

IIc 4 (12.9%) 3 (13.6%) 1 (5.3%) 7 (22.6%) 5 (22.7%)

IIIa 5 (26.3%) 5 (16.1%) 3 (15.8%) 2 (6.5%)

IIIb 1 (5.3%) 1 (5.3%)

IIIc 1 (5.3%) 3 (9.7%) 2 (6.5%) 1 (4.5%)

Conclusions

Generally speaking, the teaching staff value key ideas about sexual reproduction in a positive way. However, the global and individualised analysis of their answers shows that they, especially the practising teachers as well as the Primary School ones in training, lay greater store by the descriptive aspects than by the interpretative ones. This is consistent with the fact that the school texts found in the books used at these educational levels do, indeed, stress the descriptive aspects to a greater extent and that the pupils in these years have conceptual problems concerning this matter (García-Barros and Martínez-Losada, 2007). Therefore, we believe that this is a word of warning that we need to improve the quality of our education, because the interpretative ideas about sexual reproduction used in this study may be treated in a simple manner with no need to introduce the subject of cellular interpretation at the end of Primary School and the first years of Secondary School. Moreover, acquiring these ideas at these levels will make it easier to understand other more complex aspects which they are related to, such as adaptation and evolution.

On the other hand, it is necessary to remark that during the initial and the permanent science teacher training, the importance of the description and the interpretation should be emphasized. Teachers may recognize that both skills are important for the future citizens and they can be taught within the secondary education, but also at the end of the primary education, i.e. 10-12 years old. In sexual reproduction chapter, the descriptive aspects should be the first step to formulate questions as: why the descendants of sexual reproduction are different? Which are the consequences for the environment? To answer them the students have to use the interpretative skills.


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References

Andersson, B., & Wallin, A. (2006). On Developing Content-orinted Teories Taking Biological Evolution as an Example. International Journal of Science Education, 28(6), 673-695.

Da Silva, C., Mellado, V., & Porlán, R. (2007). Evolution of the Conceptions of a Secondary Education Biology Teacher: Longitudinal Analysis Using Cognitive Maps. Science Teacher Education, 91(3), 461-491.

Cañal, P. (2003). ¿Qué investigar sobre los seres vivos? Investigación en la Escuela, 51, 27-38.

García Barros, S., & Martínez Losada, C. (2007). Pupils’ ideas about reproduction in connection with the way it is dealt with in school texts. Paper presented at the ESERA International Conference 2007, Malmö. García Rovira, M. P. (2005, 7-10 de septiembre de 2005.). Los modelos como organizadores del currículo en Biología. Paper presented at the VII Congreso internacional de Enseñanza de las ciencias, Granada

Gómez Galindo, A., Sanmartí, N., & Pujol, J. (2007). Fundamentación teórica y diseño de una unidad didáctica para la enseñanza del modelo ser vivo en la escuela Primaria. Enseñanza de las Ciencias, 25(3), 325-340.

Hewson, P. W., et al. (1999). Educating Prospective Teachers of Biology: Introduction and Research Methods. Science Education, 83(3), 247-273.

Izquierdo, M. (2005). Hacia una teoría de los contenidos escolares. Enseñanza de las Ciencias, 23(1), 111-122.

Jorba, J. (2000). La comunicación y las habilidades cognitivolingüísticas. In J. Jorba, I. Gómez & A. Prats (Eds.), Hablar y escribir para aprender. Uso de la lengua en situación de enseñanza-aprendizaje desde las áreas curriculares (pp. 29-49). Barcelona: ICE Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Síntesis.

Knippels, M. C., Jan Waarlo, J., & Boersma, K. (2005). Design criteria for learning and teaching genetics. Journal of Biological Education, 39(3), 108-119.

Mellado, V. (2003). Cambio didáctico del profesorado de ciencias experimentales y filosofía de la ciencia. Enseñanza de las Ciencias, 21(3), 343-358.

Pujol, R. M. (2003). Didáctica de las Ciencias en la Educación Primaria. Madrid: Síntesis.

Sanmartí, N. (2002). Didáctica de las ciencias en la educación secundaria obligatoria. Madrid: Síntesis Educación.

Wood-Robinson, C. (1994). Young people' Ideas about inheritance and evolution. Studies in Science Education, 24, 29-47.

Note: This study is part of research project INCTTE08PXIB106098PR, financed by the Xunta de Galicia (Spain).


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LESSON APPRAISALS WRITTEN FOR PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE

TEACHERS: THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENT MENTORING REGIMES.

Roger Lock, Allan Soares & Julie Foster University of Birmingham

Abstract

The written lesson appraisals (WLAs) of fifteen pre-service teachers who were experiencing two different types of mentoring regimes were randomly selected from the same stage of their school placement. These WLAs (n=30), fifteen from mentors trained in one regime, Generic Mentors, and fifteen from mentors trained in an other regime, Pedagogic Mentors, were subjected to a content analysis using professional knowledge categories derived from pre-service teacher perceptions of content. Statistically significant differences were observed in the length and content of WLAs produced by the two mentoring regimes with respect to the professional knowledge categories. Implications for the training and continuing professional development (CPD) of mentors and others who receive or provide WLAs are identified.

Introductions and rationale

In the UK observation of teachers in action is a feature experienced at all career stages from pre-service, through induction to the main period of service. The purposes of the observation and associated feedback and discussion are varied. They include supporting the development of the observer or the observed, collecting evidence as part of the job interview/promotion process and quality control as in an audit or inspection. There is an acknowledgment in the literature that feedback to teachers about their performance in the classroom is of paramount importance in their development (Shantz and Ward, 2000; Tang and Chow, 2007). Foster (2000) in his comparative research between French and UK initial teacher training reforms reported that practice in terms of lesson observation and feedback varied more widely in France. However, most post-lesson feedback is done orally (Spear et al,. 1997; Bunton et al., 2002; Hudson, 2005) and yet pre-service teachers appear to attach great importance to written feedback (Monk and Dillon, 1995). This form of feedback can also serve as a formative record of events as well as forming the basis of a discussion (Maloney, 1998). Levinson et al (2006) suggest that although oral feedback is rated more highly than written feedback by pre-service science teachers, the value of the latter is enhanced when accompanied by oral feedback. We agree with Bunton et al., (2002) who assert that ‘speech may be forgotten or inaccurately heard and remembered’ (p. 233), whereas, if written, it can form a permanent record and potentially serve as a reference point. What has been identified in the limited literature about written feedback, is the tendency for mentors, experienced teachers supporting pre-service teachers, to comment on class management issues at the expense of subject related pedagogical issues. Spear et al. (1997) reported, in their study of ‘the form and substance of the written feedback’ (p270) provided for primary pre-service teachers, that comments focused on class management, as did Lock (2002) and Levinson et al (2006).


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Context

The pre-service teachers involved in this research were science graduates enrolled on a one year, Post Graduate Certificate in Education course located in an inner city university in central England. It was normal practice in this university to have a single mentor trained to deal with all aspects of mentoring. This mentor, termed here the generic mentor (GM), received at least fifteen hours of initial training prior to working with pre-service teachers. Six of these hours were generic, three subject-specific and in all these training sessions issues relating to writing lesson appraisals were considered. A further six hours focused, amongst other issues, on the content and management of school-based meetings, student timetabling, formative and summative assessment of pre-service teachers.

Funding from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation provided an opportunity to introduce a second mentor type, termed here the pedagogic mentor (PM). This mentor was given an equivalent period of training related to WLAs which required them to focus their comments on topic specific subject knowledge and pedagogy. In the light of literature findings and our own experience of the content of WLAs, the PMs were specifically requested not to write about class management. Both types of mentor were provided with blank sheets on which to write lesson appraisals.

The research questions addressed by this study were:

• Are there differences in the length of WLAs produced by GMs and PMs? • Are there differences in the content of WLAs produced by GMs and PMs?

Methods

Twenty nine pre-service teachers in the cohort were placed in schools with the two types of mentor in each school. Pre-service teachers received 2 WLAs each week; one from a lesson observed by the GM, the other from a lesson observed by the PM. WLAs written in the tenth week of school based experience were selected from a random sample of fifteen of the pre-service teachers. These WLAs (n=30), half written by PMs, half by GMs, were analysed to examine their length and content.

The first step in the analysis was to breakdown the text of each of the 30 WLAs into coding units and then to allocate these coding units to professional knowledge categories. Coding units were defined syntactically (Stemler, 2001), that is using the separations created by the authors of the WLAs. Punctuation in the text, such as full stops, commas, semi-colons, dashes and brackets etc., was a key indicator of distinct units as were conjunctions such as ‘but’ ‘so’ ‘as’ etc.. Where mentors did not punctuate their WLAs, punctuation was inserted. Three coders independently reviewed the WLAs and developed emergent coding units which were then consolidated into an agreed list as advocated by Stemler (op cit). In this way titles and listed items were identified as separate units. In addition, evaluative comments linked to a coding unit were included in that coding unit. For example, ‘talking about forces – good idea’ was counted as one coding unit.

Consistency of coding unit identification was independently carried out on five WLAs by three coders and mean percentage agreement determined. One of the coders repeated the exercise after a period of 10 days. The inter-coder reproducibility (93.3%, 95.0%, 96.7%) and intra-coder stability (97.8%) measures of reliability were good.


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Soares and Lock (2007), reporting on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of WLAs, identified three categories of professional knowledge: topic specific pedagogy; class management; and generic issues. These categories broadly match those of Shulman (1987) and Hollingsworth (1989). The decision to separate class management from generic pedagogy was based on student perceptions and our experiences of the content of WLAs which appeared to have a heavy bias towards comments about class management. This bias has also been reported in the literature (Shallcross et al, 2006), albeit for written lesson appraisals in science lessons from non-specialist teachers, and by Levinson et al (2006) for those provided by and for specialist science teachers. Additionally, pre service teachers identified ‘class management’ as a clearly distinct construct from other aspects of generic pedagogy (Soares and Lock, 2007). These three professional knowledge categories were used to undertake the content analysis of the WLAs.

In order to make our professional knowledge categories clear, the ways in which we defined the three professional knowledge categories are described below:

• Topic specific pedaogogy: where specific detail of the subject knowledge and associated pedagogy of the topic was mentioned. For example - resistors work by slowing down the flow of electrons; … asking ‘does conduction move heat up?’

• Class management: where issues dealt with class control and discipline. For example - very few were paying attention when you showed the answer; class settled well.

• Generic issues: where the content related to general pedagogy and was not linked to a specific topic. For example - clutter on the bench blocked pupil views; use OHTs where necessary instead of writing on the board; pupils copy down aim of lesson.

The analysis, using the three categories of professional knowledge, was independently carried out by three coders using WLAs drawn at random. One coder analysed three WLAs one week later to check for repeatability of categorisation purposes. Data for inter- and intra-coder reliability were determined using Cohen’s kappa (k) (Robson, 2002). Cohen’s kappa is appropriate for the nominal categories such as those used in this study, and is a commonly used tool for indicating the reliability of inter- and intra-coder consistency (Lombard et al, 2005; Stemler, 2001; Grayson and Rust, 2001). Criteria for assessing the significance of kappa have been described by Landis and Koch, (1977): poor agreement 0.0-0.19; fair agreement 0.2-0.39; moderate agreement 0.4-0.59; substantial agreement 0.6-0.79; almost perfect agreement 0.8-1.0.

The data from this reliability exercise are presented in table 1. The kappa values for inter-coder reliability show ‘moderate agreement’ while those for intra-coder reliability are in ‘almost perfect agreement’ (Landis and Koch, 1977).

Table 1. Intra- and inter-coder reliability of categorising professional knowledge data

Intra-coder reliability (Rater A)

Inter-coder reliability (Pre-service teacher 15)

Pre-service teacher no.

Cohen’s kappa

k

Rater

Cohen’s kappa

k

1 0.7 A v B 0.5

9 1.0 A v C 0.4

12 0.8 B v C 0.5


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With acceptable levels of consistency in identifying coding units and their categorisation, analyses probing differences in the length and content of appraisals of the two different regimes are justified.

Results

a) Length of appraisals

The selected WLAs were first examined for the amount of material (number of coding units) written by mentors trained in the two regimes. This was carried out by counting the number of units in each appraisal. Means and standard deviations were determined for each type of mentor and a t-test was carried out to explore if there was a significant difference between the mentor regimes. The findings are presented in table 2.

Table 2. Number of coding units in WLAs

Pre-service teacher Pedagogic Mentors (PMs)

Generic Mentors (GMs)

1 44 94 2 51 69 3 59 46 4 25 33 5 50 50 6 52 30 7 28 24 8 51 64 9 38 80 10 23 98 11 34 56 12 41 89 13 64 88 14 150 39 15 53 80

Mean 50.87 62.67 Standard Deviation 30.04 24.91 Probability (p) 0.25

The mean is higher for GMs suggesting that they write longer lesson appraisals than the PMs. When the analysis is undertaken excluding data for pre-service teacher 14, an ‘outlier’, then the means for PM and GM are 43.79 (SD=12.72) and 64.36 (SD=24.95) respectively and the difference between the two types of mentor becomes statistically significant (p=0.01).

The reasons why GMs write longer WLAs might be that they can comment on all events in the lesson and are not restricted to particular areas. The data do suggest that having a clear and specific focus for the content of the WLA reduces the quantity of writing.

As a consequence of the differences in the number of coding units written by the two types of mentor, all further analyses are based on the percentages of coding units assigned to the different professional knowledge categories.


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b) Content of appraisals: Topic specific pedagogy, Class management and Generic issues

The data relating to the professional knowledge categories are shown in table 3

They suggest that the GMs are focussing their writing in roughly equal proportions to class management and other generic issues. Their focus on topic specific pedagogy is very limited. PMs, in contrast, focus about two thirds of their writing on topic specific pedagogy and the further third on generic issues. They have a minimal to non-existent focus on class management. WLAs from PMs contain proportionately four times as many coding units relating to topic specific pedagogy than those from GMs. The difference between the two regimes is very highly significant (p<0.001). This attention to topic specific pedagogy by the PMs is not surprising, as this was the focus for which they were trained. It also confirms the success of the training, as the patterns reflect behaviour shown over 10 weeks after the training had been completed.

Table 3. Percentage of coding units related to topic specific pedagogy, class management and generic issues produced by two mentor regimes

Topic Specific Pedagogy(%)

Class Management (%) Generic Issues (%)

Pre-service teacher no.

Pedagogic Mentors (PMs)






1

72

14

0

27

27

60

2 57 35 2 35 41 30 3 64 15 2 28 34 57 4 80 30 0 0 20 70 5 72 6 0 36 28 58 6 52 20 2 63 46 17 7 46 8 7 83 46 8 8 55 13 2 38 43 50 9 55 1 0 35 45 64 10 91 13 0 14 9 72 11 88 0 0 43 12 57 12 78 9 5 63 17 28 13 61 42 0 14 39 44 14 57 8 14 46 29 46 15

68 1 0 56 32 43

Percentage Mean 66.5 14.3 2.2 38.7 31.2 46.9 Std. Deviation 13.5 12.5 3.8 21.6 12.5 18.8 Probability (p) <0.001 <0.001 0.012

Differences in the percentage means of comments on class management between the two types of mentor are stark and very highly significant (p<0.001), with the GMs writing proportionately more comments about class management.

GMs focus more on generic issues than the PMs. The difference between the means is highly significant (p<0.01). The standard deviations are relatively small suggesting that the pattern across mentors within both regimes is relatively consistent.


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These findings also confirm those reported by Spear et al. (1997), Lock (2002) and Levinson et al (2006) and suggest a need for further mentor training, encouraging them to address all three professional knowledge categories in WLAs.

Such findings may illustrate some of the limitations in the initial and ongoing training of GMs or reinforce the value of a second type of mentor, as this would enhance the development of the pre-service teachers through a focus on topic specific pedagogy.


Although the context in which this study was undertaken involved pre–service science teachers in secondary schools, we believe that the findings may be generalisable to a wide range of subject disciplines and levels of teacher experience.

In conclusion, this research raises questions about whether it is feasible to expect a single mentor to feedback on the full range of professional knowledge on a regular basis. The GMs involved in this study were provided with training which encouraged them to write about all categories of professional knowledge; yet the findings show that their WLAs have a major focus on class management. With a dual mentoring regime, we found that mentors from the two regimes were capable of providing different foci within their WLAs.

Our study demonstrates that mentors can be trained to write in a specific manner and are able to retain the specific focus for at least ten weeks following the training. There are implications for the training of mentors that we think help to develop changes in the pattern and content of their WLAs. One clear implication for a single mentor regime is that the initial training and CPD should focus more directly on the issue of balance within the WLAs between the different professional knowledge categories; in particular, there should be an increased focus on topic specific pedagogy. One potential approach to addressing this issue is by providing a pre-printed proforma for WLAs consisting of headings related to the categories of professional knowledge identified here. We are not suggesting a ‘tick box’ approach as such a strategy is more difficult to use in a formative way.

We have concerns, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the narrow focus of WLAs extends beyond the initial training year into the early careers of newly qualified teachers. If this is the case, then there are clear implications that training for writing lesson appraisals is needed for induction tutors and those with a focus on the performance management of more experienced teachers.

There are implications for pre-service teachers too. Prior to placement in schools, they should be inducted into the type of content expected in the WLAs that they will receive. Developing the content range and balance of WLAs as well as recipient awareness should contribute to the professional knowledge and practice of both observers and the observed. In this way, perceptions of the content may be brought closer to reality.

References

Bunton, D., Stimpson, P. and Lopez-Real, F. 2002. University tutors’ practicum observation notes: format and content, Mentoring & Tutoring, 10, no 3: 233-244.

Foster, R. 2000. Becoming a secondary teacher in France: A trainee perspective on recent developments in initial teacher training. Educational Studies. 26, no 1: 5-17.

Grayson, K. and Rust, R. 2001. Interrater reliability assessment in content analysis, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 10, no 1/2: 71-73.


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Hollingsworth, S. 1989. Prior beliefs and cognitive change in learning how to teach, American Educational Research Journal, 26, no 2: 160-190.

Hudson, P. 2005. Identifying mentoring practices for developing effective primary science teaching, International Journal of Science Education, 27, no 14: 1723-1739.

Landis J. and Koch G. 1977. The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data, Biometrics, 33, no 1: 159-74.

Levinson, R., Frost, J. and Amos, R. 2006. How do weekly mentor sessions and written lesson feedback support science beginning teachers in explaining complex science Concepts? Available online at: http://www.ioe.ac.uk/schools/mst/000MSTWebDev/CMS/doc/Research_into_subject_specific_mentoring_on_the_PGCE_science_course.pdf (accessed 21 December 2007).

Lock, R. 2002. Teachers and tutors working together, observing and writing about student lessons: Lesson appraisals. In K. Ross (ed) ATSE Conference Proceedings 2001: Meaningful Science Education for the 21st Century (Cheltenham, University of Gloucester).

Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J. and Bracken, C. 2005. Practical resources for assessing and reporting intercoder reliability in Content Analysis Research Projects Available online at: http://www.temple.edu/sct/mmc/reliability/ (accessed 21 December 2007)

Maloney, J. and Powell, A. 1998. Evaluating the role of written classroom observation reports received by PGCE secondary students on school experience. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, August 27 – 30 in Belfast at Queen’s University.

Monk, M. and Dillon, J. (Eds). 1995. Observing science teachers at work. In Learning to teach science: Activities for student teachers and mentors M. Monk & J. Dillon (Eds) (London, Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis).

Robson, C. 2002. Real world research: a resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers (2nd Edition) (Oxford, Blackwell).

Rosenthal, R. and Jacobson, L. 1992. Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation and pupils' intellectual development (New York, Irvington).

Shallcross, T., Spink, E., Stephenson, P. and Warwick, P. 2006. How primary trainee teachers perceive the development of their own scientific knowledge: links between confidence, content and competence? International Journal of Science Education, 24, no 12: 1293-1312.

Shantz, D. and Ward, T. 2000. Feedback, conversation and power in the field experience of preservice teachers, Journal of Instructional Psychology, December issue.

Shulman. L. 1987. Knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform, Harvard Educational Review, 7, no 1: 1-22.

Soares, A. and Lock, R. 2005. The physical science enhancement project (PhySEP): addressing physical science subject knowledge, understanding and pedagogy of secondary PGCE biology and chemistry student teachers through written lesson appraisals. In N. Burton. (ed) Creativity Beyond Compliance. The Proceedings of the 2004 Association for Tutors in Science Education Conference. pp 32-39 (Bedford, De Montfort University).

Soares, A. and Lock, R. 2007. Pre-service science teachers’ perceptions of written lesson appraisals: The impact of styles of mentoring, European Journal of Teacher Education, 30, no 1: 75-90.

Spear, M., Lock, N. and McCulloch, M. 1997. The written feedback mentors give to student teachers, Teacher Development, 1, no 2: 269-280.

Stemler, S. 2001. An overview of content analysis, Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7, no 17. Available online at: http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=17. (accessed 21 December 2007).

Tang, SYF. and Chow, AWK. 2007. Communicating feedback in teaching practice supervision in a learning-orientated field experience assessment framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1066-1085.


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THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG LEARNING APPROACHES, LEARNING

STYLES AND CRITICAL THINKING DISPOSITIONS OF THE PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS

İsmail Önder, Şenol Beşoluk & Eda Demirhan Sakarya University

Abstract

In this paper, the relationship among the learning approaches, learning styles and critical thinking dispositions of the pre-service science teachers and the effects of these qualities upon their academic success have been studied. The sample of the study is composed of 203 students from Science Teaching Department. The Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire, Perceptual Learning Style Questionnaire and The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory have been used as the means of data gathering. Statistically positive correlations have been observed between academic success and deep learning approach, critical thinking dispositions, and kinesthetic learning style; statistically negative correlation has been observed between academic success and auditory learning style. Statistically positive correlations have been observed between critical thinking dispositions and deep learning approach, kinesthetic learning style, tactile learning style. Statistically significant correlations were observed between learning approaches and learning styles. The results of the study indicated that students with high critical thinking dispositions have significantly higher GPA and deep approach scores than students with low critical thinking dispositions. The results of the study also indicated that female students have higher critical thinking dispositions than male students.

Introduction

Like in any country, there are major and continuous problems in science education in Turkey, too. The results of exams applied (Proficiency test during primary education (SBS), university entrance exam (ÖSS) after secondary education and international exams (PISA, TIMSS)) showed that the success on science subjects was low. It is known that many factors lead to this result. One of the important factors is the teacher’s qualifications. Teachers teach, unwittingly, in the way they were taught and that affects the level of the education which students receive. To achieve the desired goals of science education, it is inevitable that students’ improving the skills like examining events in detail and thinking critically. Teacher’s role in developing those skills is important. Therefore, the determination of science teacher candidates’ learning approaches (LA), learning styles (LS) and critical thinking dispositions (CT) and enhancing the awareness by them is important.

Marton and Saljo (1976) introduced two concepts which have been widely used in educational research: “deep” and “surface” approaches to learning. The concept of the deep approach (DA) is associated with students’ intentions to understand and construct the meaning of the content to be learned, whereas the concept of the surface approach (SA) refers to students’ intentions to learn by memorizing and reproducing the factual contents of the study materials. It is now well acknowledged that individuals can hold differing, but readily identifiable LA. In general, higher quality learning outcomes are associated with the DA and lower quality learning outcomes are associated with the SA (Crawford et al., 1998; Zeegers, 2001; Snelgrove & Slater, 2003).


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Dunn and Dunn (1993) defined LS as a biological, developmental and personal trait that made the same instruction method effective for some students and not so effective for others. Different individuals perceive and process experiences in different preferred ways (Brokaw & Merz, 2000; Dunn & Dunn, 1989; Dunn et al., 1995; Felder, 1993; McCarthy, 1981). Some researchers contended that matching teaching styles with LS could promote learning and foster students’ academic successes (Brown, 1978; Dunn & Griggs, 1988; Baloglu et al., 2002). Identifying learning styles and adapting lessons can motivate, encourage students to succeed, and eliminate unfair labeling. Dunn (1988) also posited that instructing through the perceptual strengths of the learners could enhance learning. Roberts (2003) reported significant difference of learning styles on critical thinking dispositions.

Kurfiss (1988) defined critical thinking as “a rational response to questions that cannot be answered indefinitely and for which all the relevant information may not be available. Critical thinking is an investigation, whose purpose is to explore a situation, a phenomenon, a question, or a problem to arrive at a hypothesis or a conclusion. In critical thinking, all assumptions are open to question, divergent views are aggressively sought, and the inquiry is not biased in favor of a particular outcome”. Lipman (1995) indicated that critical thinking involves critical examination of a statement by examining its assumptions, the accuracy of supportive evidence and the logical reasoning advanced in reaching conclusions, with sensitivity to situated contexts. Studies have found significant relationship between critical thinking dispositions and critical thinking skills (Colucciello, 1997; Williams et al., 2006). Although students are expected to be critical thinkers, it does not develop quickly and automatically by itself. This skill can be developed with a great deal of effort on the part of teachers, it can be said that the responsibility of developing CT is greater on teachers than the students (Chalupa & Sormunen, 1995). Findings have proved that CT is significantly and positively correlated with GPA (Jenkins, 1998; Collins & Onwuegbuzie, 2000).

In order for the process of science education to be successful, the education that is being given must be suitable for not only the basic principles of science but also the students’ personal characteristics. While the process of science education inevitably requires examining the situations in detail, thinking critically and questioning, at the same time it involves situations that need to be practiced. If science teachers can have these kinds of qualities, they can contribute more to their students’ learning. For this reason, in this research, the relationship between the LA, LS and CT of the pre-service science teachers and the effects of these qualities on the academic success have been studied. Similar studies will contribute to monitoring the process and determining to what extent the expected objectives were achieved.

Rationale

Many researches have shown that students’ LA, CT and LS influence the quality of learning outcomes. Therefore, in this research, the relationship between the LA, LS and CT of the pre-service science teachers and the effects of these qualities on the academic success have been studied. In the frame of this purpose following questions were investigated.

• Is there any relationship between critical thinking dispositions and learning approaches?

• Is there any relationship between critical thinking dispositions and learning styles?

• Is there any relationship between LA and LS?

• Is there any relationship between GPA and CT, LA, LS?

• Is there any significant mean difference between students with high CT scores and students with low CT scores with respect to GPA and LA?

• Is there any significant mean difference between the boys and girls with respect to CT and LA scores?


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Method

Sampling Procedure

The data were collected from 203 (68 second year, 57 third year and 78 fourth year) pre service science teachers studying at faculty of education in Sakarya University. The sample was composed of 130 female and 73 male students whose ages range from 19 to 23. Convenient sampling procedures are fallowed. The sampling group is fairly representative of the population.

Instruments

Data in this study were collected by using “The Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F)”, “Perceptual Learning Style Questionnaires (PLSQ)” and “The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI)”. In addition, students' cumulative GPA scores were obtained. CCTDI was developed by Facione et al.(1998). CCTDI was adapted to Turkish by Kökdemir (2003). The revised Turkish scale included 51 items associated with 6 subscales. The 6 subscales of the test are Analytical Approach, Curiosity, Open-mindedness, Personal Confidence, Look for the Truth, and Systematic Approach.

R-SPQ-2F was developed by Biggs, Kember and Leung (2001). The original scale of R-SPQ-2F is in English and consists of 20 items with two deep and surface factors each with 10 items. PLSQ is a 30-item, five-point Likert-type scale measuring students’ perceptual learning style preferences. The scale was developed by Reid (1987).

The R-SPQ-2F and PLSQ scales were adapted to Turkish by the researchers. In order to adapt the scales two university teachers of the English language department who worked independently from one another initially translated the questionnaires. This resulted in two different versions, which were later compared to produce the final consensual version in the Turkish language. These versions were then given to two other translators, all fluent in English, who did not know of the existence of the original questionnaires, and were asked to translate Turkish versions of the scales back into English. These two new versions were compared to each other and used to construct a consensual English versions from the translation of the Turkish questionnaires (back translated one). These new English versions when compared to the original English version proved to be grammatically and semantically equivalent, thus allowing Turkish versions of the scales to be accepted as the final versions in the Turkish language. To verify the applicability of the scales in Turkish some psychometric properties such as internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach alpha) and construct validities have been investigated. For the factor structure and construct validity of the scales, explanatory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were done. Results indicated a moderate fit for both instruments.

Data Analysis

The scales were administered to sample group and the data gathered were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. In the data analysis procedure, t-test, correlation analysis were used. The significance level was decided as .05 in all analyses.

Results

Descriptive features of the sample related to CT, LA and LS calculated from students’ responses to the CCTDI, R-SPQ-2F and PLSQ showed that %24.1 of the sample have low CT scores (less than 240), %3.5 have high CT scores (more than 300) and majority of the sample (%72.4) have medium CT scores (between 240 and 300). CT scores ranges between 180 and 336. The mean CT score of the population is 254.92. GPA scores of the


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sample ranges in between 0,29 and 3,62 (over four), mean of the GPA scores is 2,37. LS points between 38-50 indicates major learning styles, 25-37 indicates minor learning styles and 0-24 are negligible. Therefore, a person may have more than one major and minor learning styles. Major learning style preferences (MLSP) of the sample are as fallows: 42 visual, 148 tactile, 92 auditory, 72 group, 161 kinesthetic, and 74 individual. The mean DA and SA scores are 31.16 and 27. 86 respectively. DA scores ranges between 17 and 49. SA scores ranges between 14 and 47. DA vs. SA scores of the sample is presented in Table1.

Table 1. DA vs. SA scores of the sample

The first objective of this study sought to determine the relationship between CT and LA. Medium in size correlations were observed between the following pairs of variables: CT and DA (r = .438, p < .01); CT and SA (r = -.395, p < .01).

The second objective of this study sought to determine the relationship between CT and LS. Medium in size correlations were observed between the following pairs of variables: CT and Tactile (r = .429, p < .01); CT and Kinesthetic (r = .406, p < .01).

The third objective of this study sought to determine the relationship between LA and LS. Medium in size correlations were observed between the following pairs of variables: DA and Tactile (r = .370, p < .01); DA and Kinesthetic (r = .367, p < .01). Small in size correlations were observed between the following pairs of variables: SA and Visual (r = .206, p < .01); SA and Individual (r = .205, p < .01); SA and Tactile (r = -.223, p < .01); SA and Kinesthetic (r = -.214, p < .01).

The fourth objective of this study sought to determine the relationships of GPA with CT, LA and LS. Small in size correlations were observed between the following pairs of variables: GPA and CT (r = .208, p < .05); GPA and DA (r = .246, p < .01); GPA and Kinesthetic (r = .172, p < .05); GPA and Auditory (r = -.213, p < .05).

The fifth objective of this study sought to determine whether there is a mean difference between students with high CT scores and students with low CT scores with respect to GPA and LA. There was a significant difference between the two groups with respect GPA, t (30) = 2.971, p = .006. Students with high CT scores have significantly higher GPA scores than students with low CT scores (XHigh = 2.89, XLow = 2.18). There was a significant difference between the two groups with respect DA, t (54) = 6.080, p = .000. Students with high CT scores have significantly higher DA scores than students with low CT scores (XHigh = 40.43, XLow = 28.50). There was a significant difference between the two groups with respect SA, t (54) = -3.74, p = .000. Students with high CT scores have significantly lower SA scores than students with low CT scores (XHigh = 21.86, XLow = 31.06).

The sixth objective of this study sought to determine whether there is a significant mean difference between the boys and girls with respect to CT and LA scores. There was a significant difference between the two groups with respect CT, t (201) = 4.392, p = .000. CT scores of female students are significantly higher than CT scores of male students (Xfemale = 260.6 and Xmale = 244.8). There was not a significant difference between the two groups with respect DA, t (201) = 1.291, p = .198. DA scores of female students do not significantly different from DA scores of male students (Xfemale = 31.54 and Xmale = 30.49).

SA Total 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-50

DA 10-19 0 1 1 2 4 20-29 5 39 28 6 78 30-39 11 59 35 3 108 40-50 3 7 2 1 13

Total 19 106 66 12 203


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Several researches have shown that the approaches students employ in their learning influence the learning outcome. Two learning approaches identified in this research are surface and deep approaches to learning. Studies have linked surface approaches with lower order outcomes and deep approaches with higher order outcomes (Entwistle & Ramsden, 1983; Prosser & Millar, 1989; Trigwell & Prosser, 1991; van Rossum & Schenk, 1984). Students can be pushed into surface approaches by the adoption of certain teaching and assessment strategies, but not as readily into deep approaches (Ramsden, Beswick, & Bowden, 1986). Those students adopting deep approaches to learning were associated with higher quality learning outcomes (Prosser & Millar, 1989; Trigwell & Prosser, 1991; van Rossum & Schenk, 1984), academic performance (Mayya et. al., 2004), and increased knowledge (Murphy & Alexander, 2002). Watkins (2001) conducted a cross-cultural meta-analysis in which the relationship between students' approaches to learning and their academic performance was one of the central questions. It was hypothesized that surface approaches to learning would be significantly negatively correlated with students' grades, whilst the deep approach would be positively related with academic achievement.

In relation to critical thinking, Gadzella et. al. (1997) found a direct, positive and significant correlation between DA and critical thinking. Critical thinking were also related to students’ grades (Gadzella et. al., 1997). The ability to think critically is important among students in higher education as the content of education at this level requires higher order thinking such as the ability to apply critical evaluation, give evidence for their opinions, and argue the validity of facts they receive from teachers. However, Norris (1985) said that students in higher education do not possess these higher order skills. In otherworld’s, critical thinking ability is not prevalent among students. Most students do not obtain good scores in tests that measure the ability to identify assumptions, evaluate arguments and make inferences. Paul (1990) also agreed and said that resistance to using critical thinking is prevalent among many higher-education faculties.

Results indicated that kinesthetic learning style is positively related with GPA and DA. In addition, there is a negative relationship between auditory learning style and GPA. Since pre-service science teachers have to take many laboratory science courses that require psycho-motor activities, student whose major learning style is kinesthetic performs better. The consideration of learning styles and the association with performance and satisfaction indicates that the outcomes of instruction can be maximized if the pedagogical structure of the course is matched to the individual learning styles of the students (Allen et al., 2006).

There is a close relationship in coherence with the literature between CT and DA scores of students and both CT and DA scores are highly related with students GPA. Students with higher scores on critical thinking are those who adopt deep approach to learning and have high GPA scores, students having lower scores on critical thinking are those who adopt surface approach to learning and have low GPA scores. Similar results were obtained by several researchers (Gadzella et. al.,1997; Mayya et al., 2004). High CT and DA are necessary and expected in science education because of its nature, since science teaching requires curiosity and some skills such as complex problem-solving, innovation and adoptability. However, the proportion of students having high CT and DA scores are low compared to whole population and this result is related with the literature (Watkins, 2001; Ramsden, 2003; Kokdemir, 2003). In order to increase the quality of science teaching by contribution of the teachers, studies should done in order to develop CT and LA and increase the awareness of pre-service teachers of importance of these factors in teaching and learning process. Teachers play a great role in developing CT and DA. Therefore they should be trained in these subjects. Knowledge of learning styles could help teachers understand and appreciate individual differences among students, students will learn faster and easily when teachers teach considering students learning styles. Therefore, this issue needs to be addressed in the pre-service teacher education program. The curriculum has been changed so that the pre-service teachers can be educated with the necessary qualifications according to the demands of the modern age and in order to improve their students’ ability to think critically, to use effective learning approaches and skills to practice what they learned. To what extent this new curriculum, which has been used in faculties of education since 2006, provides the expected contribution is worth researching.


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Baloglu, M., Gadzella, B.M., & Stephens, R. (2002). Prediction of educational psychology course grades by age and learning style scores. College Student Journal, 36.

Biggs, J. B., Kember, D., & Leung, Y. P. (2001). The revised two factor Study Process Questionnaire: R-SPQ-2F. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 133-149.

Brokaw, A. J., & Merz, T. E. (2000). The effects of student behavior and preferred learning style on performance. Journal of Business Education, 44-53.

Brown, R.. (1978). The effects of congruency between learning style and teaching style on college student achievement, College Student Journal, 12, 307-309.

Chalupa, M. R. & Sormunen, C. (1995). Strategies for developing critical thinking: You make the difference in the classroom. Business Education Forum, 49(3), 41-43.

Collins, K. M. & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2000). Relationship between critical thinking and performance in research methodology courses. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Bowling Green, KY.

Colucciello, M.L. (1997). Critical thinking skills and dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students—A conceptual model for evaluation. Journal of Professional Nursing, 13(4), 236-245.

Crawford, K., Gordon, S., Nicholas, J., & Prosser, M. (1998). Qualitatively different experiences of learning mathematics at university. Learning and Instruction, 8, 455-468.

Dunn, R. & Dunn, K. (1989). Learning style inventory. Lawrence, KS: Price Systems.

Dunn, R. & Griggs, S.A. (1988). Learning styles: Quiet revolution in American secondary schools, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Reston, VA.

Dunn, R. (1988). Teaching students through their perceptual strength or preferences. Journal of Reading, 31, 304-309.

Dunn, R., & Dunn, K. (1993). Teaching secondary students through their individual learning styles: Practical approaches for grades 7- 12. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Dunn, R., Griggs, S. A., Olson, J., Beasley, M., & Gorman, B.S. (1995). A meta-analytical validation of the Dunn and Dunn model of learning-style preferences. Journal of Educational Research, 88, 353-362.

Entwistle, N. J. & Ramsden, P. (1983). Understanding student learning, London: Croom-Helm.

Facione, P.A., Facione, N.C., & Giancarlo, C.A.F. (1998). The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. California: Academic Press.

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Gadzella, B. M., Ginther, D. W., & Bryant, G. W. (1997). Prediction of performance in an academic course by scores on measures of learning style and critical thinking. Psychological Reports, 81, 595-602.

Jenkins, E. K. (1998). The significant role of critical thinking in predicting auditing students’ performance. Journal of Education for Business, 73 (5), 274 -279.

Kökdemir, D.(2003). Belirsizlik durumlarında karar verme ve problem çözme. Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi, Ankara Üniversitesi, Ankara.

Kurfiss, J. C. (1988). Critical Thinking: Theory, Research, Practice, and Possibilities. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No.2. Washington, D.C.: Association for the Study of Higher Education.


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Mayya, S., Rao, A.K. & Ramnarayan, K. (2004). Learning approaches, learning difficulties and academic performance of undergraduate students of physiotherapy, The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 2(4).

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Prosser, M. & Millar, R. (1989). The how and what of learning physics. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 4, 513-528.

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151

INQUIRY IN CLASSROOMS: WHAT DO FUTURE PRIMARY

TEACHERS SAY ABOUT EXPERIMENTAL ACTIVITIES AND

FORMATIVE NEEDS? A.L. Cortés Gracia, B. Martínez Peña, J.M. Calvo Hernández,

M.J. Gil Quílez, & M. de la Gándara Gómez. Grupo Beagle, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain

Abstract

The application of an open-ended questionnaire allows us to detect some ideas about inquiry in preservice Primary teachers. A first analysis allows us to categorize the type of answers. In general, the majority of students ask for more theoretical contents about science, since they are not confidence in being involved in science teaching without this background. A great scattering of answers appears when students are asked for inquiry in the Primary classrooms. Finally, no coherent answers are detected when students declare that they want to learn “more scientific contents” (80%), whereas less than 50% of them would like to be taught about this issue

Introduction

Inquiry in the science classroom has been recommended, among others, by the European Commission (Rocard et al., 2007), the Nuffield Foundation (Osborne & Dillon, 2008), and, in general, by the majority of governmental institutions related to education.

Nevertheless, the implementation of these methodological approaches is not easy and researchers show several difficulties to design and put into practice inquiry-based proposals (Anderson, 2002; Flick & Lederman, 2006; Cañal et al., 2008). But we wonder, like Anderson (2002, p. 1): “Is the inquiry something that the “average” teacher can do, or is it only possible in the hands of the exceptional teacher?”, and “How does one prepare a teacher to utilize this type of science education?”

Several works show proposals and examples compiled from teacher-training experiences in order to facilitate the understanding of an inquiry-based model of teaching and learning, at least in Science Education (Windschitl, 2003; Weld & Funk, 2005; Morrison, 2008, Akerson et al., 2009, etc.). Bhattacharyya et al. (2009) point out that “the utilization of the inquiry method during student teaching does enhance pre-service teachers’ science teaching capability beliefs” (p. 212).

We are working with future teachers in building an inquiry-based teaching and learning approach. As a previous step, we want to detect points of view and opinions of our students about inquiry, experimental activities, formative expectations, etc. With this work we try to find answers to the next questions: What do students demand in order to teach sciences? Do students view inquiry as a useful methodology for teaching and learning? What should be changed in science training for primary teachers?


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Rationale

Inquiry in the science classroom has been recommended, among others, by the European Commission (Rocard et al., 2007), the Nuffield Foundation (Osborne & Dillon, 2008), and, in general, by the majority of governmental institutions related to education.

Nevertheless, the implementation of these methodological approaches is not easy and researchers show several difficulties to design and put into practice inquiry-based proposals (Anderson, 2002; Flick & Lederman, 2006; Cañal et al., 2008). But we wonder, like Anderson (2002, p. 1): “Is the inquiry something that the “average” teacher can do, or is it only possible in the hands of the exceptional teacher?”, and “How does one prepare a teacher to utilize this type of science education?”

Several works show proposals and examples compiled from teacher-training experiences in order to facilitate the understanding of an inquiry-based model of teaching and learning, at least in Science Education (Windschitl, 2003; Weld & Funk, 2005; Morrison, 2008, Akerson et al., 2009, etc.). Bhattacharyya et al. (2009) point out that “the utilization of the inquiry method during student teaching does enhance preservice teachers’ science teaching capability beliefs” (p. 212).

We are working with future teachers in building an inquiry-based teaching and learning approach. As a previous step, we want to detect points of view and opinions of our students about inquiry, experimental activities, formative expectations, etc. With this work we try to find answers to the next questions: What do students demand in order to teach sciences? Do students view inquiry as a useful methodology for teaching and learning? What should be changed in science training for primary teachers?

Methods

This analysis involved 142 students from a teacher-training course at the University of Zaragoza in Spain. It was carried out during class time in October 2008. An open-ended questionnaire was initially posed in the classroom and samples were taken from three different classroom groups, corresponding to different academic specialities. All the students attended the third year of a teacher-training diploma course at the UZ. Students ranged in age from 20 to 40, although the greater part of them ranged from 20 to 25, and the population was about 72% female (102 F / 40 M).

Questions were drafted according to the requests of students in previous courses. These appeared both in the university classrooms and during the practicum at Primary School. Science education specialists and teachers were consulted in order to write the final version of these questions. The open-ended questionnaire could be answered and illustrated from a theoretical point of view. The statistical analysis of the answers to these questions allowed them to be categorized as shown below. Similar answers were grouped in categories, although in some cases long answers were divided into shorter sentences and considered in two or more categories. After this initial analysis, group discussions in class time and non-structured personal interviews were carried out in order to clarify confused (unclear) answers.

Results

After an initial reading and global analysis, the answers of our students were categorized into different typologies since similar models were detected. We show a resume of the results (table 1 and figure 1) collected from a representative classroom group (Specialist in Primary Education, 29 students). We see that, in general, students do not have confidence in their knowledge about science and they ask for more information to that effect. They value more the theoretical scientific contents than the methodology of teaching and learning about science. We also detect a widespread confusion between pedagogical aspects and the simple use of well prepared didactic resources.


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Figure 1. Majority types of answers around questions 1, 4 and 5.

Table 1. Categorization of the answers to the questionnaire

Question Categories No. of answers (N = 29) %

1) What do you think that you should know in order to teach sciences in Elementary School?

a. Theoretical contents about scientific matters

23 79

b. Skills for teaching 13 45 c. How to evaluate 1 3 d. Not specified 5 17

2) In your opinion, what kind of tasks for children should be part of an inquiry-based activity at the Primary Classroom?

a. The student specifies actions related to particular objects

7 24

b. The student indicates a purpose or target for the activity

5 17

c. The student quotes some elements of the inquiry model

7 24

d. She/he points out interactions through examples

11 38

e. Not specified 4 14 f. No answer 2 7

3) What evidence do you have for saying that a group of children are learning science through inquiry in the classroom?

a. Answer is based on the observation of the dynamics of the educational process

21 72

b. Answer is based on the results 5 17 c. Answer is based on the theoretical

pedagogical value 15 52

d. No answer 2 7 4) What would you like to learn in this subject?

a. Scientific contents 26 90 b. Didactic methodology 15 52

5) What do you want to be taught in this subject?

a. Scientific contents 14 48 b. Didactic resources 18 62 c. Not specified 4 14


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Answers to questions 4 and 5 are very interesting, since the students had to indicate “what they want to learn” versus “what they want to be taught”. Around 80% of students would like to learn scientific contents but only 50% would like to be taught about this. We also emphasize that students say they want “to learn about methodologies” rather than “be taught about resources”. In this way, students demand resources (didactic materials, “recipes”, tools, etc. to be applied directly in the classroom), regardless of the pedagogical context, the appropriate contents, the interest of children, etc.


At the beginning of the academic year, the students are probably not clear about what “inquiry” means or even about the teaching profession. In our opinion, this is a difficulty since there are no inquiry-based experiences during their previous training. In general, students are more concerned with teaching rather than learning aspects.

Students believe that teachers who know more science are better science teachers. This is not a surprise since the traditional schools have emphasized the acquisition of theoretical contents by rote learning. Students’ perceptions of their professional needs do not agree with their academic needs: “I’d like to know about science but I don’t want to study it during my course”. Students assume that scientific contents are important... but initially they would prefer to learn about didactic resources (activities that work).

What are we to gather from the previous considerations to be applied during teachers training? Pre-service teachers should notice: the difficulties to design and use learning experiences involving students; the complexity that can appear when teachers design activities thinking on real questions and inquiry; the suitability of a inquiry-based teaching; and, especially, that science contents are not enough to deal with the building of scientific knowledge in classrooms (Shulman, 2005).

The aforementioned items are considered in the next stages of our project.

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by grants of the Dirección General de Investigación, MEC (SE-J2007-65947/EDUC), FEDER Funds, Departamento de Ciencia, Tecnología y Universidad del Gobierno de Aragón and Fondo Social Europeo (European Social Funds).

References

Akerson, V.L., Townsend, S., Donnelly, L.A., Hanson, D.L., Tira, P. y White, O. (2009). Scientific Modeling for Inquiring Teachers Network (SMIT’N): The Influence on Elementary Teachers’ Views of Nature of Science, Inquiry, and Modelling. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 20: 21–40.

Anderson, R.D. (2002). Reforming science teaching: what research says about inquiry. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 13 (1): 1-12.

Bhattacharyya, S., Volk, T. and Lumpe, A. (2009). The Influence of an Extensive Inquiry-Based Field Experience on Pre-Service Elementary Student Teachers’ Science Teaching Beliefs. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 20: 199–218.

Cañal, P., Criado, A.M., Ruiz, N.J. and Herzel, C. (2008). Obstáculos y dificultades de los maestros en formación inicial en el diseño de unidades didácticas de enfoque investigador: el inventario general de obstáculos. In M.R. Jiménez Liso (Ed.): Ciencias para el mundo contemporáneo y formación del profesorado en Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales (pp. 344-353). Almería (Spain): Ed. Univ. Almería.

Flick, L.B. and Lederman, N.G. (2006). Scientific inquiry and nature of science : implications for teaching, learning, and teacher education. Dordrecht (The Netherlands) : Kluwer Academic.

Morrison, J.A. (2008). Individual inquiry investigations in an elementary science methods course. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 19: 117-134.


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National Research Council (2002). Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: a guide for teaching and learning. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

OECD (2000). Measuring student knowledge and skills: The PISA assessment of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. París: OECD, http://www.pisa.oecd.org/.

OECD (2003). The PISA 2003 Assessment Framework: Mathematics, Reading, Science and Problem Solving Knowledge and Skills. París: OECD, http://www.pisa.oecd.org/.

OECD (2006). Assessing Scientific, Reading and Mathematical Literacy: A Framework for PISA 2006. París. OECD, http://www.pisa.oecd.org/.

Osborne, J. and Dillon, J. (2008). Science Education in Europe: Critical Reflections. A Report to the Nuffield Foundation. London: The Nuffield Foundation

Rocard, M., Csermely, P., Jorde, D., Lenzen, D. Walberg-Henriksson, H. and Hemmo, V. (2007). Science Education Now: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe. Brussels: Directorate General for Research, Science, Economy and Society.

Shulman, L.S. (2005). Conocimiento y enseñanza: fundamentos de la nueva reforma. Profesorado. Revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 9 (2), 1-30.

Weld, J. and Funk, L. (2005). “I’m Not the Science Type”: Effect of an Inquiry Biology Content Course on Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Intentions About Teaching Science. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 16: 189–204

Windschitl, M. (2003). Inquiry projects in science teacher education: what can investigative experiences reveal about teacher thinking and eventual classroom practice? Science Education, 87: 112-143.

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157

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRE-SCHOOL STUDENT TEACHERS´

ATTITUDES TOWARDS SCIENCE AND SCIENCE TEACHING

DURING THEIR UNIVERSITY STUDIES

Bodil Sundberg Örebro University

Christina Ottander Umeå University

Abstract

Considerable concern has been raised in Sweden about decreasing interest in science among young people. One key to improving attitudes towards science is an early positive contact with science. Numerous studies have however shown that elementary and pre-school teacher generally have negative attitudes towards science and science teaching, as well as poor science content knowledge. As a consequence, science teaching in pre-schools often is fragmented. A pre-school teacher education that prepares student teachers for teaching science with confidence has therefore been put forward as a way of increasing quality science teaching in pre-schools. In this longitudinal study, attitudes towards science and science teaching of students enrolled in a science and art oriented pre-school teacher programme were followed during their first years of university studies. The results show that the socialization process into the scientific discourse takes time, and that one full year of exposure to activities with scientific content was needed for skeptical attitudes towards science to change. The results also indicate that dominant attitudes, norms and behaviors of the pre-school professional culture may clash with developing science teaching skills. Pre-school teacher education therefore also needs to communicate about these contradicting cultures.

Introduction

Considerable concern has been raised in Sweden about the problems faced by students in learning science, and the decreasing overall interest in science. One of the reasons for this situation is the way science is taught, causing an initial interest in science to decrease (Lindahl 2003; EU 2004; EU 2007; Osborne & Dillon 2008). One suggested key to retain the initial positive attitudes among children is to bring about a positive contact with science at an early stage (Harlen 1997). An early experience of quality science education also will help the students to a better understanding of scientific concepts studied later in a more formal way (Eshach and Fried 2005, Novak 2005). This however requires the establishment of a pre-school teacher education that provides becoming pre-school teachers with a sound basis of general science knowledge, enabling them to teach science with confidence (Harlen 1997, Kallery & Psillos 2001). The establishment of such an education is although not uncomplicated. Pre-school student teachers often have a rather estranged relationship to both science and science education (Howitt 2007; Rice & Roychoudhury 2003). Usually they see themselves as “non-science” people and typically they have poor science knowledge. They also often have negative attitudes towards science, remembering science at school as a negative experience (Garbett 2003). Teacher education for pre-school teachers including science is therefore facing a challenge, where the education need to provide both a sound basis of general science content knowledge as well as enhancing student teachers confidence in teaching science (Harlen 1997, Kallery & Psillos 2001).


158

The importance of an early exposure to science through an active pre-school teacher is formalized in the Swedish pre-school curriculum (Lpfö 89). Here it is stated that the pre-school should constitute the first step in the education system. One learning goal “to strive towards” is to ensure that children develop an understanding of their own involvement in the processes of nature and of simple scientific phenomena, as well as increase their knowledge of plants and animals. The curriculum also states that pre-school should put great emphasis on issues concerning the environment and nature conservation. At the same time, a distinguishing character of Swedish pre-school is the ambition to combine care, nurturing and learning (Johansson & Pramling 2001). The curriculum sets this out as one of the fundamental values for the pre-school. Tasks, goals and guidelines for activities are further presented, but the curriculum does not present how these goals shall be attained. The complicated task of putting nurturing and learning in a coherent whole into practice is thus an issue primarily for the pre-school staff. Studies have shown that the outcome often is that caring a nurturing is emphasized while learning comes second hand (Palmerus, Pramling & Lindahl 1991, Thulin 2006). Possibly this task will be made easier by the clarifications and complements suggested recently (Skolverket 2009).

In this longitudinal study, attitudes towards science and science teaching of students enrolled in a science and art oriented programme were followed during their first years of university studies. As teacher's epistemological beliefs, teaching contexts, and instructional goals also are reflected in their teaching practices (Kang & Wallace 2005, EU 2004), these perspectives have been included in the study as well.

Rationale

The students of the study are all enrolled in a science and art oriented pre-school teacher programme. This programme is especially designed to prepare them for teaching science with confidence. During one full year (two semesters) these students meet science from different perspectives to provide them with a sound basis of general science knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and experiences of science activities integrated with art. This rather extensive science part of a pre-school teacher programme is unique in Swedish contexts. Following the development of these student teachers attitudes towards science and science teaching thus gives an important insight into the relationship between content knowledge, attitudes and confidence in teaching science.

Methods

Sample

The original sample consisted of 65 students enrolled in a programme for pre-school teachers at Örebro University, Sweden 2007. The programme, which is three and a half year long, starts with one semester of didactics. After this a year with “science and creative art” starts followed by another two years of didactics and subject based courses. The science and art year (from here called science year) is aiming at giving the students the appropriate background needed to meet children’s questions, attitudes and experiences of nature. It also is designed to prepare the students for planning and carrying out science teaching according to the pre school curricula.

Theoretical and practical perspectives of science are covered in excursions, creative elements, group discussions and individual or group projects. Also didactical perspectives of science teaching are covered as well as the basics of scientific inquiry. Many different techniques of creative arts are used in combination with science teaching. Aesthetic experience has been shown to have positive effects on children’s cognitive learning and possibility of participating in science activities (Jakobson 2008). Probably this combination also has positive effects on science learning by young adults. A further study of this special aspect was however not possible to include into the scope of this study.


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Data collection

The students´ epistemological believes and attitudes towards science and science teaching were followed through questionnaires, individual interviews and audio-taped discussions in groups. In this paper only results of the questionnaires are presented. These contained closed questions of Likert scale types and open ended questions. The students were also asked to freely associate with the words Nature, Science and Molecule.

The first questionnaire was handed out at the start of the first semester. The questions here concerned attitudes towards learning (modified after Leavy McSorely & Bote’, 2007) as well as reasons for enrolling the program. At the beginning of the science and art course, a second more extensive questionnaire was handed out. Here the questions both concerned attitudes towards learning as well as attitudes towards science and science teaching (Osborne et al. 2003). Both these aspects were then further followed by a questionnaire at the end of each science semester. The study was explorative in that each questionnaire was designed based on the answers of the earlier ones. This explorative approach resulted in questionnaires with a larger tendency of open ended questions as time went by. Additional questionnaires are planned and will be handed out at the end of their studies as well as one year after the students have been in service.

Likert scales

A five-level Likert item was used asking the students for the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a particular statement. The format used was; "strongly agree, agree, neutral/undecided, disagree, and strongly disagree." These five levels were later reduced into three categories of "agree", “neutral” and "disagree". The results were analyzed by descriptive statistics and in some cases non-parametric tests by using SPSS.

Open ended questions

Replies to open ended questions were categorized according to the different themes emerging from the material it self. The scope of the four categories were inspired by Harlen (1985), a teacher’s tutorial for developing children's process skills, and for supporting children's understandings through inquiry. This book is used as course literature during “science year”, so the students should be familiar with its content to some extent. Emphasis through out the book is on the teachers´ role (what the teacher might do) in contrast to most literature with ideas for classroom activities (what the children might do).

Responses to describe the type of activities with scientific content you want to arrange, what purpose do you see with this activity, how do you picture your own role in the activity and how do you think teachers can help children train scientific process skills, emerged into two themes that were combined into four categories (below). The two themes were descriptions of activities (what the children might do) and the teacher role (what the teacher might do). The description of activities and the teacher role were recognized as follows:

Descriptions of activities:

1. Providing opportunities. Responses describes one or many of following; concrete activity suggestions, useful equipment, the need to set of time, providing opportunities by going outdoors, providing the children with interesting materials to work with.

2. The child’s aspect. Response describes activities proceeding from the children’s own ideas, interest and understanding of the world.

3. Recognition of training process skills. Response describes activities such as observing, helping children to raise questions and answering them, training to communicate, planning.


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Description of the teacher role:

a) Supporting supervisor. Describes a teacher who is open minded and supports children’s own ideas and interests.

b) Challenging leader/ guiding teacher. Describes a teacher who considers the children’s ideas but also challenges these. Takes a more active part in planning than a).

c) Describes social competence as primary pedagogical intention.

d) Describes problem solving and learning as primary pedagogical intention.

These subthemes of “the teacher role” were partly inspired by the themes emerging from studies on how pre-school teachers experience their educational work made by Hensvold (2003).

The resulting four categories are:

1. No answer or a very vague description

2. Describes what the children might do. Most common here is only a description of an activity. The teacher’s role is diffuse, passive or absent.

3. Describes what the children and the teacher might do. The activity described includes the role of an active teacher. In some cases a point is made of the importance of considering the children’s ideas.

4. As 3, but specific aspects of process skills are specified. In these descriptions the importance of considering the children’s ideas and interest are included.

Word associations

The students were asked to freely associate with the words Nature, Science and Molecule. The purpose of this was twofold. First, word association has earlier been used as a tool for assessing conceptual change in science education (Hovardas & Korfiatis 2006) as well as for ascertaining belief or attitude changes in psychology and sociology. In our study we are interested in attitudes and therefore used word association as one possible tool for assessing these. The word molecule was chosen as an example of the scientific language which is a part of the socialization process into the scientific culture. The word science is in a similar way known to be provided with different meanings depending on for instance educational experiences (Roberts & Östman 1998). Second, most data in this study are based on replies in questionnaires. Many of the statements and questions in these questionnaires contain the words nature and science. As these two words resembles each other in the Swedish language (natur and naturvetenskap respectively), it was of importance to know if the students provided these words with different meanings.

The associations were sorted according to different themes emerging from the material. These themes were further analyzed to identify trends and patterns. The different categories were similar to results of earlier analyses regarding value-related messages implicitly or explicitly expressed in texts concerning nature and science (Allwood 1983, Östman 1986).


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Results

Attitudes towards pre-school profession

It was quite evident from the material that the students held caring and nurturing as the most important characteristic for a pre-school teacher even before they started their programme. For example, a majority of the students (67 %) stated that the purpose for enrolling the program was that they wanted to work with small children. Only 5 % spontaneously mentioned the science orientation of the programme as a cause for enrollment. When asked about given characteristics relevance for the profession, being pedagogical, caring for children, self confident, passionately engaged in the profession and capable of creating a safe environment were chosen by the majority as primary characteristics. Academic competences such as specific content knowledge, knowledge of school history or recent pedagogical research were considered least relevant. After one semester this pattern was not changed. In the end of the science year an open question about important competences and characteristics was used instead of different given characteristics. The answers were sorted into different categories. Again, answers of the category caretaker and keeper of a safe atmosphere were spontaneously given by 95 % of the students. Answers holding characteristics of academic sort like pedagogical education, content knowledge or teacher training was all suggested only by about 30 % of the students.

Attitudes towards nature

The majority of the students started the programme with a positive attitude towards “nature” or “outdoor-life”. As an example, at start 67% stated that they enjoyed being in nature. After one semester this had increased to 80%, a number that remained after two semesters. Also, after two semesters nearly all students (98%) stated that they felt very confident in arranging activities in nature with children, compared to 78% in the beginning. When asked to freely associate with the word nature (Table 1), a majority associated with classical scientific meanings also found in most Swedish school text books and in Swedish press (Allwood 1983, Östman 1986). Here nature is something separated from humans (i.e. biotopes, plants and animals) but also something for humans to observe or enjoy (outdoor activities). Science year seemed to also retain this trend. Associations with positive feelings also increased during science year. Among the spontaneous positive remarks freedom, refreshing and peace and quiet were common.

Table 1. Students associations with the word nature before and after the science and art course. Categories modified by Östman (1996).

Category Percent of students Date 080125

N=60

Date 090109

N=55

Classic meaning of science e.g. forest, animal, separated from humans

66

60

Cultural meaning of science e.g. outdoor activity, human resource

44

42

Affective dimension -only positive feelings 23 31

Organistic meaning e.g. holistic, life systems in balance, life/survival

5

5

Other 2 7


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Attitudes towards science

Attitudes towards science and scientific content knowledge turned out to be somewhat more complicated than attitudes towards nature. At the start of science year, 93 % of the students agreed with the statement it is important for a country that its citizens have basic knowledge in biology, chemistry and physics. Also, 68 % also thought that scientific research provides us with a better society. On the contrary, less than half agreed (40 %) when asked if they remembered science class as something interesting, and only 28 % remembered it as something easy to learn. Possibly, this could be interpreted as an overall positive attitude towards science and scientific knowledge, but not on a personal level. This somewhat ambiguous view is similar to other findings, in Sweden and other countries, that most young people are satisfied with the progress of science, but not convinced that science is something for them (Sahlman 2008). Interestingly less than 10 % agreed to the statement you need to be clever to deal with science. At first sight this might contradict the fact that only 28 % remembered science as something easy to learn. However, it might also be a sign of the overall decreasing respect for science noted in many recent reports (Sahlman 2008).

An indication of a switch from this ambiguous attitude towards a more personal and positive attitude was not visible until the end of science year. As an example, at the beginning of the science courses 40% stated that scientific content knowledge could be useful in their every day lives whilst 15% did not agree with this statement at all. These numbers did not change during the first semester. After one year however, 64% of the students stated that scientific knowledge could be useful in their everyday lives, and none disagreed with the statement. This shift was also noticeable among the free associations with the word science and molecule (Table 2 & 3).

Before science year a vast majority of the student associated science with words related to traditional academic scientific meanings such as answers to questions, knowledge, school subjects, experiments and investigations (Östman 1996), (Table 2). Before science year the word science was associated with both negative and positive feelings. Here the positive associations were of the kind fun and interesting while the negative ones were difficult or Boring!. Many however added hopes of changing their views during science year. This also apparently happened as a small decrease over time was obvious in the amount of associations with feelings, where most of the change was du to less negative associations.

Interestingly the word science didn’t evoke as many negative associations as the word molecule (Table 3). One fourth of the students associated molecule with words like difficult or simply sigh!. Possibly, the term molecule to a larger extent is a symbol for the abstract and atomistic nature of science often suggested to be one of the problematic sides of school science. After one year of science, some negative associations still persisted, but to a lesser extent.

A possible sign of beginning socialization into scientific discourses was the shift towards more traditional scientific meanings with the word molecule among the associations after science year. Here 60% associated with typical classical meanings of science (Östman 1996). These classic scientific meanings were revealing atomistic views, using words such as atoms or elements or organistic meanings with expressions like small building blocks or what everything is made of. Before science year only 36% provided molecule with these types of meanings. Also, before science year, more than one third associated molecule with cultural meanings. The cultural meanings revealed individual views such as the water molecules´ resemblance with Mickey Mouse’s´ head, or associations with school settings (most common was chemistry). The complex interaction between learning science and socialization into the specific views and language of school science and science itself has been discussed in more detail by Lundqvist et al. (2009).


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Table 2. Students associations with the word science before and after the science and art course. Categories modified by Östman (1996).


N=60 Date 090109

N=55

Classic meaning of science 87 82

-Understand, knowledge, learn 47 47 - Specific knowledge 8 5 - Subject in school 22 29 - Theory, books 10 2 - Experiment, investigations 20 20 Cultural meaning of science 8 4

Affective dimension 17 7

-Negative feelings 12 4 -Positive feelings 3 4 -Mixed feelings e.g. hard and fun 2 7

Other 10 0

Table 3. Students associations to the word molecule before and after the science and art course.


N=60 Date 090109

N=55 Classic meaning of science 36 60

-Atomistic 18 27 -Organistic 18 33 Cultural meaning of science 37 25

-individual, “Mickey mouse” 17 20 -school perspective 20 5 Affective dimension Negative feelings 25 16

No answer 2 5

Attitudes towards science teaching

Several previous studies have shown that elementary and pre-school student teachers generally have negative attitudes towards science teaching (Garbett 2003; Harlen 1997; Howitt 2007; Appelton 2003; Rice & Roychoudhury 2003). Our results show a somewhat more complicated and ambiguous picture. This picture is made up by conflicting attitudes towards the content to be taught, pedagogical intentions and the pre-school teacher role. For example, the majority of the students started the programme with a positive attitude towards science teaching and 92 % of the students agreed to the statement I´m looking forward to arranging pedagogic activities with scientific content. Also, 68 % believed they would do that sort of activities often. At the same time however 90 % also agreed to the statement the most important aspect of outdoor activities is that the children get an outlet for their energies and fantasies, which might indicate a view of learning scientific content as a lower priority during outings. Also, a majority thought it unnecessary to use difficult words like molecules together with the children, a possible reflection of their own negative associations with the word. Interestingly, there was a small, however not statistically significant, shift towards a


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lesser agreement to the statement after one year of science. This could be connected with the shift to a less negative attitude towards the word itself.

These results thus together suggest a picture of rather confident students, but also raise questions about their meanings of “pedagogic activities with scientific content”. The next questionnaire therefore held open ended but detailed questions about their thinking of content, pedagogical intentions and their own roles in relation to scientific activities. They were also asked to describe how one might encourage children to train scientific process skills. Here, our results suggest that developing science teaching skills is a rather slow process. For example, after one semester of science, including many different types of applications of science and one period of in service training for the students, a majority of the students still responded with rather vague descriptions of how activities with scientific content might look like. Approximately 25% did not include any scientific content at all in their answers; simply describing them as fun and inspiring activities. Most students stated they wanted to make different types of investigations (64 %) or experiments (25%). Further explanations were however seldom given concerning from which aspect/question these investigations and experiments were to be made. The investigations were further all, implicitly or explicitly, described as something taking part outdoors, and of the type: investigate animals and plants or visit a forest and let the children study ants and insects. Many of the responses after one semester of science thus suggest an implicit or explicit connection made by the students between pedagogic activities with scientific content and outdoor activities, sometimes even free activities. Also, about one third described the teacher’s role as the inspirer or supervisor, supporting the children’s own ideas. A majority of the students´ however didn’t answer at all or responded very vaguely when asked to describe the teacher’s role in detail. Only a minority (10%) of the responses specifically described activities which would help the children train to observe, raise questions, plan investigations or to communicate about results. These answers also recognized the teacher’s crucial role children’s learning.

After one semester most students described two or more intentions with their planned activities. Most common among these was to increase content knowledge (61%), irrespective of activity type described. Other intentions with having activities were to increase environmental concern (22%), stimulate curiousness and interest (19%) and encourage a habit for outdoor activities (16%). A tentative conclusion of the students view after one semester is thus that a vast majority plan for the children to learn science from being put into (outdoor) activity. This view has been pointed out by Harlen (1997) as common, but also somewhat unfortunate if one means to perform quality science education with small children.

After two semesters of science however, a considerable change was evident in the answers. This time all students described some sort of pedagogical idea, even if one third still would only see to the aspect of activating the children. A general trend was also a greater emphasize on taking the children’s ideas and interests into consideration when planning activities. Another general trend was also to more explicitly describe the teachers’ role as an active organizer. However, still only about 10% described activities that would train children to observe, raise questions, plan investigations or to communicate about results.


Our results shows that the socialization process into the scientific discourse takes time, and that one full year of exposure to activities with scientific content may be needed for skeptical attitudes towards science to change. Our data thus supports substantial science education in pre-school teacher’s programmes in order to support pedagogical content knowledge and positive attitudes. Likewise, pre-school teacher educators also have to recognize the non-linear, and not self evident connection between subject content knowledge and attitudes towards science teaching. The overall picture emerging from this study is a complicated process of socialization into two different cultures; that of the scientific tradition and that of the pre-school. Learning science, as argued by among others Harlen (1985), must allow process skills, attitudes of critical reflection and concepts to develop together. This in turn requires a teacher who prepares activities holding these features. A distinguishing character of Swedish pre-schools is on the contrary that nurturing is emphasized while structured learning activities come second hand (Palmerus,


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Pramling & Lindahl 1991, Thulin 2006). Our data indicate that the student teachers already are socialized into the pre-school culture before they start their university studies. It also indicates that the attitudes associated to pre-school culture persist alongside with the socialization into a traditional scientific culture. The outcome of this seems to be a more positive attitude towards science on a personal level, but it does not integrate with their view of themselves as pre-school teachers. Our findings thus confirm earlier findings that personal professional knowledge is influenced primarily by the dominant perceptions within the culture of a profession, and not by the perspectives and concepts within an educational program (Hensvold 2003).

Beyond doubt, subject knowledge and positive attitudes may be one of the corner pillars for effective science teaching. Dominant values, attitudes, norms and behaviors of the pre-school professional culture, and how it may clash with the culture of traditional academic science probably also needs to be communicated in teacher education if the aim is to encourage effective science teaching in pre-schools.

Finally, it must be pointed out that our data relies on one group of students during one particular year. Differences between student batches might be substantial. Therefore these data will be further analyzed by making a comparison with material from students taking the same course following year. In addition, the data presented here is based on questionnaires only. This was done with the purpose to give a broad picture of attitudes. Using this material, we now can continue to investigate conflicting attitudes towards science content, pedagogical intentions and the pre-school teacher role in more detail. Also, teacher socialization is known to continue years after university studies are finished. The data presented in this paper therefore only gives a picture of teachers “in the making”. A more comprehensive picture of attitudes towards science teaching in relation to teacher education and pre-school culture will hopefully be at hand when these students have experienced one or two years of teaching.

References

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Appelton, K. (2003). How do Beginning Primary School Teachers Cope with Science? Toward an Understanding of Science Teaching Practice. Research in Science Education, 33(1), 1-25.

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EU (2007). Science Education NOW: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe. http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/report-rocard-on-science-education_en.pdf [2008, 03-08]

Eshach, H. & Fried, M. N. (2005). Should Science be Taught in Early Childhood? Journal of Science Education and Technology, 14(3), 315-336.

Garbett, D. (2003). Science Education in Early Childhood Teacher Education: Putting Forward a Case to Enhance Student Teachers Confidence and Competence. Research in Science Education 33(4), 467-481.

Harlen, W. (1985). Teaching and Learning Primary Science. Teacher College Press. New York.

Harlen, W. (1997). Primary Teachers Understanding in Science and its Impact in the Classroom. Research in Science Education 27(3), 323-337.

Hensvold, I. (2003). Fyra år efter examen: hur förskollärare erfar pedagogiskt arbete och lärarutbildningens spår. Doctoral dissertation. Stockholm university. Studies in educational sciences. ISBN 91-7656-564-5

Hovardas, T. & Korfiatis, K. (2006). Word associations as a tool for assessing conceptual change in science education. Learning and Instruction 16(5), 416-432


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Jakobson, B. (2008). Learning science through aesthetic experience in elementary school. Aesthetic judgment, metaphor and art. Doctoral dissertation. Stockholm University, Department of Education in Mathematics and Science

Johansson, E. & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2001). Omsorg – en central aspekt av förskolepraktiken. Exemplet måltiden. Pedagogisk Forskning i Sverige 6(2), 81-101

Kallery, M. & Psillos, D. (2001). Pre-school Teachers´ Content Knowledge in Science: Their Understanding of Elementary Science Concepts and of Issues Raised by Children´s Questions. International journal of Early Years Education, 9(3), 165-179.

Kang, N.-H. & Wallace, C. S. (2005). Secondary Science Teachers’ Use of Laboratory Activities: Linking Epistemological Beliefs, Goals and Practices. Science Education 89, 140-165.

Leavy, A. M, McSorely, F. A. & Boté, L. A. (2007). An Examination of what Metaphor Construction Reveals about the Evolution of Pre-service Teachers´ Beliefs about Teaching and Learning. Teaching and Teacher Education 23, 1217-1233.

Lindahl, B. (2003). Lust att lära naturvetenskap och teknik? En longitudinell studie om vägen till gymnasiet. Doctoral dissertation, Göteborg University. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis

Lundqvist, E., Almqvist, J., & Östman L. (2009). Epistemological norms and companion meanings in science classroom communication. Science Education 93(5), 859-874.

Novak, J. D. (2005). Results and Implications of a 12-year Longitudinal Study of Science Concept Learning. Research in Science Education 35, 23-40

Osborne, J. & Dillon, J. (2008) Science Education in Europe: Critical reflections. A report to the Nuffield foundation. http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/fileLibrary/pdf/Sci_Ed_in_Europe_Report_Final.pdf [2008, 03-08]

Osborne, J. Simon, S. & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes Towards Science: a Review of the Literature and its Implications. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049-1079.

Palmerus, K., Pramling, I & Lindahl, M. (1991). Daghem för små barn. En utvecklingsstudie av personalens pedagogiska och psykologiska kunnande. (Rapport 8) Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet, Institutionen för metodik i lärarutbildningen

Rice, D. C. & Roychoudhury, A. (2003). Preparing More Confident pre-service Elementary Science Teachers: One Elementary Science Methods Teacher’s Self-study. Journal of Science Teacher Education 14(2), 97-126.

Roberts, D. A. & Östman, L. (1998). Problems of Meaning in Science Curriculum. Teachers College Press. New York.

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Thulin, S. (2006). En studie av hur lärare och barn i förskolan kommunicerar naturvetenskapliga fenomen. Växjö University Press

Östman, L. (1996). NO-didaktiska perspektiv på undervisning och i lärarutbildning: en artikelserie om meningsskapande, målrealisering och lärarkunskap. In Eskilsson & Hellde’n (Eds.). Naturvetenskapen i skolan inför 2000-talet. (pp 552-595) ISBN 91-972884-0-3


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MAPPING DEVELOPMENT IN PRE-SERVICE PHYSICS STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF MAGNETIC FLUX AND FLUX CHANGE

Mustafa Sabri Kocakülah Balıkesir Üniversitesi

Abstract

This study investigates 17 year old first year university students’ conceptual understanding and their conceptual growth about the concepts of magnetic flux and flux change. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of a university physics course on students’ understanding. To achieve this aim, students’ ideas, the changes in such ideas with instruction and their consistency in scientific and everyday contexts were analysed. The study is qualitative in nature and open ended questions and semi-structured interviews were used to measure the impact of the course on students’ understanding. Firstly, changes in 95 students’ understanding were monitored through pre, post and delayed-post instruction questions. Secondly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight selected students after teaching to capture students’ construction of knowledge patterns. The analyses of pre, post and delayed-post instruction questions and interviews showed that 74.74% of the students used unacceptable ideas about magnetic fields and forces before and after instruction, and their ideas changed little across the four weeks of instruction and 20 weeks after instruction ceased. Specific barriers to learning the concepts of magnetic flux and flux change are identified and suggestions made as to how teaching approaches might be revised to address these barriers.

Introduction

One of the main aims of teaching science is to enable students to develop a scientific understanding of the natural world in which they live. Such a development in understanding through schooling can be managed by providing an effective ‘learning environment’ (Dhindsa, 2005; Venturini, 2007) involving students in constructing, reconstructing and modifying already existing ideas.

The main purpose of this study is to monitor the learning of first year physics undergraduates as they progress through a taught course on magnetic flux. Specifically, the study aims to identify the initial ideas held by students before undertaking a course on the topic of magnetic flux, to explore shifts in such ideas as the course progresses, to evaluate the consistency of these ideas by probing them in different scientific contexts, to identify conceptual difficulties or learning barriers encountered by students and to consider the implications of the research findings for teaching and learning of the concepts of magnetic flux and flux change.

Rationale

This study is intended to describe the development of first year university students’ scientific knowledge of magnetic flux during a period of formal teaching, to offer interpretations of the learning outcomes and to offer suggestions as to how existing teaching provision may be developed. The students in the study are pre-service teachers attending the first year of a pre-service teacher training course. They are first introduced to the concepts of electromagnetism in the second year of upper secondary school (age 15). The ideas in this area are reviewed and extended two years later in the first year of undergraduate studies.


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Five reasons for undertaking this study are set out. Firstly, the concept area of magnetic flux is one of the most fundamental of electromagnetism in physics. Secondly, the concepts of magnetic flux, field lines and the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction are difficult areas for teachers to explain and accepted as a very difficult topic for students to understand (Loftus, 1996). Thirdly, electromagnetism is traditionally covered in the second year (year 10) of upper secondary schools. This gives the researcher an opportunity to investigate the learnt concepts before the teaching of the subject starts at the university and to monitor students’ subsequent progress through their training. Fourth, much of the research in students’ understanding of electromagnetic concepts has focused on school-age pupils with less attention on university students (Albe, Venturini, & Lascours, 2001; Maloney, O’Kuma, Hieggelke, & van Heuvelen, 2001). Finally, the relative lack of research into students’ understanding of magnetic flux encouraged the researcher to enter into the study. Research into the development of magnetic flux ideas in terms of how they change after encountering a teaching has not been investigated much and this interested the researcher in revealing the impact of the instruction on students’ learning of magnetic flux.

Methods

The education faculty involved in this study included 95 first-year physics students (age 17). Changes in students’ understanding of magnetic flux and flux change concepts were monitored using the pre, post and delayed post tests and semi-structured interviews in this qualitative study. Pre and post tests were administered to measure the growth of understanding during the lecture period while the delayed post test was administered to probe the longer term understanding of the students with open-ended questions. Questions were phenomenologically-framed and required students to express their ideas freely. Question used in the delayed post test was designed in different context and it was applied five months after administration of the post test. A combination of nomothetic and ideographic approaches (Wandersee, Mintzes & Novak, 1994) was used for the analysis of students’ responses. The reliability of the coding process was checked with the second coder who coded independently 45 responses of students to the questions at the same time as the researcher. An overall agreement coefficient of 88% was established. Semi-structured interviews with eight students allowed further investigation of depth of individual students’ understanding. Interview data were complementary in probing the development of students’ understanding with demonstration experiments.

Results

Students were asked to decide at which instant the maximum induced voltage occurs by dropping a coil between the poles of two magnets (in pre and post tests) and what would be the likely output reading from the galvanometer connected to a moving coil above a cracked and current carrying pipe (in delayed post test).

Before teaching, 11 students used scientifically acceptable arguments differing in terms of their level of sophistication and 84 students proposed scientifically unacceptable responses in which 62 of them were related to magnetic fields and forces, while 22 responses were related to other ideas involving electrical concepts (see Table 1). For all three tests the leading response category implied that when the coil’s area in the magnetic field is larger then more field lines will penetrate this area and more voltage will be induced in the coil. A typical response of these students in this category would be:

“A larger area of the coil is between the poles of magnets at instants X and Y where the coil is affected by more and intense magnetic field lines. Briefly, maximum number of field lines penetrates coil in these instants than the others. Thus, emf should be maximum at instants X and Y” (Students 20)

Here, students base their explanation on the number of constant magnetic field lines. They accepted the idea of the more field lines passing through the coil the more induced voltage in the coil without considering the change in the field lines in a given time unit.


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Some ideas were mainly drawn from electricity. For example, according to these students the number of electric field lines passing through the coil was essential to determine the magnitude of induced electromotive force (emf). These students found magnets as a producer of electric fields as given below:

“There is an electric field between the poles of magnets. Since emf is proportional to the number of electric field lines passing through the coil, induced emf will be maximum at instants X and Y where the more area of the coil exists between the magnets’ poles” (Student 77)

Table 1. Summary of forms of arguments given in response to flux change questions Levels TYPE OF RESPONSE Test Type ( N = 95 )

A. Scientifically Acceptable Arguments Pre Post Delayed post

5 1. Full Argument 0 6 5

2. Part of Argument

4 a. Response refers to a full explanation of Lenz’s law 1 3 2

3 b. Response refers to flux change and relates that change in flux to induced V / Ι

8 6 2

2 c. Response refers to only flux change 2 9 2

1

B. Scientifically Unacceptable Arguments

1. Response Related to Magnetic (B) Fields and Forces 62 59 68

2. Response Related to Other Inappropriate Ideas 22 12 16

Although the number of students responding scientifically acceptable arguments increased, students’ unacceptable explanations still account for the majority of the sample (71) after teaching. Of these 71 students, 59 of them based their explanation on responses related to scientifically unacceptable magnetic fields and forces concepts. In most cases, these students related the magnitude of the induced voltage to the number of magnetic field lines passing through the coil without considering the change in velocity of the coil. In these responses, there was no reference to the rate of change of flux to associate it with induced voltage. They focused on observable aspects of the situation such as area, position, velocity and number of turns of the coil. In the delayed post test, scientifically unacceptable arguments category accounts for 84 students’ explanations. Most of the explanations (68 students) were based again on scientifically unacceptable magnetic fields and forces arguments. Students’ understandings were insecure and with the changed context of the delayed post test, students simply made reference to the number of magnetic field lines, cross-sectional area and the number of turns of the coil rather than referring to the rate of change of flux as with the post test. One of the students mentioning ideas in this new category replied:

“Induction current flows on the coil and depends on the magnitude of the magnetic field. If we halve the cross sectional area of the coil, we would also reduce the number of turns by half. Since the number of magnetic field lines produced by coil is proportional to the number of turns, halved field lines gives halved induction current on the coil” (Student 48)


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In this response, student 48 indicates that the number of turns of coil is important to produce more field lines. She considers the coil’s field rather than the pipe’s field in establishing an induced voltage.

The number of students making explanations based on ideas other than electromagnetism increased to 16 from 12 compared to the post test. These students appeared to associate induced voltage with the number of turns of the coil and electric field lines. This response category was the second new created category and one student reported without relating anything to magnetic fields:

“There will be no change compared to initial situation unless we change the number of turns of the coil. Because electric field lines, which is produced by the coil and form the electric flux, is proportional to the number of turns of the coil” (Student 23)

Here, the student confused electric and magnetic concepts by claiming that ‘current carrying coil produces electric field’. It may be the case that electric current flowing on the coil cued this student into considering ‘electric current produces electric field’.

Trends and nature of development of individual’s ideas during teaching and their stability after teaching was also analysed. Figure 1 is designed to summarise shifts in explanations of all students across the five levels for pre, post and delayed post tests.

Levels ofElements

TestType

1

2

3

4

5

Pre-instruction Post-instruction Delayed-postinstruction

84

2

8

1

0 6

3

6

9

71

2

2

2

84

5

2 (10,

49)

1 (27)

3 (74

,76,89

)

4 (5

5,61

,63,

85)

5 (16,21,52,69,94) 4 (33,

53,56,

70)

1 (24)8 (13,15,20,22,48,78,81,91)

1 (14)

65

(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,17,18,19,23,2526,28,29,30,31,32,34,35,36,37,38,39,4041,42,43,44,45,46,47,50,51,54,57,58,5962,64,65,66,67,68,71,72,73,75,77,79,8082,83,84,86,87,88,90,92,93,95)

1 (60)

(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,16,17,18,19,21,2324,25,26,28,29,30,31,32,34,35,36,37,38,3940,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,50,51,52,54,57,5859,62,64,66,67,68,69,71,72,73,75,77,79,8082,83,84,86,87,88,90,92,93,94,95)

7 (15,20,22,27,48,81,91)

1 (49)

3 (10,55,63)

1 (13)

1 (14)

2 (33,56)

2 (53,

60)

2 (61,85)

1 (65

)

1 (70)

1 (74)

2 (76,89)

1 (78)

70

Figure 1. Analysis of changes in students’ ideas in terms of movement across different levels of responses


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The striking feature of the representation in Figure 1 is that about two thirds of the students (65 students) did not progress on level 1 after instruction. In addition, a total of 70 students did not change their scientifically unacceptable ideas (level 1) in post and delayed post tests.

From pre to post test, 22 (2+1+4+3+4+8) students made progressive shifts by increasing their level of explanations as can be seen in Figure 1. Of these 21 (about one quarter of the sample) students, the biggest shift occurred from level 1 to level 5 with 4 students (55,61,63,85) giving a full explanation to the question in post instruction whereas their responses were in a scientifically unacceptable level (level 1) in pre instruction. For example:

“At instants X and Y, more area (surface) of the coil exists in the magnetic field produced by the poles of magnets than the other instants. Since the induced emf is proportional to the area (surface) of the coil in the magnetic field, induced voltage will be maximum at instants X and Y” (Student 55)

was in level 1 given by student 55 in pre instruction. However, after instruction the same student revealed the reasoning given below:

“Induced voltage on the coil is proportional to the flux change in a unit time interval. According to Lenz’s law, the direction of induced current on the coil is anti clock wise to prevent increase in flux passing through the frame whereas induced current’s direction will be clockwise since decrease in flux (magnetic field lines) begins as soon as the coil starts leaving the poles of magnets. However, there is a point to be considered that if the coil was moved with the same speed all way along its path, induced voltages at the entrance and exit of poles would be the same. Here, the coil makes free fall and since it accelerates as time passes, the change of flux will be much before it leaves entirely the poles. This means that at instant Z induced emf will be maximum” (Student 55)

However, the security of understanding was very variable with student 55, who was in the group of 16 (1+3+2+1+2+7) regressing students, and his explanations being judged at a lower level in delayed post test than in the post test. Here, student 55 in level 5 in post test used his initial ideas in the delayed post test. He wrote in delayed post test:

“If we double the speed of the coil, induced emf will not be changed. Induced emf on the coil, as a consequence of a magnetic field passing through it, is given by the equation of ε = N B A. . where N shows the number of turns, A gives coil’s cross-sectional area and B shows the field lines passing through the coil. As can be seen in this equation, velocity is not a factor to change emf (ε) hence the induced voltage will remain the same. Alternatively, when we halve the coil’s area the induced emf will be halved since the number of penetrating magnetic field lines into the coil is also halved. Overall, the total effects of the changes will be the halved induced voltage on the galvanometer” (Student 55).

As stated before this student did not approach the question from the point of rate of change in flux and interpreted it by using an equation. Above a sample of shifts in comprehension which have included ideas relevant to the change in flux through a moving coil in a magnetic field was exemplified. However, the significant majority of students remained at level 1 (i.e. scientifically unacceptable responses) through all three tests. In the following section any changes in these inappropriate ideas are discussed.

Figure 2 shows the distribution of responses within level 1, the first group, B1, represents responses which related the magnitude of induced emf to magnetic fields and forces. Group B2 consists of responses which related to ideas involving electricity.


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Levels ofElements

TestType

B2

B1

Pre-instruction Post-instruction Delayed-postinstruction

22

62 59

12

68

16

Level 5

Level 4

Level 3

Level 24

(55,

61,6

3,85

)3

(74,

76,8

9)

2 (33,53)

7 (13,20,22,48

78,81,91)

1 (15

)

13 (6,9,11

,17,25,41,51

65

,68,77,87,88,9

5)

6 (4,38,54,59,83,93)

2 (5

6,70

)

(7,32,39,46,79,92)

(1,2,3,5,8,12,1819,23,26,28,29,3031,34,35,36,37,4042,43,44,45,47,5057,58,62,64,66,6771,72,73,75,80,8284,86,90)

40

Level 5

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

(1,2,3,5,6,9,11,12,16,17,18,19,24,2526,28,29,30,31,34,35,36,37,40,41,4243,44,45,47,50,51,52,69,57,58,62,6467,68,72,73,75,77,80,84,86,94,95)

8 (4,7,

32,39,

54

59,

83,93)

9 (8,21,23,66,71,82,87,88,90)

(38,46,79,92)1 (

65)

49

6 4

Figure 2. Analysis of shifts in levels of responses by focusing on inappropriate ideas

Only 16 students move out of Level 1 to higher levels after instruction (see Figure 2). There is an improvement trend within the Level 1 towards answering scientifically unacceptable ideas related to magnetic fields and forces. However, in the delayed post test, shift of students moving out of level 1 almost disappears (only 1 student to Level 4) and the numbers of interchanging students between categories B1 and B2 are close figures.


In conclusion, students mostly interpreted the questions in terms of the area, position, velocity, magnetic property or the number of turns of the coil but ignored the rate of change of flux. This shows the students’ selection of more tangible and visible points and their attempt to make sense of the phenomena in a more concrete way rather than using flux concepts. They often looked for physical links between an external field source and a coil put into that field. Field lines were thus thought of as being ‘real’ and therefore capable of exerting a force. The learning barrier was to explain how a current (or a voltage) can be induced by the field source in another conductor which has no physical or mechanical interaction with the field source.


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Another kind of learning barrier involved drawing on common sense ideas. The lack of practice or the lack of visual demonstrations was evident in students’ intuitive reasonings. The proximity of the coil to the magnets was important for some students and they argued simply that the induced voltage would be greatest where the falling coil was closest to the poles of the magnets. The basic form of reasoning was that of the closer to the field source, the bigger the induced voltage. Responses based on such an intuitive reasoning reflect the obstacle which appears to distinguish the differences in rates of flux changes by examining the coil’s motion. Students were unable to develop explanations which link the change in flux to the induced current in a conductor which has no physical or mechanical interaction with a field source.

Students’ understandings were not long lasting when challenged using a slightly different question. In addition, there was a confusion between electric and magnetic ideas (Viennot & Rainson,1992). For instance, some students proposed that coil produces electric field lines or coil passes through the electric field produced by the magnets’ poles.

The sample of students in this study is pre-service teachers who will eventually become secondary science physics teachers. It is likely that the design and implementation of their teaching strategies will affect their students in developing a scientifically acceptable understanding of the magnetic flux ideas. Thus, there is a need for teaching which should involve the negotiation of ideas and production of shared meaning to develop students’ understanding of the magnetic flux ideas. Such a teaching should stress the difference in concepts of flux and current. There was evidence during interviews that some students referred to the concept of flux as flowing in the coil like a current flowing in a circuit when the power supply was on. The distinction between the words flux and current should be communicated in detail by university lecturers since learning science involves a ‘cognitive socialisation through language’ (Mortimer and Scott, 2003).

As suggested by Hermann (1991) and Arons (1997), the problem of confusion between electric and magnetic fields might be overcome by comparative teaching. Such comparative teaching might improve students’ understanding of both electrostatic polarisation and electromagnetic induction. In the case of electric polarisation, the effect is static and remains as far as two objects stay near one another, whereas the induction of an electric current is a dynamic process and the existence of the current in the second coil requires either a change in the strength of another current or a change in position of the magnet.

A more powerful teaching strategy for teachers might be computer aided learning to apply the same basic ideas repeatedly in a wide range of situations provided, enable them to generalise the concept in various contexts and promote conceptual development with exploratory thinking (Kocakülah & Kocakülah, 2006).

References

Albe, V., Venturini, P., & Lascours, J. (2001). Electromagnetic concepts in mathematical representation of physics. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 10(2), 197-203.

Arons, A. B. (1997) Teaching Introductory Physics, New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Dhindsa, H. S. (2005). Cultural learning environment of upper secondary science students. International Journal of Science Education, 27(5), 575-592.

Herrmann, F. (1991) ‘Teaching the Magnetostatic Field: Problems to Avoid’, American Journal of Physics, 59 (5), 447-452.

Kocakülah, A. & Kocakülah, M. S. (2006) Bilgisayar Simülasyonları ve Deney Düzeneklerinin Kullanıldığı Bir Öğretim Sürecinin Değerlendirilmesi, International Educational Technology Conference Book, 19-21 April 2006, Famagusta, North Cyprus.


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Loftus, M. (1996). Students’ ideas about electromagnetism. School Science Review, 77(280), 93-94.

Maloney, D. P., O’Kuma, T. L., Hieggelke, C. J., & van Heuvelen, A. (2001). Surveying students’ conceptual knowledge of electricity and magnetism. American Journal of Physics, 69(7), 12-23.

Mortimer, E. F., & Scott, P. H. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Venturini, P. (2007). The contribution of the theory of relation to knowledge to understanding students’ engagement in learning physics. International Journal of Science Education, 29(9), 1065-1088.

Viennot, L. and Rainson, S. (1992) ‘Students’ Reasoning About the Superposition of Electric Fields’, International Journal of Science Education, 14 (4), 475-487.

Wandersee, J. H., Mintzes, J. J., & Novak, J. D. (1994). Research on alternative conceptions in science. In D. L. Gabel (Ed.), Handbook of research on science teaching and learning (pp. 177-210). London: Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall International.

© ESERA, 2010

PART 2

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT


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PART 2 TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

177

GERMAN CHEMISTRY TEACHERS' CURRICULUM EMPHASES AND

THEIR DISTINCTION BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES AND LEVELS

OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS Silvija Markic & Ingo Eilks

University of Bremen, Germany

Bernd Ralle Dortmund University of Technology, Germany

Abstract

This study examines the teaching-oriented beliefs of 1142 randomly-selected Chemistry teachers at the secondary level in Germany. The theoretical framework for the main part of the study was derived from Roberts’ Concept of Curriculum Emphases (Roberts, 1982) as interpreted by Van Berkel (2005). Van Berkel refined three different curriculum emphases from Roberts’ theory: 1) Fundamental Chemistry (FC), 2) Chemistry, Technology and Society (CTS) and 3) Knowledge Development in Chemistry (KDC). The distinction between the different curriculum emphases was researched using a German translation of a questionnaire developed by Van Driel, Bulte and Verloop (2005). Additionally, data was collected about teachers` general educational beliefs (Denessen, 1999). The study shows that German Chemistry teachers have different curriculum emphases with respect to different secondary school types and levels. Most teachers support FC for upper secondary level education, whereas in lower secondary teaching classrooms KDC receives the most support. CTS had the lowest support ratings for all school types and levels. General educational beliefs proved to be oriented towards student-centeredness as expressed by the German concept of ‘Allgemeinbildung’. A structured correlation between curriculum emphases and general educational beliefs was not found.

Introduction

Educational reform will only succeed if teachers` beliefs, their knowledge and attitudes are seriously taken into account and incorporated into the reform program (Nespor, 1987; Haney, Czerniak & Lumpe, 1996). Clark and Peterson (1986, p. 291) also concluded that “teachers’ belief systems can be ignored only at the innovator's peril.” Pajares (1992) described teachers` beliefs as being a filter for any innovations. This is why Chemistry teachers` beliefs must play a thorough role when planning reforms and innovations for Chemistry teaching and teacher training (e.g. Eilks & Ralle, 2006; Markic & Eilks, 2008). Unfortunately, research on Chemistry teachers’ beliefs and knowledge is still an area containing many desiderata (de Jong & Taber, 2008).

One central area of innovation is quite often a reform of the Chemistry curriculum. Heated debates are still taking place, discussing whether Chemistry education should be oriented around either 1) the content structure of Chemistry, 2) meaningful contexts taken from learners’ everyday lives or 3) the use of societal issues to provide the driving force for relevant and contemporary Chemistry education (e.g. Pilot & Bulte, 2006; Nentwig, Parchmann, Gräsel, Ralle & Demuth, 2007; Marks & Eilks, 2009; Hofstein, Eilks & Bybee, in preparation). That means that knowledge about Chemistry teachers’ curricular beliefs and preferred orientations would be a helpful guide for any type of reform and innovation.


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Roberts (1982) outlined a theoretical framework for distinguishing between different teaching orientations towards science and Chemistry curricula some twenty years ago. He published his Concept of Curriculum Emphases and defined the term curriculum emphasis as "…a coherent set of messages to the student about science (rather than within science)" (Roberts, 1982, p. 245). Each point of emphasis as described by Roberts was believed to be both theoretically possible and existing in its own right. Nevertheless, Roberts stressed that his number of seven curriculum emphases was neither fixed or exhaustive. New emphases might arise over time or older, already-defined emphases might be combined to new ones (Roberts, 1982).

Using Roberts as a starting point, Van Berkel (2005) analyzed various Chemistry curricula. By folding Roberts’ seven initial curriculum emphasis concepts together, he derived three main curriculum orientations (subject-centered, learner-centered and society-centered). Van Berkel constructed the tripartite division of: 1) Normal Science Education, 2) Science, Technology and Society and 3) the History and Philosophy of Science. Furthermore, Van Driel, Bulte and Verloop (2005) developed a questionnaire based on these orientations, slightly changing the labels given to the three divisions. The labels they used were: 1) Fundamental Chemistry (FC), 2) Chemistry, Technology and Society (CTS) and 3) Knowledge Development in Chemistry (KDC). Van Berkel`s explanations of the three main curriculum orientations together with Van Driel et al.`s labels are presented in Table1.

But educational reform also compasses other domains of innovation. That is why Van Driel et al. (2005) suggested a joint exploration of Chemistry teachers’ curricular beliefs and general educational outlooks. Their case study combined research on curriculum orientation with that on general educational beliefs as described in Denessen (1999) (see Table 2 below).

This study describes a transfer of Van Driel et al.'s (2005) work into the German context. It also adds a further question looking for differences between the different domains in secondary Chemistry education (Markic, Eilks, Van Driel & Ralle, 2009).

Research Questions

The research questions for this part of the study were:

1. Which beliefs do German Chemistry teachers hold about the teaching and learning of Chemistry as defined by van Berkel`s three curriculum orientations?

2. How do German Chemistry teachers` curricular beliefs relate to their general educational beliefs?

3. Are there differences in Chemistry teachers` beliefs concerning different fields of Chemistry teaching (i.e. lower vs. upper secondary Chemistry, lower secondary education in grammar schools vs. non-grammar schools, etc.)?

Methods

The study is based on a German version of the questionnaire from Van Driel et al. (2005). The questionnaire consists of three elements:

(1) questions focusing on teachers` experience, gender, and qualifications,

(2) a series of Likert-items for personal curriculum orientation, and

(3) a series of Likert-items concerning an individual's general educational beliefs.


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Table 1: Three Curriculum Emphases by Van Berkel (2005) and labeling by Van Driel et al. (2005)

Fundamental Chemistry (Normal Science Education) Van Berkel views this curriculum orientation as a summation of Roberts` ‘Solid Foundation’ and

‘Correct Explanation’. The main idea can be described as the importance of the theoretical foundations of Chemistry (i.e. the particulate nature of matter). Such foundational information later provides a basis for understanding the natural world and is needed for students` future education.

Chemistry, Technology and Society (Science, Technology and Society) This orientation is a combination of Roberts` ‘Science/Technology/Decisions’ and ‘Everyday

Applications’. It implies that students should learn to communicate and make decisions about societal issues which involve scientific aspects.

Knowledge Development in Chemistry (History and Philosophy of Science) The third curriculum orientation by van Berkel combines Roberts` ‘Scientific Skill Development’,

‘Structure of Science’ and ‘Personal Explanation’. It is connected with the meta-lesson that students should learn how knowledge in science is developed in a socio-historical context. They then will recognize Chemistry as a culturally-determined system of knowledge, which is constantly developing.

Table 2: Scale descriptions from the general educational beliefs part of the questionnaire (van Driel et al., 2007)

Career This category represents the belief that education serves mainly to prepare children for a future career.

Discipline The focus is on obedience, order, and the will to work on the part of the students.

Product Product emphasizes the importance of achievement and good marks.

Pedagogy This scale concerns the importance of students’ development as people, both as individuals and members of society.

Democracy This category acknowledges students’ opinions and measures their desires.

Process This scale emphasizes the importance of the learning process itself, for instance in autonomous and cooperative settings.

For evaluating areas (2) and (3) a five-step Likert-scale was used, with answers ranging from a minimum value of “1” (‘completely disagree’) to a maximum of “5” (‘completely agree’). Furthermore, it was mandatory for participants to give an answer for every item concerning their beliefs about (i) lower secondary education at the basic, middle and comprehensive secondary school level, (ii) lower secondary education in grammar schools, and (iii) upper secondary education.

The questionnaire from Van Driel et al. (2005; 2006) was carefully translated into German, and then reviewed by the original authors to ensure correct adoption and translation. Both the internal consistency and the independence of the questionnaire’s scales were optimized. Data was interpreted by calculating mean scores, standard deviations and missing values. Differences between the scales were calculated by using t-tests. The Pearson correlations between the scales were explored. All data handling was performed using SPSS 16.0G for Windows.


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Sample

About 3000 questionnaires were mailed to a randomly-selected sample of secondary schools in seven out of Germany's sixteen Federal States. Both States and schools were carefully selected to yield a representative sample with respect to both the individual school systems within the different German States and for the country of Germany as a whole. A total of 1142 respondents completed and returned the questionnaire (31,3 %). Slightly more than half of the participants worked in lower and upper secondary education in grammar schools or related school types. The other half was employed solely in lower secondary education, mostly in non-grammar schools. This fits the overall pattern of the German school system, where roughly half of all students are enrolled in grammar schools or related school types. Almost 60% of the respondents had 15 or more years of chemistry teaching experience; accordingly, the majority responded that they were over 50 years of age. This was also representative of German science teacher age demographics. Additionally, the respondents slightly favored the male gender (53,1%). All of this data corresponded to the characteristics necessary to gather a typical, representative sample for German Chemistry teachers.

Results

Chemistry teachers` curricular beliefs concerning different school levels and school types in the German educational system

Figure 1. German Chemistry teachers` curricular beliefs with respect to different secondary school types and levels

Figure 1 presents the results concerning different curriculum orientations as worked out by Van Berkel (see above). The internal consistency of the questionnaire’s three scales was satisfactory. We can see that all three curriculum orientations obtained mean scores above 3.3. However, there are some differences, all of which proved to be statistically significant. For lower secondary education in non-grammar schools, KDC received the highest levels of support. This means that the teachers believe - for these types of schools and at this level – that it is most important for students to learn to see Chemistry as a culturally-determined and constantly-developing system of knowledge. On the other hand, there is almost equal support for the other two types of curriculum orientation. Nevertheless, CTS received the overall lowest support for all school types and levels. For lower secondary education in grammar schools, KDC and FC received almost the same levels of support. German Chemistry teachers place the


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same importance on the learning of fundamental concepts and skills as they do on the fact that students need to see Chemistry as a culturally-determined, constantly-developing system of knowledge. In this situation, too, we see that CTS lags behind in the levels of support given to it. In upper secondary education, FC received the highest levels of approval from the teachers, thus placing their emphasis on the importance of learning the fundamental concepts of chemistry. CTS and KDC received almost equal support at this educational level, but CTS can be seen to lag behind yet again.

We can see from the above graph that support for KDC and FC at all levels of education carried a different emphasis. Even though the support given to CTS remained slightly positive in all cases, CTS was always associated with the lowest support levels among the three orientations. The respondents showed a belief that - for all school levels and types - the third curriculum emphasis, which espouses the learning of Chemistry for communication and decision-making on Chemistry-related societal issues, was the least important of all.

Chemistry teachers` general educational beliefs concerning different school levels and school types in German school system

Figure 2 gives an overview of the data concerning the teachers’ general educational beliefs.

Figure 2. German Chemistry teaches` general educational beliefs respecting different secondary school types and levels

The internal consistency of the questionnaire’s six scales was satisfactory. On average, all of the participants had similar beliefs about general education with respect to Germany's various secondary school types and educational levels. The group of teachers rated the scales of Pedagogy, Democracy and Process higher than they did the remaining three areas of Career, Discipline and Product. This seems to indicate that most teachers prefer a student-centered type of educational approach for all secondary school types and levels. Furthermore, the scale entitled Product garnered the lowest support levels in all three cases. This scale emphasizes the importance of scholastic achievement and good marks. It would appear that German Chemistry teachers do not view marks as instrumental in influencing their students to learn better.

Relationship between German Chemistry teachers` curricular beliefs and their general educational beliefs concerning different school types and educational levels

Table 1 presents our Pearson calculations for testing the correlation between the three curriculum orientations and general educational beliefs.


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Almost all of the correlations are significant at the 0,01 level. Small to middling correlation between the scales for all school levels and types can also be seen. These results suggest that FC, CTS and KDC refer to the same dimensions of teachers´ concepts of curriculum emphases for chemical education. In terms of teachers` general educational beliefs, small to middling correlations between the scales can be seen. A closer look shows us that there is a high correlation between the pairings Pedagogy and Democracy, Pedagogy and Process and Democracy and Process. Only moderate correlation is noticeable for the scales Career and Product. Only very small to moderate correlations can be seen when we compare the dimensions of general educational beliefs and curriculum emphases. The only appreciable relationships to be found exist between the scales Process and KDC. This means that the importance of the learning process in autonomous and cooperative setting is highly correlated to KDC. This correlation should not come as a big surprise, however, since both of these scales describe learning as a process. Table 1 also indicates a moderate relationship between the KDC and Pedagogy scales on the one hand and KDC and Democracy on the other.

Table 1: Pearson-correlations between German Chemistry teachers` curricular beliefs and their general educational beliefs

Lower secondary education on secondary school, secondary modern schools and comprehensive schools

FC CTS KDC Career Discipline Product Pedagogy Democracy Process FC 1 CTS 0,50** 1 KDC 0,48** 0,52** 1 Career 0,32** 0,19** 0,25** 1 Discipline 0,31** 0,15** 0,27** 0,52** 1 Product 0,28** 0,18** 0,20** 0,42** 0,36** 1 Pedagogy 0,28** 0,26** 0,45** 0,33** 0,34** 0,19** 1 Democracy 0,26** 0,27** 0,35** 0,18** 0,11** 0,12** 0,54** 1 Process 0,35** 0,33** 0,50** 0,27** 0,24** 0,18** 0,65** 0,68** 1

Lower secondary education on grammar schools

FC CTS KDC Career Discipline Product Pedagogy Democracy Process FC 1 CTS 0,48** 1 KDC 0,46** 0,51** 1 Career 0,30** 0,19** 0,26** 1 Discipline 0,38** 0,21** 0,23** 0,48** 1 Product 0,30** 0,19** 0,19** 0,38** 0,40** 1 Pedagogy 0,31** 0,31** 0,44** 0,31** 0,28** 0,16** 1 Democracy 0,23** 0,30** 0,38** 0,17** 0,11** 0,09* 0,53** 1 Process 0,37** 0,38** 0,52** 0,25** 0,23** 0,18** 0,66* 0,65** 1

Higher secondary education on grammar schools

FC CTS KDC Career Discipline Product Pedagogy Democracy Process FC 1 CTS 0,49** 1 KDC 0,52** 0,51** 1 Career 0,32** 0,19** 0,28** 1 Discipline 0,37** 0,17** 0,21** 0,49** 1 Product 0,24** 0,12** 0,19** 0,41** 0,38** 1 Pedagogy 0,39** 0,36** 0,49** 0,33** 0,27** 0,17** 1 Democracy 0,37** 0,37** 0,45** 0,19** 0,11** 0,14** 0,55* 1 Process 0,51** 0,41** 0,57** 0,26** 0,24** 0,18** 0,66** 0,66** 1

* Correlation was significant at the 0,05 level (two – tailed). ** Correlation was significant at the 0,01 level (two – tailed).


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German teachers support differing teaching emphasizes for chemistry instruction in lower secondary education in non-grammar schools, grammar schools, and upper secondary education. Lower secondary teachers believe that Chemistry should be presented as a culturally-determined system of knowledge, which is constantly being developed (KDC). In contrast to this, teachers of upper secondary Chemistry classes believe that it is more important to learn the fundamental concepts of Chemistry first (FC). Emphasis on CTS received the lowest support levels for all secondary school types and levels. This last finding is quite distressing, because it emerged in the middle of an intense, current debate about the implementation of such factors as scientific literacy-oriented standards, context-based curricula, and the debate about the societal orientation of Chemistry education. CTS is a necessary component of scientific literacy-oriented Chemistry teaching. This orientation it might represent the best possible approach for achieving Germany's concept of ‘Allgemeinbildung’ as discussed by Klafki (2002), Elmose & Roth (2005), or Hofstein et al. (in preparation). This finding is, however, not really astonishing to many researchers. Chemistry lessons in Germany have previously and repeatedly been found to rely either on a content-structure orientation or on an orientation towards teaching scientific literacy, chemistry taken in meaningful contexts, or societal issues in a broad and developed fashion (see Gräber, 2002). This is in line with the fact that KDC and FC received much higher support among teachers. One interpretation is that German teachers believe that this approach helps learners to build a "solid background" (in other words a certain level of a priori knowledge), which later can be applied to the following ideas of context orientation or solving societal issues based on Chemistry concepts. But we might also conclude that openness for innovative curricular structures is still a missing variable in educational reform. Only a very few of the participants in this study could be shown to profess a belief in divergent, alternative approaches to the predominant and traditional curricular structures in Germany's various State educational systems (Bindernagel & Eilks, 2009).

Conversely, we see that most teacher's general educational beliefs lean towards the student-centeredness found in the German concept of ‘Allgemeinbildung’ as discussed by Klafki (2000), Elmose & Roth (2005), or Hofstein et al. (in preparation). As we saw in the above discussion, however, the CTS approach received relatively little support and there was no observable connection between teachers' three different curriculum emphases and their general educational beliefs. This is in contrast with studies carried out in the Netherlands, where CTS was found to be positively correlated to a student-centered viewpoint within general educational beliefs (Van Driel et al., 2005).

The question remains why the changes demanded by most (inter)national Chemistry education literature have still not taken root among the majority of German Chemistry teachers. Perhaps German teachers are either lacking knowledge of particular concepts or do not have sufficient free space to carry out their realization. However, it might also be the case that their beliefs are too strong, too traditional or too deeply ingrained to be changed in any easy fashion. Thus, their twin worlds of thinking and beliefs do not match the ways in which new curricula have been presented to them in the past. If current curricular innovations in Germany aim to introduce aspects such as scientific literacy and CTS-oriented teaching into the mix, the beliefs of German Chemistry teachers as described above must be seriously taken into account. Any re-orientation should begin by explicitly making these beliefs visible to teachers if is to have any chance for implementing successful changes. Such changes should be actively promoted by German institutions. The current, quite weak orientation towards CTS might be one of the major reasons for the observably low motivation levels among German learners and their relatively poor attitudes towards Chemistry education (Gräber, 2002).

We would like to thank Jan Van Driel, Astrid Bulte and Albert Pilot for their help and cooperation as well as the Fonds der chemischen Industrie (FCI) for financial support.


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Klafki, W. (2000). The significance of classical theories of Bildung for a contemporary concept of Allgemeinbildung. In Westbury, I., Hopmann, S., & Riquarts, K. (eds.): Teaching as a reflective practice: the German Didaktiktradition. (p. 85-107). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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Markic, S., Eilks, I., van Driel, J., & Ralle, B. (2009). Vorstellungen deutscher Chemielehrerinnen und -lehrer über die Bedeutung und Ausrichtung des Chemielernens. Chemie konkret, 16 (2), 90-95.

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187

RESEARCH ON THE ATTITUDES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

PHYSICS, MATHEMATICS AND PRIMARY EDUCATION SCIENCE

PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ REGARDING PHYSICS LABORATORIES

Betül Timur & Esin Şahin Gazi University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes of Secondary Education mathematics, physics and primary education science pre-service teachers’ regarding Physics Laboratory. For this purpose, an attitude scale had been developed in order to determine the attitudes of the pre-service teachers’ regarding the activities at the scope of Physics Laboratory. Croanbach α reliability coefficient had been calculated as 0, 93 and it had been determined that it consists of three sub-factors at the end of the factor analysis. This developed attitude scale had been applied on 50 Secondary Education Mathematics, 43 Secondary Education Physics and 53 Primary Education Science pre-service teachers who take the physics laboratory lesson. According to the data obtained after application of the attitude scale on pre-service teachers , in general, it had been determined that pre-service teachers are in eagerness regarding physics laboratory, their anxiety levels are not high and they appreciate physics laboratory and in each sub-dimension, several differences in gender and department basis had been determined and proposals had been submitted.

Introduction

Science education, in other words, physics education at the scope of science education is the education of attractive and amazing richness surrounding the child. Science education of the child means regarding the food which he/she eats, the water which he/she drinks, the air which he/she breathes, his/her body, the pet which he/she feeds, the car which he/she gets in, the electricity which he/she uses and also the sun (Gürdal,1992: 181–188). While science and our daily life are that much nested, science lessons are one of the leading lessons that they are the most unclear for students, students have the difficulty to understand, they wish to like however they somehow cannot like (Durmaz, 2004:83). In reaching these purposes, we are faced with the attitudes of students regarding science lessons as a significant factor.

While Fishbein and Ajzen define attitude as “learned, consistent, positive or negative reaction inclination” (Altınok, 2004:37); Smith defines attitude as “ the inclination which regularly constitutes the opinions, feelings and behaviors of the individual regarding a psychological object and which is referred to the individual” (Ünlü and Hakan, 2001:208). In the light of these definitions, it is determined that the attitude is possessed by the individual; not a directly observable characteristic; however indirectly assumed via the observable behaviors of the individual and an inclination which may be referred to that individual; is relating with any object which possesses a meaning for the individual and which the individual is aware of and consists of regularities of feelings and behaviors (Kağıtçıbaşı, 1988:84).


188

Students’s attitudes towards the science course can also affect the success of students in the science course. Boran and Oruç investigated the relationship between the attitudes of second stage primary school students towards the science course and their success in the course and found a positive correlation (Tepe,1999:24).

Hanif et al. (2009) investigated the students’ interests, opinions and thoughts about physics course by teaching the course with physics experiments in their study entitled as “university students’ interests, opinions and thoughts about physics education with laboratory experiments”. The data is obtained by observation and group meetings with 143 1st, 2nd and 3rd year university students who take physics laboratory course in Scotland. Based on these findings, physics laboratory studies made a success on reaching positive and desirable specific aims.

Physics laboratory is important for students and if students’ attitudes towards the physics labaratory is postive then their success level will be higher.

Problem Sentence

What are the attitudes of Secondary Education Physics, Mathematics and Primary Education Science and Technology pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratories and what are the affecting factors?

Sub-Problems

Regarding Secondary Education Physics, Mathematics and Primary Education Science pre-service teachers,

1) What are their attitudes regarding physics laboratory? 2) Is there a meaningful difference regarding physics laboratory among their attitudes according to sex? 3) Is there a meaningful difference regarding physics laboratory among their attitudes according to the deportments where they are being educated? Rationale

In sciences area, many attitude scales had been developed in order to determine the attitudes of the students regarding science lessons. Some of these attitude scales had been developed in order to determine attitudes of students and some of the others had been developed for determining the relationship between success and attitude.students generally have prejudice among science lessons especially physics. Students generally have prejudice among science lessons especially physics. Learning students’ attitudes towards such lessons will help to increase interests and curiosity of the students. Therefore, if the attitude of the student regarding the lesson is known beforehand, it will be more meaningful to select a teaching method that will make his/her attitude positive. From this point of view, it is important to determine the attitudes of pre-service teachers’ who will teach the pysics laboratory lesson in the future.

Methods

The sample of the research consists of totally 146 pre-service teachers of the Gazi University Faculty of Education that 43 of them are from Secondary Education Physics, 50 of them are from Mathematics and 53 of them are from Primary Education Science and Technology Teaching Departments. The attitude scale which was used in this study developed by reseachers. This scale consist of 26 items and some existing likert type scale were utilized in the development stage of this scale (Hanif et al, 2009; Şengören et al., 2007; Kan, 2005; Nuhoğlu and Yalçın, 2004).

The scale had been graded as I absolutely agree, I agree, I am not certain, I don’t agree and I never agree. The Croanbach α reliability coefficient of the scale had been calculated as 0, 93 and at the end of factor analysis, it had been determined that it consists of three sub-factors. When the sub-factors had been examined, the first sub-factor


189

had been named as “eagerness”, the second sub-factor had been named as “anxiety” and the third sub-factor had been named as “appreciation”. The data had been interpreted by analyzing via SPSS 13.0 Packaged Software.

Results

In this section, the evaluation considers the likert type questionnaire that is used in this study.

Table 1. The Ranges Belonging Opinions for Likert Type Questionnaire

Value Range Positive Attitude Negative Attitude 1,00–1,79 I never agree I absolutely agree 1,80–2,59 I don’t agree I agree 2,60–3,39 I am not certain I am not certain 3,40–4,19 I agree I don’t agree 4,20–5,00 I absolutely agree I never agree

Findings of all sub-problems summarized in the tables below. The results show that:

Findings Regarding First Sub-Problem:

Regarding the first sub dimension it had been determined that most of the pre-service teachers are not looking forward to realize physics laboratory experiments of the next week. Moreover, from the beginning of each experiment, they wonder what the results of the experiment will be and they think that the physics laboratory lesson contribute to their proficiency. Furthermore, they were undecided for the issues such as desiring to spend more time in physics laboratory, wishing to possess a profession which will require performance of researches in physics laboratory in the future…etc. Regarding the anxiety dimension which accepted as the second sub-dimension, it is determined via the answers of the pre-service teachers’ that they are not afraid of physics laboratory examinations and they are not stressed while studying in physics laboratory. Besides, pre-service teachers had stated that they do not agree the item “I think that I can not be successful in physics laboratory even though how much more time spend or study” and they agree the item “I can easily understand Physics experiments”. Regarding the appreciation dimension which is accepted as the third sub-dimension, it had been determined that most of the pre-service teachers’ are in positive attitudes.

Findings Regarding Second Sub-Problem:

Regarding the first sub-dimension, a meaningful difference had been determined in favor of boys for the answers given to the items “I am waiting impatiently for the experiment in the next week physics laboratory.”, “Conducting physics laboratory experiments make me happy.”, “I want to have an occupation which requires studies in the pyhsics laboratory in the future”. Regarding the second sub-dimension, a meaningful difference had been determined in favor boys for the answers given to the items “I am afraid of Physics laboratory exams”, “I feel stressed when I work in the Physics laboratory”, “I feel being afraid when I need to study the course related to physics laboratory.”, “I am not self-assured when I perform the experiments in physics laboratory”, “I feel nervous when I heard the name of physics laboratory course”. Finally, no meaningful difference had been found between girls and boys regarding the third sub-dimension.


190

Table 2. Secondary Education Physics, Mathematics and Primary Education Science and Technology Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes Regarding Physics Laboratory

I ab

solu

tely

ag

ree

I A

gree

I am

not

ce

rtai

n

I d

on’t

ag

ree

I n

ever

ag

ree

N Mean f(%) f(%) f(%) f(%) f(%)

1. s

ub

-dim

ensi

on (

eage

rnes

s)

1 I wonder what will be the results from the beginning of each experiment. 146 3,61 19,2 47,9 13,7 13,0 6,2

4 I am waiting impatiently for the experiment in the next week physics laboratory. 146 2,45 2,7 13,0 32,9 29,5 21,9

8 Conducting physics laboratory experiments make me happy. 146 3,09 7,5 32,9 30,1 19,9 9,610 Physics course is one of the important courses which develops my

researcher side and my curiosity about physics subjects. 144 3,35 14,6 34,0 28,5 17,4 5,6

13 I want less time (course hour) to be reserved for physics laboratory. 145 3,28 11,7 11,0 28,3 35,2 13,8

16 I want to spend more time in the physics laboratory. 145 2,81 7,6 22,8 26,2 30,3 13,117 Speaking with my friends about physics laboratory is boring. 146 3,12 12,3 17,8 24,7 36,3 8,922 I want to have an occupation which requires studies in the physics

laboratory in the future. 146 2,68 11,0 19,9 21,9 21,2 26

23 I participate the physics laboratory course not willingly but by obligation. 146 2,83 24,7 18,5 17,1 28,8 11,0

26 I think that physics laboratory course is not instrumental in my occupation. 146 3,49 12,3 13,0 13,7 34,9 26,0

2. s

ub

-dim

ensi

on (

anxi

ety)

2 I afraid from physics laboratory exams. 144 2,38 34,0 23,6 20,1 14,6 7,65 I feel stressed when I work in physics laboratory. 146 2,25 39,7 24,0 11,6 20,5 4,16 The experiments that I have done in physics laboratory are so

complicated and difficult. 146 3,29 7,5 13,0 31,5 38,4 9,6

7 I think that I cannot be successful in physics laboratory even though how much more time I spend or study. 146 3,49 9,6 11,6 19,9 37,7 21,2

11 I can find clear answers to questions in my mind when I perform the experiments in physics laboratory. 146 2,86 8,2 34,9 20,5 34,9 1,4

14 I can easily understand the physics experiments. 146 3,45 11,6 47,3 19,9 17,1 4,118 I feel being afraid when I need to study the course related to

physics laboratory. 146 2,90 15,1 28,8 15,8 31,5 8,9

19 I am not self-assured when I perform the experiments in physics laboratory. 144 3,08 14,6 18,8 19,4 38,2 9,0

20 I feel nervous when I heard the name of physics laboratory course. 145 3,34 11,7 16,6 13,1 42,8 15,9

3. s

ub

-dim

ensi

on

(ap

pre

ciat

ion

)

3 I want to know that which current events are related to the experiments that I have done in physics laboratory course. 145 3,96 4,1 10,3 8,3 40,0 37,2

9 I think that the hours spent in physics laboratory is useless and wasted time. 145 3,72 7,6 8,3 13,1 46,9 24,1

12 The experiment that I have done in physics laboratory increase my imagination ability and my creativity. 146 3,45 8,9 49,3 23,3 14,4 4,1

15 It is a waste of time to try to find the unknown in physics laboratory experiments. 146 3,51 5,5 13,7 19,2 47,3 14,4

21 The experiments that we perform in physics laboratory course help us to easily understand natural events. 146 3,73 21,2 48,6 15,8 11,0 3,4

24 My works in the physics laboratory help me to think more critical and more logical about the events that occurs in my surrounding. 146 3,40 14,4 41,8 18,5 19,9 5,5

25 Learning physics experiments is worthwhile work. 146 3,62 18,5 43,8 20,5 15,1 2,1


191

Table 3. Meaningful Difference Regarding Physics Laboratory Among Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes According to Gender

Gndr N Ort. P

1. su

b-di

men

sion

s1 Boy 42 3,83

0,126 Girl 104 3,52

s4 Boy 42 2,79

0,015 Girl 104 2,32

s8 Boy 42 3,52

0,002 Girl 104 2,91

s10 Boy 42 3,45

0,463 Girl 102 3,30

s13 Boy 41 3,34

0,710 Girl 104 3,26

s16 Boy 41 2,95

0,370 Girl 104 2,76

s17 Boy 42 3,29

0,291 Girl 104 3,05

s22 Boy 42 3,24

0,001 Girl 104 2,46

s23 Boy 42 3,00

0,339 Girl 104 2,76

s26 Boy 42 3,69

0,258 Girl 104 3,41

Gndr N Ort. P

2. su

b-di

men

sion

UT

s2 Boy 42 2,81

0,011 Girl 102 2,21

s5 Boy 42 2,88

0,000 Girl 104 2,00

s6 Boy 42 3,52

0,096 Girl 104 3,20

s7 Boy 42 3,76

0,091 Girl 104 3,38

s11 Boy 42 2,88

0,895 Girl 104 2,86

s14 Boy 42 3,52

0,597 Girl 104 3,42

s18 Boy 42 3,29

0,019 Girl 104 2,75

s19 Boy 41 3,63

0,000 Girl 103 2,86

s20 Boy 41 3,90

0,000 Girl 104 3,13

Gndr N Ort. P

3. su

b-di

men

sion

UT

s3 Boy 42 3,98

0,904 Girl 103 3,95

s9 Boy 42 3,86

0,350 Girl 103 3,66

s12 Boy 42 3,62

0,175 Girl 104 3,38

s15 Boy 42 3,45

0,662 Girl 104 3,54

s21 Boy 42 3,93

0,144 Girl 104 3,65

s24 Boy 42 3,64

0,093 Girl 104 3,30

s25 Boy 42 3,64

0,843 Girl 104 3,61

Findings Regarding Third Sub-Problem:

When the data had been examined, no meaningful difference had been determined in the items concerning the first sub-dimension between the attitudes of secondary education physics pre-service teachers’ and primary education science and technology pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratory excluding the item “My works in the physics laboratory help me to think more critical and more logical about the events that occurs in my surrounding.”. Regarding the first sub-dimension between the attitudes of secondary education physics pre-service teachers’ and secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers relating with physics laboratory, meaningful difference in favor of physics pre-service teachers had been determined for 4 items (“I am waiting impatiently for the experiment in the next week physics laboratory.”…etc). Regarding the second sub-dimension, a meaningful difference in favor of mathematics pre-service teachers’ had been determined for 4 items (“I feel stressed when I work in the Physics laboratory”…etc). Regarding the third sub-dimension, a meaningful difference in favor of physics pre-service teachers’ had been determined for 2 items (“My works in the physics laboratory help me to think more critical and more logical about the events that occurs in my surrounding”, “Learning physics experiments is worthwhile work..”). Between the attitudes of primary education science and technology pre-service teachers’ and secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratory, regarding the first sub-dimension, a meaning difference in favor of science and technology pre-service teachers had been determined for the items “I want to have an occupation which requires studies in the pyhsics laboratory in the future.” and “I think that physics laboratory course is not instrumental in my occupation”. Regarding the second sub-dimension, a meaningful difference in favor of mathematics pre-service teachers’ had been determined in


192

totally 4 items (“I am afraid of Physics laboratory exams”…etc). Finally, regarding the 3rd sub-dimension, no meaningful difference had been determined for any items.

Table 4. Meaningful Difference Regarding Physics Laboratory Among Pre-Tervice Teachers’ Attitudes According to Their Departments

Dep. N Mn P

1. s

ub

-dim

ensi

on

s1 Scie. 53 3,64

0,448 Math. 50 3,48

s4 Scie. 53 2,43

0,393 Math. 50 2,26

s8 Scie. 53 3,23

0,278 Math. 50 3,00

s10 Scie. 52 3,31

0,819 Math. 50 3,26

s13 Scie. 53 3,21

0,650 Math. 49 3,31

s16 Scie. 53 2,74

0,626 Math. 49 2,63

s17 Scie. 53 3,17

0,502 Math. 50 3,02

s22 Scie. 53 2,98

0,000 Math. 50 2,04

s23 Scie. 53 2,94

0,154 Math. 50 2,58

s26 Scie. 53 3,96

0,000 Math. 50 2,82

Dep. N Mn P

2. su

b-di

men

sion

s2 Scie. 53 2,15

0,025 Math. 50 2,74

s5 Scie. 53 2,26

0,254 Math. 50 2,56

s6 Scie. 53 3,21

0,095 Math. 50 3,54

s7 Scie. 53 3,25

0,004 Math. 50 3,90

s11 Scie. 53 2,62

0,071 Math. 50 2,98

s14 Scie. 53 3,28

0,053 Math 50 3,66

s18 Scie. 53 2,66

0,014 Math. 50 3,26

s19 Scie. 52 3,13

0,599 Math. 50 3,26

s20 Scie. 52 3,19

0,034 Math. 50 3,70

Dep. N Mn. P

3. su

b-di

men

sion

s3 Scie. 53 4,04

0,182 Math. 50 3,76

s9 Scie. 53 3,75

0,762 Math. 49 3,82

s12 Scie. 53 3,45

0,698 Math. 50 3,38

s15 Scie. 53 3,53

0,500 Math. 50 3,66

s21 Scie. 53 3,66

0,679 Math. 50 3,74

s24 Scie. 53 3,15

0,425 Math 50 3,32

s25 Scie. 53 3,53

0,723 Math. 50 3,46


193

Table 5. Meaningful Difference Regarding Physics Laboratory Among Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes According to Their Departments

Dep. N Mn P

1st

sub

-dim

ensi

on

s1 Scie. 53 3,64

,749 Phy. 43 3,72

s4 Scie. 53 2,43

,251 Phy. 43 2,70

s8 Scie. 53 3,23

,403 Phy. 43 3,02

s10 Scie. 52 3,31

,422 Phy. 42 3,50

s13 Scie. 53 3,21

,591 Phy. 43 3,35

s16 Scie. 53 2,74

,141 Phy. 43 3,12

s17 Scie. 53 3,17

,977 Phy. 43 3,16

s22 Scie. 53 2,98

,744 Phy. 43 3,07

s23 Scie. 53 2,94

,914 Phy. 43 2,98

s26 Scie. 53 3,96

,318 Phy. 43 3,70

Dep. N Mn. P

2nd

su

b-d

imen

sion

s2 Scie. 53 2,15

,724 Phy. 41 2,24

s5 Scie. 53 2,26

,140 Phy. 43 1,88

s6 Scie. 53 3,21

,701 Phy. 43 3,12

s7 Scie. 53 3,25

,758 Phy. 43 3,33

s11Scie. 53 2,62

,063 Phy. 43 3,02

s14Scie. 53 3,28

,556 Phy. 43 3,42

s18Scie. 53 2,66

,618 Phy. 43 2,79

s19Scie. 52 3,13

,236 Phy. 42 2,81

s20Scie. 52 3,19

,778 Phy. 43 3,12

Dep. N Mn. P

3rd

su

b-d

imen

sion

s3 Scie. 53 4,04

,802Phy. 42 4,10

s9 Scie. 53 3,75

,447Phy. 43 3,56

s12Scie. 53 3,45

,784Phy. 43 3,51

s15Scie. 53 3,53

,386Phy. 43 3,33

s21Scie. 53 3,66

,488Phy. 43 3,81

s24Scie. 53 3,15

,007Phy. 43 3,79

s25Scie. 53 3,53

,087Phy. 43 3,91


194

Table 6. Meaningful Difference Regarding Physics Laboratory Among Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes According to Their Departments

Dep. N Mn. P

1. su

b-di

men

sion

s1 Math. 50 3,48

,293 Phy. 43 3,72

s4 Math. 50 2,26

,040 Phy. 43 2,70

s8 Math. 50 3,00

,917 Phy. 43 3,02

s10 Math. 50 3,26

,303 Phy. 42 3,50

s13 Math. 49 3,31

,873 Phy. 43 3,35

s16 Math. 49 2,63

,044 Phy. 43 3,12

s17 Math. 50 3,02

,585 Phy. 43 3,16

s22 Math. 50 2,04

,000 Phy. 43 3,07

s23 Math. 50 2,58

,161 Phy. 43 2,98

s26 Math. 50 2,82

,001 Phy. 43 3,70

Dep. N Mn. P

2. su

b-di

men

sion

s2 Math. 50 2,74

,063 Phy. 41 2,24

s5 Math. 50 2,56

,009 Phy. 43 1,88

s6 Math. 50 3,54

,045 Phy. 43 3,12

s7 Math. 50 3,90

,024 Phy. 43 3,33

s11Math. 50 2,98

,843 Phy. 43 3,02

s14Math. 50 3,66

,256 Phy. 43 3,42

s18Math. 50 3,26

,065 Phy. 43 2,79

s19Math. 50 3,26

,066 Phy. 42 2,81

s20Math. 50 3,70

,027 Phy. 43 3,12

Dep. N Mn. P

3. su

b-di

men

sion

s3 Math. 50 3,

,184Phy. 42 4,10

s9 Math. 49 3,82

,321Phy. 43 3,56

s12Math. 50 3,38

,518Phy. 43 3,51

s15Math. 50 3,66

,154Phy. 43 3,33

s21Math. 50 3,74

,735Phy. 43 3,81

s24Math. 50 3,32

,041Phy. 43 3,79

s25Math. 50 3,46

,031Phy. 43 3,91


According to the data which had been obtained after application of the attitude scale, in general, for pre-service teachers’ it had been determined that pre-service teachers are eagerness regarding physics laboratory, their anxiety levels are not high and they appreciate physics laboratory. However, it should not be ignored that just the contrary results had been obtained from the answers which had been given to some questions.

It had been determined that male physics pre-service teachers’ are eagerness for physics laboratory more than female pre-service teachers’ on the other hand female pre-service teachers’ are more anxious. Moreover, female and male pre-service teachers’ show the same level of appreciation regarding physics laboratory.

The attitudes of secondary education physics pre-service teachers’ and primary education science and technology pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratory are parallel. Between the attitudes of secondary education physics pre-service teachers’ and secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratory, meaningful difference in favor physics pre-service teachers had been determined for 4 items regarding the first sub-dimension and in 2 items regarding the third sub-dimension. Therefore, regarding physics laboratory, we may state that secondary education physics pre-service teachers are more eagerness than secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers’ and they appreciate more than secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers. Regarding the second sub-dimension, due to the fact that there is a meaningful difference in favor of secondary mathematics pre-service teachers’ for 4 items; we may state that the anxiety levels of secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers’ are lower than secondary education physics pre-service teachers’ . For the attitudes between primary education science and technology pre-service teachers’ and secondary education


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mathematics pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratory, a meaningful difference in favor of primary education science and technology pre-service teachers’ had been determined for 2 items regarding the first sub-dimension. Therefore, we may state that primary education science and technology pre-service teachers are more eagerness than secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers. For the 4 items regarding the second sub-dimension, a meaningful difference in favor of secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers had been determined. Therefore, we may state that the anxiety levels of secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers’ are lower than primary education science and technology pre-service teachers. According the results of regarding the third sub-dimension, the appreciation levels of secondary education mathematics pre-service teachers’ and primary education science and technology pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratory are parallel.

During this research, studies on the attitude had been performed and an attitude scale consisting of three sub-factors had been developed for physics laboratory. Findings regarding validity and reliability of the scale indicate that it is available to be utilized for determination of the attitudes of pre-service teachers’ regarding physics laboratory. Similar studies like this one should be realized for other lessons. Moreover, the attentions of researchers and teachers should be drawn regarding perceptional characteristics and especially attitudes. As a result, when the importance of the perceptional characteristics is considered for education, development of the scales regarding measurement of these characteristics and their correct measurement possess are very important. Therefore, attitudes of the students should be determined and the lessons should be reorganized according to students attitudes.

References

Altınok, H. (2004). “Cooperative Learning, Concept Mapping, Science Success, Strategy Utilizing and Attitude”, Non-published Doctoral Thesis, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir.

Durmaz, H. (2004). “What are the Conditions of a Science Education that We Desire?” Yaşadıkça Education Journal, Issue 83/84, p.38-40.

Gürdal, A. (1992). “Importance of the Science and Technology for Primary Education Schools,”, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education Journal. Issue:8, p. 185- 188.

Hanif, M. P H Sneddon, F M Al-Ahmadi1, and N Reid (2009). “The perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work” European Journal of Physics stacks.iop.org/EJP/30/85

Kağıtçıbaşı, Ç. (1988). “Human and Humans”, Istanbul: Evrim Publication Broadcasting and Distribution.

Kan, A. Ve Akbaş A. (2005). “The Development of Likert Scale for The Attitudes of High School Students Towards Chemistry Course”, Mersin University, Faculty of Education Journal, , Issue 2, s.227-237

Nuhoğlu, H. and Yalçın, N. (2004) “ The Development of Attitude Scale for Physics Laboratory and The Assessment of Preservice Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Physics Laboratuvary”, Gazi University Kırsehir Faculty of Education Journal, İssue 5, Number 2, p. 317- 327.

Şengören ve Diğerleri, (2007). “The Development of Attitude Scale Towards Optics Course”, Pamukkale University, Faculty of Education Journal, Issue 20

Tepe, D. (1999): “The Relationship Between The Attitudes of Students Towards The Science Course and Their Success in The Course”, Non-published MasterThesis, Marmara University.

Ünlü, S. (2001): “Social Physiology”, in A. Hakan(ed), Physiology, Eskişehir: Anatolian University Publications.


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ADAPTATION: A FIELD FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TELEOLOGICAL VIEWS. PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’

EFFORTS TO TEACH A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION

Lucia Prinou Lia Halkia & Constantine Skordoulis University of Athens

Abstract

Teleological explanations are widely used by school pupils, particularly younger ones, to explain biological phenomena. The lesson on adaptation included in the curricula of several primary school grades (specifically, but not only, in Greece) provides fertile ground for the development of teleological explanations. Nevertheless it is believed that during the crucial ages at which pupils’ intuitive teleological thought process emerge, there is no teaching process that would avert it, and this is a significant factor in making children’s future understanding of the theory of evolution so difficult. The purpose of this research was to study how primary teachers teach adaptation/s in accordance with the scientific model and how certain factors influence this endeavor. Primary school teachers were given training in the subject of adaptations. Aspects of their teaching methods were recorded and analyzed, along with personal interviews with them and questionnaires given to their pupils. Having showed that it is feasible for primary school teachers to teach this subject after receiving the appropriate training, and for them to (begin to) deal with primary school pupils’ teleological thought using a scientific/mechanistic explanation for adaptations, the parameters for teaching the subject effectively were determined. Apart from the knowledge and understanding acquired during training, these included a competency to make use of that training in planning their lessons and in engaging their pupils in creative discussion.

Introduction

A remarkable number of studies report the difficulties pupils and students have in understanding the theory of evolution through natural selection. Among those reported is that pupils and students - instead of using the scientific conception in their explanations - give various answers, the most common of them teleological, as they are called in Science Education literature, explanations in which biological traits emerge for a reason, rather than due to natural selection (Tamir and Zohar, 1991, Ferrari and Chi, 1998, Abrams et al., 2001, Southerland et al., 2001).

Teleological statements and the dangers involved from their loose usage in biology teaching have been underlined by Jungwirth since 1977: “even in secondary education, a sector of pupils accepts literally, and not metaphorically, teleological explanations, thereby preventing their understanding of evolutionary theory”. Jungwirth also noted that graduates who were to become teachers were completely uninformed about the problems raised by the use of anthropomorphic and teleological statements during the teaching process.

Bloom and Weisberg (2007) in “Science”, refer to childhood origins of adult resistance to science. Especially they refer to the important bias of children to see the world in terms of design and purpose, a “propensity called promiscuous teleology” which contribute to their resistance to science, and make difficult to understand the processes of evolution. As the writers of the article comment even among the minority of American respondents who claim to accept natural selection “most understand it seeing evolution as a mysterious process causing animals to have offspring that are better adapted to their environments”.


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Rationale

Various syllabi in primary and secondary education introduce the teaching of “The Adaptation of plants and animals” at young ages. In particular, the Greek syllabi and corresponding pupils’ textbooks nearly all refer to the concept, in several grades of Primary and Lower Secondary School. The process “Adaptation of plants and animals” is referred in the syllabi and textbooks of Primary and Lower Secondary School - instead of the most suitable for the particular grades - adaptations or adaptive traits which contribute to the survival and /or better reproductive success of an individual or social group. That is to say adaptation is a property of an organism, a structure, a physiological trait, a behavior, or anything else that the organism possesses, that is favored by natural selection over alternate traits. …All individuals that survive the process of elimination are de facto “adapted” and so are the properties that enabled them to survive.... (Mayr, 2001).

Although, the understanding of adaptation has vital importance in pupils’ and students’ overall understanding of evolution (Deadman and Kelly, 1978, Brumby, 1979, Bishop and Anderson 1985, 1990, Clough and Wood-Robinson 1985), the teaching of the concept usually causes confusion (Lucas, 1971). As mentioned before adaptation as a process (The “Adaptation of plants and animals”), easily brings to mind the meaning of the concept in its everyday usage, as an individual process by which a favorable behavior etc. is actively acquired. Moreover because – at least in Greek curricula, – “adaptation” is taught in several grades in primary and junior high school, without any basic explanation for a mechanism through which it emerges. As a result of this method of teaching, pupils are left to explain the existence of the adaptive traits (adaptations) using their own teleological reasoning i.e. traits emerge for a reason, for a purpose, for the fulfillment of a need... Because pupils have no opportunity to discuss their understanding of the subject, they take it for granted that their teleological explanations are acceptable. As they progress, this viewpoint remains with them, which is an obstacle to their grasping the theory of evolution. It is understandable why older pupils face so many difficulties in understanding natural selection. In support of our view is the claim that during the crucial ages at which pupils’ intuitive teleological thought process emerges, there is no provision in the teaching process to confront it. This is a significant factor that makes children’s future understanding of the theory of evolution so difficult (Zogza and Kampourakis 2007).

The purpose of this research was to study: how primary teachers (after a training on the subject) teach adaptation/s in accordance with the scientific model, with the aim that pupils are able then to give a basic scientifically accepted explanation, living behind their teleological and how certain factors influence this endeavor.

Methods

Sample

The research sample consisted of six primary school teachers (T1-T6), the first volunteers who responded to an invitation from the University of Athens.

Research phases

Α. Teacher training

1. Before the first session, the teachers’ initial views and their knowledge of adaptation/s were examined. Teachers were given a questionnaire to complete on both open and closed questions (on adaptation and evolution of species and their teaching).

2. Training session

a. Discussion of teachers’ alternative ideas. The pitfalls of school textbooks were also discussed.


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b. Introduction of new knowledge: study of the concept of adaptation within the context of evolutionary theory. It was made clear that adaptation refers to a property of an organism, a structure, a physiological trait, a behavior, or anything else that the organism possesses, that is favored by natural selection over alternate traits and not to an “adaptation” process by which the favored trait was actively acquired (Mayr 2001).

c. Pupils’ teleological thought processes and the methodology for dealing with it in class.

d. Provision of suitable teaching material and relevant bibliography.

B. The teaching of adaptation in the teachers’ own classes (to pupils aged about 11). The teachers were free to teach the subject as they chose whether or not they used the worksheets of the school textbook. Then they scheduled their teaching in accordance with the rest of the syllabus.

Data collection

The data were collected on the basis of:

a. Observation and recording of lessons.

b. Questionnaires put to all teachers’ pupils (before and after the lessons and about one month later)

c. Interviews with all teachers.

Results

Teachers’ views before the training process

Before the training, the teachers had varying views about adaptations, as was apparent from their responses to the questionnaire. They were initially surprised at the differences, large and small, between their views and the scientific view (these varied from one teacher to another). A characteristic response was the following: “When we spoke for the first time (at the first training session) I was shocked! I thought… what are we telling the children, and not only I myself – my problem was whether it was just me, but I discovered we were all saying the same thing. I think the whole chapter should be revised from another viewpoint and perspective”.

Teaching process

Teaching process, material and methods used by teachers

1. The teachers (all except one - T4) decided to use - as a basis of their teaching- the worksheets in the pupils’ textbooks, in which various adaptations (all examples referred to obviously inherited traits) and their utility are presented.

2. On the basis of the similarities of their teaching teachers were distinguished in two groups:

First Group

Τhree of the teachers (T2, T3 and T5 – it should be noted that none of them had taught the subject at this grade) showed they had understood the scientific view of the issue and the aim of the lesson as well, and worked diligently to that end, in order to help their pupils acquire the ability to give an appropriate explanation, in the following way:


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i. Did not emphasize the word adaptation but the characteristics (the “adaptations”)

ii. After each instance of adaptive trait they developed a creative, Socratic dialogue with their pupils, during which they tried to leave aside the teleological ideas and statements (“organisms acquired these characteristics in order to ...., so that”etc) using logical arguments, giving possible explanations scientifically acceptable for each characteristic.

Second Group

The other three teachers (T1, T4, and T6) had taught the lesson beforehand, in the traditional way. The basic differences of their lesson from their colleagues were that:

i. The three (T1, T4, and T6) teachers did not attempt so systematically as their colleagues (mentioned above) to give an explanation for adaptations for each characteristic used in the school textbook, but their efforts were fragmentary.

ii. All of them used the same exemplary diagram from the material provided during the training, which explained natural selection, which seemed to be very useful and informative.

Of these three, one teacher (T6) appeared in general terms to have understood the subject after the training process, as had T1, apart from certain individual difficulties which persisted (e.g. the difference between the use of the terms “to adapt” and “to be adapted”). Neither of them showed the same enthusiasm as had the above-mentioned teachers for helping their pupils acquire a scientifically valid understanding of the subject.

One teacher (T4) showed that the new purpose of this reconstructed lesson remained unclear to her. Although dedicated T4 used plenty of teaching time and a large amount of material that described adaptations, but was vague about the aim of these activities.

Pupils

Before the lesson, all the pupils used teleological explanations for adaptations. However, after the lessons, pupils of the teachers T2, T3 and T5 as it was shown in the answers in the same questionnaires had made progress towards understanding the scientific model, giving an approach of an initial scientific explanation, an acceptable scientific explanation suitable for their age, while pupils of the second group of teachers T1, T4, and T6 had made less progress. Acceptable answers in the open questions were regarded the answers in which pupils avoided to write that “organisms obtained that trait in order…” to fulfill a need e.g. “to match to their environment”, or “that they adapted to their environment” and other similar answers. Instead they gave answers like the following:

a)In the past, there were animals with α thin layer of fur, that could not survive because thin layer of fur could not protect them from the cold, and animals with a thick layer of fur that protected them. Animals with thick fur coat were able to survive. These animals left offspring so that in the course of time, animals with a thick layer of fur prevailed in the regions with low temperatures (Stav.)

Or b) In old times at the arctic regions, there were bears with different colors. Some were black, other were white, or brown. The white bears thanks to their color managed to survive and thus now in the arctic areas the white bears prevail. That has happened from generation to generation (Mar.)


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1. The study showed that after the same training for some primary school teachers it was feasible to teach effectively the non teleological explanation for adaptations, even though they are not biology teachers and for some others it was less feasible.

2. The teachers who proved to be the most effective were those who

(a) Had overcome their own alternative conceptions and could draw attention to and deal with those conceptions of their pupils (b) Were completely clear about the purpose of the specific lesson and therefore were able to plan the lesson appropriately (c) Were also in a position to adapt the material given to them and to use it creatively for the purpose of the lesson, rather than simply mechanically (d) Attributed importance and showed themselves to be competent in engaging their pupils in a creative discussion to explain these concepts

3. Teachers who were not as effective in their lessons

(a) Had taught the subject before in a way that was based on their own differing conceptions (b) They did not make any real attempts to revise their teaching goals and enrich their teaching by creatively incorporating the material given to them. In fact, they could not get away from the rationale of the existing curriculum and textbooks, which had never helped them, provide an explanation for “adaptations” in accordance with the scientific model. (c) Moreover, these teachers functioned as channels of transmitting traditional knowledge, without recognizing (each of them to a lesser or greater extent) the need for their pupils to be able to give adequate explanations for the particular subject. (d) Perhaps for that reason their efforts to engage their pupils in a creative dialogue were limited.

4. In conclusion, such a process must and can be supported in the curricula and the textbooks, firstly to facilitate those primary school teachers who are unable to handle the necessary concepts with ease, and secondly, to convince those who are uninformed or unwilling on their own to deal with their pupils’ intuitive teleological thinking.

We think that this endeavor could and pupils future instruction in and understanding of the theory of Darwinian variational evolution and its main mechanism, natural selection, which according to science education literature, presents so many difficulties and obstacles.

References

Abrams, E., Southerland, S., & Cummins C. (2001). The How’s and Why’s of Biological Change: how Learners Neglect Physical Mechanisms in their Search for Meaning. International Journal of Science Education, 12, 1271-1281.

Bishop, B. & Anderson, C.W. (1985). Evolution by natural selection: A teaching module (Occasional Paper No. 91). East Lansing, MI: Institute for Research on Teaching, Michigan State University

Bishop, B. & Anderson C. (1990). Student conceptions of natural selection and its role in evolution. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27, 415-427.

Bloom and Weisberg (2007) Childhood origins of Adult Resistance to Science, Science, 316, 996-997. Clough, E.E., & Wood-Robinson, C. (1985). How secondary students interpret instances of biological adaptation.

Journal of Biological Education, 19, 125-130.

Deadman, J.A. & Kelly, P.J. (1978). What do secondary school boys understand about evolution and heredity before they are taught the topics, Journal of Biological Education, 12 (1), 7-15.

Ferrari M. & Chi M. T. H. (1998). The nature of naive explanations of natural selection, International Journal of Science Education, 20(10), 1231-1256.

Mayr, E. (2001). What Εvolution is, Basic Βooks.


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Jungwirth, E. (1977).Should natural phenomena be described teleologically or anthropomorphically? - A science educator’s view. Journal of Biological Education, 11 (3) 191-196.

Southerland, S. A., Abrams, E., Cummins, C. & Anzelmo, J. (2001). Understanding Students’ Explanations of Biological Phenomena: Conceptual Frameworks or P-prims? Science Education, 85, 328-348.

Tamir, P. & Zohar, A. (1991) «Anthropomorphism and Teleology in Reasons about Biological Phenomena», Science Education, 75 (1), 57-67.

Zogza, V. & Kampourakis, C. (2007). Teleology and teaching of evolution: Approaches from Cognitive Psychology, Proceedings of 4th Pan-Hellenic Conference of History, Philosophy and Science Education, University of Patras. 5-7 /10, 233-242.


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EFFECT OF A TRIAL SCIENCE COURSE FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS: A CASE STUDY OF THE TEACHER LICENSE UPDATE SYSTEM

IN JAPAN

Shiho Miyake School of Human Sciences, Kobe College, Japan

Makiko Takenaka Center for Research in Education and Human Development, Oita University, Japan

Abstract

In Japan, the teacher license update system officially started from April in 2009. Several educational facilities of universities, colleges and museums deliver courses for teachers. In advance of this new system, trial courses were performed in 2008. This research shows a case study of a trial science course for primary teachers and examines its effect. One of the authors carried out a trial science course including fieldwork at a botanical garden with ICT tool and 18 primary teachers were participated in the course. At the end of the course, a questionnaire survey for the participants about the idea of collaboration with museums and practical use of ICT teaching materials was conducted. As a consequence, it is clear that teachers can accept the validity of ICT tools, and recognize the importance and necessity to collaborate with museums and botanical gardens after the course, which is required by the government curriculum guideline.

Introduction

The ability of teachers is verified by a framework of PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge). As a practical method of PCK in Japan, examples of “Lesson Study” were reported especially for mathematics (e.g. Fernandez & Yoshida, 2004). While the lesson study is an in-school training for teachers, courses for the new teacher license update system starting in 2009 are the nationwide out-school training. In this research, we will outline a new system to develop teachers’ professional skill in Japan.

In 2009, the MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) in Japan will launch the teacher license update system for primary and secondary schools teachers (MEXT, 2008). On account of this system, the term of validity of ten years will be set in the license, although it was indefinite. The old and new system of providing teaching license in Japan is outlined as Figure 1.

In order to renew license, teachers have to take combined courses of 30 hours; 12 hours for receiving the latest issues on education, and 18 hours for improving subject contents and student instruction. The courses are provided by universities, colleges and educational facilities. For example, there are 921 courses for the latest issues on education and 8,358 courses for subject contents and student instruction in 2009. These courses are delivered by the number of 491 educational facilities including universities and colleges (MEXT, 2009).


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In the present situation in Japan, on the other hand, several primary teachers, who are not specialist in science, tend to escape from science teaching (Matsumori, 2003). Therefore delivering effective and enjoyable training programs for primary teachers is a matter to consider. One of the authors attempted to organize a course for primary teachers as a teaching license update trial course in 2008. In the course, usage of a botanical garden and ICT tool was included, which was required by the national curriculum guideline. This research will show a case study of a trial science course for primary teachers and will examine its effect.

Purpose of the Research

Smith (2001) discussed PCK for primary science with examples of highly experienced teachers. Her examples are based on teachers who are very familiar with science. On the other hand, as Matsumori (2003) pointed out, a number of primary school teachers tend to escape from teaching science in Japan. One of the reasons is because teachers in Japan can work without taking charge of science, since the subject of science is not taught in the first and second grades curriculum, and most schools have a science specialist for the upper grades. This problem is discussed as “Self-contained Classroom Teacher (Tan-nin Rika)” and “Primary Science Specialist (Rika Senka)” (Society of Japan Science Teaching, 2008).

In spite of this situation, new skills to develop science teaching are expected for all primary teachers, for example, cooperation with local educational facilities like museums and practical use of ICT teaching materials. Therefore, as the latest issues in a science education field for the trial teacher license update course, one of authors organized to instruct an practical use of museum, which has been specified by the government curriculum guidelines for teaching science since 1999. Furthermore, the "ClippicKids(1)" was informed for teachers in order to teach about practical use of ICT materials (Ohkubo et al., 2004). The "ClippicKids" is a system of showing photographs taken with a camera in the mobile phone on the web (Figure 2). The validity to the ease of using and the effectiveness for learning of this system for school children are already proved by Takenaka et al. (2005; 2006).

In this research, based on the example of the trial teacher license update course carried out in 2008, effects of the science training course for primary teachers will be considered in terms of focusing on how the primary teachers think about the skill (collaboration with museums and practical use of ICT teaching materials) for which they are newly required.


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Methods

A trial science course for the teacher license update at Kochi University was carried out on 20th August, 2008. Participants of the course were 18 primary teachers(2). The schedule of this course is shown as Table1. In the course, first, to explain about latest issues on collaboration with museums and schools for primary science, one of the author had a lecture at a university in terms of the government curriculum guidelines and research reports of museum education. Second, the participants and the author went to a botanical garden to have practical work there. In the practical work at the botanical garden, the participants chose plants and exhibition items considering a science study unit and took photographs of them to send "ClippicKids". And also they explain the reason why they chose those plants and exhibition items in a worksheet.

At the end of the course, a questionnaire survey for the participants about the idea of collaboration with museums and practical use of ICT teaching materials was conducted. Based on photographs and descriptions of the participants, effects of this trial science course are examined.

Results

Photographs taken by the participant teachers and sent to “ClippicKids” through fieldwork in the botanical garden. Some of participant primary teachers didn’t have any chance to teach science in school, although they had more than 10 years teaching experience. Therefore, they didn't know the recent requirement of collaboration between schools and museums. Furthermore, they didn't understand units in the science curriculum.

In the botanical garden, the number of 135 photographs in total were taken and collected in the ClippicKids system. Some reasons why the participant teachers selected the subjects are shown as Table 2. Some teachers focused on a structure of a plant like a stamen and a pistil (Figure 3-a), a vine (Figure 3-b), and petals (Figure 3-c). In fact, the study on a stamen and a pistil is introduced in the primary fifth grade. One of the participant teachers


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described that he would teach to pupils that every flower has a stamen and a pistil even if it has different size or form (Table 2-1). Another teacher looked at plants having a vine, because pupil at the first grade learns morning glory which has a vine (Table 2-2). She collected several subjects with a vine, such as different types of a morning glory, a moonflower, and a clock vine (Figure 3-b). Petals are also interested for teachers (Table 2-3). Some teachers took photographs of different kind of flowers because they had different shape of petals (Figure 3-c).

One of the teachers concentrated on leaves (Table 2-4). He selected several plants which showed different types of direction of leaves (Figure 3-d). Photosynthesis is a unit in the sixth grade. He would consider the link between the unit and the practical work in the garden. Another teacher found the unique name of flowers (Table2-5). She took photographs of "crepe myrtle ("Monkey Slide" in Japanese name)", "fatsia ("Eight Fingers" in Japanese name)", and sedum kamtschaticum ("Giraffe Grass" or "Yellow Ring" in Japanese name)" (Figure 3-e).

As has been seen, the following two issues are found. The first point to note is that there are some teachers who have a concrete image of a link between the science unit and the botanical garden. The second point is that the participant teachers invent original themes to look for unique name plants and to connect with a certain learning object for lower grade pupils, who have not science subject in school.

Participants’ impression of using mobilephones as ICT tool for a fieldwork material

In a questionnaire, eight multiple-choice questions are asked and two free description spaces to offer impression and opinion of the course are provided to the participants. The contents and results of the multiple-choice questions are shown in Table 3. The participants answer the questions using a 4-scale (“4 strongly agree”, “3 slightly agree”, “2 slightly disagree”, and “1 strongly disagree”). To investigate bias in the number of respondents, Fisher’s exact probability test (two-tailed) is used for positive responses (4 and 3) and for negative responses (2 and 1). With regard to the result, it is clear that teachers accept the validity of functions of the ClippicKids as a fieldwork and school lesson tool (Table 3-3, 3-4, 3-5). Furthermore, teachers are positive to use and look at web-homepage (Table 3-6, 3-7, 3-8). However, there is not a significant difference in the questions asking whether handling a mobile phone is easy (Table 3-1, 3-2).

In Table 4, some opinions of participants in free description spaces are shown. Some teachers answered that they understood importance of the collaboration with museums and that they would use a museum as a teaching material (Table 4-1, 4-2, 4-3). There is also opinions of the participant teachers that they experienced fieldwork in a botanical garden as an enjoyable and meaningful task (Table 4-4, 4-6). In a free description, some teachers wrote on ICT tools like a digital camera. They recognized importance of using ICT tools. However, it is clear that learning how to manage ICT tools may be difficult for them in a short time (Table 4-5).


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As a consequence, it may be said that teachers in this course could recognize the importance and necessity to collaborate with museums, which has been required by the government curriculum guideline. In addition, they enjoyed fieldwork at a botanical garden. However some teachers had difficulty in fieldwork because of the lack of time and complicated use of a mobile phone function.

Conclusions and Implications: Effects of the Trial Science Course

We have seen the contents and result of the trial science course for the updating teacher license system. Here in the concluding section, effects of the trial science course will be discussed in terms of how the primary teachers think about the newly required skills such as collaboration with museums and practical use of ICT teaching materials.

As far as the result of the trial science course for primary teachers is concerned, it can be said that teachers enjoyed fieldwork with a ICT tool of the ClippicKids and recognize the importance of collaboration with museums. Especially, it is noted practical fieldwork at a botanical garden and direct instruction by a staff member there promote teachers' motivation. It is also suggested that using effective ICT tools may develop fieldwork activity for teachers and encourage to understand the necessity of ICT in school lessons. However, sufficient time is required to learn how to use the tools. Furthermore, some statements in the government curriculum guideline are not familiar with teachers. Therefore, it is important to provide both the essential meaning and practical work for teachers to promote their understanding of the guideline statement. In conclusion, teachers are required a lot of different knowledge and skills nowadays, and we education researchers have to provide the latest issues which teachers are hard to know inside school.


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The amount of professional knowledge and skills of new requirement for teachers are increasing. Some skills are unfamiliar with teachers. We science education researcher should support to provided useful information and to instruct new skills for them as an out-school training. We will continuously examine what kinds of trainings are fundamental for primary teachers, who are not the specialist in science.

Acknowledgement

This research is supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Science Research No. 20240068 from 2008 to 2009 of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology in Japan.

Note

(1) The “ClippicKids” has been developed by a member of our project team. The system provides easy sharing way of information such as images and texts on a website by sending pictures taken with mobile phones as e-mail attachments. When sending e-mail, mail processing program installed in the mail server imports the mail and automatically transfers the texts and images of the mail to a Web server using FTP. On the Web server, the image list CGI programs automatically generate a list of images and texts, and reconstruct them as a Web page.

(2) The science trial course in Kochi University were announce for both primary and secondary school teachers, however only primary teachers were applied for the course.

References

Fernandez,G., &Yoshida,M. (2004) Lesson Study: A Japanese approach to improve mathematics teaching and learning, Lawrence Erlbaum.

Matsumori, Y. (2003) Two issues facing practical research in science teaching, Science Education Monthly, 52(9), 4-7. [in Japanese]

MEXT(2008) The outline of the teacher license update system, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Sciences and Technology-Japan (MEXT).

MEXT (2009) State of application for the teacher license update courses in May 2009, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Sciences and Technology-Japan (MEXT).

Ohkubo, M., Inagaki, S., Takenaka,M., Kuroda,H. & Doi,S.,(2004) Development of a system supporting collaborative learning using camera-equipped mobile phones, Japan Journal of Educational Technology, 28(Suppl.), 189-192. [in Japanese]

Smith,C, D.(2001) Changing our teaching: The role of pedagogical content knowledge in elementary science, Examining Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 163-197.

Society of Japan Science Teaching (2008) “Self-contained Classroom Teacher” versus “Elementary Science Specialist”, Science Education Monthly, 57(2).

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Takenaka, M., Inagaki, S., Kuroda, H., Deguchi, A., Ohkubo, M.(2006) Fieldwork support system using mobile phones: Evaluations of Information sharing in the second grade's life environment study, Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 2006, 1325-1331.


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DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A TRAINING PROGRAM IN

IBSE FOR IN-SERVICE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS, IN A

DEVELOPING LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRY

Ingrid Sánchez, Adry Manrique & Mauricio Duque Universidad de los Andes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to design a structured professional development (PD) program for primary science teachers, using as sources of information a theoretical framework in inquiry based science education, teachers perceptions about their instructional practices for teaching science and their students’ performance, and classroom observations for documenting instructional practices after participating in the PD program. The theoretical framework, which also guided the evaluation of the data gathered through class observation, has into account four main dimensions: conceptual schemes, process strategies, epistemological frameworks and social processes. It was observed that even accent changes (as opposed to structural changes) in the PD program have impact on teachers’ instructional practices. It was also observed that when introducing opportunities for teachers to learn about the nature of science, their performance is positively impacted. Finally, a structured PD program, derived from observing and interviewing 50 teachers trained over 8 years, and from analyzing the results PD programs in a yearly basis is presented.

Introduction

This proposal focuses in analyzing the design and implementation process of a training program for in-service primary school teachers in Colombia, aimed to contribute to the improvement of inquiry-based science teaching. This program of professional development is one of the components of the program Pequeños Científicos, an inquiry-based science education (IBSE) program, recognized by the Interacademy Panel (IAP). It has been training in-service primary teachers since 1998, responding to an absence of other training opportunities in IBSE. Consequently, during the past ten years, 1.171 teachers have been trained in 12 different Colombian regions, thus taking inquiry-based science learning to more than 46.000 children. Despite the Program’s continuing efforts to deliver quality training for in-service teachers, it has been observed that teachers show a marked difficulty in changing their instructional practice in meaningful, deep ways. Given this fact, a research question arises: what characteristics of a training program in IBSE for in-service teachers make it effective for them to adopt new practices that guide students towards proficiency in science?

This paper describes observed patterns in teachers’ IBSE instructional practices over 7 years, and analyzes how they responded to changes introduced to the professional development program. Data for this study was collected in public primary schools of Colombian urban peripheral zones of the cities of Bogotá, Pereira and Sincelejo. This population’s socio-economic condition is considered to be highly vulnerable. Pequeños Científicos’ teacher training efforts have thus been addressed to the public sector, trying to contribute to reducing the gap in education in Colombia between the public and the private sectors. Finally, an updated, re-structured one-year training program, based on the analysis of the collected observations and our most recent conceptual framework, will be presented.


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Rationale

Science education in Colombia is still below international standards (OECD, 2008). One of the causes for this low achievement can be attributed to the outdated instructional practices, since teachers can hardly access opportunities of professional development focused on innovative pedagogical strategies. Moreover, the few available programs get to early ends due to lack of support.

Taking into account that “no innovation will be sustained unless systematic and ongoing professional development is provided to support the changes required in the pedagogy of science teachers” (Osborne & Dillon, 2008), the quality of science education in Colombia depends more on the design of innovative, systematic and structured training programs than on eventual changes to the National Curriculum. Responding to these facts and research findings, Pequeños Científicos has designed a structured training program aimed to change instructional practices, so teachers will be prepared for educating children in the development of science thinking skills, and in the comprehension of basic science concepts that allow them to explain their world beyond superstition and speculation, thus taking informed decisions. In this sense, it can be said that sharing the experiences leading up to the design and implementation of this training program in IBSE with the academic community, is highly relevant to the country and to other countries looking for strategies for fostering science teachers’ professional development. Moreover, the proposed training program structure comes from a transformative, bottom-up approach, where “teachers understand the reasons for changes and are active in seeing how to implement them in their own particular working environment” (Harlen, 2008). In order to accomplish this understanding, it is necessary to give teachers structured opportunities to consider examples and approaches to change. Pequeños Científicos is designing such an opportunity for Colombian teachers.

Methods

This research is of qualitative and quantitative nature, for both grounded theory and descriptive statistics are used to analyze data. Class observations, semi-structured interviews and analysis of teachers’ portfolios were the techniques used for collecting data. The sample was composed of 50 teachers trained between 2002 and 2008 that explicitly accepted to be visited and to participate in this research. Since changes to the training program were introduced in 2008, teachers trained in this year constituted a separate group (n=17).

Techniques for data collection

‐ Class observation: participant observation in the classroom was selected as the methodological approach for this study, since it guarantees the collection of a large amount of data, for it seeks to describe what the teacher and the students do and say in the natural day-to-day class environment. The records taken by the observers were strictly descriptive: they took exact note of the instructions, questions and dialogues that took place among children and between the teacher and his students.

‐ Semi-structured interviews: data was collected through semi-structured interviews to a group of 50 teachers trained between 2002 and 2008, in order to establish what teachers understand as a good IBSE class, and what they consider their students are learning.

Instruments for data analysis: assessment instruments

Two instruments were used to assess different dimensions of teachers’ instructional practices: ‐ IBSE class observation instrument: This instrument was designed based on a careful analysis of IBSE

proposals from different authors (AAAS, 2000; NSF, 2000; Duschl et al, 2007; Furtak& Ruiz-Primo, 2007; among others). On the grounds of this bibliographical analysis, 4 domains were established: social, epistemological, conceptual schemes and process strategies. The present instrument is thus composed of four domains, similar to those described by Furtak and Seidel (2007).


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‐ Portfolio assessment rubric: This instrument was designed on the grounds of a bibliographical revision on the advantages of assessing instructional practices and fostering teachers’ reflections on their own practices by using teacher portfolios (Harland, 2005; Zeichner et al., 2000). The rubric’s categories were: selection of activities and moments that show teacher's/student's learning (use of evidence); teacher’s reflection on his own learning (metacognition); teacher’s analysis of teaching and learning processes; teacher’s decisions related to changes in his own practice.

Both instruments were divided into categories, expressed in the form of four different levels of performance, ranging from “beginner” to “expert”. A score from 1 to 4 was assigned to each of the performance levels.

Data analysis through grounded theory

Data recovered from the semi-structured interviews was analyzed using AtlasTi 5.0 software by building emergent categories. A total of 174 categories emerged from the whole sample. Only the denser categories (those that included at least four mentions) were taken into account for the analysis, except in the cases in which a category was very innovative with respect to the previous years. The denser categories were interrelated by building category maps.

Data analysis through descriptive statistics

All the class transcripts were analyzed using the categories of the IBSE class observation instrument, and scores were assigned. Two groups were established and compared: teachers trained from 2002-2007, and teachers trained in 2008. The average of the scores obtained by the 50 teachers in each of the instrument’s categories was calculated. Bar graphs comparing the averages per category per domain were built using Excel 2008, Version 12.0. Portfolios were also analyzed using this procedure.

Data triangulation

Data concerning teachers’ points of view (derived from the interviews), assessment of instructional practices (derived from class observation and teacher portfolios), and teachers’ abilities to reflect on their own practices (also derived from portfolios), was synthesized through triangulation. This approach was adopted in order to reduce the impact of potential biases.

Results and analysis

Science classes from the teachers’ point of view (2002-2007)

The most mentioned category was cooperative learning, which was perceived as an IBSE’s essential component by teachers trained from 2002 to 2007, but only as a strategy to support development of concepts and scientific social abilities, by teachers trained in 2008. Despite the fact that Pequeños Científicos’ PD program has always included workshops specifically dealing with students’ prior ideas, conceptual development, learning objectives, etc. teachers trained between 2002 and 2007 perceive cooperative learning as a synthesis of IBSE. This can be explained by the fact that establishing cooperative working groups in the classroom triggers dramatic, observable changes (i.e. changes in the relationship between students, conversations between them about their observations, more active oral participation) much more quickly than other strategies related to IBSE (i.e.: conceptual change strategies, fostering the use of observations to build explanations, etc.), which demand the teachers’ constant self-assessment over a long period of time.


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Three main categories concerning what students do in science class emerged from data: “Children’s conceptual development”, “Children’s active oral participation”, and “Direct contact with the phenomenon”. From 2002 to 2007, teachers report only two ways in which children reach conclusions: “concluding from experience and observation” and “concluding by testing their ideas”. These ideas are coherent with the reported strategies used by the same teachers for fostering conceptual development: “taking into account prior conceptions”, “reaching conclusions during class closure”, “applying concepts”, “going deeper into research subjects”. These strategies all promote conceptual change through cognitive conflict. Though this is coherent with IBSE, there are many other effective strategies promoted by IBSE that these teachers are not using (the use of analogies, the use of examples, evaluating peers’ arguments, etc.) (Scott et al. 1991;Duschl et al., 2007). This is due, partly, to a lack of emphasis in these alternative strategies during the training workshops. As noted by Duit (2003), “there are clear limitations to taking a single position to understand conceptual change”.

The category concerning what students do in science class is “Children’s active oral participation”, which is strongly related to the dynamics that take place when working in cooperative groups, as well as to children’s motivation when working under this new dynamic. Teachers expressed that a change had occurred in their relationship with their students: children speak more than their teacher during class, and the teacher guides their interventions through questions. Added to this, it is interesting to note that according to teachers, children not only speak more in science class: they also make use of various elements which characterize productive participation in scientific discourse (discussing with arguments, formulating predictions, raising questions, using scientific vocabulary). According to teachers, children thus seem to be able to argument logically. Nevertheless, they are not saying that their children are capable of formulating explanations based on evidence, nor evaluating their peers’ and their own discourse to the light of evidence (Gopnik and Meltzoff, 1997; Samarapungavan, 1992, cited by Duschl, 2007). This is most evidently a weakness that needs to be dealt with within the teacher-training program.

The category “Direct contact with the phenomenon”. Included quotations related to children effectively designing experiments and making observations, but not a single one related to the reflection on the meaning of the data they recover, or on the relevance of the procedures they are implementing, nor are they identifying the variables that play a role in the phenomenon. Now, fostering the development of science skills is not accomplished just by assuring the interaction of children with the phenomenon, or by assuring the recording of their observations and results. It is necessary to apply specific instructional practices focused on the understanding that, experimentation and observation should produce evidence that must be interpreted and evaluated. In this sense, not just the action of recording results conduces to data interpretation. Children must learn to organize data in a way they can identify patterns and regularities, thus identifying evidence for solving the raised question about the phenomenon (Duschl, 2007).

Taking into account the above discussed elements, it can be said that teachers trained between 2002 and 2007 share a too limited vision of what science is and the implications of its nature in how it should be taught. This was definitely a sign that some changes in the PD program had to be introduced.

Assessment of instructional practices (2002-2007)

Along with the interviews for getting to know teachers’ perception about their own science classes, class visits were carried out in order to have an external vision and to gather information for assessing the classes with an observation instrument. The instrument’s first domain is “conceptual schemes”. The general average of all categories inside this domain was below 2. This means none of the teachers trained in this period reached the


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consolidated nor the expert level, in none of the following categories: a) Providing students with a sense of purpose about the unit/module, b) Promoting the application of concepts, c) Acknowledging students’ questions, d) Taking into account the relevance of patterns and regularities, e) Taking into account relationships among concepts, and f) Overcoming misconceptions. Among these categories, the highest average was presented in “fostering the application of concepts”. This can be explained by the fact that Colombian teachers’ colleges insist on putting concepts in context, so teachers are used to presenting situations related to students’ daily life for them to use the recently learned concept. Despite of this, these situations are usually designed taking into account circumstantial changes but not changes into factors that can affect the phenomenon under study. This is why there were no observations of students formulating explanations about how the variables/factors changed in a novel situation, which is the expected outcome of an expert teacher’s group of students.

Moreover, teachers did not relate this category to the category “relationship among concepts”, which presented the lowest average (1.75). It was observed that teachers tackle one concept after another, without asking their students to establish relationships between them. Consequently, students and teachers were observed to work with fragmented explanations of natural phenomena. Considering this relationship is important for achieving conceptual development, so it is important to design strategies for teachers to relate concept application to relationships among concepts. This idea agrees with the most recent reports about teaching and learning. According to Duschl et.al. (2007), “Proficiency in science involves having knowledge of facts and concepts as well as how these ideas and concepts are related to each other. Thus, to become more expert in science, students need to learn key ideas and concepts, how they are related to each other, and their implications and applications within the discipline. This entails a process of conceptual development that in some cases involves large-scale reorganization of knowledge and is not a simple accumulation of information”.

It is then necessary to check teachers’ prior ideas about conceptual development in science in order to tackle alternative conceptions during the training program. This aspect was not had into account in the 2002-2007 training program, as it was assumed that workshops about core scientific ideas and about dealing with children’s alternative conceptions would be enough for teachers to conduce a process of concept development that enabled children to make deep sense of natural phenomena by formulating evidence based explanations. Since data showed this assumption to be wrong, changes were introduced in the 2008 training program.

On the other hand, the category with the lowest average in the conceptual domain was the relevance of patterns and regularities (1.15). It was observed that students recorded some observations of the studied phenomenon, but those data constituted isolated facts not interpreted nor used for drawing conclusions based on evidence. So basically, observed teachers did encourage their students to gather data but then when trying to draw conclusions they rely on what children remembered about the experiment, on what they as teachers know about the phenomenon or on scattered texts students write when exploring phenomena. This fact makes difficult for students the process of using concepts for building evidence-based explanations, since they are missing the meaning of the gathered data. Building evidence-based explanations is a basic skill for being proficient in science, so an emphasis on this skill was needed along all the workshops that compose the training program.

Regarding the dimension Process Strategies, results showed also low teachers’ performance in all the four categories of this domain. In fact, averages were even lower than in the conceptual schemes domain (1.06 to 1.33). This was a surprising discovery, since teachers mentioned constantly in their interviews that their students learned to raise questions and to conduct experiments. Also, in fewer interviews teachers stated that their students learned to formulate predictions and to discuss using arguments. Therefore, higher scores in the categories “raising questions and making justified predictions”, “observing, collecting and recording data”, “identifying sources of error”, and “building explanations” were expected, since all these categories are developed when conducting experiments for solving a scientific question. It was indeed observed that children used materials on science classes, that they raised questions related to the procedures and that they tried to guess about the outcomes of a given experiment, although none of these activities were supported by evidence nor were obtained structured data from experiments/observation in order to answer a question. This may lead to conclude that teachers actually changed


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their practices by introducing spaces for children to explore and question but these new practices are limited by teacher’s beliefs about science and science teaching. According to Wallace & Kang (2004) “… studies confirm that teacher beliefs about the nature of knowledge, teaching science, and the mandated curriculum impede and ‘‘filter’’ innovative practice suggested by professional development... Yerrick et al. (1997) concluded that an intricate cognitive system of resolving and rationalizing mechanisms allowed teachers to believe they had incorporated reform practices without changing their core beliefs”.

One example of what Wallace, Kang and Yerrick state are the results obtained for the fourth category of this domain (building explanations, average = 1,24). Class observations shown that although the training program insisted on using data for drawing conclusion, teachers in fact leaded students to draw conclusions by expressing their points of view and reaching consensus. This can be explained by the fact that Colombian teachers do value democratic practices in the classroom. So, teachers’ beliefs about a democratic classroom permeate their science instructional practices. The point that teachers seem to be missing is that a logical explanation is not necessarily a scientific explanation: without evidence that supports it, this explanation is not yet scientific. A perfectly logical explanation can be completely overrun by a piece of new, contradictory evidence. In this measure, this is definitely a problem lied to teachers’ insufficient comprehension of the very nature of science.

Consequently, it is of great importance to explicitly talk about teachers’ beliefs of science when conducting a PD program. In that way, the variety of ideas regarding what a scientific question is, the characteristics of a scientific register or the characteristics of a scientific explanation can be acknowledged and used for fostering more solid IBSE teaching practices. Therefore, it can be seen that the process strategies domain is closely linked to the epistemological frameworks domain, so without real understanding of the nature of science it will be difficult to achieve the development of science process skills (Duschl, 2000).

Regarding social processes, classrooms were observed where children could debate by presenting their different points of view using scientific language that they understand and confronting them in order to validate their ideas. Even though, none of the observed teachers emphasized the primary role of data and evidence in scientific argumentation. This is why the category “discussing ideas” presents a low score (1.3). As it was expressed by teachers and confirmed with class observations, children greatly improved their oral expression and got engaged in the studied topic so participated actively. Even though, no class was observed where students communicated their ideas and results with charts, graphs or schemes. The communication of ideas was limited to short speeches and texts, so the score in the category dealing with this aspect is one of the lowest in the observational instrument (1.03). Despite of this fact, it then can be said that almost all the observed teachers overcame what Mehan described as the initiate-response-evaluate triad (Cited by Duschl, 2007), where teachers asks questions with an already known answer and students do not communicate any novel or debatable interpretation or point of view. In other words they have been progressing in teaching argumentation, but not of a scientific type. This may be due to the fact that PD program has been focused on the importance of the collective construction of knowledge, the importance of cooperative learning, listening to and acknowledging all ideas about the phenomenon under study and demanding justifications for those ideas.

Unfortunately, the justification process that should be based on evidence still seems secondary to teachers. They show enthusiasm about the new class dynamic they achieve; they reported a feeling of satisfaction because of the blooming of what they call “critical thinkers” on their classes, so they were not really carefully evaluating the quality of their students’ participation in terms of the characteristics of the scientific discourse. What it was observed was closer to socio-scientific argumentation rather than to scientific argumentation. It has been reported by Osborne et al. (2004) that it is indeed easier to develop argumentation in a socio-scientific context since children can rely on their own ideas, experiences and values for drawing conclusions meanwhile a scientific argumentation requires knowledge of the phenomena for being able to use and evaluate evidence.


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Changes introduced in the 2008 teacher training program

By participating in the 2002 – 2007 training program, teacher showed marked progress in: 1) the changing of classroom dynamics, 2) a constructivist perspective that leads teachers to consider student’s prior ideas, 3) the establishment of cooperative learning practices, 4) the development of argumentation skills and 4) the design of varied opportunities for students to explore phenomena by experimenting and observing. But as it has repeatedly shown, the deeper issues required for achieving students proficiency in science were missing: basically a lack of understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge prevent teachers from achieving this goal.

This let us know that a structured one-year PD program in IBSE fosters changes in instructional practices, even though its accents and contents should be assessed and changed in order to reflect more accurately what science is and consequently how should it be taught. This is why, after the above-presented evaluation some thematic shifts were introduced in the 2008 training program. It was decided to not change the number or sequence of workshops in this first attempt of changing. This decision responded to two main reasons: 1) since it was observed that evidence based explanations was the missing link, it was attempted to include this accent transversally in all the workshops, so evaluating the reinforcement of this idea and not being distracted by side effects derived from entirely new workshops or changes in the learning sequence. 2) There is a maximum number of hours allowed by school’s principals for teachers to participate in PD, thus the program is build under this restriction. Structural changes were introduced in the 2009 PD program according to 2008 results. The main introduced changes in the 2008 program were:

• Constant insistence on the necessity of asking for justifications when students predict or make claims. • Discussing the characteristics of a scientific explanation and revisiting this idea along the workshops. • Introducing the idea of factor control along the workshops dealing with scientific phenomena. • A marked accent in the need that students develop skills for asking scientific questions. • Workshops dealing with students’ prior ideas and conceptual development were enriched with topics

addressing conceptual change, cognitive conflict and analogical reasoning. • Constant insistence on the necessity of registering data in ways that allow identifying patterns and

regularities (charts, graph). • Class visits and feedback were carried out not by the professional developer by her own but teacher’s

colleagues from her same school (and that were participating in the PD program) were asked to join him for observation and feedback.

• Reinforcement of the idea that learning modules support IBSE but are not intended to be seen as inflexible tools that should be strictly followed. In this way the idea of non-unique procedures for looking for answers to a question and the possibility for children to design their own ways for solving questions, were discussed along the workshops.

• Design of a reflective portfolio by teachers. In this way encouraging self assessment and providing the program with detailed information about the process of teaching and learning.

It was observed that teachers kept on perceiving the same sort of things about their practices and about their students accomplishments than teachers trained between 2002 – 2007. Anyhow, their vision was enriched. They started to mention new information; they were more critical and reflexive about their own practices and most important, they stopped equating IBSE with cooperative learning and started to identify it as a strategy that supports IBSE. Also, their performance in science classes was improved almost in all the categories of the observational rubric, except in the dimension of epistemological frameworks.


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Regarding the teachers’ perception about their students’ performance, there were also new categories derived from 2008 trained teachers interviews. Nevertheless, all of them presented low frequency of quotation. This means that embedding some key ideas in the workshops is not enough for teachers to create new ways of understanding the processes of teaching and learning. It is then necessary to design workshops dealing specifically with these topics: 1) Formulating explications based on evidence, 2) Finding relationships between concepts, 3) Using graph and tables as a way for representing results, 4) Interpreting data, 5) Comparing students’ results with information in books or other sources, 6) Replicate experiments/observations to validate results and 7) Reflect on the procedures. Since these ideas undoubtedly permeated practices of 2008 trained teachers but the majority of them were not aware of it. This awareness is important because we have observed better science instructional practices by more reflective teachers. According to Fenstermacher (1994 cited in Posnanski, 2002) and Richardson & Hamilton, (1994 cited in Posnanski, 2002) “Through reflection teachers become better empowered to implement content and pedagogical improvements into their instructional practice”, so definitely an IBSE PD program must include a reflective component and consequently should assess teachers visions about the processes of teaching and learning occurring in their classrooms.

Conclusions: The new proposal for an IBSE training program for in-service teachers

It can be concluded that changes introduced to professional development programs have important impacts not only on the discourse of the teachers but also on their instructional practices. In this way, it can be stated that changes in the structure or contents of this type of training programs should not be introduced without a process of validation of the results of the training program, through assessment of instructional practices and diagnosis of teachers’ views about science and science teaching. This information will throw light on the most appropriate learning progressions teachers need to change their beliefs, their practices and for guiding their students towards proficiency in science.

According to the analysis on teachers’ instructional practices and views of their own practices and to the results of the changes introduced to the 2008 program, a final PD program was re-structured as shown in tables 1 and 2.

It has been observed that teachers do not automatically change their beliefs about science teaching or their practices just by assisting to workshops. In Harlen´s words (2008): ‘it may not be sufficient for teachers to acquire the skills of inquiry; without the beliefs, the skills fall short of full implementation’. Teachers are unlikely to develop these roles, beliefs and new practices through informal teacher learning routes; rather they require some structured opportunities to consider examples and approaches to change”.

This phrase closely describes the vision of professional development for in-service science teachers presented in this paper. The more structured the PD program was (2008 vs. 2002-2007) the better results in change of instructional practices were observed. This off course includes designing a learning progression for teachers to learn about science and about pedagogical strategies that is distributed in the time in the form of workshops that allow reflection, re-visitation of concepts and development of scientific reasoning. This type of curricular design for training in-service teachers, derived from years of validating workshops, observing science classes and analyzing literature on cognition, epistemology of science, teachers´ professional development, etc., has been supported recently by one of the most important universities in Colombia and by the National Ministry of Education, since they have seen results regarding real changes in what teachers do in their classrooms and in what children achieve.


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Finally, this proposal also pretends to be informative to other countries trying to implement PD programs in IBSE and that face similar challenges to the ones presented in this paper.

Table 1. Final changes introduced to the professional development program (curricula for training in-service science teachers from primary school).

SPECIFIC WORKSHOPS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR TEACHERS TYPE OF INTRODUCED

CHANGE Experiencing IBSE I

Identify some general elements of an IBSE session by experiencing a typical one.

- Identifying patterns, regularities and its relevance. - Exploration of scientific phenomena - Conceptual change

Experiencing IBSE II

Plan, execute and evaluate a class session on the basis of a session of an IBSE module (STC, Insights o FOSS).

Comparing IBSE proposals

Identify the common elements among some IBSE proposals and critically analyze their differences.

- Identifying patterns, regularities and its relevance. - - Exploration of scientific phenomena - Advantages and disadvantages of alternative forms of data display for communicating results.

Disciplinary workshops (x4)

Explore a few fundamental scientific ideas by recreating sessions/experiences of the selected module.

Experimenting in science

Design and develop a scientific experiment, taking into account the hypothesis, predictions and/or explanations to be validated, and the variables present in the phenomenon.

Closure and conceptual development

Reflect on the importance of the closure in a class session, emphasizing different strategies for conceptual development and conceptual change.

- Conceptual change - Exploration of scientific phenomena Knowledge

construction: preconceptions

Develop abilities to tackle children’s difficult questions or answers by reflecting on the role played by preconceptions in the process of knowledge construction.

Cooperative learning

Identify a few strategies for cooperative learning that facilitate learning about how science knowledge is built through debate and argumentation.

Extended period of discussion about teachers’ results and literature on the topic through virtual forums along the year of training.

Learning objectives Formulate learning objectives coherent with the activities proposed for a class session.

Discussing the role of evidence when evaluating learning objectives.


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New Workshops

Table 2. New workshops introduced to the professional development program (curricula for training in-service science teachers from primary school).

SPECIFIC WORKSHOPS LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR TEACHERS Formative assessment: class dialogues and the science notebook

Identify a few strategies that provide the teacher with information concerning his students’ learning, and that simultaneously promote conceptual clarification and/or new learning.

Designing a learning sequence Acquire tools to design small didactic units on scientific subjects, coherent with Inquiry-Based Science Teaching.

Role of evidence in science and in teaching assessment (portfolio design)

Understand what constitutes evidence of instructional practices, evidence of students’ learning, and how to systematize this information by building a teacher portfolio.

Scientific questioning in the primary school classroom

Analyze the difference of scientific vs. non-scientific questions by putting them under experimental trial. Also, discussing specific strategies like scaffolding for help children to develop the skill of raising scientific questions.

Class visit workshop (fidelity of implementation)

Use class observation tools to support and assess teachers that develop IBSE practices during class visits.

Design of a short learning progression.

Design a learning progression for teaching one scientific concept. This workshop is supported by virtual forums along the year, so multiple feedback is received by teachers.

References

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PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY TEACHERS - TEST DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION -

Sabrina Witner & Oliver Tepner Research Group and Graduate School “Teaching & Learning of Science”, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate test instruments for measuring content-specific dimensions of professional knowledge of chemistry teachers as well as a harmonized test instrument for measuring students’ achievement. The research project is embedded in an extensive project (ProwiN) which deals with the professional knowledge of biology, physics and chemistry teachers of different school types and federal states in Germany linked with students’ achievement. According to the definition of Shulman (1986; 1987) and Bromme (1994; 1997), three different dimensions (content knowledge [CK], pedagogical content knowledge [PCK], and pedagogical knowledge [PK]) are focused on in each subject. Therefore, the development of test instruments for the CK and PCK of chemistry teachers, which can be used in two different school types and two different federal states, is one of the aims of this study. In the next step of the extensive project, some of the tested teachers will give a certain teaching unit. After that their students’ achievement will be measured. Correlations between teachers’ knowledge and students’ achievement will be calculated to gain information on effectiveness of teaching process. This paper focuses on construction of students’ achievement test.

Introduction

A main variable determining successful teaching is the teacher and his or her professional knowledge (Peterson et al., 1989; Abell, 2007). “The single factor which seems to have the greatest power to carry forward our understanding of the teacher’s role is the phenomenon teachers’ knowledge” (Elbaz, 1983, p. 11). Shulman (1986; 1987) and Bromme (1994; 1997) especially have elaborated the concept of ‘professional knowledge.’ Shulman distinguishes between seven knowledge bases required for teaching: content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, curriculum knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of learners and their characteristics, knowledge of educational contexts, and knowledge of educational ends, purposes, and values, as well as their philosophical and historical grounds. Bromme quotes five aspects of professional knowledge: content knowledge, curriculum knowledge, subject philosophy, pedagogical knowledge, and subject-specific pedagogical knowledge. Grossman (1990) names four general aspects of professional knowledge of teachers: general pedagogical knowledge, subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and knowledge of context. In this project professional knowledge is regarded as consisting of three dimensions (Baumert, 2004): content knowledge [CK], pedagogical content knowledge [PCK], and pedagogical knowledge [PK]. CK is knowledge about facts and methods of subject matter, while PCK is based on subject specific knowledge about teaching and learning of specific content including curriculum knowledge, and PK is knowledge about broad principles and strategies of classroom management and organization. A similar differentiation was used in two German studies, ‘COACTIV’ (‘Cognitive Activation in the Classroom: The Orchestration of Learning Opportunities for the Enhancement of Insightful Learning in Mathematics’, Baumert & Kunter, 2006), which measured professional knowledge of teachers linked with students’ outcome in mathematics, and MT21 (‘Mathematics Teaching in the 21th Century’, Blömeke et al., 2008), which focused on professional knowledge of prospective teachers in mathematics. Another study about knowledge of teachers (primary teachers) and its correlation to students’ outcome has been carried out by Hill, Schilling, and Ball (2005). Findings of these studies are for example characteristic differences between teachers from different school


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types with regard to the correlation of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (Krauss et al., 2006) or an interrelation between professional knowledge and students’ outcome (Krauss et al., 2008; Hill et al., 2005). “(…) teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching positively predicts student gains in mathematics achievement during the first and the third grade” (Hill et al., 2005, p. 399). Krauss et al. (2008) show a direct effect regarding achievement of the dimension pedagogical content knowledge, which describes 37 % of achievement variance between classes. While there are some quantitative studies about teachers’ professional knowledge in mathematics, for example, no relevant study exists in chemistry so far.

Framework

The extensive project, in which the chemistry part is embedded, is called ‘Professionswissen in den Naturwissenschaften’ (‘Professional Knowledge in Science’) [ProwiN] (Borowski & Tepner, 2009). It aims to ascertain the level of professional knowledge of teachers in biology, physics and chemistry. The first part of the project consists of constructing test instruments in order to measure teachers’ professional knowledge and the evaluation itself. Furthermore, the construction of a harmonized test instrument for measuring students’ achievement, which deals with the same themes as the teacher tests, is part of the first phase. The second part mainly includes a video study. Depending on evaluated professional knowledge, varying groups of teachers will be formed and their teaching units will be videotaped. Related to these teaching units, students’ achievement will be measured in a pre/post test design. Results of this test are being correlated with results of associated teacher testing. All in all, the project’s duration is five years.

Topic of this current study is the development and evaluation of test instruments for evaluating professional knowledge dimensions CK and PCK of chemistry teachers as well as developing a student achievement test.

Methods

For data collecting, a quantitative empirical design is used. Three hundred teachers are asked to complete questionnaires. The teachers belong to two different school types: one part of the sample consists of teachers working at an upper secondary school (Gymnasium), while the other part works at a lower level school (Hauptschule). Furthermore, the investigation is conducted in two different federal states of Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria). These differentiations permit statements about the assumed existence of school-type-specific and federal-state-specific characteristics of professional knowledge and its nature. By relating CK and PCK tests it is possible to reassess the distinction of these two dimensions of professional knowledge.

Within the project’s framework, 10th grade pupils’ outcome is measured. In this context teachers are to conduct a teaching unit regarding one special theme. Primarily, it is focused on the topic ‘Chemical reactions using the example of acids and bases.’ Regarding this unit, students’ knowledge is tested in a pre-post-design and correlated with professional knowledge of their teachers to gain information about interdependency. In addition, two hours of the teaching unit are videotaped to gain insight into processes during the lesson such as teachers’ and students’ behaviour. By collecting data using a reliable coding manual, quantitative references to teachers’ professional knowledge and students’ achievement are to be made.

Constructing CK-, PCK-, and Student Achievement Test

For uncovering any correlation between the dimensions of professional knowledge and/or students’ achievement, all tests have to deal with the same contents. For defining these themes curricula from both school types and both federal states have been analyzed. Results of this analysis are three themes, which are listed in all curricula and are processed almost in the same grade: ‘Chemical Reactions Using the Example of Acids and Bases’, ‘Chemical Bonding’, and ‘Confirmations of Atoms and Periodic Table of the Elements’.


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This paper focuses on the students’ achievement test. For this reason, teachers’ tests are described only briefly.

The CK test includes different item types with regard to the performance level defined by content topics. On the one hand there are topics which are listed in curricula, on the other hand there are topics which are assumed to be important for preparing lessons. These topics help to understand subject matter in detail and are handled in basic chemistry teacher education.

The PCK test measures pedagogical content knowledge in three different ways: declarative knowledge (knowing what), procedural knowledge (knowing how), and conditional knowledge (knowing when and why). All these areas comprise different facets of pedagogical content knowledge. All tasks of pedagogical content knowledge test are composed of a short description of a realistic chemistry lesson scene or a presentation of chemical contents. Introduction is followed by one or several items.

The students’ achievement test deals with the same topics as the teacher tests, but contrary to the CK test, only topics which are listed in the curricula are included. This test has a processing time of 60 minutes. To gain information on this test with respect to suitability on different performance levels, item formats (multiple choice-single select items, true-false items, complement items) and forms of representation (words, pictures) were varied, whereas the content was identical. Sample group consists of 113 10th grade students on different performance levels, which have been defined by their recent mark and their interest in chemistry. To measure their interest in chemistry, students were asked to rate it by giving a mark. Due to the fact that these two aspects suggest evidence for students’ achievement in a direct or indirect way (cf. Vollmeyer & Rheinberg, 1998), the sum of these two marks helped grouping the students (high performance group: sum ≤ 3; low performance group: sum ≥ 7).

Figure 1. Example for items using different forms of representations


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Results

Presented results refer to the students’ achievement test.

For both representation forms single select items show best fit regarding solution probability in high performing as well as in low achieving student groups (.4 ≤ Mean ≤ .5). On the contrary the other item forms have for full sample a solution probability < .2 which shows that these items do not fit.

Table 1. Different item formats

Full Sample High Performer Low Performer

True-False

N 75 13 29

Mean .172 .283 .100

StD .225 .293 .197

Multiple Choice Single Select

N 113 18 44

Mean .467 .590 .421

StD .230 .232 .252

Complement

N 74 39 33

Mean .178 .225 .129

StD .249 .252 .187

Table 2. Single select items using different forms of representations

Full Sample High Performer Low Performer

Words

N 113 18 44

Mean .405 .574 .335

StD .164 .166 .135

Picture

N 113 18 44

Mean .530 .607 .508

StD .297 .298 .291


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Surveying the solution probability of different forms of representations regarding the single select items, students perform better in single select items combined with a pictorial representation form than in written single select items. Mainly low performers succeed better in items which have pictorials alternatives. To scrutinize this hypothesis statistic calculations were performed.

Due to the fact that the difference of the solution probability of pictorial and written representation forms (Pictures – Words) is distributed non-normal a Mann-Whitney-U test is calculated. This test (U = 284.00, p(1-tailed) < .05, N = 62, r = -.22) shows, consistent to the hypothesis, advices for a differentiation between ‘Pictures – Words’ regarding high performer (Mdn = .033) and low performer (Mdn = .173).

In any case, consultation with students reveals that pictorial alternatives are unfamiliar to them. Conclusions

As a conclusion, a student achievement test is being developed in a multiple choice single select form using pictorial and written answer alternatives in one item to address both high and low performing students.

Figure 2. Example for items using both forms of representations.

References

Abell, S. K. (2007). Research on science teacher knowledge. In S. K. Abell (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Science Education (p. 1105-1149). Mahawa, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Baumert, J. (2004). Drawing the lessons from PISA 2000. In D. Lenzen, J. Baumert, & R. Watermann (Eds.), PISA und die Konsequenzen für die erziehungswissenschaftliche Forschung, 3, 143-157.

Baumert, J. & Kunter, M. (2006). Stichwort: Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 9, 469-520.


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Borowski, A. & Tepner, O. (2009). Projektskizze: Professionswissen in den Naturwissenschaften (ProwiN). In D. Höttecke (Ed.), Chemie- und Physikdidaktik für die Lehramtsausbildung. Gesellschaft für Didaktik der Chemie und Physik. Jahrestagung in Schwäbisch Gmünd 2008. Lit Verlag: Berlin, 377-379.

Blömeke, S., Kaiser, G., & Lehmann, R. (2008). Professionelle Kompetenz angehender Lehrerinnen und Lehrer. Münster: Waxmann.

Bromme, R. (1994). Beyond subject matter: A psychological topology of teachers' professional knowledge. In R. Biehler, R.W. Scholz, B. Sträßer, & B. Winkelmann (Eds.), Mathematics didactics as a scientific discipline: The state of the art (p. 73-88). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Bromme, R. (1997). Kompetenzen, Funktionen und unterrichtliches Handeln des Lehrers. In F.E. Weinert (Ed.). Psychologie des Unterrichts und der Schule. Enzyklopädie der Psychologie. 1(3), (p. 177-212). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Elbaz, F. (1983). Teacher thinking: A study of practical knowledge. New York: Nichols.

Grossman, P. L. (1990). The making of a teacher: Teacher knowledge and teacher education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Hill, H., Rowan, B. & Ball, D.. (2005). Effects of teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching on student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 371-406.

Krauss, S., Baumert, J., Blum, W., Neubrand, M., Jordan, A., Brunner, M., Kunter M., & Löwen, K. (2006). Die Konstruktion eines Testes zum fachlichen und zum fachdidaktischen Wissen von Mathematiklehrkräften. In E. Cohors-Fresenborg & I. Schwank (Eds.), Beiträge zum Mathematikunterricht 2006. Vorträge auf der 40. Tagung für Didaktik der Mathematik vom 6.-10. März 2006 in Osnabrück. Hildesheim & Berlin: Franzbecker.

Krauss, S., Neubrand, M., Blum, W., Baumert, J., Brunner, M., Kunter; M. & Jordan, A. (2008). Die Untersuchung des professionellen Wissens deutscher Mathematik-Lehrerinnen und -Lehrer im Rahmen der COACTIV-Studie, Journal für Mathematik-Didaktik, 29 (3/4), 223-258.

Peterson, P. L., Carpenter, T. P., Fennema, E. (1989). Teachers’ knowledge of students’ knowledge in mathematics problem solving: Correlational and case analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology 81(4), 558-569.


Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22.

Vollmeyer, R. & Rheinberg, F. (1998). Motivationale Einflüsse auf Erwerb und Anwendung von Wissen in einem computersimulierten System. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 12 (1), 11-23.


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THE ROLE OF LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN IMPLEMENTING

CONTEXT- AND COMPETENCE-ORIENTED BIOLOGY INSTRUCTION

Markus Lücken Leibniz Institute for Science Education, Kiel

Doris Elster University of Vienna

Abstract

In the project “Biologie im Kontext” (bik) learning communities developed context- and competence-oriented tasks and instructions. Based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour the implementation processes were analyzed by looking at the development of teachers’ attitudes towards implementing the new approach, their perceived support, perceived behavioural control and instructional behaviour as well as the development of students’ competencies and interest in biology education. The research questions concern the validity of the Ajzen model as well as the processes of teacher professionalization within the learning communities during the three years of the project. Data from 154 teachers and 1689 students is available from the start-test and from two follow-up-tests. The processes of teacher professionalization were investigated by questionnaires and qualitative interviews with a subsample of 32 participating teachers. A development of teachers’ attitudes towards the new approach became only apparent in the end of the project. Their perceived behavioural control and their intention to implement the bik-approach, however, increased continuously. In general, the project was successful in changing classroom activities into more competence-oriented education according to the students’ perceptions of instruction. The close cooperation within learning communities turned out to be an effective approach for teacher professional development in biology education.

Introduction

National standards for biology education in school were recently introduced in Germany (KMK, 2004). Teacher had to implement a new competence-oriented approach in classrooms addressing four domains: subject knowledge, inquiry competence, communication, as well as moral judgment and decision making. The project “Biologie im Kontext” (bik) attempts to support biology teachers in implementing these standards. The most important aims of this project have been the implementation of a competence and context-oriented teaching in biology classes and the support of teachers’ professional development to manage this implementation. Teachers are understood as the gatekeeper of school and teaching development. The strategy of “symbiotic implementation” (Gräsel & Parchmann, 2004) was adopted to accomplish these goals. According to this strategy, teachers, researchers, and representatives of educational administration closely (symbiotically) work together in learning communities (Vescio et al., 2008) who meet regularly over a longer period. This approach is generally seen as a sustainable form of teacher professionalization (Supovitz & Turner, 2000). The participants develop new tasks and teaching units, implement these units and reflect upon their experiences. This process of teacher professional development may be seen as a paradigm shift from an input to a more output and competence oriented way of teaching. The project bik has put much effort into the optimization of the learning communities to reach this form of output oriented biology education.


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teachers students

effects

individual characteristics

teachers’ behaviour

attitude toward implementation of

bik

subjective norm:perceived support by important others

Perceived behavioural control

intention effects

individual characteristics

Rationale

The present research is based on the “Theory of Planned Behaviour” (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Madden, 1986). Predictors of teachers’ intentions to implement the bik-conception in this model (Figure 1) are their attitudes towards implementing competence-oriented teaching, operationalized with an expectancy-value-approach (Jones & Carter, 2007), perceived support of important other persons (subjective norm), and perceived behavioural control. These predictors will influence teachers’ behaviour mediated by the above described intention. In addition to the original model the effects of teachers’ behaviour are added. These effects are the interests of students in competence oriented education and the impact on students’ self-assessed competences. The longitudinal research study attempts to test first the hypothesis whether this model and its relationships between predictors, mediating and dependent variables can be empirically validated using regression analyses and causal path analyses. Since the project bik was designed to support teachers’ professionalization concerning competence-oriented teaching, the variables of this prediction model at three measuring times were compared to test the second hypothesis whether there are positive changes in teachers’ attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control concerning the implementation of competence-oriented teaching in the course of the project. The last hypothesis is addressing the teachers’ behaviour. If participating in the learning communities is effective for changing teachers’ behaviour concerning competence-oriented teaching, these changes will be recognized by their students. Students’ observations of classroom activities should include more and more aspects of competence oriented teaching like the increase of inquiry oriented experimentation methods or the integration of communication practice skills in biology teaching.

Methods

All participating teachers and their students were asked to complete questionnaires in one-year-intervals. All scales used in this study are depicted in Table 1. The scales measuring the attitudes towards fostering competences were measured with an expectancy-value approach (Ajzen, 1991). Based on the educational standards, items for each domain of competence were developed, asking the teachers how much each item is a personal goal for their teaching (value-component) and to indicate their expectation whether these goals can be achieved by means of this project approach (expectancy-component).

Figure 1. Causal Model to predict teacher’s behavior and effects on students according to the Theory of Planned Behavior


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To investigate the teachers’ subjective norm, they were asked to indicate how supportive the principals and colleagues at their schools were regarding to the teachers’ participation in bik, and how the innovative climate at the school was in general. Teachers’ perceived behavioural control was measured by asking them to assess how capable they will be in implementing competence-oriented teaching. In addition to the scales addressing the variables of the prediction model, scales from existing projects (e.g. “Chemistry in Context”, Gräsel & Parchmann, 2004; Helmke, 2003; Ostermeier, 2004) were included also in the questionnaires, addressing e.g. the beliefs about the teacher’s role in the classroom, type of students’ performance evaluation, teaching quality, and the way to structure the classroom activities. Student questionnaires complement these scales, measuring their perception of competence-oriented teaching and their interests in this kind of education. The scales were supplemented by a self-assessment-scale of students’ competences. This questionnaire also included items addressing their perception of criteria for good teaching, like variety of instruction methods, student centred teaching, inquiry oriented science teaching, clear structure of teaching; and successfully dealing with heterogeneity.

Table 1. Scales used to measure the components of the prediction model

Component Applied Scales (No. Of items; Cronbach’s Alpha or r) Attitude towards implementing competence- and context-oriented teaching

Expectancy and values concerning implementing… - Subject knowledge (7; α = ,68) - Inquiry competence (10; α = ,83) - Communication (4; α = ,65) - Moral judgement / decision making (4; α = ,73)

- Context-oriented teaching (4; α = ,75)

Subjective norm Perceived support from… - Colleagues (3; α = ,68) - Principals (3; α = ,71)

Perceived behavioural control (PBC)

- Expected discipline problems (2; r = ,58) - Perceived ability to implement bik (3; ; α = ,73)

Intention - Intention to cooperate with other teachers to implement the bik approach (6; α = ,85)

Teachers’ behaviour Perception of a competence oriented teaching… - Subject knowledge (8; α = ,70) - Theoretical inquiry competence (6; α = ,73) - Practical inquiry competence (4; α = ,69) - Communication (4; α = ,72) - Moral judgment / Decision making (4; α = ,62)

Criteria of good teaching - Inquiry oriented teaching (7; α = ,76) - Non-distinctive classroom goals (3; α = ,59) - Individual performance feedback (3; α = ,64) - Student centred teaching (6; α = ,71)

Students‘ competences - Self-assessment of competence (18; α = ,93)

Students’ interests - Interest in competence oriented teaching (26; α = ,87) - Intrinsic interest in biology (4; α = ,70) - Instrumental interest in biology (3; α = ,68) - No Interest in biology (3; ; α = ,70)


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All newly developed scales were tested on a sample of 300 students to ensure that the items are on the one hand comprehensible and to select items by using common criteria like task difficulty, discriminatory power and scale reliability.

Data is available from the start of the project and from the two follow-up-tests after one and two years of the current project. The start sample consisted of 154 teachers and their students (N = 1689). Data of the first (after ca. 1 year) and the second follow-up questionnaires (after 2½ years) were available from 70 to 78 teachers and 832 to 1012 students. The sample of the qualitative interviews contains 37 teachers from the start-interviews and 25 - 32 teachers in the follow-up interviews.

Results

To empirically validate the prediction model (hypothesis 1), first several regression analyses for the dependent variable intention to implement bik at the time of the 2nd Follow Up query were calculated (Table 2).

Table 2. Multiple regression analyses with teachers’ intention to implement bik as the criterion

Predictors Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5

β β β β β

Intention to implement bik (Start)

.276* .224* .025 .069 -.077

Attitude toward competence oriented teaching (2nd Follow Up)

.472*** .261* -.038 -.238

Attitude to foster students’ interest with context oriented teaching (2nd Follow Up)

.512*** .363** .525***

Perceived behavioural control to implement bik (2nd Follow Up)

.355* .292*

Expecting discipline problems while implementing bik (t2nd Follow Up)

-.217* -.343**

Perceived support by principals (2nd Follow Up)

.348***

R² .076 .297 .466 .559 .630

# p < .1; * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

In the first regression model, only the intention to implement bik in the start questionnaire was included in the regression analysis to predict the intention at the second follow up. The predictor Attitude towards competence oriented teaching was included next (Model 2); it also becomes significant. In the third regression model teachers’ Attitude to foster students’ interest with context oriented teaching turns out to be a significant predictor. Then two scales representing aspects of teachers’ perceived behavioural control were included in the next step (Model 4) and were also significant. In the final model one scale directing at the subjective norm Perceived support by principals was another significant predictor for the intention to implement bik. The determination coefficients R² increase from .076 (Model 1) to .630 (Model 5). Summarized this results, the more the teacher feel supported by colleagues and principals, and the higher they


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assessed their own behavioural control in implementing this approach, the higher is the intention of the teachers to implement a competence-oriented teaching.

Another regression analysis was calculated to test the right part of the model (Table 3). In the first regression model students’ perception of competence oriented teaching and their interests in competence oriented teaching was included to predict students’ self-assessment of their competence. Both predictors turned out to be significant. In the second model the inclusion of students’ interests in everyday contexts became a significant negative predictor. Model 3 included three scales measuring intrinsic, instrumental and no interests in biology that predicted significantly the self-assessment of competence. The fourth regression model added scales assessing some criteria of good teaching. With the exception of the scale tapping the student-teacher-relationship they were also significant predictors. In the last regression model the students’ self-assessment of their competence at the beginning of the project (Start-Questionnaire) was included; this was a significant predictor, too1. The determination coefficient of the regressions increases from .382 (Model 1) to .546 (Model 5), though the increases between Model 1 and 2 and between Model 4 and 5 were quite small. The regression model confirms the right part of the prediction model with one exception. The perception of competence oriented teaching was significant only in the first model, afterwards the significance had vanished.

Table 3. Multiple regression analyses with students’ self-assessment of competence (Follow Up 2) as the criterion

Predictors Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5

β β β β β Perception of competence oriented teaching

.112* .086 .086 -.041 -.037

Interest in competence oriented teaching

.543*** .583*** .498*** .427*** .406***

Interests in everyday contexts -.097* -.154*** -.148*** -.150***

Intrinsic motivation in biology 179*** 188*** .185***

Instrumental motivation in biology -.109** -.119** -.118**

No interests in biology -.089* -.086* -.085*

Relationship between teachers and students

.021 .018

Using mistakes as teaching opportunities

.266*** .270***

Individual performance feedback .120*** .121***

Inquiry oriented teaching .116** .113**

Lack of Structure -.079* -.073*

Self-Assessment of competence (Start)

.072*

R² .382 .391 .447 .541 .546

* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

1 We also included age and gender into our regression models, but these variables had no significant predicting value for students‘ self-assessment of competence.


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To empirically validate the complete model to predict the implementation and the effects of the new competence and context oriented bik approach, we used LISREL for a causal path analysis (Figure 2). The Fit-indices reveals a satisfying fit for the model, although the Chi²-values became significant. But the Goodness-of-fit-index and then Normed-fit-index are above .95, hinting at the appropriateness of this model. Unfortunately, there are some results that have to be discussed in this model. First, the relationships between teachers’ intention and students’ perception of competence oriented teaching as well as their perception of the criteria of good teaching are significant but quite small. We had expected a stronger relationship between intention and the actual behaviour of the teachers. But some methodological and some aspects regarding to the content would have probably reduced this relationship. First on the methodological side, there is a shift in the source of the data. On the left side of the model, we used data from the teacher questionnaires, while on the right side we took the data from the students’ questionnaires. This probably leads to a decreased shared variance of the relationships. With regard to the content aspect, we have to consider that the measurement of the implementation intention was quite unspecific. It focused on the intention to cooperate together with other teacher to develop new competence oriented tasks and to implement it in their biology teaching. But it does not specify the concrete methods and units the students will then experience in their biology lessons. The level of specificity is different between Intention and behaviour and

according to Ajzen and Madden (1986) this negatively influence the predictive power of the prediction model. This, too, can be responsible for the low relationship between intention and perception.

Figure 2. Results of the causal path analysis according the prediction model (grey path coefficient = non-significant relationship)

Attitude towards...

Subjective norm:

Intention assessment of competence

Individual characteristics

implementing competence

oriented teaching

using everyday contexts

using contexts to foster interests

principals welcome bik‐engagement

PBC

perceived ability to implement bik

Teachers’ behaviour

competence oriented teaching

criteria of good teaching

interest in biology.12

interest in competence

oriented teaching

.46.29

.54

.40

Chi² = 110.20; df=40; p = .00; RMSEA = .060NFI = .97; GFI = .96; RMR = .051


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The next striking result in this causal model is the negative path coefficient (-.47) between attitude toward implementing competence oriented teaching and the intention. To elucidate this negative relationship, a mediation analysis was performed (Figure 3). According to Baron and Kenny (1986), three conditions must hold to establish mediation: First, the independent variable (teachers’ attitude toward competence oriented teaching) must affect the potential mediator (PBC). Second, the independent variable must affect the dependent variable (implementation intention). Third, the potential mediator must affect the dependent variable even when the effect of the independent variable is controlled. Conditions 1 and 2 hold because teachers’ attitude significantly affected teachers’ implementation intention (β = .47, p <.001) as well as PBC (β = .62, p < .001). Next, to check Condition 3 with PBC as a potential mediator, another multiple regression analysis was performed with teachers’ implementation intention as criterion and teachers’ attitude and PBC as predictors. Confirming its mediating role, PBC received a significant regression weight, β = .60, p < .001, whereas teachers’ attitude lost its predictive value, β = .058, ns. The indirect effect of teachers’ attitude via PBC was significant, z = 4.10, p < .001 (Sobel, 1982). A positive attitude itself does not predict teachers’ intention to implement bik. Only when they also develop a certain amount of behavioural control towards realizing the implementation, a positive attitude can be transferred into an increased intention.

Figure 3. Mediation analysis of positive attitude to intention to implement bik via perceived behavioural control

Intention to implement bik (2. Follow Up)

Perceived ability to implement bik (PBC)

(2. Follow Up)

ß = .62***

Attitude towards competence oriented teaching (2. Follow Up)

Figure 4. Mediation analysis of students’ perception to self-assessment of competence via interest in competence oriented teaching

Assessment of Competence(2. Follow Up)

Interest in competence oriented teaching(2. Follow Up)

ß = .63***

Perception of competence oriented teaching (2. Follow Up)


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The third striking relationship is the non-significant relationship between the perception of the competence oriented teaching and students’ assessment of competence. Again, we’d expected a significant positive relationship between these two variables in the original prediction mode. The more students’ receive and therefore perceive a competence oriented teaching the more likely they describe themselves as competent. Another mediation analysis revealed the dynamic of the relationships between these variables (see Figure 4). The independent variable Perception of competence oriented teaching is originally positively correlated with the dependent variable assessment of competence (β = .41, p < .001) and is also correlated with students’ interest in competence oriented teaching (β = .63, p < .001). To test the third condition for mediation analysis, we calculate a regression analysis with students’ assessment as criterion and student’s perception of competence oriented teaching and their interests in competence oriented teaching as predictors. The interest turned out to be a mediator, because this scale remained a significant predictor (β = .39, p < .001) while the perception of competence oriented teaching failed to remain significant (β = .16, ns). The indirect effect of students’ perception via the development of interest in this kind of teaching was significant as well (Sobel, z = 3.52, p < .001). Only if student’s perception of teaching triggers their interests in competence oriented teaching, it has an influence on their self-assessment of competence.

Figure 5. Development of teachers’ perceived behavioural control (PBC) and teachers’ intention to implement bik (N = 67; *** p < .001)

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

SK IntentionIntention to Implement bik

PBC

Start

Follow‐up I

Follow‐up II

***; d = 1.18 ***; d = 1.09totally aggree

totally disaggree

Figure 6. Development of students' perception of competence-oriented teaching (N = 279; *** p < .001)

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

Subject knowledge Inquiry competence (theoretical)

Inquiry competence (practical)

Communication Moral judgement and decision making

Totally aggree

Totally disaggree

***; d = 1.89 ***; d = 1.32 ***; d 2.10

Start

Follow‐up I

Follow‐up II

***; d = 2.18 ***; d = 2.34


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The development of variables of the prediction model in the course of the project was analyzed and the mean values for all three measuring times to test the second hypothesis using MANOVAS were compared. Looking at the teachers’ attitudes and their perception of the subjective norm, there are almost no significant changes in the first year of the project. But at the end of the project (2nd follow-up) there was a significant increase in teachers’ attitudes about implementing a competence-oriented teaching for all four domains of the educational standards (all Fs > 2.6; p < .01; all ds > 1.2).

Teachers’ behavioural control and their intention to implement competence-oriented teaching, however, increased continuously (Figure 5) In comparison to the development of the attitudes concerning the implementation of a competence-oriented teaching these two components of the prediction model could be developed earlier during working in learning communities.

Testing the third hypothesis by comparing students’ answers in the three questionnaires concerning the perception of competence-oriented teaching and the criteria of good teaching, the following results emerge.

Analyzing the mean differences for students’ perception of the presence of the four domains of competences during biology teaching there are only few significant increases between the start- and the first follow-up questionnaire. But at the end of the project, in the second follow-up, the increases for all competence domains were significant. The students have perceived a change towards output- and competence-oriented teaching (Figure 6). Moreover, there were substantial and significant increases in the follow-up questionnaires for the different criteria of good teaching evaluated by the students, too (Figure 7). Students, whose teachers working in the bik-project, perceived more and more student oriented teaching, inquiry learning methods in the course of the project. The rate of individual performance feedback increase and the presence of non-distinctive goals decrease.


The present research used the theory of planned behaviour to identify important components, how teachers’ attitudes, subjective norm and their perceived behavioural control affect the intention and the behaviour of teachers concerning implementing competence-oriented teaching. Furthermore, it was analyzed in which way this behaviour and students’ competences are related. The results of the study confirmed the suggested prediction model and revealed that a change in teachers’ attitudes concerning the implementation of competence-oriented teaching developed more slowly than a change in teachers’ behavioural control and their intention to implement the new

Figure 7. Development of students' perception of classroom activities according to criteria of good teaching (N = 278; ** p < .01; *** p < .001

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4totally aggree

totally disaggree

***; d = 2.47 ***; d = 2.77 ***; d = 0.69 **; d = 1.72

Student oriented teaching

Inquiry oriented teaching

Individual performance

feedback

Lack of structure in instruction

Student-teacher-

relationship

Start

Follow-up I

Follow-up II


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approach of teaching. It seems that it is more difficult to change attitudes. Rising teachers’ perceived behavioural control by working in learning communities appears to be the better “lever” to initiate changes in teachers’ behaviour. The results of the mediation analysis support this interpretation. A positive attitude towards competence oriented teaching alone does not turn to an increased intention to implement bik. Only if teacher can develop a certain amount of perceived behavioural control the probability of successful implementation of competence oriented teaching in the classrooms increases. Looking at the development of students’ views of activities in biology classroom we showed that in the course of three years of the project bik there were only small increases of the competence-oriented classroom activities. These results were disappointing but not surprising. The participating teachers who had to develop tasks and units on a competence-oriented base were confronted with a completely new approach and they had to start from scratch. Hence, the development of these tasks did at least need one year. As a consequence, students were not able to recognize any changes of the teaching in the first year. But there were some positive side effects. Working together in a learning community seems to influence teachers’ classroom activities in general. Their students perceived even after the first year of the project significant positive changes of the quality of student centred teaching and other criteria of good teaching. Apparently, working in learning communities and giving the teachers the opportunity to cooperate with other motivated colleagues seems to be a fruitful approach to develop teacher professionalism.

References

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour. Organizational Behaviour & Human Decision Processes. 50, 179–211.

Ajzen, I. & Madden, T.J. (1986). Prediction of goal directed behaviour: attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioural control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22, 453-474.

Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.

Brown (1997). Transforming schools into communities of thinking and learning serious matters. American Psychologists. 52, 399-413.

Gräsel, C. & Parchmann, I. (2004). Implementationsforschung – oder: der steinige Weg, Unterricht zu verändern [Implementation research – or: the rocky path to change instruction practice]. Unterrichtswissenschaft, 32 (3), 196-214.

Helmke, A. (2003). Unterrichtsqualität. Erfassen, Bewerten, Verbessern [Instructional quality – measuring, evaluating, improving]. Seelze, Germany: Kallmeyer.

Jones, M.G. & Carter, G. (2007). Science Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs. In S.K. Abell & N.G. Lederman (Editors), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 1067-1103). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

KMK (2004). Bildungsstandards im Fach Biologie für den Mittleren Schulabschluss (Beschluss der Kultusministerkonferenz vom 16.12.2004). English: Educational Standards for the subject biology http://www.kmk.org/schul/Bildungsstandards/Biologie_MSA_16-12-04.pdf

Ostermeier, C. (2004). Kooperative Qualitätsentwicklung in Schulnetzwerken. Eine empirische Studie am Beispiel des BLK-Modellversuchsprogramms "Steigerung der Effizienz des mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Unterrichts" (SINUS). Münster: Waxmann.

Sobel, M. E. (1982). Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models. In S. Leinhart (Ed.), Sociological methodology (pp.290-312). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Supovitz J. A. & Turner, H.M. (2000). The effects of professional development on science teaching practices and classroom culture. Journal of Research in Science teaching, 37(9), 963-980.

Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 80-91.


239

GROWTH IN TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY THROUGH PARTICIPATION

IN A HIGH-TECH INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN COMMUNITY

Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz Arizona State University, Polytechnic

Sibel Uysal Florida State University

Muhsin Menekse & David Birchfield Arizona State University

Abstract

The Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Laboratory (SMALLab) is a semi-immersive mixed reality learning environment that affords face-to-face interaction by co-located participants within a 3-dimensional space informed by visual and sonic media that respond to participants’ movements and gestures within the space. Over the past year, SMALLab has been field-tested in high school science classes in a large public high school in the southwestern United States. A team of high school science teachers and university researchers have met weekly in a professional learning community to design learning scenarios and a framework for student participation. This paper describes changes in teachers’ self-efficacy as they become encultured in a cutting edge instructional technology design community.

What is SMALLab?

SMALLab is an environment developed by a collaborative team of media researchers from education, psychology, interactive media, computer science, and the arts. It is an extensible platform for semi-immersive, mixed-reality learning. Semi-immersive means that the mediated space of SMALLab is physically open on all sides to the larger environment. Participants can freely enter and exit the space without the need for wearing specialized display or sensing devices. Participants seated or standing around SMALLab can see and hear the dynamic media, and can directly communicate with peers within the active space. Mixed-reality means that this system integrates physical objects, 3D physical gestures, and digitally mediated components. Extensible means that researchers, teachers, and students can create new learning scenarios in SMALLab using custom designed authoring tools and programming interfaces. This paper deals with the design of a SMALLab scenario developed by high school chemistry teachers to help student construct a robust conceptual model of neutralization reaction.

SMALLab supports situated and embodied learning by empowering the physical body to function as an expressive interface (Birchfield, Ciufo et al. 2006). Within SMALLab, students use a set of “glowballs” and peripheral devices to interact in real time with each other and with dynamic visual, textual, physical and sonic media through full body 3D movements and gestures.


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Physically, SMALLab, is a 15’W x 15’W x 12’H freestanding, interactive space. This cube of space is surrounded by a ceiling-mounted six-element camera array for object tracking, a top-mounted video projector providing real time visual feedback, four audio speakers for surround sound feedback, and an array of tracked physical objects (glowballs). A networked computing cluster with custom software drives the interactive system.

Theoretical Perspective

Technology in Science Education

Digitally mediated learning environments hold great promise in that they provide educators with the necessary tools to situate learning experiences in real world social, cultural and material contexts (Gee, 2007). In addition to fostering active learning, student driven technology in the classroom affords two key elements necessary to stimulate intrinsic motivation: arousal and control (Middleton, 1992). But for all its great promise and increased availability in K-12 classrooms, the impact of technology on learning is still disappointingly small. Major stumbling blocks to effective educational technology implementation are lack of teacher preparation and support. (Sandholtz, 2001) Without the necessary training and opportunities for teachers to network with colleagues about how to implement classroom technologies, the potential of many powerful technology-based learning tools remains unrealized.

Self Efficacy

According to Bandura, showing effort and persisting in the face of obstacles is dependent on one’s belief about his or her own ability to perform a given task successfully. Bandura labeled this construct self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997). Self-efficacy is not a broad construct like self-esteem; rather, it deals specifically with behavior in the context of a particular task. Studying self-efficacy is important because a teacher with high instructional technology self-efficacy is likely to persist when faced with challenging implementation problems and is thus more likely to succeed. We created the rubric using Bandura’s self-efficacy theory to measure teachers’ self-efficacy (see Table 1).

Professional Learning Communities

Professional learning communities (PLCs) benefit teachers, because they enable them to remain current in information, concepts, and research; provide them opportunities to share ideas with one another; and help them develop relationships with college faculty and master teachers. Research has shown that the conversations teachers have with one another around their practice can lead to creative transformations in the classroom, improving understanding and practice (Cranton, 1996; Borko, 2004). In this research we examine changes in teachers’ self-efficacy as they design SMALLab learning scenarios during weekly PLC meetings with colleagues and university faculty.

Research Question

Throughout this study, self-efficacy with respect to technology integration was a key factor affecting the evolution of the SMALLab scenario that PLC participants developed. Data were examined to answer the following research question: How does being a part of the instructional design process impact teacher self-efficacy with respect to digital learning technology?


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Table 1 Teacher’s self-efficacy in digital technology environment rubric Categories 1 2 3 4

Mastery Experience

No technology

experience

Little or negative technology experience

Basic experience using computer, video-camera or digital technology (DT)

Enough DT experience to design own lessons

Vicarious Experience

No science content knowledge,

no DT experience

Little science content knowledge,

minimal digital or other technology experience

Can explain specific science concepts,

has observed various DT

Has observed good classroom DT experiences and can discuss how they would use such activities in their teaching

Verbal or Social Persuasion

No connection with and no influence from faculty and other teachers related to DT

Little connection with other teachers regarding DT.

Has opinion about DT and discusses DT experiences verbally or socially with other teachers

Contributes to the development of DT. Is positive and realistic about classroom technology use

Physiological and Affective

No emotion or negative affect when confronted with DT activities

Interested but hesitant to participate

Tries to use DT but gives up when difficulties arise

Enjoys DT activity, exhibits confidence in teaching with DT

Research Design and Method

We report here on a case study that was part of a year-long program of research around deploying and field testing SMALLab in regular high school science and language arts classes. In this case, the science PLC was composed of four veteran high school science teachers, a university professor, a post-doctoral researcher and two graduate students. Our study focuses particularly on two teachers in this group who were central to the development of the chemistry scenario. Erin has taught science for almost 20 years, and teaches honors and regular chemistry. She is the acknowledged Chemistry Expert in this PLC. George has taught middle and high school science for 9 years, but has only taught Chemistry for three years. He is trained in Modeling Instruction (Hestenes, 1996), an inquiry approach to teaching physics and chemistry that employs technology for data collection and analysis.

Data Sources

There are three sources of data for this study: 1) the researcher’s observations and videotapes of weekly PLC meetings, 2) the researchers’ assessment of teachers’ self-efficacy, and 3) Reform Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) (Sawada, Piburn et al. 2002) results from classroom observations of teachers both before and during the SMALLab implementation.

For this study, we use Erickson’s (1986) interpretive research methods, which stress the meaning of phenomena and the actions of the individual actors involved. Where most quantitative approaches focus on behavior, interpretive research focuses on meaningful actions of the participants. An action is an observable


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behavior, plus the meaning attached to it by the actor. In this interpretive research we can examine the way teachers’ self esteem regarding digital technology and their beliefs about technology in science education affect their practice.

The RTOP is a quantitative instrument developed to measure lesson design and implementation, propositional and procedural knowledge, communicative interactions and relationships with students. Data from video recordings and researchers’ observation were coded using a rubric derived from Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. There are four types of experiences that affect self efficacy: enactive mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal or social persuasion, and physiological and affective reaction. All PLC meetings were reviewed but four meetings—January, April, and two meetings in May (one before the implementation and one after) were analyzed in detail using this rubric to assess changes in teachers’ self efficacy as they became more familiar and comfortable with SMALLab technology and its implications for teaching and learning science.

Findings and Analysis

George’s self efficacy was most affected by “vicarious experiences”. Vicarious experiences as we have defined them in our rubric, involve indirect (primarily as a result of observation) experiences of the utilization of digital technology as a content area instructional medium. Prior to the beginning of the development cycle for the chemistry scenario, George was a peripheral participant in development of a SMALLab earth science scenario but did not actively contribute to the design process. When called upon to become involved in design decisions for the chemistry scenario he was initially hesitant. He listened to discussions and offered occasional comments, but deferred to Erin as the chemistry expert. When initial programming was complete, he eagerly engaged in running the computer console that controlled SMALLab and in play-testing the scenario inside the SMALLab environment. As the design period drew to a close he was observed to think aloud about how he might coordinate his students’ learning within the space, and to attempt to understand the computer interface that ran the scenario. His affective score dipped slightly during the design phase in April as he struggled to visualize how the scenario would translate into a learning experience for his students, but once programming was complete, he had an “aha moment” apparently achieving clarity about how the scenario would play out with his students during instruction. This positive affect persisted throughout the 3-day deployment of the scenario in his chemistry classes (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Self-efficacy changes in George


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Most of Erin’s self-efficacy changes occurred early on, concomitant with her decision to engage with the design process. In January, the design team spent most of its time working on an earth science scenario and she did not appear interested in the technology or the content. In late March, when conversations turned to a chemistry scenario, Erin’s interest was piqued, and her expertise in the content area was needed to advance the design process. By mid-April the team was relying on her to insure the conceptual coherence of the chemistry content underlying the scenario design. However, as the design process drew to a close and implementation drew near, Erin became distressed because she realized that she had use this SMALLab scenario in her classroom, and she had not spent time reflecting about how the learning might unfold with her students. She had no idea how to approach the task of teaching. After PLC participants rehearsed a lesson in student mode, she relaxed, and ultimately had no difficulty with the classroom implementation. Afterward, however, she had lingering concerns about her competence with the technology (see Figure 2)

Figure 2. Self-efficacy changes for Erin

Pre and post RTOP scores for both George and Erin revealed significant gains, particularly in the categories of lesson design and implementation, and procedural knowledge. These gains are not surprising in light of the unique affordances of SMALLab as a student-centered, interactive, digitally mediated learning environment. George, although already a practitioner of inquiry methods in his classroom, made good gains in the area of student-teacher relationships as well, perhaps as a result of his pre-existing expertise in discourse management.

Conclusions

In conjunction with their SMALLab curriculum design team experience, both George and Erin demonstrated significant improvements in their teaching practice as measured by the RTOP (George: p<0.0002; Erin: p<0.00006). In terms of self-efficacy, George did better. He appeared engaged, interested and reflective about teaching and learning with SMALLab throughout the semester. His confidence peaked just before implementation with his students and fell only slightly afterward as he reflected on his performance during the three day teaching experiment. During the first two months, when the design process was not directed toward her teaching assignment, Erin was, for the most part, disengaged and intermittently even absent altogether. Once the design effort turned fully to the chemistry scenario, Erin opted in, and it was at this point that her self-efficacy scores rose. Afterward, however they remained flat for the reminder of the term—even through the implementation phase, and afterward she expressed privately that she was chagrined by her last minute panic. She vowed that next year it would be different.


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Table 2. RTOP scores for Erin and George

Lesson design & implementation

Propositional knowledge

Procedural knowledge

Communicative interactions

Communicative interactions

Total

Erin Pre 7 13 5 9 11 45

Post 14 14 11 13 13 68

George Pre 10 13 9 12 13 59

Post 16 15 14 13 17 75

By his own admission (confirmed by RTOP observations), George regularly employed inquiry methods in his teaching practice, while Erin was observed to have a more traditional teacher-centered classroom environment. In participating in the design process, George spent a great deal of time pondering how his students would visualize chemical reactions as a result of what they were seeing in SMALLab, while Erin was more concerned with whether or not students would be able to generate correct answers. These characteristics, along with the trends in the RTOP and self-efficacy scores lead us wonder if familiarity with inquiry teaching methods may predispose teachers to develop better self-efficacy in learning to teach with novel technologies.

Implications for Further Research

A learning environment in which a large measure of responsibility and control is ceded to students as a matter of course was familiar to George, but relatively unfamiliar to Erin. Since these features are considered desirable and are designed into technology mediated environments it seems that inquiry oriented teachers may have an adaptive advantage when it comes to integrating such technologies into their classroom practice. This merits further investigation and will be studied carefully as SMALLab use spreads across the curriculum over the coming year.

References

Birchfield, D., T. Ciufo, et al. (2006). SMALLab: a Mediated Platform for Education. ACM SIGGRAPH, Boston, MA.

Bransford, J., A. Brown, et al., Eds. (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School. Washington DC, National Academy Press.

Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative Methods in Research on Teaching. Handbook of research on teaching. M. C. Wittrock. New York, Macmillan.

Gee, J. P. (2007). What Videogames Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy. New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

Hestenes, D. (1996). Modeling methodology for Physics Teachers. International Conference on Undergraduate Physics, College Park MD.

Middleton, J. A. (1992). "Gifted Students' Conception of Academic Fun: An Examiniation of a Critical Construct for Gifted Education." Gifted Child Quarterly 36(1): 38-44.

Sandholtz, J. (2001). "Learning to Teach with Technology: A Comparison of Teacher Development Programs." Journal of Technology and Teacher Education 9 (September).

Sawada, D., M. Piburn, et al. (2002). "Measuring reform practices in science and mathematics classrooms: The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP)." School Science and Mathematics 102(6): 245-252.


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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE USE OF DISCUSSION AND

ARGUMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOL SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS

Shirley Simon & Katherine Richardson Institute of Education, University of London

Christina Howell-Richardson & Andri Christodoulou King’s College London

Jonathan Osborne School of Education, Stanford University

Abstract

To establish a curriculum which foregrounds the epistemic aspects of science requires a pedagogy that promotes a dialogic approach to the evaluation of evidence and arguments for scientific ideas. Such an approach, where students and teachers address learning tasks together, listen to each other and consider alternative viewpoints, is not the most familiar or comfortable for many science teachers. Moreover it can pose a significant challenge to their teaching of science. Informed by previous research on teachers’ professional learning, this research compares the development of dialogic practice in four high school science departments. Two lead teachers from each school attended a program introducing a pedagogical approach for dialogic teaching using argumentation activities. These lead teachers subsequently introduced activities and resources in their curricula and held meetings with colleagues to share their practice and collaboratively reflect on their experiences. Interviews, observations of lessons, and recordings of reflective meetings provide data sources for qualitative analyses from which narratives of development in each department are drawn. The perspectives of teaching and learning science held by lead teachers, their school structures and colleagues' existing practices determine different approaches for building learning communities.

Introduction

Teaching science needs to accomplish much more than simply detailing what we know. Of growing importance is the need to educate our students about how we know and why we believe in the scientific world view – that is to see science as a distinctive and valuable way of knowing (Driver, Leach, Millar, & Scott, 1996; Duschl, 1990; Millar & Osborne, 1998). This emphasis requires a curriculum which foregrounds the epistemic aspects of science (Sandoval & Reiser, 2004), and a pedagogy that promotes a dialogic approach to the evaluation of evidence and arguments for scientific ideas. Yet a dialogic approach (Alexander, 2005; 2008), where students and teachers address learning tasks together, listen to each other and consider alternative viewpoints, is not the most familiar or comfortable for many science teachers, and can pose a significant challenge to their teaching of science (Bartholomew, Osborne & Ratcliffe, 2004). Previous work on developing the teaching of argumentation in school science (Erduran & Jiménex-Aleixandre, 2008; Osborne, Erduran & Simon, 2004a; Simon, Erduran & Osborne, 2006) has shown that it is possible for teachers to transform their pedagogy to one that is more dialogic through


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using materials and strategies that promote argumentation, and adopting roles that scaffold the processes of argumentation. The ‘Talking to Learn, Learning to Talk in Science’ project, which is the subject of this paper, aims to promote a dialogic approach to teaching and learning science in school science departments. Peer group discussion and argumentation activities, in scientific and socio-scientific contexts, are incorporated within the curriculum to encourage the development of a dialogic approach.

Rationale

Our rationale for a specific focus on argumentation to address the goal of achieving a more dialogic pedagogy draws on four distinct aspects of research in science education. First, research on pedagogy in secondary science would suggest that the default practice places an emphasis on the transmission and construction of knowledge over the exploration and evaluation of new ideas (Lyons, 2006); such practice can be challenged through introducing argumentation activities that require a consideration of epistemic goals. Second, there is increasing empirical evidence emerging from the work of social psychologists that the knowledge and understanding of school-age children can be facilitated by collaborative dialogue between peers (e.g. Mercer et al., 2004, Mercer & Littleton, 2007); argumentation activities structured through group discussion provide the potential for collaborative dialogue . Third, one of the main goals of science education is to educate young people in the epistemic and information processing skills to think critically within a scientific or socio-scientific domain, which can be achieved through engagement in argumentation (Erduran & Jiménex-Aleixandre, 2008). Fourth, the dominance of a transmissive pedagogy in secondary science is recognised as a factor in student’s disengagement (Osborne & Collins, 2001); argumentation activities extend the normative repertoire of practice commonly used, giving students a more flexible, more contingent and less authoritative approach to both the content and the structure of the typical science lesson.

Transforming pedagogy requires teachers to share the values of an innovation and be prepared to take risks – a venture that previous research shows is best supported by establishing the practice of collaborative reflection within a community committed to professional learning (Bell & Gilbert, 1996; Borko, 2004; Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; Fraser et al., 2007; Hoban, 2002; Loucks-Horsley, Love, Stiles, Mundry & Hewson, 2003). Research on teachers’ professional learning in science education has focused on the personal, professional and social dimensions of development (Bell & Gilbert, 1996). Bell and Gilbert’s model identifies progression from seeing teaching as problematic to having feelings of empowerment (personal), from trying out new activities to initiating new activities (professional), and from seeing isolation as problematic to initiating collaborative ways of working (social). These dimensions of development have been recognised as useful parameters for identifying change in more recent studies of professional development, for example Fraser et al. (2007), who also make a distinction between what is meant by ‘teacher learning’ and ‘professional development’:

‘teachers’ professional learning can be taken to represent the processes that, whether intuitive or deliberate, individual or social, result in specific changes in professional knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs or actions of teachers. Teachers’ professional development, on the other hand, is taken to refer to the broader changes that may take place over a longer period of time resulting in qualitative shifts in aspects of teachers’ professionalism’ p 156-7.

Fraser et al extend this view to incorporate the concept of teacher change, which they see as coming about through a process of learning that can be described in terms of transactions between teachers’ knowledge, experience and beliefs on the one hand, and their professional actions on the other. Clarke& Hollingsworth (2002), also combine these two perspectives on learning in their account of ‘professional growth’. Clarke and Hollingsworth have built on Guskey’s (1986) linear model for change and created a cyclic version with different entry points,


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called the Interconnected Model, where change is seen to occur through the mediating processes of ‘reflection’ and ‘enactment’ in four distinct domains: the personal domain (teacher knowledge, beliefs and attitudes), the domain of practice (professional experimentation), the domain of consequence (salient outcomes), and the external domain (sources of information, stimulus or support). Each domain is a change domain. The term ‘enaction’ was chosen

‘to distinguish the translation of a belief or a pedagogical model into action from simply “acting”, on the grounds that acting occurs in the domain of practice, and each action represents the enactment of something a teacher knows, believes or has experienced.’ p 951.

The term ‘reflection’ originates from Dewey’s notion of active, persistent and careful consideration where, for example, a reflection and re-evaluation of outcomes can lead to an alteration in beliefs, hence a reflective link between the domain of consequence and the personal domain. A further consideration of the Interconnected Model is the change environment, for example being a member of a school community where colleagues can share the consequences of their experimentation. In their analysis of teacher change, Clarke and Hollingsworth take a cognitive perspective on learning as teacher growth involves construction of knowledge in the personal domain of the individual teacher, they also locate their view of professional growth within a situative perspective on learning, as they consider teacher growth to be constituted through the evolving practices of the teacher (the professional domain), becoming more refined through the processes of enaction and reflection. Borko (2004), also takes a situative perspective on teacher learning, emphasising the need to take into account both individual teacher-learners and the social systems in which they are participants. Views of teacher learning or growth that recognise both cognitive and situated perspectives on learning have informed our interpretation of change in this study, as we are concerned with the individual teacher’s knowledge growth, the professional teacher practicing in a particular setting and the social teacher working collaboratively with others in that setting.

In addition to a rationale based on perspectives of teacher learning is the need to consider how that learning takes place, for example, how the dimensions of Bell and Gilbert’s model can progress, or how Clarke and Hollingsworth’s ‘growth’ can be facilitated. Hoban (2002) identifies a combination of conditions for teacher learning that include: a conception of teaching as a dynamic relationship with students and with other teachers where change involves: uncertainty; room for reflection in order to understand the emerging patterns of change; a sense of purpose that fosters the desire to change; a community to share experiences; opportunities for action to test what works or does not work in classrooms; conceptual inputs to extend knowledge and experience (in this case, about teaching argumentation in science); and finally sufficient time to adjust to the changes made. An evaluation of whether of not these conditions for learning are present in the context of an innovation could be used to inform an interpretation of outcomes. A further framework for evaluation is offered by Kennedy (2005), who suggests that professional learning opportunities can be located on a continuum from transmissive, through transitional to transformative. Those opportunities that are often externally delivered or with a technical focus, that do not address beliefs or support autonomy, that focus on training based on a perceived deficit, or aim to cascade knowledge with no consideration of contexts for learning, are seen as transmissive. On the other hand transformative opportunities for professional learning that provide links between theory and practice, reflection, construction of knowledge and autonomy involving a sense of empowerment are, in our view, are most likely to bring about sustained change.

These theoretical perspectives of teacher learning suggest that to embed a new approach in the teaching of science as a normative practice, changes in pedagogy need to be adopted not just by individuals in isolation but by whole departments working collaboratively. The aim of this research is to understand how the members of science departments build professional learning communities for the development of dialogic practice, given the challenges they face from other pressures and priorities. The research seeks to investigate the question: does a cycle of collaborative reflective professional learning, based on the use of argumentation, enable science teachers to change their pedagogic practice to one that is more dialogic?


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Methods

The central feature of the research approach is a collaborative partnership between researchers and teachers working in four school science departments for a period of two years. The schools are located in different environments in and around a large city. Two lead teachers from each school took part in a professional development program of four three-hour workshops, at three monthly intervals, where they were introduced to the key features of dialogic teaching and its theoretical rationale. They shared argumentation materials and teaching approaches from different sources and took part in workshop activities that involved collaborative reflective analysis. These lead teachers then led reflective meetings with colleagues in school to discuss argumentation activities, strategies for dialogic teaching, classroom experiences and further needs for professional learning. This mode of disseminating new ideas within a community contrasted with more traditional modes of professional development experienced by teachers, such as short courses. Researchers attended reflective meetings every three months and made informal contact on a regular basis, the collaborative partnership between researchers and teachers was characterised by a mutual sharing of reflections on practice and an exchange of information. This paper reports on the findings of the first year of the research, addressing the questions: Does an introduction to dialogic practice through a short professional development program prepare teachers to lead a whole school department development? And, how have the lead teachers implemented new practice themselves and worked with colleagues and researchers to build a professional learning community for integrating argumentation and dialogic practice within the department?

To address these research questions data have been collected from different sources. Audio interviews were conducted with the eight lead teachers prior to the professional development program, were repeated one year later and again at the end of the two years. The initial interviews have been analysed to establish the experience and beliefs of teachers as they embark on the project, subsequent analysis will explore the changes that take place in their perceptions of dialogic practice and determine their views on the effect of collaborative reflective analysis. Notes and audio-recordings have been made at each school of the reflective meetings attended by researchers. The focus of analysis is on the social processes involved as the teachers collectively select materials, plan implementation and reflect on argumentation lessons. Lessons for each lead teacher have been observed and video-recorded on 3/4 occasions during the first year, and analysed for features of dialogic practice, including the roles adopted for scaffolding argumentation (Simon, Erduran & Osborne, 2006; Jiménex-Aleixandre, 2008). Observations and video-recordings of lessons of other members of the department have been made on a six monthly basis and analysed in the same way. Lesson plans and resources have been collected for each lesson observed, together with teachers’ written evaluations of lessons.

The initial interviews have been transcribed and analysed using NVivo to explore teachers’ views on the nature of science, teaching and learning, argumentation and groupwork, and professional learning. The NVivo coding scheme was derived thematically from the interview data, and codes agreed for reliability between three researchers. Video-recordings of lessons have also been analysed using NVivo, the coding process being informed by previous studies on the scaffolding of argumentation (Simon, Erduran & Osborne, 2006; Jiménex-Aleixandre, 2008) and dialogic practice (Alexander, 2005). Again, the coding scheme was checked for reliability with three researchers. Combined analyses of these data sources, and recordings from reflective meetings and University teacher workshops, provide a narrative of the development in each of the four schools, case by case, and overall findings draw on the results for all schools.


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Results

Results from the first year of development in Case School A are presented here for exemplification. School A is situated on a split site where students aged 11 to 14 years remain on one site and students aged 14 to 16 years are on a separate site about half a mile away. Teachers move between sites to teach across the age range, however most teachers are situated more on one site than the other. Lead teachers X and Y decided to undertake the development by working with a small group of teachers separately according to the age range of students they taught. X took the lead with teachers of students aged 12 to 13 years, and Y with teachers of students aged 15 to 16 years. Together the two teachers planned activities that required group discussion and argumentation to be embedded within the curriculum for these age groups and included these activities in the school curriculum plan. Following the first two professional development workshops, the lead teachers met with all science colleagues in School A, from both sites, where they modeled the teaching of argument, discussed groupwork strategies such as listening triads and envoys, and negotiated targets with all teachers to try some activities before the first reflective meeting. They themselves taught the activities first. All other teachers then planned to use the activities as appropriate to the age groups they taught.

In his interview, X demonstrated a view of teaching science that focused on behaviour management and learning scientific content through structured transmissive practice, he had limited experience of argumentation and groupwork but a positive approach to professional development. We have drawn on Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) model of professional growth as an analytical tool to map the changes in X. The following account provides an insight to the changes experienced by X in the personal and professional domains, and the domain of consequence. Two themes of change emerge from our interviews, observations and school logs: X’s use of planning, his learning goals, and his classroom communication style.

Learning goals: from right answers to reasoned answers

In his initial interview, X referred exclusively to subject-content learning goals, which suggested that scientific knowledge and understanding was important to him. The importance and ubiquity of a ‘right answer’ was also demonstrated by X’s first planned argumentation resource, which required students to use evidence about the magnetism of alloys to determine which three elements were magnetic. This is a topic with a clear ‘right answer’ which seems to require deductive reasoning rather than argument. Since none of the evidence was controversial, and no alternative theories were proposed, it was unclear how students would reach different stances about this, and therefore how appropriate it was as a stimulus for argumentation. The learning goals were stated in terms of subject content rather than an argumentation process. Further, X’s first observed lesson showed a strong focus on scaffolding content for pupils, and a more limited use of argumentation scaffolds.

X’s expansion of learning goals occurred after a lesson in November 2008. He was using the IDEAs pack resource Phases of the Moon which asks students to argue for or against a range of explanations for the Moon’s changing shape. The correct explanation had been taught in previous lessons. In the argumentation lesson, X used argumentation scaffolds to encourage stances, justification and counterargument. X’s promotion of stances demonstrated that students’ thinking included a range of misconceptions despite ‘prior teaching’. His requests for justification revealed that few students articulated the accepted explanation for the phases of the Moon which had been taught in previous lessons.

In a discussion with researchers after the lesson, and again at a reflective meeting with his colleagues, X expressed surprise that students had not ‘learned’ the accepted explanation when it was taught, particularly as they had been successful in prior assessment. This discovery conflicted with his previous idea that assessment is a reliable measure of learning: “the kids appear to learn a lot from that because I tested them afterwards and they all or I would say 80% of them could recall and apply the knowledge” (Interview, June 2008)


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The researcher’s feedback after the lesson explored the importance of understanding why one explanation is better than others as well as recognising a correct answer. At the next observation in February 2009, X framed the activity in terms of ‘analysing what evidence supports which theory’ as well as finding the correct theory, and his feedback was less corrective than in previous lessons. In group work, he constantly threw back questions to students: “What do you think?”, “What do you reckon?” rather than scaffolding them towards a correct answer. He praised one student who was struggling to express his view for taking the time and effort to reason, despite the fact that the student was using incorrect science.

The unplanned argumentation episode mentioned above also demonstrates that X was now more relaxed about ‘right answers’, as he was willing to make an erroneous statement in order to promote student reasoning as the class constructed their own explanation.

Classroom communication: from transmission to dialogue

After one year of using argumentation activities, X has moved from espousing a transmissive teaching approach to one in which pupils ‘construct and explain’

“If they are not listening, they are not going to hear, so they are not going to recall the information or even hear the information” (June 2008)

“it’s helped them to use the correct language and the correct context and argue their point with their evidence” (June 2009)

In describing how the Talking to Learn project has changed his practice, X points to two-way communication as a key change in his classroom: “I use more questioning techniques and try to get the pupils’ perspective on what they’re learning, rather than me telling and them listening . . . much more of a two-way communication”

Again, the unplanned argumentation episode mentioned above demonstrates a new type of discussion emerging with students, compared with the strongly corrective feedback observed in early lessons (Sept 2008, Nov 2008). X played devil’s advocate throughout this exchange and ‘misinterpreted’ pupils when they were imprecise. This is closer to a normal conversation, in which imprecise language becomes part of the dialogue and may be misinterpreted, than to an authoritative feedback mode in which imprecise language is corrected by the listening authority. X used this episode to express the importance of a dialogic approach based around pupil ideas: “You’ve got to follow their lead, or it’s just meaningless . . . it’s not teacher and pupil, it’s us interacting” (Interview, June 2009).

By viewing change through the lens provided by Clarke and Hollingsworth we have been able to identify change within domains and the mediating processes that influence change. We hope to see the external domain shifting from research team input to reflection with colleagues as the reflective learning cycle continues. We are aware that changes we have identified within domains may not be lasting, or indicative of sustained ‘growth’. The key to more lasting change could be the way in which salient outcomes are re-evaluated as teachers reflect on what has been achieved. X’s initial view of colleagues’ progress was that it was slow, however reflective meetings demonstrated some ‘buddying’ between pairs of teachers and innovative development of new activities by one colleague, whose lessons demonstrated high levels of counter-argument and warrant seeking. The leadership style of X and his initial learning in the workshops enabled him to create an environment in which changes in practice could be initiated through the provision of materials and a high expectation to take risks, sufficient for a snowballing effect once teachers became confident in using argumentation activities. As the year unfolded, the teachers on the lower school site led by teacher X progressed much more readily with implementation of argumentation activities. Teacher Y, who is young and does not hold a position of authority, found it difficult to encourage teachers to change practice, given examination pressures on 14 to 16 year olds, though persevered successfully within her own practice.


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Initial findings across the schools

Interviews and observations of all eight lead teachers show a range of perspectives and concerns, observations likewise demonstrate different interpretations of the nature of science and strategies for dialogic practice. The process of development in each school has been approached differently by each pair of lead teachers, depending on wider school structures and department profiles. However all lead teachers are working collaboratively with their colleagues to sustain the implementation of dialogic approaches and reflective practice. The University meetings involving all lead teachers have provided a forum for discussing and reflecting on practice beyond the school boundary. For example, at a University meeting following their first argumentation lessons, X and Y demonstrated a strategy for eliciting contributions from students called ‘Fisherman’s Line’, which led to a wider reflection and sharing of strategies to enhance students’ discussions.

Conclusions and implications

Initial findings from this project have demonstrated the difficulties faced by teachers when adopting new pedagogical approaches that conflict with existing beliefs about teaching and what it means to learn science. The short, but intensive, program of professional development has enabled lead teachers to embed activities within their existing school curricula, model pedagogical approaches for their colleagues and begin to change their own practice to become more dialogic. The different perspectives on teaching and learning and argumentation have a bearing on how lead teachers manage the development within their departments, and focus on issues in reflective meetings. We have found that teachers conceptualise science teaching primarily as providing access to established knowledge through teacher-led classroom processes. To value discussion based activities such as those involving argumentation requires a shift in how science teaching is viewed. Implementing strategies for discussion and valuing student contributions requires a radical shift for some teachers. The value of department meetings for sharing and reflecting on practice cannot be understated, teachers have a sense that these are good, but have yet to perceive them as an important step towards change.

Our findings show that professional learning communities, such as science departments, have the potential for implementing new practices if conditions for teacher learning (Hoban, 2002) are considered and facilitated. For each Case School, the study shows the circumstances under which teachers experience uncertainty but are willing to take risks, are given room for reflection and sharing, build a sense of purpose and a desire to change when they have opportunities to take action building on conceptual inputs from a professional development program. Each school characterises a different kind of professional learning system.

Further insights that inform our interpretations of these research findings can be gleaned from the wider literature of teachers’ professionalism. For example, locating the findings within a perspective from Hargreaves (2000) work on the ages of professionalism shows how teachers within one professional learning community exhibit different notions of what it means to learn to teach and are therefore motivated in different ways. Within one science department there are views characterised by the pre-professional age, that is, there could be a teacher who believes that the basics of teaching once mastered set one up for life, practicing alongside the autonomous professional who develops an individual ideology through going on courses, and the collegial professional who believes teachers learn through collaboration when professional development is embedded within the life of the school. Identification of such perspectives within the professional learning community provides insights to the barriers to change that the promotion of dialogic practice needs to overcome.

Research into the teaching of argumentation and development of dialogic practice has generated much interest in the field. The research reported here takes the work beyond the questions of why we teach argumentation, how students develop informal reasoning and decision-making, how teaching argumentation can be scaffolded, and whether it makes a difference, which have been documented by previous authors (e.g as cited in Erduran and Jiménex-Aleixandre, 2008). The concern here is to share a project that takes all these findings into


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account, together with previous research on teacher learning and professional learning communities, to show the real difficulties and possibilities science education faces in embedding research into practice. Teachers in this project not only had to undergo personal challenges in their learning in order to make changes in practice, but also model new approaches for colleagues, make curriculum changes in the face of external examination constraints, and act as leaders in instigating an open sharing culture through which reflective collaboration could flourish.

References

Alexander, R.. (2005) Towards Dialogic Teaching. York: Diagolos. Alexander, R. (2008) Essays on Pedagogy. London: Routledge. Bartholomew, H., Osborne, J & Ratcliffe, M. (2004). Teaching Students ‘Ideas about Science’: Five Dimensions of

Effective Practice. Science Education 88(6), 655-682. Bell, B. & Gilbert, J. (1996) Teacher development: a model from science education. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Borko, H. (2004) Professional Development and Teacher Learning: Mapping the Terrain. Educational Researcher, 33(8),

3-15 Clarke, D. & Hollingsworth, H. (2002) Elaborating a model of teacher professional growth. Teaching and Teacher

Education, 18 947-967. Driver, R., Leach, J., Millar, R., & Scott, P. (1996). Young people’s images of science. Buckingham, UK: Open University

Press. Duschl, R.A. (1990) Restructuring Science Education. New York: Teachers’ College Press. Erduran, S. & Jiménex-Aleixandre, M.P.(eds.) (2008) Argumentation in Science Education. Springer. Fraser, C., Kennedy, A., Reid, L. & Mckinney, S. (2007) Teachers’ continuing professional development: contested

concepts, understandings and models. Professional Development in Education 33(2) 153-169. Guskey, T. R. (1986) Staff development and the process of teacher change. Educational Researcher, 15(5), 5-12 Hoban, G. (2002) Teacher Learning for Educational Change, Open University Press. Jiménex-Aleixandre, M.P. (2008) Designing Argumentation Learning Environments. In S. Erduran & M.P. Jiménex-

Aleixandre (eds.), Argumentation in Science Education. Springer. Kennedy, A. (2005) Models of Continuing Professional Development: a framework for analysis. Journal of In-service

Education, 31(2) 235-249. Loucks-Horsley, S., Love, N., Stiles, K., Mundry S. and Hewson, P. (2003). Designing professional development for teachers

of science and mathematics. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press. Lyons, T. (2006). Different Countries, same Science Classes: Students’ experience of school science classes in their

own words. International Journal of Science Education, 28(6), 591-613. Mercer, N., Dawes, L., Wegerif, R.. & Sams, C. (2004) Reasoning as a scientist: ways of helping children to use

language to learn science. British Educational Research Journal 30(3) 359-377 Mercer, N. & Littleton, K. (2007) Dialogue and the development of children’s thing: a socio-cultural approach. London:

Routledge. Millar, R., & Osborne, J. F. (Eds.). (1998). Beyond 2000: Science education for the future. London: King’s College London. Osborne, J. & Collins, S. (2001) Pupils’ views of the role and value of the science curriculum: a focus-group study.

International Journal of Science Education, 23(5), 441-486. Osborne, J. Erduran, S. & Simon, S. (2004a) Enhancing the quality of argument in school science. Journal of Research

in Science Teaching, 41(10), 994-1020. Osborne, J., Erduran, S. & Simon, S. (2004b) The IDEAS Project. London: King’s College London. Sandoval, W. A. & Reiser, B.J. (2004) Explanation-driven enquiry: Integrating conceptual and epistemic scaffolds for

scientific inquiry. Science Education, 88, 345-372. Simon, S., Erduran, S. & Osborne, J. (2006) Learning to teach argumentation: research and development in the

science classroom. International Journal of Science Education 28(2-3), 235-260.


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TEACHERS AND SSI IN SWEDEN

Margareta Ekborg Umeå University and Malmö University

Eva Nyström & Christina Ottander Umeå University

Abstract

In this study we investigate a large group of teachers´ work with socio-scientific issues (SSI). They could choose between several cases and were free to organize the work as they found appropriate. How do teachers describe their work and what does it tell us about how they interpret school science and SSI specifically? 55 teachers answered a questionnaire after the work and seven were also interviewed. The teachers found the SSI to be current topics with interesting content and relevant tasks. They felt confident about the work and group work was common. Problems were that the students did not easily formulate questions, critically examine arguments or use media for more information. The result was verified in the interviews. The interviewed teachers did not find this work new, but still they organized it as “a special event”. They had different ideas about learning, but, they all talked about knowledge as a set of facts to be taken in. Further they understood SSI work as “free” work and group work was frequent, but only a few of the teachers expressed explicit strategies relating to these. It can be questioned if the teachers actually worked with SSI.

Introduction

The aim of the study reported here is to investigate what happens when a rather large group of teachers are introduced to new teaching ideas, in this case socio-scientific issues (SSI), without explicit instruction of how to implement them. The study is part of a larger ongoing Swedish research project, Socio-scientific issues - a way to improve students’ interest and learning?, which involves both students and teachers.

Rationale

There are several arguments for making changes in secondary school science. Firstly, students often express interest in science but they find science in school difficult and without relevance for them (Lindahl, 2003). They are critical about both the content and to how it is taught. The students feel that the content is set and that there is nothing to discuss. During the later years of compulsory school, this interest of both girls and boys decreases. This is most obvious for chemistry and physics. At the same time, the students feel that they are not doing well in science - even if they have good marks. This is not the case for other school subjects (Lindahl, 2003; Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003).. Secondly, the Swedish curriculum and syllabuses for science state that students should develop knowledge not only in scientific content but also in knowledge concerning scientific activity and knowledge concerning the use of knowledge (Skolverket, 2000). However, according to the latest national evaluation (NU03), these aspects seem to be taught to a lesser extent in school. Also, international studies show that many teachers teach the scientific content in preference to the nature of science (Sadler, Amirshokohi, Kazempour & Allspaw, 2006). Unfortunately NU03 also shows that many students do not reach the goals for conceptual understanding, as described in the


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national course syllabuses in science for school year nine (Skolverket, 2005). In other words, students in general find science boring and difficult, they are not taught what is stated in the curriculum and they do not reach a satisfactory level in what they actually are taught.

Work with SSI can be a means of overcoming some problems with school science: to raise interest in science and to cover all aspects of the curriculum. SSI are important for society and have a basis in science, involve forming opinions, are frequently media-reported, address local, national and global dimensions with attendant political and societal frameworks, involve values and ethical reasoning, may involve consideration of sustainable development and may require some understanding of probability and risks, and there are no ”right answers” (Ratcliffe and Grace, 2003). Zeidler, Sadler, Simmons and Howes, (2005) make argue that the purpose of SSI is to stimulate and promote intellectual development in morality and ethics as well as awareness of interdependence between society and science. To work with SSI means to work with content both in science and about science. Decision-making and argumentation are important in SSI.

Research shows that teachers find it difficult to work with SSI as well as with argumentation. The problem does not seem to be the content in itself, but rather to teach ideas about science and to conduct teaching which includes decision-making and argumentation (Gray& Bryce, 2006). In the following we refer to studies about teachers’ work with different aspects included in SSI. The studies have not necessarily dealt with SSI specifically. Mitchener and Anderson (1989) define five concerns for teachers working in courses with humanistic perspectives on science: concerns over reduced canonical science content, discomfort with small-group instructions, and uncertainties over student assessment, confusion of the teacher’s role and frustration with the “non-academic” type of students attracted to the course. Newton, Driver and Osborne (1999) report that teachers often do not have faith in their ability to conduct teaching in which the students engage in argumentation. Teachers also feel insecure in to what extent they should be involved themselves in the classroom discussions and to handle the anxiety or emotions caused by, for example, work with gene technology (Bryce & Gray, 2004). Teachers also experience tension between educational arguments for devoting time to developing students’ understanding of scientific processes and the classroom reality (Bartholomew, Osborne & Ratcliffe, 2004). Moore, Edwards, Halpin and George (2002) report that teachers tend to incorporate new policy into a largely unaltered practice. Others, like Lee and Witz (2008), who investigated four high school teachers addressing SSI on own initiative, found that these teachers were doing what they thought was important to students, and that their teaching was based on their own values, philosophies, personal concerns and experience – suggesting that curriculum reforms do not effectively connect with teachers’ deeper values. Most teachers have inadequate ideas about science and there is a complex relationship between teachers’ stated beliefs about science and how they actually present science in their classrooms (Abd-El-Khalic & Lederman, 2000).

Research reports describe how teachers work with and/or participate in discussions after short courses (Gray & Bryce, 2006, 2004; Bartholomew, Osborne & Ratcliffe, 2004). Gray and Bryce (2006) explain that many teachers do not react to curriculum changes when these are introduced in a top-down way. Much research has been conducted into investigating the introduction of knowledge about science in addition to knowledge of science (e.g. Abd-El-Khalick, & Lederman, 2000). Then the specific content has not been in focus. In this study, we are interested in what importance the actual SSI case has for the work.

Aim

This project involves the participation of a substantial group of teachers – 70, teaching more than 1,500 students. They have volunteered to participate in the project. The aim of this study is to investigate what happens when such a large group of teachers is introduced to new teaching ideas, in this case SSI, without much instruction of how to implement them. Instead, they have opportunities to choose among several cases and are free to organize the classroom work as they find appropriate. How do teachers describe their work with the cases and what does this tell us about how they interpret school science in general and SSI specifically?


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Conceptual framework and SSI cases

In Ekborg, Ideland, and Malmberg (2009), we describe a conceptual framework consisting of six components chosen to describe the characteristics of SSI. The components are: starting point; school subject; nature of scientific evidence; social content; use of scientific knowledge and level of conflict. The main purpose of the framework is to use it as a research tool for the analysis of different dimensions in pupils’ work with socio-scientific issues.. We also constructed six cases in which these components vary. The cases were: You are what you eat, Laser treatment and near sightedness, To hear or not to hear, Me, my family and global warming, Are mobile phones hazardous? and Climate friendly food. All cases were current and authentic: that is, we have used real situations and neither rewritten nor adapted the original starting points of the case. The teachers chose one case to work with.

A teacher’s guide was then developed (www.sisc.se). It includes a brief description of the research project, information about SSI as described in Ratcliffe & Grace (2003), the framework and work sheets for the six cases. The work sheets describe the starting point and a task for the students. The teacher’s guide includes a more elaborated text about the case, an explanation of why we find the issue interesting and what makes it socio-scientific. There is also a list of questions which could be raised in the work. These questions are not supposed to be handed out to the students but instead to give ideas to the teacher in what directions the students can be guided. Then are goals for the specific case presented. Finally, the guide includes some links to useful websites for each case. There are no specific instructions of how to organize the work, about detailed content or activities or about reporting and assessment. However we asked the teachers to work at least five hours with the case, to use our starting point and to organize small group discussions on at least one occasion. Our interest is to learn more about what happens when ordinary teachers work with new ideas in their regular teaching. This is possible as the Swedish syllabuses are goal-driven and not very detailed, which has the consequence that teachers are free to choose content and teaching methods as long as their students reach the goals (Skolverket, 2000). It also means that it is almost impossible to give detailed instructions to Swedish teachers and expect them to be followed.

Methodology

55 teachers (70% women) from 22 schools and at least one teacher at each one of the participating schools answered a web-based questionnaire after the work was completed. Thereafter seven teachers were interviewed. The questionnaire comprised of 61 questions and statements all together. Questions with given alternatives were used for the background information. There were three open-ended questions about students’ reports, assessment and one question in which the respondents were free to write comments. But most of the statements were answered by ticking one alternative on Likert scales with five steps where 5 is fully agree or to a great extent and 1 is disagree or not at all, depending on the statement. The statements were chosen to get a brief overview of how different teachers organized the work and what their experiences were. The questions were organized in the following groups: Information about the teacher, the class and choice of case, The teachers’ opinions about the case, How the classroom work was organized, Opinions about the students when working with the case., Opinions of different aspects of the students’ learning, Reporting on what the students based their arguments on, Resources used by the students and The teachers’ personal experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with one teacher at a time. They lasted between 45 and 60 minutes and followed an interview guide, with many opportunities to pose follow-up questions and including questions about the following themes:


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Why the teacher joined the project – expectations and fears.

1. Choice of case - why and alternatives. 2. Work with the case - discussions about planning the work, reasons for different choices and

outcome. 3. Personal reflections about the case - possible development of cases and influence on teaching. 4. Thoughts about school science - why it should be taught and what is important

These themes were chosen to get more explanations about the responses given in the questionnaire and to gain more detailed information about the reasons for different choices. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.

Analysis

The data from the questionnaire was exported to an SPSS™ file. Descriptive statistics – frequencies, means, medians and cross tabs were used. The answers to the open-ended questions were categorized according to emerging themes. Firstly, we identified some basic information about the teachers. Then the transcripts were read through several times. The analysis was performed in several steps. We started by coding what the teachers said about the case – content, both in and about science, work forms and outcome and what teachers said about science teaching in general. Based on this coding, we described how each one of teachers worked with the case and how they motivated their choices. We then saw some patterns which we further investigated by coding the transcripts according to beliefs about SSI, school science and how students learn.

Results

In this section we start by presenting the results from the questionnaire. Thereafter, we explore some of the questions deeper by reporting results from the seven interviews. The majority of the respondents were experienced teachers who had worked more than five years as science teachers. All but two were qualified to teach science in secondary school. All of them answered the open-ended questions about reports and assessment and more than half of them wrote comments about working with the cases. The comments were quite comprehensive and gave further information about the work. The two cases Me, my family and global warming and You are what you eat were chosen by 20 teachers each. Between 1 and 4 persons chose one of the other four cases. In general, the teachers found the cases interesting concerning starting point, content and task. All cases had mean values above 3.6. However the experience differs from case to case. You are what you eat was more appreciated than Me, my family and global warming. Only the introduction with newspaper articles (case 4) that was not very interesting with a mean value of 2.8. There were several comments in the open ended question about interesting content and that the TV-programme (case 1) was an interesting starting point. A typical comment expresses the interest in the starting point, and that the case was interesting enough to continue with a new case. But some problems are also raised.

“My students were more engaged than usual. The TV-programme affected them. But we - me and my students - need more structure and the students need to practice formulating questions and searching for information about both science content and other information in the media. The students got stuck in the TV-programme and their personal opinion, which however,” is most important. I hope that we will develop and that we can see an improvement in the next case. Then we can compare our work, and our development, between different cases” , There were other comments about interesting content. Others wrote that the issues were close to the

students’ daily life, or that the students realized that they were important to the society. 13 teachers commented on benefits beyond the actual work, e.g. involvement from parents and a lasting interest in the content among the students. They gave several examples of how ideas emerged about the development of science teaching in general. But there were also comments expressing disappointment in the students’ interest. For example a comment about


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case You are what you eat, “ I thought the issue should engage, but the students’ found it difficult to critically examine the programme and start from their knowledge in their discussions (2)”. There were 19 comments on problems with the students’ work, such as that the students were not used to formulate questions or critically examine arguments. They also realized that the students needed more time and it was difficult to find suitable labs.

The teachers spent between 5 and 10 hours with the case. Approximately 40% of the teachers taught part of the topic before introducing the case, which means that they did not use the case to teach new science content. More than half of the teachers chose to present goals from the teacher’s guide to the students in the beginning of the work. The teachers found the learning goals appropriate in relation to the syllabus (mean value 4.5). But what is interesting is that they did not, to the same extent, find them appropriate in relation to the students’ prior knowledge (mean value 3.1). Some of the comments about the difficulties they encounter can explain this contradiction. These were with regard to engaging the students, that the students were not used to this kind of work, they were too young, had difficulties with understanding the task and difficulties in focusing on specific questions. Some comments about the work forms are: “it was difficult for the students’ to read the task and start to find information (5)”, “boys did not manage to take the responsibility of working like this (25)” and “some students manage very little when they do independent work, but it suits some and they develop their abilities further (51)”. There is no explanation of what “like this” means in comment 25 and none of the comments indicate that the teachers employed any strategies to overcome these difficulties.

For each statement a mean value between 1 and 5 was calculated. The median is the middle of the distribution and half the scores in the Likert scales are above or on the median and half are below or on the median. In the following, the figures in the brackets are mean/median. The result shows that even if some teachers commented that it had been difficult to help the students in posing questions and in developing critical thinking, nevertheless, most teachers found this to be what students learnt most according to how the teachers’ marked the statements in group 5. The students developed critical thinking (3.7/4), learnt to search for information, (3.6/4), learnt scientific facts (3.6/4), learnt to apply scientific knowledge (3.6/3), developed understanding of science (3.5/3) and developed ability in argumentation (3.4/3). Another group of statements were about sources of information. Even though SSI cases are about current topics debated and written about in media, the students did not use traditional media for information search to a great extent (2.6/2). The most common source was the Internet (4.1/5). They also used textbooks (3.9/3) and to less extent resources outside school, such as study visits or interviews (1.3/2). It was most common that the students worked in groups (4.2/4). The teachers also conducted lessons with the whole class (2.7/3) and sometimes the students worked individually (2.6/3). Notable is that lab work was not common when working with the cases (1.8/1). Some teachers commented on the lack of lab work, e.g. “It was difficult to find appropriate labs so that it became more theoretical than usual science classes (9)”. Another reason for not doing lab work was that many teachers worked with the case outside regular science lessons, for example in a special week set aside for thematic work and without access to laboratories.

When the students had finished the work with the case it was reported in different ways. Almost all had an oral presentation of their task. About half of the teachers had combined the oral presentation with different kinds of written reports. The work should also be assessed. Most teachers based their assessment on the presentations, which meant that they assessed oral group discussions and presentations. Few teachers did individual assessment. In spite of the above-mentioned difficulties with group work, the teachers felt confident both with the content (4.0/4) and the work forms (3.9/4). 72 % of the teachers did not think that they had developed as teachers themselves. But even if they felt confident and competent in the work, three teachers expressed an explicit need for support in the last open-ended question. One teacher expressed it like this; “The case gave too much freedom, and the students fumbled in the dark. I had to define the task and then it became an ordinary work form. You have to be more explicit about how the student should work (16)”. Another teacher wrote; “I was hoping for more support, for example with more facts than schoolbooks and internet (37)”.


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Transmitters and guides

The seven teachers interviewed work in different areas of Sweden and have different experiences of teaching, both with regard to length of experience and kind of school they taught in. They were four women and three men. They had worked with four different cases. Based on our interpretations of their stories about teaching and learning, we have separated the teachers into two categories; the knowledge “transmitters” and the “guides”’. Three of them - Bob, David and Ann – are “transmitters” and they talk about teaching as delivering facts to students. For example, Bob says that when it comes to important issues he “gives the students a shower now and then”. He claims that he knows what the students need and that they learn what he tells them to learn. He does not believe that there always is only one correct answer to scientific questions but he understands that his job is to show the students a variety of different views. Ann believes that some students need to be fed with facts, while others can work more independently. She is ambivalent when she talks about her teaching. It can be interpreted as transmission but she also requires that the students should be able to argue for their views in tests. The “transmitters” point out the teacher’s duty to keep control over what their students learn. In order to do that, they need to control the teaching and learning situation, and therefore classroom order is strongly promoted. David believes that “Internet and students should be kept isolated from each other”, because when the students work with the Internet, you really need to be with them all the time which.. Instead, he uses the textbook and he wants students to read and learn to explain words and concepts. This can be interpreted as a need to control what information the students encounter. Four teachers - Ellen, Tom, Sue and Pam - talk about their teaching in ways that position them as “guides” rather than “transmitters”. Focus for a “guide teacher” is the importance of starting from the students’ own questions, but there is also the acceptance that teachers need to challenge students’ understanding in order to develop it. The “guides” further interpret, learning as a process, and they do not seem to need absolute control over students’ work although they want control more or less. Sue’s students have influence on the classroom work that is undertaken and she wants something different from traditional knowledge – but she is not clear about what. She emphasizes her trust in the students’ ability to pose questions and make judgements. Pam believes that you have to let go as a teacher to make the students active, and she is not afraid of losing control. She emphasizes the importance for her as a teacher to leave the role of an expert, and be open to what she can learn herself.

In the interviews the seven teachers express many similarities about their views on and experiences from working with the cases. All of them appreciated the idea of SSI as they interpret it as a way to increase students’ interest in school science. They also underline that all cases are interesting, current, important, and fit in well with the curriculum. They all acknowledge the students’ interest as a key to better engage and in understanding school science even if their viewpoints differed in how to achieve and nurture interest. The teachers’ choice of case was mostly a matter of how well the content fitted into the ongoing, ordinary teaching. None of them bring up the starting point, the conflict of interest, the social content or how the students can apply scientific knowledge. Working with SSI is not considered as specifically new or different from their ordinary teaching, and they emphasize that they are used to collaborating with other teachers, to integrating several school subjects in projects, let the students work in groups, and also to connect science to reality. Further, SSI is strongly associated with free work forms and group work. And surprisingly, they all talk in the same way about knowledge, even if they have different beliefs of how it should be delivered. In the following section we will highlight some patterns of these results.

Knowledge as a set of facts

Even if “transmitters” and “guides” talk differently about teaching and learning, the object for teaching and learning is learning facts. All seven teachers, explicitly or implicitly, talked about knowledge as a set of facts which should be taken in by the students. This is obvious with David and Bob but this is the case among the others as well. Ellen is somewhat unclear when she talks about facts. On the one hand she says that students should do their own investigation “without starting from facts”, but on the other hand she says that students’ investigations “should connect to facts”. Sue, Pam and Ellen talk about the learning process and that the students should learn to argue based on facts: “one actually needs to know something” when posing an argument. Or as Ellen puts it “in science as


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well as in maths there are facts which everyone should know”. Sue is also vague about facts; she does not explicitly say that facts are needed, although that can be interpreted as if it is taken for granted.

“They [the students’ questions] are really connected to the syllabuses. … I do believe that you have to leave the traditional … whole class teaching … although they need the basics. But that might just come flying into them”. (Sue).

Nothing new, but a special event

Treating the case as something not very new but at the same time as a special event is an interesting paradox. Although some things are explicitly pointed out as new – like the topic of the case, the long project time, and the way to account the case – it is claimed that working in teacher teams, organising student group work, and integrating several school subjects in the same project, is common. Although the teachers saw potential in learning science by working with these cases, felt safe with the subject knowledge and work forms and that these ideas were not new to them, they all worked as if this was a special event. For instance, all seven teachers had prepared the students by teaching the content before starting the case, and David worked with the case as a special project outside the regular teaching. Pam pointed out that she had chosen a class of overachievers to work with the case. Furthermore, the case work is also constructed as ”special” and ”outside” a specific body of knowledge when teachers describe their feelings about losing time, and missing important content knowledge if they engage too heavily in this kind of work. Finally, most of the teachers did not assess the work as thoroughly as they normally do.

“The question is, when you start something like this there is a tendency that it takes lots of time from your… yes from teaching… and you are afraid that you will not have time to do the other things you need to do “(Tom)

Freedom, guidance and strategies

The teachers all implicitly understood that this kind of work means that the students have lots of freedom and that SSI should include lots of group work. To David and Bob this was something new and maybe not in accordance with their view of teaching. Bob organized the work quite firmly but arranged a debate in the end in a way which was new to him. David included internet searches which he normally does not. Also, Ann admitted that she tried not to steer as much during the SSI case, as she had interpreted it as a more “free” school work. For the four “guide" teachers, the work fitted well with how they mean that they usually work. Some teachers expressed that students had difficulties in formulating ”good” questions that encouraged student discussion, further questions and the search for answers. Some of them also expressed tension between freedom and guidance. For several teachers there was a concern whether the students would manage to learn what was expected. Ann did not fully trust the students’ ability to find proper information and she provided them with some information. Ann also shows typical uncertainty about how independent the students should be and how much she should control the learning process

All the teachers discussed teaching strategies and how to deal with problems you encounter in the classrooms. To start with: Bob, who has a firm organization where he controls the activities and the learning. His strategy is to be well prepared, by knowing the subject well, and to be engaged and interesting. As he manages these skills he did not encounter any problems. David who also needs control and sees it as part of a strategy to make the students more self confident. He worked with grade 7 (13 years) in this project. The “guide” teachers organized the work mainly as group work. The teachers generally talk about group work as something unproblematic and something which is common in their teaching. However they describe difficulties with helping the students with their questions, which indicates that the work might be more problematic than they believe. There were some strategies for helping the students with their questioning. Tom was the only one who had a plan for how to facilitate the students’ work. The students wrote a text about the TV-programme (You are what you eat). Then they compared and discussed their texts with each other and posed a number of questions to work further with. Each group had a folder on a web-based platform where they published everything which they wrote, like questions which had arisen in the group discussions. Tom wrote comments and asked questions which led to new questions from the students,


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thereby following their progress in more detail. The other teachers also have strategies, but they seem to be acting more intuitively. Ellen wants to control the framework which gives the students the opportunity to make choices. Pam reflects about work, saying that she thinks that the pupils were too independent and that they did not realize that these kinds of questions demand that the students look for answers in the literature. They just answered. She tried to help them to get further by asking questions: Pam indicates that group work is not very efficient and that is difficult to make the students aware of the need not to be content with the first information they find and instead to continue the search.

Interpretation of SSI

The teachers have not encountered the concept of SSI before. They all have ideas about connecting school science to reality. This raises the question of how they interpret the meaning of socio-scientific issues. When the teachers talk about connecting with the surrounding world, they most commonly choose examples to fit in with what has been planned for the science lesson. They generally did not use examples from real life in order to increase the understanding of that particular event or phenomenon. The same is true for lab work. There are a number of labs which are commonly used in science. However, they did not automatically fit the content in these cases. The fact that only one of the seven teachers included lab work can be interpreted to show that it is not common to answer questions by doing experiments. Only Tom used labs to gain information about the case. As Ratcliffe and Grace (2003) and Zeidler et al. (2005) have pointed out, SSI should include moral aspects, social content, risk and probability, deal with values and have no “right answers.” Four of the teachers do not specifically bring up content which is not science, but three teachers working with two cases do so. Tom and Sue have both worked with You are what you eat and Sue says that there is a lot connected with moral and ethics in this case, but they do not give any examples of how they have worked with these aspects. Tom talks about class perspective and the economic aspect. For example, lots of recipes were available on the programme web site and several included quite expensive ingredients. Bob, too, brings in economics in the case Laser treatment and near sightedness. Tom also says that You are what you eat and Me, my family and global warming are the two most important cases from a societal perspective. On the contrary, Ann was concerned that the students had tendency to get more involved with energy saving and so on instead of the core science, and she had no strategy for how to connect this interest with the scientific content. David showed the Al Gore movie An inconvenient truth, but excluded all the autobiographic parts so that the students could concentrate on the scientific facts. No one explicitly talks about risk and probability, and no one discusses that there are no right answers to some of the questions raised in these cases – and what importance that has. They do not express anything which can be interpreted as evaluating or discussing observations and results. However, there are some indications that the teachers reflect on some of these aspects. David, for example, discovers that different websites give different results when calculating amounts of carbon dioxide emissions. When he thinks about it again, he thinks this is a good thing because then he can talk with his students about these differences and why they occur. Pam dared to choose Are mobile telephones hazardous? and she was well aware of the fact that the information about radiation and health is contradictory. Several teachers talk in general terms about the importance of learning how to use and apply scientific knowledge, but they are vague and they do not give any examples.

Conclusions and implications

Some results which were found in the questionnaires were elaborated on in the interviews. For example, the cases were found to have interesting content, with current and important topics. Group work was a common work form and the teachers’ felt confident with that. However, the teachers had difficulties in facilitating the students’ search for more information. And they did not do much lab work. The scientific content is important for the choice of case. Other aspects of SSI are very little discussed, which is in accordance with Sadler et al. (2006). One reason for teachers feeling comfortable with the work is that they fit the content into an existing curriculum, as described by Moore et al. (2002). The teachers in this study show concerns over reduced canonical science content and uncertainties over student assessment, which is in accordance with the results in Mitchener and Anderson (1989). However, they did not feel uncomfortable with small group instructions, and there were no uncertainties about the


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teacher’s role which was also found in Mitchener and Anderson (1989). In contrast to Newton et al. (1999) and Bryce and Gray (2004), the teachers in this study did not worry about group work or guiding argumentation. This is probably due to traditions in Swedish schools. The fact that there are no national exams also gives teachers the opportunity to test new teaching ideas without worrying too much about assessment. This might also be the reason to why none of the teachers experienced that classroom reality was an obstacle as in Bartholomew et al. (2007). Even if teachers felt comfortable with the work which was not new to them, they still organized it as a special event. The conclusion is that they sensed that we expected something different from, them but they were uncertain about what this might be. Another reason for feeling comfortable might be that they did not work with SSI as described by Ratcliffe and Grace (2003) and Zeidler et al. (2005). ). As Zeidler et al. (2005) point out, the purpose of SSI is to stimulate and promote intellectual development in morality and ethics as well as the awareness that society and science are interdependent. The teachers used the cases to create interest when introducing a topic, but generally they did not include ethical issues, they did not recognize the conflict of interests or content about science, and they did not create awareness of the interdependence between society and science.

All teachers in this project participated voluntarily and willingly. A couple of the teachers also expressed that they decided to join the project because there was freedom in how to plan the teaching, and all of them expressed the will to do something new and that there is a need to increase interest in science. In other words they had the driving force to do something different. Literally, all of them are well educated in science and generally they felt comfortable with the content and chosen work forms. The seven teachers who were interviewed had different views on teaching, but also many similarities. They all talked about knowledge as a set of facts to be taken in by the students, and both “guides” and “transmitters“ felt a need to have control. The “guides” were more apt to let the process proceed freely but all the teachers knew what content should be learnt and what a “good” question is. Maybe the challenge is to trust the students’ questions even if they are not “good” in order to allow them to find answers relevant for them and to help them to develop further. If the questions are simply dismissed as not good, you have decided in advance what the answers should be and deprived the students of your trust. And maybe the difficulty of teaching SSI is not due to content, work form or a demand for argumentation, but a more fundamental change – to dare to follow the students’ thoughts and ideas not knowing where they are leading.

If we believe that SSI is a good way to raise interest in science and prepare for life, there is need for in-service education and a different pre-service education. You have to create opportunities for teachers to develop their thinking and their teaching strategies. We believe that these teachers, perhaps with the exception of Bob, would benefit from education in SSI, how to conduct group work, aiming at posing questions, argumentation, decision-making and reporting. Pam, Sue and Ellen recognized a need to change their traditional teaching and to get the students more involved and independent. But they got stuck in the process and they did not discuss different aspects of knowledge and content. As long as it was interesting and connected to reality it was OK. David’s basic idea is that the students need to know what to do and to have control in the classroom. However in this work he is the one who reflects most on ideas that are central to SSI. His class worked with Me, my family and global warming. The students calculated how much carbon dioxide their family emitted and how they can reduce this amount. David then encountered the problem of different information and different figures on different web sites. He also involved the parents, and the families talked about and negotiated different alternatives. He talked about conflicting interests and decision-making and some moral or maybe moralistic aspects. On the other hand, he did his best to exclude content which was not science. David admitted that he felt quite inexperienced as a teacher even if he had several years’ experience which he himself means explains his ambiguity. The result shows that even though the teachers had several cases to choose from, the content they had planned was important to cover and therefore cases were chosen to suit this aim. Teachers have to feel that the content is engaging, important and current but also that it fits with the curriculum.


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References

Abd-El-Khalic, F., & Lederman, N. (2000). Improving science teachers’ conceptions of nature of science: a critical review of the literature. International Journal of Science Education, 22, 665-701.

Bartholomew, H., Osborne, J., & Ratcliffe, M.(2004). Teaching Students "Ideas-about-Science": Five Dimensions of Effective Practice. Science Education, 88, 655-682.

Bryce, T., & Gray, D. (2004). Tough Acts to Follow: The Challenges to Science Teachers Presented by Biotechnological Progress. International Journal of Science Education, 26, 717-722.

Ekborg, M., Ideland, M., & Malmberg, C. (2009). SCIENCE FOR LIFE – a conceptual framework for construction and analysis of socio-scientific cases. NorDiNa, 5, 35-46.

Gray, S.D., & Bryce, T. (2006). Socio-scientific issues in science education: implications for the professional development of teachers. Cambridge Journal of Education, 36, 171-192.

Lee, H., & Witz, K. (2008). Science Teachers’ Inspiration for Teaching Socio-Scientific Issues Disconnection with reform efforts. International Journal of Science Education, 31, 931-960.

Lindahl, B. (2003). Lust att lära naturvetenskap och teknik? En longitudinell studie om vägen till gymnasiet. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.

Mitchener, C. P., & Anderson, R. D.(1989). Teachers' Perspective: Developing and Implementing an STS Curriculum. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 26, 351-69.

Moore, A., Edwards, G., Halpin, D., & George, R. (2002). Compliance Resistance and Pragmatism: the (re)construction of schoolteachers' identities in a period of intensive educational reform. British Education Research Journal, 28, 551-565.

Newton, P., Driver, R., & Osborne, J. (1999). The place of argumentation in the pedagogy of school science. International Journal of Science Education, 21, 553-576.

Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes towards science: review of the literature and its implication. International Journal of Science Education, 25, 1049-79.]

Ratcliffe, M., & Grace, M.(2003). Science Education for Citizenship. Teaching Socio-Scientific Issues. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Sadler, T., Amirshokoohi, A., Kazempour, M., & Allspaw, K.M. (2006). Socioscience and Ethics in Science Classrooms: Teacher Perspectives and Strategies. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43, 353-376.

Skolverket, The national agency for education. (2000). Syllabuses for trhe compulsory school. Available: http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/493/a/1303 [2008, 10-17].

Skolverket, The national agency for education. (2005). Naturorienterande ämnen. NU03

Zeidler, D., Sadler, T., Simmons, M., & Howes, E. (2005). Beyond STS. A research based framework for socio-scientific issues education. Science Education, 89, 357-377.


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PUPPETS, DIALOGIC TEACHING AND TEACHER CHANGE

Stuart Naylor & Brenda Keogh Millgate House Education

Abstract

The PUPPETS Project uses puppets as a stimulus for children to engage in conversations involving reasoning in primary science lessons. A professional development programme has been set up to help teachers implement key findings from the PUPPETS Project research. The professional development includes training sessions and demonstration lessons. Data were gathered from groups of teachers who attended training sessions or observed demonstration lessons. Analysis of the data used Kirkpatrick’s evaluation framework. Teachers who attended training sessions used puppets in their teaching and made changes to their professional practice to make their teaching more dialogic. The professional development programme appears to have been effective in meeting its aim of influencing teacher practice. Teachers responded positively to the demonstration lessons and engaged in professional dialogue about the use of puppets that mirrored findings from the original project. They identified adult intervention as an important issue. Their responses suggest that demonstration lessons can provide a useful complement to the strategies currently used for teacher professional development.

Introduction and rationale

Talking about their ideas helps children to clarify their thinking and develop their capacity to reason (Mercer, Wegerif and Dawes, 1999). Dialogic teaching encourages this type of thinking and reasoning talk in the classroom (Alexander, 2006). The PUPPETS Project research explored whether the use of hand-held puppets in science lessons would help teachers to develop their practice by becoming more dialogic in their teaching. The research provided evidence of an increase in teacher discourse focused on argument and reasoning, and a positive impact on children’s engagement and motivation (Naylor, Keogh, Downing, Maloney & Simon, 2007; Simon, Naylor, Keogh, Maloney & Downing, 2008).

Teachers involved in the research changed their professional practice. They emphasised children’s talk more in their planning, asked more reasoning and fewer recall questions, and spent more time creating a positive learning environment in science lessons. They also identified a range of aspects of pedagogy that helped to promote dialogic teaching. These included the puppet lacking knowledge about science; the puppet presenting plausible alternative ideas that generated cognitive conflict; the puppet’s problem being viewed as authentic by the children; and the puppet being non-judgmental. However they did not identify the impact of adult intervention on children’s talk.

On the strength of the research data, funding and support were obtained from GlaxoSmithKline and Millgate House Education to implement a substantial programme of professional development (PD) and provide complementary resources for teachers. The aim of the PD is to help teachers to make their teaching more dialogic and to use puppets to promote children’s engagement and talk. It also provides further opportunities to add to the research data on the effectiveness of puppets in teaching science.


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The PD comprised half-day training sessions for groups of teachers. Most of these were workshop-based sessions typical of PD courses, while some of them were run as demonstration lessons with follow up discussion. The demonstration lessons were organised by a local authority adviser who was interested in the value of this form of professional development. The lessons were delivered by a member of the PUPPETS Project team (hereafter referred to as the expert teacher), who also led the follow up discussion. The follow up to the lessons provided an opportunity to collect additional data on the use of puppets in teaching science and on the value of this approach to professional development.

Our previous work on professional development had indicated that a half-day training session could provide sufficient input to begin to change teachers’ pedagogy (Keogh and Naylor, 1999; Naylor and Keogh, 2007). For this reason the majority of the PUPPETS Project PD was organised as half-day workshops. There is also evidence that demonstration lessons can be a valuable form of professional development for teachers, providing teachers with a common experience for discussion and reflection, so that issues about professional practice can be grounded in a real context (Loucks-Horsley, Love, Stiles, Mundry & Hewson, 2003). The demonstration lessons were consistent with the model of coaching in which the person serving as coach does the teaching (Joyce and Showers, 2002). We believed that demonstration lessons might offer another viable form of PD for the PUPPETS Project that would complement the half-day workshops.

This paper focuses on the impact of the PD on teachers’ practice, and the potential value of demonstration lessons as part of that PD. The research questions addressed are:

• to what extent does the PD programme influence teacher practice? • to what extent are demonstration lessons valuable in promoting professional development in the

PUPPETS Project? Methods

The half-day training sessions were organised for groups of teachers by local authorities. They used a combination of hands-on experience, video clips, discussion and reflection to develop the teachers’ understanding and skills. To investigate the impact of the training sessions on teachers’ practice, a range of data collection methods was used. The main data sources were written evaluation of PD sessions at the end of the workshop (870 teachers), participant observation of PD sessions and interviews with participants (3 sessions), follow up questionnaire (15 teachers), follow up telephone interview (a further 15 teachers), and a school visit in which lessons were observed and teachers and children were interviewed.

Schools and teachers were selected for follow up in order to obtain a representative sample of types of school, training provider and response to the training. Although there was some variation in the nature of the evaluation carried out in different local authorities, the data collected allowed some quantified analysis to take place. Qualitative analysis was based on Kirkpatrick’s analytical framework (Kirkpatrick, 1994), which is widely used for evaluating training in a range of professional contexts. This framework consists of four elements: initial response, professional learning, change in behaviour and long-term impact.

For the five demonstration lessons an expert teacher taught an unfamiliar class of children, using a puppet to present a problem which led to a science enquiry. The age group of the classes ranged from 6 – 9 years. The lessons took place at a large venue, where the children were taught at the front of the room with a group of 30-40 teachers acting as observers (total number of teachers = 178). After the lesson the children left and the expert teacher remained with the teachers to reflect on the experience. The teachers were aware that the purpose of the demonstration lessons was to enable them to act in the role of researchers in collecting data that would then be used in an analysis of the lessons.


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There was no prior relationship between the children and the expert teacher taking the demonstration lessons. They met for the first time at the start of the lesson. Each lesson began with the expert teacher introducing a puppet to the children. The puppet talked to the children about how it had a problem, then asked the children for help. In small groups the children discussed how they might be able to solve the problem, then they explained to the puppet how they thought the problem might be solved. A limited amount of equipment was provided so that the groups of children could carry out simple practical investigations to solve the problem. In each lesson the children carried out a practical investigation of their choosing, then engaged in a plenary discussion to share their ideas and decide whether they had solved the problem. Finally they explained to the puppet how they felt the problem could be solved. The focus for each lesson was one aspect of properties and uses of materials, such as fitness for purpose, thermal insulation, or water absorbency. During the investigation teachers could move around and offer simple practical support to children, such as help in using scissors, but were asked not to intervene in other ways.

The purpose of the demonstration lessons was to provide a common experience which would act as a basis for discussion and reflection by the teachers (Loucks-Horsley et al, 2003). Each lesson attempted to incorporate a set of pedagogic principles that had emerged from previous research. These principles including the following:

the value of children’s talk in science lessons creating a sense of purpose for children’s activity starting a lesson with questions and problems, not information and instructions providing a meaningful context for science-based activity children’s ideas being viewed as important and influencing the course of the lesson teachers suspending judgement about children’s ideas children being given time and space to think and talk

After the lesson the expert teacher focused on teacher professional development. Teachers were asked to identify to identify significant factors that appeared to influence the nature of the lesson. They were asked to concentrate on factors that they judged were important in enabling the puppet to capture the children’s attention and engage them effectively during the lesson, and to identify any pedagogic issues that they felt had emerged. A plenary discussion enabled the teachers to explain their views and justify why they thought certain factors were important, based on their observations during the lesson. In this way a consensus view could emerge about which factors were generally viewed as significant, and what professional learning had occurred.

Finally data were collected through oral and written feedback (including email) after the discussion to determine the potential value of the demonstration lessons compared to the more typical training sessions. The data were analysed in terms of how effectively the demonstration lessons enabled the teachers to reflect on the aspects of pedagogy identified in the earlier research.

Results

There were positive responses from teachers who attended training sessions in all four of Kirkpatrick’s categories:

Response/learning

Typically more than 90% of teachers followed up rated the training as good or excellent, recognising that the training is about developing a more questioning and dialogic approach to science and helping children to take a more active role in lessons (e.g. I’ll review my approach to teaching science). Teachers recognised how using a puppet could influence the way that science is taught and the role that they take on in the classroom (e.g. It allows me to say ‘I don’t know’ when I really don’t know!).


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Behaviour/results

Of the teachers followed up after the training, 93% had used puppets in their teaching to good effect (e.g. Ricky, the puppet, has become a much loved member of our class . . . it is quite liberating as a teacher to be able to get things wrong deliberately as Ricky). Most of them (77%) claimed that children are more engaged in science topics (e.g. children absolutely love the puppets. The children get so excited when the puppet comes out). Many of them (67%) also claimed that children’s understanding is better in science lessons where puppets are used (e.g. They love being able to explain to Ricky and will sometimes take things on further because . . . they don’t feel Ricky will be judgemental).

Comments from teachers described how the training sessions had changed their view of teaching to put greater value on dialogue, and how this was evident in their practice, where there was much greater emphasis on pupil talk so that ‘It’s not just me talking’. They could see how puppets helped to expose the children’s misconceptions by getting them talking more freely and correcting errors that the puppet made. They reported that children are more precise in their answers and use better reasoning (e.g. the plants will grow because . . .) when they explain their ideas to a puppet. All of their comments were consistent with those from teachers involved in the earlier PUPPETS Project research.

In the demonstration lessons all of the teachers commented favourably on the impact of the puppet in the lesson. No teachers indicated that the puppet’s impact had been anything other than very positive. There was widespread agreement that the children were highly engaged by their conversations with the puppet, motivated to solve the problem presented by the puppet, and eager to let the puppet know what they had found out. (e.g. The children were highly focused on the follow up practical activity. They stayed on task and worked with a clear sense of purpose to solve the problem.)

As in the training sessions, they identified aspects of pedagogy that were consistent with our earlier research. These included the following.

• The puppet character created an authentic problem that children were keen to solve. • The children empathised with the puppet. They could identify with the situation, and this enhanced their

motivation. • The puppet presented plausible alternative ideas that generated cognitive conflict and led to focussed

discussions to resolve that conflict. • The puppet’s role was to be uncertain and unsure about what to do. Because the puppet did not

understand, the children felt that they had to help him. • Both the expert teacher and the puppet suspended judgement about the children’s ideas.

More significantly, they also identified potential impact of teacher intervention. They observed how children needed time and space to talk together without a teacher pressing them towards a ‘right answer’. Some noted how hard they found it not to intervene, commenting that ‘we often do intervene too early and do not give children enough time to work through a problem themselves’. Adult intervention had not been identified by any of the teachers involved in the earlier research as a significant issue.

All of the observing teachers were positive about experiencing a demonstration lesson and having the opportunity to reflect on the lesson.


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Although the training sessions were short (three hours maximum), they had a significant impact on teachers’ planning and professional practice. From the smaller sample of 30 analysed in detail, most of the teachers included puppets in their teaching and made changes in how they taught science when they used puppets. This included a greater emphasis on dialogic teaching, with the puppet taking a non-expert and non-judgmental role in lessons.

Although literature on teacher change suggests that change in teacher practice can be difficult to achieve in a short period of time (e.g. Adey et al, 2004; Fullan, 2001), the PUPPETS Project training sessions led to identifiable change in practice after small-scale, short-term intervention. Thus the PD programme appeared to be transformative, leading to autonomous change in professional practice.

It is also notable that the focus for the classroom dialogue when puppets are used is on scientific problems, not socio-scientific. Much of the research on discussion and argumentation takes socio-scientific issues as a focus for dialogue, even though these may not be integral to the science curriculum. This runs the risk of leading teachers down a blind alley, and offering models for argumentation and discussion which have little curriculum relevance.

The use of demonstration lessons as a means of professional development was viewed positively by the teachers. The structure of the demonstration lesson was designed to illustrate dialogic teaching, and for many teachers this represents a very different type of pedagogy from their usual teaching style. Many typical science lessons follow a routine in which a problem is posed by the teacher, the method of solving the problem is directed by the teacher, the teacher determines the significance of any data collected, and the teacher guides the class towards a conclusion. The demonstration therefore presents a significant professional challenge for some teachers, since they may well find that their usual expectations and beliefs about how a good science lesson is structured are called into question by the demonstration lesson. The debriefing at the end of the lesson appeared to be an essential aspect of the professional development that took place (Adey, Hewitt, Hewitt & Landau, 2004), coupled with the explicit model of practice presented through the demonstration.

It was notable that the issue of adult intervention was identified in the demonstration lessons. In the original research children who were deep in discussion, or working out in their own way how to address the puppet’s problem, either ceased their conversations or changed the nature of what they were discussing when adults intervened. It appeared that they stopped their discussions in order to allow the adult to take charge. This issue has not been easy to convey through more traditional professional development sessions. However, in the demonstration lessons this issue was identified as important by the teachers, without any prompting. Some of the teachers noted that they experienced significant tension and discomfort because they were asked not to intervene. However, they were able to reflect on this response, recognise that the children were able to progress very effectively with minimal teacher intervention, and identify for themselves that adult intervention may not have the positive impact that they intended and expected.

The idea of using demonstration lessons as a means of professional development was viewed positively by the observing teachers. The expert teacher leading the demonstration does need a high level of expertise and confidence to work in front of a large audience of teachers, especially in circumstances where there is no prior relationship with the class of children involved in the lesson. However in many respects this arrangement closely models an authentic classroom experience, with the observing teachers able to select which children to observe and target their attention on specific aspects of the lesson. This puts teachers in the role of researcher, enabling them to identify what was significant about the professional practice they observed (Feger, Woleck & Hickman, 2004), in some ways paralleling how the use of puppets puts children in a teaching role as they talk to a puppet. The risky, real-time nature of the lesson, coupled with the outcomes not being known in advance, gives the demonstration lesson a sense of reality which video evidence rarely achieves. Teachers are provided with a common experience for discussion and reflection, and this provides a good basis for grounding issues about professional practice in a real


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context (Loucks-Horsley et al, 2003). The interactions amongst the group of teachers bring a variety of perspectives to the discussion, leading to greater understanding of the professional issues raised and an increased willingness to reflect on their own professional practice (Loucks-Horsley et al, 2003).

The use of demonstration lessons therefore appears to be a potentially valuable model for teacher professional development within the PUPPETS Project, providing another possible mechanism by which the positive results of the original research might be used to influence professional practice.

References

Adey, P., Hewitt, G., Hewitt, J. and Landau, N. (2004). The professional development of teachers: practice and theory. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

Alexander, R. (2006) Towards dialogic teaching. York: Dialogos.

Feger, S., Woleck, K. and Hickman, P. (2004). How to develop a coaching eye. JSD, 25(2).

Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of educational change (3rd edition). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Joyce, B. and Showers, B. (2002) Student achievement through professional development. In B.Joyce and B.Showers (Eds.) Designing training and peer coaching: our need for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Keogh, B. and Naylor, S. (1999) Concept cartoons, teaching and learning in science: an evaluation. Int. J. Sci. Ed., 21(4), 431-446.

Kirkpatrick, D. (1994) Evaluating training programs. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Loucks-Horsley, S., Love, N., Stiles, K., Mundry S. and Hewson, P. (2003). Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Mercer, N., Wegerif, R. and Dawes, L. (1999) Children’s talk and the development of reasoning in the classroom. Brit. Ed. Res. J., 25(1), 95-111.

Naylor, S. and Keogh, B. (2007) Active Assessment: thinking, learning and assessment in science. School Science Review, 88 (325), 73-79.

Naylor S., Keogh B., Downing, B., Maloney, J. and Simon, S. (2007) The Puppets Project: using puppets to promote engagement and talk in science. In R. Pinto and D. Couso (Eds) Contributions from Science Education Research, p.289-296. Springer.

Simon, S., Naylor, S., Keogh, B., Maloney, J. & Downing, B. (2008) Puppets promoting engagement and talk in science. Int. J. Sci. Ed., 30(9), 1229-1248.


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THE TEACHER AND CONTINUOUS FORMATION: WHAT GOES INTO

CLASSROOM PRACTICE

Anne L. Scarinci & Jesuína L. A. Pacca University of São Paulo - Brazil

Abstract

Departing from evidences that teachers seldom understand the ideas put forth by professional development courses and programs in Brazil, we sought to find connections between the framework in teachers’ education and daily concrete practices of a professional development program. For this, we chose a formation program that we considered successful and investigated the tutor’s actions and their results in terms of modifications in teachers’ classroom practices. The context taken was about high school physics teachers. General results point to an approach to contents through dialogue, always linked to particular situations brought by teachers within accounts of their lessons given and surrounding their class plannings. The tutor’s program plan was flexible and welcomed teachers’ accounts to contextualize and signify the approach of themes. The arrival point of a discussion was seldom known a priori by the tutor. Reflection about the practice and construction of autonomy constituted greater aims of the program and were present in all episodes. Professional development was achieved by means of providing aid to the teacher’s immediate needs of class planning and interpretation of classroom situations.

Introduction

This paper concerns about Brazilian situation as of the physics teaching in high school, but we presume that in great extent results can be generalized to other countries. Within this school level, the teaching of Physics isn’t in its better days and many programs of professional development are being offered to teachers, fostered by government agencies and universities, attempting to obtain successful learning of students. National and international evaluations of school content knowledge, however, indicate that the programs haven’t been achieving their goals, as students are still obtaining low scores and, in reality, not understanding physics.

Teachers, on the other side, do not comprehend the ideas put forth by the courses – what becomes evident not only by maintenance of old classroom’s practices, but also by complaints when returning to school and not being able to carry out what was taught.

Such complaints deserve our consideration and can provide relevant information if analyzed from another point of view. In general, courses which intend to enhance teaching seem not to touch what would be essential to an effective modification of teacher’s practice. They present a proposal, expecting that teachers will understand and “apply” it in their classes, independently of what they can assimilate of this content and include in the planning they’re already familiar with. Therefore, such proposal is seen by teachers as a “theory” or an “idea that works only in ideal circumstances”, impossible to be taken to their contexts (Sacristán, in Nóvoa, 1995). Many proposals are also interpreted as having objectives that are transcendental or disconnected from the basic learning of contents.


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The origin of these misunderstandings seems to be situated in the distance between what teachers are able to conceive of what planning is and of conducting meaningful learning, and what tutors bring about in the course, without attaining effectively the teacher’s conceptions of planning and teaching (and, obviously, learning). Even if the tutor embraces these aims of producing modifications in teachers’ practices, this may remain implicit and not result in adequate actions. In general, a very evident rupture of dialogue occurs, which indicates, in our perspective, that the program is not “departing from the starting-point”, i.e. the actual teachers’ practices, but too soon longing to present and bring into discussion solely the surroundings of the “arrival point”, i.e. the desired practices. Teachers’ complaints lead us to suspect that they are not being able to draw a line connecting “departure” and “arrival”.

Authors concerned about teacher’s profession and development bring us theoretical elements to reflect upon, but it is the concrete actions which will make the process operational for continuous formation. We can say that it’s important that teachers reflect about their practice (Zeichner, 1993; Schön, 2000) and that a new learning should be problem based (Freire, 1996), which motivates search for new knowledge. The formation program must take into account teachers’ initial knowledge (Pimenta & Ghedin, 2002) and integrate expressed needs with real needs (seen by the tutor). Esteve (in Nóvoa, 1995) points out the importance of addressing teachers’ “new attributions”, generated by the school opening to mass education, and Charlot (in Pimenta & Ghedin, 2002) asserts that formation programs should include broader goals of enhancing teachers’ general culture. Paulo Freire (1996) emphasizes that any program that is called educative must direct to a greater autonomy of the learner.

How can these objectives and recommendations be brought from the ‘world of ideas’ to the daily concrete practices of a teacher formation course?

Rationale

Departing from this initial problem, we delineated an investigation so to analyze the tutor’s actions in a course for physics teachers, and the results of his actions in terms of changes in teachers’ classroom practices. For that purpose, we chose a formation program that we considered successful and sought to describe it in its variety of actions and interactions, analyzed in connection with the framework referring to teacher education. We imagine this interaction will allow us to recognize forms of how theory may be translated into practice.

Methods

For the choice of a PD program that we could classify as successful, we have taken into account the aspects i) evidences of students learning, as from declarations of their teachers and written work brought to meetings; ii) modifications in participants’ classroom practices, also evaluated from teachers’ accounts during meetings; and iii) improvement of teachers’ professional awareness.

As for the source of data, the PD program in the format of a continuous formation, which is more similar to a study group rather than to a course, given participants do not receive a certificate and the program does not have a beginning or an end, but accompanies and supports teachers’ classroom practice and planning throughout the year. The main objective of the program, as taken from the tutor’s words, is to work with the class planning of a theme in physics and learn new strategies or activities that allow teacher choices for course plans. This program goes on for more than 10 years in a similar fashion, and in the year 2007, when our data production occurred, it was composed of 10 physics teachers from Brazilian public schools, 3 participant researchers and the tutor. The group meetings happened once a week, accompanying the whole school year of 2007. Activities involved 6 meeting hours plus around 12 individual study hours per week, usually filled with teaching physics and observing interactions and learnings of students, individual studies and research of various natures and performance of written tasks. The program was sponsored by a Brazilian research fomentation institution (FAPESP) as so participating teachers received a small scholarship.


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Through interaction between field observations and theoretical framework, we pursued to make an analysis of formation episodes, in which the tutor’s actions provoke some kind of learning that could result in modifications in teachers’ practices, and connection of these actions with the frame of reference available in teachers professional development.

Our data acquiring and analysis were typical of qualitative research (Lüdke & André, 1986). This account is part of a broader investigation that brings about many ethnographic methodological elements and that describes this formation community. The forms of data acquiring were field notes and audio recordings. Episodes were classified in terms of the pedagogical content (teachers’ competences) that was worked in the episode, such as competences of planning, competences of learning conduction, working with learning and behavior challenges, physics content mastery, acquaintance of the nature and construction of scientific knowledge and political-pedagogical ideas. In this paper we analyze how teaching and learning occurs in the program in general, for all categories, and how the tutor’s actions provide possibilities for teachers to effectively take their learnings to classroom environment and modify practices.

Results

T1 – I gave the lesson, but didn’t do what I wanted to, because I had assigned exercises... so in the next class the students wanted me to correct them. F – What do you mean that you “corrected exercises”? T1 – Oh, they have doubts, “I couldn’t do this one”; I took exam-like exercises… F – But what is to correct exercises? T1 – It’s to correct on the blackboard. F – No, “correct on the blackboard” no. To correct is to correct something. T1 – No, then, it was not ‘to correct’, it was ‘to do’. Some even asked, “I couldn’t do this one, I’m stuck here”… T1 – But this is not to correct either, isn’t it? What did you do? Describe us what you did. (…) R – So you did the exercises on the blackboard and the students copied them. F – You solved problems. What did you want with this activity? Let’s see if you can give it a meaning. T1 - …I wanted…to have them realize it was possible to do them, that it was simple… to solve the problems. F – It was simple? For whom? (T1 – Er…) For the teacher. [silence] You know, we do many things we don’t realize what we’re doing. (…) I want us to look at this activity and see what kind of importance it has. Inside your objective. (…) T – No. (…) Every time that I solve exercises on the blackboard, I don’t feel very well, because I know they will copy it and it may not make sense to them. T2 – Yes, it is of no use, they only copy… T1 – I have a class[advanced level] in which I don’t resolve all problems, only address the doubts. But there are these two students that get desperate... And they make me feel guilty for not correcting everything. (...) R – When I was in high school, I used to get so lost with the variables from Mechanics, and the exercise class helped me think the problems more clearly. T1 – Oh, so it worked for you! (...) F – So, the idea is to re-signify the activities that we usually, traditionally, do. It’s to give another sense to it, to see how this is connected to the planning. “Where do I want to get to?” This is the question.

(T stands for teacher, F for tutor, R for participant researcher.)

While telling and analyzing her exercise lesson, T1 brought to conscience a problem that troubled her – and, by her account we can infer is recurrent (“every time I solve a problem on the blackboard, I don’t feel well”). The tutor helped her first to characterize the lesson she gave (“what is to correct exercises?”) and next to seek how that activity collaborated to the objectives of her planning.T1 clearly felt the need to expose her apprehension with the exercise class in other situations and could, with this, detail the problem and identify its origin (“they can even repeat it without knowing what they’re doing and this is not what I want”). The tutor’s role during this episode could be compared to the figure Schön (2000) denominates “coach”, the mentor who listens to the learner helping him to understand the problem brought more deeply and conducting a reflection to find paths to solve it. In this episode (classified as


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belonging to the category competences of planning), the teacher T1 manifests a problem arriving from the classroom (“I didn’t do what I wanted”), which is gradually de-constructed by the tutor throughout the dialogue, so that the existing problem could emerge (that was – teacher was unaware of the strategy’s meaning inside her course plan).

When T1 modified her planning in order to include the exercise class, she did not act in an autonomous way (“in the next class the students wanted me to correct them”). We may also evaluate that this discussion worked in the aim of providing more autonomy to her future choices, at least with respect to this class strategy. From this point of view, the episode also offer us a good example of problematizing the knowledge of experience (Freire 1996) in which a problem brought by the educand is conducted in a dynamic and dialectic movement between the action and the thinking upon action, always with the broader objective of developing autonomy.

In the following extract, which was classified in the category of addressing the students’ difficulties, a discussion aroused from a text read by all participants about evaluation and assessment of students. T3 argumented how difficult it can be to put those ideas in practice. She has just given exams for her students. She has them in hand and is not content with their answers. With this account, the discussion was diverted into discussing correction criteria and how to assess students, considering T3’s case.

R – You’ll give the marks that students deserve, according to your criteria? T3 – So… I’ll think about this… Yeah, I didn’t correct the test yet, I… R – Or you’ll create criteria to give better marks? T3 – No! I’ll have to find criteria that I think is fair. (…) F – So, from your concern, when you say, “they are able to produce better than they produced”, so, I think there, the reflection you’re making and all your analysis is “what am I assessing with this exam?” and you’re already noticing your exam will have bad results. This means that what you’re assessing, really, in that exam, they are not able to offer. On the other side, you speak of a series of things you consider positive, don’t you? That the students participated. So you’d need to define a little and make more objective what this participation is. T3 – So, but then there’s an interesting detail – what I notice, talking to the Math teacher, because she said the same thing; she said, “oh, the guys don’t go well on the exams, but we take into consideration other assignments that they do, their participation, and they end up having the marks [necessary to pass]. So they never study for the exams. They don’t study because they know they will pass. F – So, maybe in those tasks they’re producing, maybe here your demand for objectivity is missing. When you tell them, “you’re going to build a lamp, bring a lamp and make it work”, that activity won’t receive a mark if they don’t make a precise report, more connected to the objective knowledge that you want.(…) Maybe you can, within these more qualitative activities, demand a quantitative. So, look, it is not that you won’t accredit the person or appreciate something he did. But he did this and he has to give more. This passage is missing, to a greater rigor.

The complain about students’ not studying for the exams could head to a connotation of “irremediable” – a generalized situation of the school environment that is greater than the teacher’s possibilities and that prevails any attempt of change, what can be somewhat typical of informal talk among teachers (“talking to the Math teacher, because she said the same thing…”). The tutor, however, conducts another interpretation of such students’ behavior, directing to a teacher’s action that is objective and related to physics teaching. In this case, the tutor remembered T3’s previous accounts about her class activities previous to the exam and suggested a solution based on a modification of the course plan.

We can also draw a consideration about the reading activity that inspired this account. The text given did not explicitly address the problem that has effectively been discussed. When T3 operated this deviation, however, there was no surprise to any of the participants. The accounts of a teacher in this program are always valued and welcome. Reading the text brought up relevant elements, some of which sensibilized the group to the discussion that T3 protagonized, and the apparent “deviation from the subject” was considered welcome exactly by being a concrete problem that a teacher was facing in that moment and that needed solution.


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The third example we bring is an extract from an episode from the competence of exploring the physics content. The teacher T4 had asked students some weeks before to construct a compass and her account if of the day the task was due. To the meeting, she brought some compasses made by her students and told the group how the class went.

T4 – Let me tell a little bit about my class, that was today. I received the compasses. So the compasses came and I was thinking about what I wanted to do with them, er… there are so many things I want to discuss with it… (…) T4 – What wasn’t very nice was that, during the classes, the students kept asking me for tips, “oh, Ms., how do we make a compass?” I had told them to look for the information, but there are students who always complain, aren’t there? So “Ok, guys, you do this, you get a needle, you’ll have to use a magnet, pass on the needle, put a cork…” F – And why not straight use the magnet? T4 – Why not use the magnet? Ah, there was a student who did this. He got the magnet today and put directly in the water, the magnet sank! [laughs] F – And then he got it out of there and what did he do? He got it out and put away in his pocket. T4 – Yes, you can’t do it, that’s it… F – And why did he not solve the problem of making the magnet float? (…) T4 – So, what I did was this – raise ideas with them, see what they thought happened and – it’s interesting, because they say the needle received electrons, or some said, “you pass the magnet so the needle receives energy”. F – Now, did he pass the magnet touching [the needle]? T5 – Yes, but in the same direction, no? T4 – Yes, in the same direction, this is the point, there were things I was in doubt… F – And you do need to touch? Can’t it be from a distance?

At this point the tutor asked for magnets, needles and clips and an experimental session started. The tutor magnetized a needle, suspended it by a thread, then got a cup of water and made it float by carefully placing it on the surface of the water. Other teachers had experimental material in their hands and were also doing experiments, at the same time as paying attention to the tutor’s actions. A couple of teachers were trying to magnetize a needle without touching the magnet on it.

When T4 started the account, she expressed doubts about the way to conduct the learning sequence (“I was thinking about what I wanted to do with them”). The tutor interpreted this apprehension as connected to a lack of sufficient knowledge on the physics content related to the topic of magnetism, and in this way oriented the dialogue that followed. Later, the teacher could express more consciously her lack of confidence with the content (“there were things I was in doubt”).

So the physics content was taught by the tutor uniting the theory – of magnetism, to understand the differences between magnetic and electrostatic interactions, of mechanics, to analyze ways that allow magnets to have rotation movement, of hydrodynamics, to approach flotation possibilities for a needle-magnet – with a correspondent phenomenology and experimenting. In addition, we noticed that the tutor sought to establish connections with possible interventions T4 could choose and utilize with her students about the compass (that was the declared intent of the teacher at the beginning of her account) and ways to address the misconceptions that T4 brought from her students, through comparing magnetic and electrical phenomena (“you do need to touch? Can’t it be from a distance?”).

These episodes are long, some of them taking more than one meeting hour, and usually the tutor leaves a lot of space for other teachers to manifest and express their own doubts or comments about the problem discussed in the dialogues. At the end of an episode, however, there’s always a closure made by the tutor, synthesizing the discussion or making further comments, such as, in the case of this last episode:

F - …but this is it, this confusion between electricity and magnetism is rather common (…) Now, it’s interesting that the students finish this compass, with the scale… because then what is important is that they solve these problems that appear – the magnet that sinks, the needle that has turn… So one will be correcting his arrangement, improving, eliminating the factors that interfere… So this is important, that they pass through all this process. (…)


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F – Have you performed the experience of the surface tension? Then we put a small drop of detergent and… pluft! Quickly sinks? Because the detergent diminishes the surface tension. That’s why it is good to wash the dishes…

The learning content brought by the tutor, in these examples as well in other episodes and categories, was extracted from teachers’ accounts, as classes occurred. Each account, from an individual teacher, provided context for labor with one competence considered (or sometimes more than one). The knowledge in focus was approached in the form of dialogue between the tutor and the teacher author of the account, with participation of the others whenever they felt in conditions of collaborating to the matter in discussion.

Another important remark is that the content was always linked to a particular situation and could occasionally arrive to generalizations and abstractions in the course of discussions and engagement of all participants. The tutor’s planning was very flexible, as an account of a classroom occurrence always brings unexpected situations, which contextualize the approach of themes. These were then expanded and deepened, as with the evolution and comprehension of the teacher, through continuous dialogue. The arrival point was not known a priori by the tutor; the path was constructed along the discussion – discussion around teachers’ planning – which granted space to greater autonomy of teachers’ choices and problematization of their own practices. With this, the educands were in the center of their formation, considering their real and present needs as the starting point.


This program clearly had a constructivist approach, in terms of focusing the construction of knowledge by the learner and the actions of the teacher which foster that construction, such as observing and listening to the learner in order to properly conduct a class. Teachers participant in this program have attended University and many professional development courses and had already acquired, from all these instances, a discourse about constructivist practices. Nevertheless, they needed to relate that knowledge with many situations from their practice in order to start translating that discourse into effective actions. This means they weren’t able to make those relations by themselves without help of an experienced tutor. The dichotomistic view of the relation theory-practice, of acquiring all theory to then apply in practical situations, present in their normative graduation curricula, has not been an effective way to help these teachers develop a practice coherent to the theory taught.

A particular situation experienced by one teacher could help the learning of others. The dialogue strategy chosen by the tutor seemed a one-to-one interaction but in fact was able to be of interest (and, therefore, of relevance) to all. That occurred because teachers were all involved in the same problem – of teaching electromagnetism to high school level students. This strategy seemed therefore quite appropriate for a post-graduation professional development situation, where teachers are already assuming the responsibilities of a classroom and having to make choices and to interpret situations from the classroom in order to adjust planning. For initial formation student-teachers this would have to be better thought of.

The participation in this group gives a small scholarship to teachers (equivalent to around 180 dollars), but nothing else – no certification and no official recognition for career purposes. The schools not seldom complain about teachers’ need to have an entire afternoon free every week and offer resistance to liberating them for the program. Nevertheless, teachers remain in the group – surely because they feel it truly useful for their professional development and, especially, for the learning of their students.

It is indeed a small group. The year analyzed for this paper had ten teachers, other years oscillated between eight and fourteen. Participants must leave if they’re not teaching that content or school level that year, when school doesn’t liberate them for the program or also when they acquire administrative responsibilities in the school. Teachers in the group become real collaborators, even with former participants – they share successful activities and strategies and make out-of-program gatherings to study or produce activities and plannings, phone on another when need help and ideas. Many when leave the group maintain contact. It may indicate that small programs of


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professional development, conducted in a school view rather than an academic approach, and in the form of groups of mutual collaboration, are equally necessary for teaching improvement and may produce better results when learning a new professional conception is the main objective, especially when we consider results to be students’ learning of physics.

Experienced tutors who would be able to carry such discussions, on the other hand, would be hard to find and fewer than necessary if we were to consider the demands of our public school system. Projects of this kind make visible the need to foster good professional development programs for tutors as well.

Reflection about the practice and construction of autonomy constituted greater aims of the program and were present in all episodes. The manner this course managed to produce enhancement in students’ learning physics and effective contributions to teachers’ professional development was by making flexible the tutor’s planning and introducing as the formation’s main component the dialogue and aid to the teacher’s immediate needs of class planning and interpretation of classroom situations. Our results show there is a transfer of the procedures experienced by teachers in the meetings to their classrooms.

References

Freire, P. (1006) Pedagogia da Autonomia: saberes necessários à prática educativa. São Paulo: Paz e Terra (15th ed.).

Lüdke, Menga e ANDRÉ, Marly E. D. A. (1996) Pesquisa em Educação: Abordagens Qualitativas. São Paulo: E. P. U.

Nóvoa, A. (org.) (1995) Profissão Professor. Lisboa: Porto Editora (2nd ed.).

Pimenta, S. G. e Ghedin, E. (orgs.) (2002) Professor reflexivo no Brasil – Gênese e crítica de um conceito. São Paulo: Cortez.

Schön, D. (2000) Educando o profissional reflexivo: um novo design para o ensino e a aprendizagem. Porto Alegre: Artes Médicas.

Zeichner, K. (1993) El maestro como profesional reflexivo. Cuadernos de pedagogía, n.220, pp. 44-49.


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SECONDARY SCIENCE TEACHERS AND THE RELIGIOUS

ARGUMENTS ADVANCED BY STUDENTS: RESULTS OF A

PROSPECTIVE ENQUIRY CONDUCTED IN FRANCE

Laurence Maurines1 & Sylvie Pugnaud Université Paris-Sud 11

Abstract

The irruption of religious arguments in the “scientific debates” conducted in the classroom has become an observable phenomenon. The prospective empirical study presented here aims at identifying students’ comments related to the religious register in science classes and at examining how teachers take them into account. It also aims to provide information on the teacher’s own relationship to science, religion and the teaching of science. Two written questionnaires were elaborated. 44 in-service science teachers (20 in biology-geology, 24 in physics-chemistry) and 55 pre-service physics-chemistry teachers were questioned. Students use religious arguments, not only in life sciences classes as expected, but also in physical science classes. Some of the answers given by teachers who accept a consideration of the religious register used by students concern the nature of science and raise problems because the religious and scientific discourses implicitly share the same status. Different relationships to science, religion and the teaching of science are revealed.

Introduction

More and more science education researchers consider that it is necessary to take into account the cultural and social dimensions of the difficulties that students may encounter in learning. However, if attention has long been paid to student diversity, the religious dimension has only recently become a topic of interest. Studies on the teaching and learning of science that consider the religious register are still not very numerous. Besides a few papers which present theoretical considerations or pedagogical proposals (Mahner § Bunge, 1996; Poole, 2005; Narguizian, 2004; Rumelhard, 2007) or are concerned with teaching programs and books (Kampourakis, 2007; Quessada § Clement, 2007; Quessada et al., 2008; Talanquer, 2007) or with students (Cobern, 1993; Dagher § BouJouade, 1997, Roth § Alexander, 1997; Aroua et al, 2001, 2005; Hrairi et Coquidé, 2002; Hansson § Redfors, 2003, 2005; Chabchoub, 2004), there are a few works that focus on teachers (Haidar, 1999; Cobern § Loving, 2005; Wolfs et al, 2005a; Maurines et Pugnaud, 2007; Stolberg, 2007; Quessada, 2008; Mansour, 2008). It is important to note that few of these studies concern French-speaking countries.

France is a secular country2. As noted in the program of grade 9, secularism is sometimes wrongly understood as negation of religion or reduced to a militant anti-clericalism against a church or a religion. It is in fact a value and a principle that appeal to the universality of fundamental human rights, guaranteeing the dignity of persons, without distinction of race, ethnicity, gender or religion. It is based on the separation of politics and religions, and on the

1 DidaScO, bâtiment 333, 91405 Orsay cedex, France. [email protected] 2 Secularism is not a spiritual option among others; it is what makes possible their coexistence, because what is common in law to all men must take precedence over what actually separates them […]. It is an order of values clearly assumed and no less stringent than those of religions, and opposed to some of them if necessary. […]. Secularism also extends the discourse of reason to the realm of the imaginary and the symbolic without fleeing from the difficulty. A secularism that sidesteps amputates itself. (Debray, 2002):


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neutrality of the state, in large areas of public life and particularly in the education system. It preserves respect for the freedoms of conscience, belief and worship, expression and opinion, on behalf of democratic pluralism.

Pupils and students do not have religion classes in French secular schools. “The religious fact”, as called by Regis Debray (2002), is part of the History, French, and Philosophy curriculum in lower and upper secondary teaching. It can also be approached in multidisciplinary projects, concerning, for example, history and arts, or philosophy and science. In his report on “The teaching of the religious fact in secular schools” that Debray prepared at the request of the minister of National Education in 2002, he recalls the consensus on the need to remedy the failure of links in the national and European memory, the anxiety of a dismemberment of civic solidarity, the rupture of benchmarks like the unprecedented diversity of the religious affiliations. Concerning the aims of such teaching, he notes that the goal is not to put “God” in school. The teaching of the religious fact is not the teaching of religion. The search for meaning is a social reality but it is impossible to recognize in religions any monopoly of meaning in order to meet demand or by facility. He emphasizes that the time seems now ripe for the passage from a secularism of incompetence (the religious fact, by construction, does not concern us) to a secularism of intelligence (it is our duty to understand it). Concerning the methods, he proposed to focus attention on the content of teaching, through a more reasoned convergence of the existing school disciplines, and foremost on the preparation of teachers. He calls for the creation of a research group on “education/society, religion” and of an institute attached to the university La Sorbonne of Paris which will respond to requests for pre-service and in-service teacher training. 3.

It must be noted that in his report, Debray mentions the teachers of many disciplines but not science teachers and that science seems to be outside the field of culture. Since then the situation has changed. The report Obin (2004) underscores the difficulties faced by biology teachers when religious arguments irrupt in their classes and their need for training on the topic of “science and religion”. There is also an awareness among scientists, philosophers and historians of the need to educate the general public in this area. Since 2003, the front page of popular science magazines and of weeklies has regularly dealt with the theme "Science and religion."

The study presented here is the first part of a research program that aims at pointing out the difficulties raised by religious beliefs in science classes; the program also advances some proposals on the type of science teaching which could help overcome these beliefs in the French secular context. This prospective empirical enquiry conducted between 2004 and 2006 concerns the posture of science teachers towards the religious register in science teaching. Indeed, many studies emphasize the importance of taking into account the conceptions, judgments and practices of teachers in order to define adapted pedagogical proposals.

As French secularism is diversely understood, there are regular debates on the place of religion in French society. In 2004, after several months of discussion on the wearing of Islamic headscarves in secular schools, law on the signs of religious affiliation4 in secular schools was passed. In 2006 a more confidential debate was held on the development of creationism in the United States. In 2007 the Atlas of the Creationism was sent to numerous schools and universities so that more and more philosophers, historians, researchers and teachers would be concerned with the issue of science and religion. Many events were organised this year in honour of Darwin’s work. So in 2003 we committed ourselves to working on this important social issue because, as teacher trainers and science education researchers, we were aware of potential difficulties in science classes and because we wanted to know more about the French context. This was not without a number of problems that we present for discussion.

3 Institut Européen en Sciences des Religions : http://www.iesr.ephe.sorbonne.fr/ 4 This law prohibits the wearing of ostentatious signs, visible and worn with the intention of being viewed, i.e. manifesting not an adherence to a religion but a political will. Articles prohibited by the act include a priori the Muslim hijab, the Jewish kippa, Sikh turbans and large Christian crosses, while discrete symbols such as small crosses, stars of David or Fatima's hands are allowed. Before this law, a ruling of the State Council left the principals of institutions responsible for jurisdiction on this matter.


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Research questions

This study aims firstly to identify when students make comments referring to the religious register in science classes, and secondly to pinpoint how science teachers react when the religious register irrupts in their classes. Moreover, following the work of researchers who introduced the notion of “the relationship with knowledge” in science education in France (Maury and Caillot, 2003), and in order to better understand the posture of science teachers towards the religious reference given by the students, we were also interested in teachers’ relationship with science, religion, and the learning and teaching science, that is to say, in their conceptions of teaching and learning science, their conceptions of secularism, their conceptions of science and religion, and also in the degree of importance they attach to science and religion, and the degree of acceptance of scientific models and religious texts.

Methods

Two written questionnaire with open questions were elaborated. The first one was sent by post to teachers before an in-service training session on science and religion. Forty-four teachers (20 in biology-geology, 24 in physics-chemistry; 23 in lower secondary schools, 21 in upper secondary schools) returned it the first day. This questionnaire was also presented to 22 physics-chemistry pre-service teachers. As teachers often give overly succinct answers, we elaborated a second questionnaire in order to gather more information on the relationship of science teachers with science, religion and science teaching. It was presented to 33 pre-service teachers. Seventeen of them taught physics and chemistry, the others, mathematics, physics and chemistry.

In the first questionnaire distributed before the training sessions on science and religion, we asked teachers whether they had encountered difficulties linked to religious beliefs in their classes and what could help them to overcome them; whether reflections on science and/or religion in teaching were desirable and why, in which classes, and on which subjects these reflections should be developed., and whether these reflections might have negative repercussions; finally, we asked them if such reflections were possible now and if so, why.

The second questionnaire consisted of three parts concerning respectively religion, science, learning and teaching. We asked teachers what the scientific and religious texts teach us about the world; whether it is essential to know these texts, what they want their students to acquire, whether their students could encounter difficulties linked to religious beliefs, and whether it is worthwhile to speak about religion in secular teaching, in particular in science classes.

The responses to the two questionnaires have been analysed question by question. We have characterised the answers using the theoretical study on the nature of science, religion, and of the learning and teaching science that we started before the enquiry and carried on thereafter. Then, in comparing all the answers given by a teacher, we have sought to characterise his/her relationship to the religious register and indicate typical relationship profiles, if possible. We have pinpointed different registers of answers and for each register, different types of answers. We have so far identified six types of registers relating to science, religion, teachers, students, the school institution, and the extra-curricular environment. Each of these register may correspond to different categories of responses. Thus, the register “science” may refer to a constructivist view of science or an empirical view. The register “students” may indicate that it is important to help students acquire knowledge, methods or attitudes. The register “educational institution” can focus on programs or secularism, etc. At this stage of the research, we could not obtain all the information necessary to characterize the relationship profile of a teacher completely. We could only put forward two extreme postures towards the religious register in science classes, a positive and a negative one, and a mixed one. A new questionnaire presenting closed questions has been elaborated and a new enquiry is under course on a larger scale.


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Results

For the sake of brevity, we will mainly focus on the first questionnaire and on the answers given by the 44 in-service teachers. We will only give some information on the answers given by the pre-service teachers at the two questionnaires. We will illustrate the different categories of answers by typical examples written in italic.

Answers to the first questionnaire

When does the religious register occur in science classes?

80% of the 20 in-service biology-geology teachers and 33% of the 24 in-service physics-chemistry teachers said that they encountered difficulties in their classes. Eleven of the forty-four teachers polled specified the origin of the difficulties:

- Students asked a question dealing with the religious register (quoted by 4 of 11 teachers): When I spoke of the creation of the universe, a student asked me if God were not at the origin of this creation. Students denied considering the scientific model as valid (4 of 11 teachers): When we present the evolution in grade 8, we receive comments like : « This is not true, it was Allah who created everything »

- Students refused to do what teachers ask (5 of 11 teachers): Three or four years ago, three students in the same grade 8 class did not want to do coursework on human reproduction. In both disciplines, some students did not want to touch “forbidden” food, for example alcohol.

In biology, the topics that generated these difficulties concerned the origin of life (quoted by 3 of the 16 teachers who specified a topic), the theory of evolution (7 of 16 teachers), the place of humans among living beings (4 of 16 teachers), and human reproduction (6 of 16 teachers).

In physics and chemistry, the religious register is considered first of all regarding astronomy (all six of the in- service teachers who cited a topic). Three of the 22 pre-service teachers answered that they had to confront the religious register in their classes. One teacher specified that it happened concerning astronomy (During the study of the solar system in grade 9, several students asked me where was God (Catholic private school)), another instance concerned atoms (When I introduced atoms in grade 8, a student asked me whether the soul was made of atoms), and the last instance had to do with the reasons that explain phenomena (In order to explain the colour of an object, some students used divine arguments).Some teachers stated that although religious register was not explicitly invoked by the students, it could explain some students' attitudes: “In teaching a given subject, students never challenged content, but their attitude begs the question of why some good students withdraw from participation for no apparent reason and refuse to engage in debate.”

How do science teachers react when the religious register is invoked by students?

Sixteen in-service teachers specified how they reacted when the religious register appeared in their classes.

Ten of them agreed to answer students’ questions. They specify some aspects:

- of the nature of science: In a project on biology-philosophy (grade 12), two students wanted to know «how the Koran makes it possible to mitigate the insufficiencies of the theory of evolution ». A dialogue at cross purposes insued during which we attempted to show the students who reproached us for restricting their freedom of belief that the problem was badly articulated.

- or of the nature of religion: I told them that this was an image.. This answer that was given to a student who asked if God created the universe could be considered as problematic since the teacher questions the students’ belief. Moreover, it does not allow the student to understand that science cannot answer to the question of creation.


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- or both aspects: I tried to make them understand that scientific reasoning and religion are two opposite ways of thinking; I tried to explain that these models are not incompatible with the idea of God but that the question of God is different for a scientist. Some of these answers raised problems because religious and scientific discourse seemed to share same status: I presented the scientific explanation to the student; I added that religion and science are not so opposite and that s/he must have this knowledge but is free to believe whatever s/he wants.Six teachers did not take this factor into account. Some acted as if nothing had happened: 3 students of the same class (grade 8) did not want to look at the material on human reproduction; I pretended that I had not noticed them. Others refused to answer students’ questions: In a lesson on astronomy, some students questioned my teaching. I answered that I did not want to start a discussion on science and religion. Two pre-service teachers indicated that they avoided what could lead them to talk about religion: I rejected the issues or problems that I might have encountered in these areas because I did not voluntarily want to address them in my classes (especially in college).

Seven in-service teachers mentioned their difficulties in responding to students:

- This put me off

- The discussion would have been more fruitful if I had better anticipated their resistance: the existence of such difficulties. I did not imagine for one second that pupils would believe in Adam and Eve.

Eight in-service teachers noted that they lacked the formal background, especially in the area of religion, they felt was necessary in order to respond to students. I do not know anything about Islam and consequently am not aware of students’ religious convictions. It must be noted that no teacher mentioned the lack of epistemological formation and that some would like to understand how to present « things » without hurting student but at the same time expanding his or her mind.

What do science teachers think about a reflection on science and /or religion in teaching?

75% of the 44 in-service teachers agreed with the notion of introducing a reflection on sciences in lay teaching. Only nine specified that this reflection should be introduced in science classes; for the others, this seemed implicit. Only 57% of the 44 teachers were in favour of introducing a reflection on religion only. But 73% of the teachers were in favour of a reflection on science and religion. Many teachers did not answer the questions (20% for the reflection on science, 23% for the reflection on religion, and 16% for the reflection on science and religion).

Table 1 presents the subjects to be presented to students with which are the most frequently cited by the teachers who agree with such reflection. Many teachers refer to history, either the history of science or the history of religions. Some teachers insist on the fact that a scientist can be religious, others on the conflicts between religion and science. One teacher evokes the cross-contamination of science and religion.

Table 1. Subjects to present students with during a reflection on science, religion, and science and religion Reflection on Science

N=33 Religion N=25

Science and ReligionN=32

Which subjects?

History of science (16)Scientific method (9)

History of religions (8)

Comparison of religions (5)

History (5)Scientific and religious (6 )

Bridle by the church, conflict (7)

For the teachers who agreed with the introduction of such reflection, the aim of teaching seemed to be the acquisition of knowledge and methods. Only some of them mentioned the acquisition of mental attitudes such as critical thinking in the case of the reflection on science (quoted 6 times), and tolerance in the case of the reflection on religion (quoted 7 times). Only one teacher noticed how important it is that students acquire a correct image of the nature of science.


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Many teachers who were against the introduction of such reflection reserved it to the teacher’s training or to other disciplines. Some teachers answered that there is no time in science classes for such work. Two teachers specified that “the comparison of science and religion can be dangerous because the idea that they share the same status may be inferred”. It is important to note that for several teachers, secularism does not allow for about a discussion of the religious fact, whereas it imposes a restriction only on teachers not to express their personal beliefs which could influence students’ beliefs.

Besides, several teachers note that it is difficult to introduce a reflection on religion in teaching and that there is a danger of influencing students’ beliefs:

- The risks are of course uncontrollable, based on the personal convictions of teachers and / or students. The reaction of families could also be problematic

- On the other hand, several negative repercussions exist in the case of teaching that involves religion. Firstly, we work in secular institutions where all religious symbols are banned. And even if this could be very interesting, it might cause a parents’ "revolt". This teaching should be more focused when used so as not to offend anyone and not create tension between people of different religions.

- Should we impose our scientific vision or respect everyone’s beliefs? In my opinion, we must present scientific knowledge to broaden students’ mind while leaving them the choice to believe in whatever they want: this is the problem.

What are the relationships of science teachers towards science, religion, and the teaching of science?

When comparing the answers concerning the introduction of a reflection about science, religion, and science and religion, different profiles of teachers seem to emerge. One concerns teachers who have a positive attitude toward these three types of reflections, the other concerns teachers who have a negative attitude toward these reflections. Teachers can also have mixed attitudes, for example a positive attitude toward a reflection on science and a negative attitude toward a reflection on religion, and science and religion. Table 2 presents the number of teachers who agreed with one type of reflection (shown in green), those who were against (shown in red), and those who did not answer (shown in black). Very few teachers had a negative attitude. When comparing the answers given by the in-service teachers and the pre-service teachers who agree with a reflection on science, a difference seems to appear. The in-service teachers are more in favour of a reflection on religion and religion and science, than the pre-service teachers: However, it must be noted that this result is questionable because the in -service teachers were willing to participate in the training sessions on science and religion and could be more interested in the issue than the pre-service teachers. Moreover, half of them had already taught biology-geology and could be more sensitive to the issue. They are not representative of the all population of in-service teachers.

Table 2. teachers’ attitudes towards a reflection on science, religion, and science and religion

Teachers attitudes, N= 44 (in-service)

Yes 33

No 2

? 9

27

4

2

1

1

5

4

R et S24

3

13

111

1

4

5

RS

yes

no

?

yes

no

Teachers attitudes, N= 22 (pre-service)

Yes 20

No 1

? 1

9

8

3

1

R et S 81

26

21

1

RS

yes

no

?

yes

no

1 1


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The comments given by three teachers corresponding to different attitude profiles are given below. Different conceptions of science and the teaching of science seem to appear. The first teacher seems to favour education aimed at providing a socio-constructivist conception of science to students, while the second seems to focus on the acquisition of experimental skills. For the third one, one goal of science education is epistemological. The conception of the nature of science he expressed seems to be constructivist but give no place to society. He is reticent about a reflection on religion because of the difficulties that he may encounter in the classroom. Whereas a reflection on both domains could help to characterize each one and emphasize their differences, he thinks that it would induce the idea that they propose two equally valid points of view. As teachers very often gave answers that are too brief, it was not possible at this stage of the research to characterize fully their relationship to science, religion, and the teaching of science. It must be noted that a positive attitude may correspond to different relationships, that is to say to different conceptions of the science, religion and the teaching of science.

- Positive attitude: Yes for a reflection on science: A commentary by I. Stengers: “science as it is taught, in other words, as it is presented when results are removed from the practice of science “as it is done ", are not very different from a religious war machine, pointing the way to salvation, condemning sin…” Therefore: yes for the other two reflections. In science classes: distinguish between "tangible reality" and "model". Perhaps in history and philosophy classes: the history of ideas. In science classes: cross-contamination, interaction between science/ religion.

- Negative attitude: Science: no. Religion: no. Science and religion: no. We have too little time devoted to science, especially to practical applications. Such reflections would be interesting if we could really do science under good conditions. Teaching conditions that are currently being set do not allow us to broaden minds on these subjects. "

- Mixed attitude: "Science: yes, to show that we are in a rational field where the testing of hypotheses and critical argumentation reign, and where any statement may be criticized. Religions: perhaps, but in the present context is it possible to lead a calm and objective reflection on a religious topic? Science and Religion: a priori it is an attractive idea, but it involves the belief that on certain subjects two equally valid points of view are being expressed. "

Answers to the second questionnaire

Table 3 presents the main results obtained from the pre-service teachers. Only one third of the teachers conscious of the difficulties linked to religious beliefs that students can encounter referred to conceptual difficulties. If most of the teachers agree with a reflection on religion in the classroom, many fewer are in favour of a reflection on religion in science teaching. Half of them noted that this reflection is needed only when the situation requires it.

Table 3. responses given by the pre-service teachers (N=33) N=33 Yes No No answer

Awareness of students’ difficulties 52% 12% 34%

Reflection on religion in teaching 85% 7.5% 7.5%

Reflection on religion in science teaching 40% 45% 15%

The answers given by seven teachers are problematic since the nature of science expressed is problematic: religious and scientific discourse shared the same status, or scientific discoveries could be found in religious texts:

- I think it is not necessary to talk about it. But this can be useful to explain that the same issues arise but that the responses differ in science and religion.

- I have never felt or detected an inconsistency between what I learned in science and the Koranic verses. Those are still valid. They explain the origin of the world, while it is only in the 20th century that astrophysicists found [scientific] answers.


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- The scientific texts tell everything and its opposite. We have to choose the version to which we wish to adhere …..Pupils may confront various and conflicting conceptions between the family circle and the school environment…. So who are they to believe?


The results presented here join the results obtained by other science education researchers. They reveal that students encounter difficulties in biology classes as expected, but also in physics classes. They also show that these difficulties are linked to their image of the nature of science, more precisely to the notion of truth and to the nature of questions addressed and proofs given, as well as their image of the nature of religion. Moreover, this study reveals that teachers need to receive instruction not only on the religious fact and the secularism but also on the nature of science, the purposes of science teaching, and the proper way to conduct scientific debates. These results need to be confirmed and completed. A questionnaire presenting closed questions has been elaborated and sent to associations of science teachers. Moreover, we examine the question of the type of teaching that could help students to overcome their difficulties. Several questions are examined, in particular:

- What attitude should we adopt considering that students may refer to the religious register in science classes, or may not refer to it but have misconceptions related to religious beliefs? Should we ban the religious register from science courses or should we take it into account? If so for what purposes? Does French secularism impose some aims and exclude others?

- If it arises, is it pertinent and relevant to address the issue of religion in science classes; is there content not currently present in the curriculum that should be introduced and implemented to achieve the objectives defined?

- Is there a particular instructional strategy to adopt in order to help students overcome the difficulties linked to religious beliefs? Does French secularism impose some approaches and exclude others?

- What constraints impose the teachers’ attitudes?

The theoretical study conducted at the same time as this prospective empirical study has already provided some answers. They have been presented during the teacher training sessions and are in publication. We defend the idea that it is important to help students acquire mental attitudes such as critical thinking and a socio-constructivist vision of the nature of science very early in schooling. Enquiry-based situations including period of epistemological meta-cognition should be proposed on non-problematic subjects in order to prepare students better for tackling tough issues. We have also considered the proposal of innovative pedagogical resources based on the history of science. Furthermore, we subscribe to the Cobern’s position (1996) that it is necessary to discuss the presuppositions about what the world on which the science is based and to confront students with other world views, in particular religious points of views, in order to better understand the differences between them. Texts presenting the positions and approaches held by different persons in the past and today could be presented to students. The challenge is to do this work while respecting the religious beliefs of students and without commenting on them. Even if the teacher does not ask students to express their points of view, they might still do so. In that case, teachers could bring in the debate on the nature of the questions addressed by science and the approaches used to resolve them. They could also specify that different positions may exist within a given religion. Finally, students would be left to question their personal beliefs and draw their own conclusions.


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As we noted in the introduction, the topic of religion is socially alive in France. The same is true of the topic of science and religion. Thus, if the idea of organizing training courses on this subject has been welcomed by some members of the institution, there were disputes (sent by mail, press reports) following the publication of the training plan in 2003. They came from scientists and focused on the subject (they advanced the same argument as did the teacher with a negative attitude: the comparison is dangerous), the topics chosen (only subjects related to science were accepted), the invited speakers (it is not possible to invite religious people), etc. If the implementation of the survey for the in-service teachers does not seem to have posed problems, this was not the case of the survey for the pre-service teachers; it has led to reluctance on the part of respondents themselves (about the questions on religion affiliation and importance) and institutional barriers. The issues raised by the organization of training courses on science and religion as well as surveys on the teaching of science versus the religion are indeed numerous. What title to give to the courses? What content to offer? Which persons should be invited to train teachers on the topic of religion? On what subjects can teachers be questioned? How to formulate these questions?

A study on the teaching of science versus religion is also difficult to conduct because it is multidimensional. However, it is necessary because it responds an important need of teachers. Most of those present at the training courses wanted to be kept informed of the progress of our work. The development of this work is also urgent: some trainers of primary school teachers emphasized the fact that teachers asked their students to vote in order to complete a session on evolution.

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EXPERIMENTAL ACTIVITY IN PRIMARY EDUCATION: RESTRICTIONS AND CHALLENGES

Javier Arlegui De Pablos, Julia Ibarra Murillo, Miguel R. Wilhelmii, University Public of Navarra

María José Gil Quílez Zaragoza Üniversity

Abstract

This is a diagnostic study that provides empirical evidence on the conditions and the restrictions of experimental activities in Primary Education in Navarre (Spain). It is based on a survey distributed to the entire population being studied. The survey is compiled through open and objective answers on the Likert scale. The aim of this work is the diagnosis of the current situation, which may lead to the process of decision-making on the design of the new programmes of initial teacher training.

Introduction

The practical activities of experimentation in sciences are recognised as the best way for school children to attain scientific knowledge. The experience of several years visiting schools has led us to the conclusion that the use of laboratories, carrying out practical activities, is irregular and sporadic and that the teachers encounter various difficulties in integrating these activities into the school curriculum.

This research aims to investigate the causes leading centres to this “desertion” of experimental activity, bearing in mind that these reasons are implicit and hardly known. The aim is to contribute to the diagnosis of the situation in order, subsequently, to justify measures that seek to alleviate this dysfunction.

Teachers, in addition to the subject knowledge and psychopedagogic knowledge, develop what Shulman (1987) calls the didactic knowledge of content, an amalgam between pedagogy and subject matter, a sphere of knowledge specific to teachers which is obtained with practice and is often the least codified. This author points out that it is an important task in didactic research to work with educators to develop these codified representations. In our research we seek an expression of this knowledge based on experimental science activity in the classroom.

Rationale

Malafosse (2002) determines under what conditions concepts elaborated in the field of the didactics of one subject are transposed to research into the didactics of other subjects. The notion of praxeology (Chevallard, 1999), originating in the didactics of mathematics, is consistent with notions and methods pertaining to the didactics of physics in analysing the integration of knowledge and “know-how”. This notion makes it possible to model the science which is “done” in schools as an experimental activity, in which the teacher is not merely a manager of knowledge, but the director of a study process.


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Methods

Tool and method of application

A questionnaire was prepared based on the theoretical model of reference, structured in five sections:

1. Characteristics of the teacher. 2. Characteristics of the practical activity which the teacher carries out. 3. The practical activities in relation to the students. 4. The practical activities in relation to the knowledge 5. Practical activities in relation to the institution

Context and sample

The questionnaire was sent by surface mail or electronic mail to the 217 primary education centres in Navarre. We received 150 questionnaires, distributed in 82 Primary schools, in other words approximately 40% of the schools surveyed sent back at least one questionnaire. This fact ensures the quality in relation to the particular aspect of not responding (Sánchez, 2000). We assert as a methodological hypothesis that the design of the survey (Martinez, 2004) does not present problems of selection, or estimation, or error control (of the sampling or unrelated to the sampling).

The average age of those surveyed is 47.6 years and the professional experience is 18 years. A total of 62.7% are women and 37.3% are men, a sexual distribution coherent with the reference population. Given the nature of the centre, a coherent distribution of the reference population is also noted: 70% of those surveyed work in public centres and 30% in grant-aided centres.

Results

Of the 80 centres which we consulted, 45 principals (57%) answered that their centre did not have a school laboratory and 35 affirmed that they did. The majority of the teaching staff confirms adjusting the activities proposed to one single session of 50 minutes (79.51%). 7.38% of the teaching staff carry out more extensive activities that include more than one session. The rest (15.57%) specify various durations, generally related to excursions or visits to museums or science exhibitions.

1.- Activity in school sciences laboratory

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Figure 1. Graph of distribution of hours of experimental activity.


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There are two major groups of teachers related to the experimental activity described: those who answer in blank or indicate that they do not dedicate any time (31.6% approx.) and those who indicate a specific number of hours (68.4% approx.).

Figure 1 shows the dispersion graph of hours which teachers declare dedicating to experimental activity. If we focus on the first sub-group (between 1 and 20 hours declared) the average is 9.3 hours/year, with a standard deviation of 4.6.

Figure 2. Materials used

text book (LT)[1]

audiovisual materials (MA)

computer resources (RI)

note-form (A)

card-form (F)

[1] Initials corresponding to the term in Spanish

The text book (LT)[1] is the predominant teaching material: approximately 60% of the teachers confirm that they always use it in class and more than 30% confirm they use it often.

Figure 3. Relation between the types of experimental activities and the percentage of centres that carry them out

010203040506070

A LT F MA RI

Always

Often

Sometimes

Occasionally

Never

Blank

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

force and movement

animals

energy and machines

materials, substances and properties

human body

plants

volumes, weights and measurements

act realizada act por realizar no realiza no answer


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The most frequent experimental activities are those of volumes, weights and measurements, followed by plants and the human body. Only in the latter do teachers use two or more sessions. In the others, one or more sessions are used. Less frequent activities are those related to force and movement, animals, energy and machines. Those related to materials, substances and properties occupy an intermediate position

Figure 4. Relation between types of activities and duration of the experimental sessions

Figure 5: Frequencies of scientific and technological activities in centres that have a laboratory and in centres that do not have a laboratory (centres that have a laboratory -blue column, not have one-red column)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

force and movement

animals

energy and machines

materials, substances and properties

human body

plants

volumes, weights and measurements

1 sesion 1 sesion y media 2 sesiones mas 2 sesiones no establece no contesta

Frequency of educational excursions

0102030405060708090

never weekly monthly quarterly no answerhave laboratory don t have laboratory

Frequency of experimental activities in the classroom

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

never weekly monthly quarterly noanswerhave laboratory don t have laboratory

Frequency of activities with computers

05

1015

2025

3035

4045

never weekly monthly quarterly no answer

have laboratory don t have laboratory

Frequency of experimental activities in the laboratory

0102030405060708090

never weekly monthly quarterly no answerhave laboratory don t have laboratory


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Centres that do not have a laboratory declare undertaking greater frequency of experimental activities in the classroom per term, as can be expected. However, it is observed that centres without a laboratory undertake fewer educational excursions, fewer activities with computers and also fewer experimental activities in the classroom on a weekly and monthly basis.

The availability of a school laboratory is directly related not only to greater experimental activity but also to other activities of a scientific and technological nature.

Table 1. Causes of decrease in experimental activity and of school laboratories in the last few years Decrease in experimental activity

f

%

No decrease

9 10,8

Yes decrease

36 43,4

No answer

38 45,8

Total

83

100

Causas

f

%

Educational reform

27 32,5

Need for Nieuw classroom

12 14,5

No answer

44 53

Total

83

100

Of all the replies 80% confirmed that this activity had indeed decreased, pointing out that this coincided with the educational reform of primary education. In this reform the last two years of primary education (12 to 14 years of age) were incorporated into Secondary Education and experimental science activities, which were primarily carried out during these years, disappeared from the schools together with the laboratory equipment

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2. Centres that have and do not have a science laboratory

Results on 82 schools: 44.6% of public centres have a laboratory and 55.4% do not have one. 100% of private centres have a school laboratory. 46.3% of the total educational centres that have a laboratory do not share it for other uses and 53.7% share it with other areas. More than half of the centres that share the use of the laboratory with other activities do not specify what these are. We believe it is used as a multi-purpose room.


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Tabla 2. Differences between public and private centres in relation to the science laboratory BUDGET FOR EXPENSES

Do not allocate a budget

< 100€/year 100-300€/year

300-500€/year

Total

TYPE OF CENTRE

privado Absolute frecuency

1 5 5 1 12

% 8,3% 41,7% 41,7% 8,3% 100,0%

publico Absolute frecuency

11 17 3 0 31

% 35,5% 54,8% 9,7% 0% 100,0%

Total Absolute frecuency

12 22 8 1 43

% 27,9% 51,2% 18,6% 2,3% 100,0%

Private centres allocate a greater budget than public centres: 41.7% of private centres designate between 100 and 300 euros/year while in the public centres only 9.7% match this amount. 8% of the private centres designate more than 300 euros a year while no public centre does so.


1. It is confirmed that experimental activity in sciences in school laboratories is sparse and has decreased in the last few years. The causes detected for the “desertion” of experimental activity in Primary Education are the reduction of Primary Education from 14 to 12 years of age, given the restructuring of the Spanish obligatory education system and the need for new classrooms and space, forcing centres to occupy the laboratories for other needs

2. Teachers mention the difficulties of equipment, time management and student organisation in confronting these activities, but also their lack of professional preparation and evaluation criteria. Murphy, Neil and Beggs (2007) show lack of self-confidence and capacity as the greatest difficulty which primary school teachers identify in science teaching in the United Kingdom.

3. There are significant differences between public and private schools.This difference in provision is too exaggerated and surely has a bearing on worse school results in the scientific preparation of students in public schools which include in their classrooms the practical totality of the immigrant population of our region

4. We find that scientific experimental school activity is greater in centres that have a laboratory and furthermore, in these centres, a greater number of experimental activities are carried out in the classroom and in the computer room, and they also undertake a larger number of field trips. This would seem to indicate that not having a laboratory is perceived by the centre and by the teachers as a non-valuation of scientific school work.

5. Continuous training of teachers. Bearing in mind the average age of teachers in the survey (47.6 years) and the percentage teachers who participate in at least one re-training course in science (20%) it is possible to conclude that the initial training is the “stronghold” for the subject preparation, and pedagogic and didactic


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competence for science teaching. This fact hinders the introduction of new, theoretically-based strategies (didactically) and experimentally contrasted strategies (pilot tests).

References

Chevallard, Y. (1999). L’analyse des pratiques enseignantes en théorie anthropologique du didactique. Recherches en Didactique des Mathématiques, 19(2), 221-266

Malafosse D. (2002). Pertinence des notions de cadre de rationalité et de registre sémiotique en didactique de la physique. Recherches en Didactique des Mathématiques, 22(1), 31–76.

Martínez, V. C. (2004). Diseño de encuestas de opinión. Madrid, RA-MA.

Murphy, C.; Neil, P.; Beggs, J. (2007). Primary science teacher confidence revisited: Ten years on. Educational Research 49(4), 415–430.

Sánchez, J. J. (2000). La bondad de la encuesta: el caso de la no respuesta. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform, Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1–22.


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IMPACT OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON A NATIONAL

SCALE: THE NATIONAL NETWORK OF SCIENCE LEARNING

CENTRES

Mary Ratcliffe National Science Learning Centre, University of York

Alison Redmore East of England Science Learning Centre, University of Hertfordshire

Catherine Aldridge, Caroline Hurren, Miranda Stephenson National Science Learning Centre, University of York

Abstract

The National Network of 10 Science Learning Centres has been in existence since 2005, providing high-quality short- and longer-term professional development for teachers of science in all phases of education, with the main aims of bringing contemporary science into the classroom and improving the quality of science education. The National Centre operates residential programmes for the UK; the nine regional centres across England run programmes of varying length and nature. All have expectations of support for change in classroom practice. Design of the professional development has been based on research evidence of what is effective in changing pedagogy. Evaluation evidence has been collected from participants’ completion of reflective records based on their implementation of action plans and with involvement of their line managers. There is good evidence of impact on pupils’ learning and classroom practice as well on participants’ own knowledge and understanding. The reflective records are proving useful as a tool for monitoring professional progress. There is not a common understanding amongst participants of the nature of evidence that might be provided to support a claim of high impact. Further evaluation of impact is thus focusing on systematic and independent data collection across programmes in collaboration with teachers.

Introduction

Science Learning Centres are a national network for professional development in science teaching. There are nine Regional Centres in England and one National Centre to serve the UK. The full network has been in existence since 2005 with a revised governance since 2008. Each of the Regional Centres has a main base but has also developed satellite Centres and online resources which can be accessed by teachers from across the country. The major aim of the network is: ‘To bring exciting, contemporary science into the classroom and to enable teachers to refresh and extend their skills, so that young people gain the knowledge and understanding they need – both as citizens and scientists of the future.’ The expectation is that all science teachers in the UK (teaching pupils age 5-19) can benefit from professional development through the network.

Much has been written about frameworks of continuing professional development (CPD) focusing principally on improving teachers’ pedagogical skills (e.g. Loucks-Horsley et al, 1998; Adey, 2004). Such research suggests that targeted professional development should be implemented over a long time scale, include in-class coaching and opportunities for teachers’ reflections on any change in classroom practice that they make. In order to achieve the aim of the network, each centre offers programmes which try to fulfil the criteria for effective pedagogic change.


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For example, the National Centre operates programmes which typically have an initial two-day residential session run by acknowledged experts, followed by an opportunity to modify classroom practice and a further residential session several months later to review impact and take practice further (Sessions; follow-up; sessions - SFS model). Regional centres operate a variety of models from one-day programmes with pre-task and follow-up (SF model) to programmes of up to a week spread across several months and undertaken in co-operation with school-based professional development co-ordinators. Evaluation of impact of professional development is important and the focus of this paper.

Rationale – evaluation of effectiveness of CPD

The Network has adopted Guskey’s (2000) model for evaluation of impact as this has significant currency and reflects the different levels that CPD through the Network is intended to have. Guskey indicates that evaluation of impact of professional development can take place at five different levels:

1 participants’ reaction;

2 participants’ learning;

3 organisational support and change – impact on the school;

4 participants’ use of new knowledge and skills;

5 learning outcomes for pupils.

Within the Network participants’ reactions and learning (levels 1 and 2) are gauged from evaluation forms that participants complete immediately following their CPD experience.

It is complex to obtain robust evidence of impact at the higher levels. Much of the research evidence on the effectiveness of professional development on classroom practice has been the result of evaluations of particular, sometimes small, cohorts of teachers (e.g. Luft, 2001; Jeanpierre et al, 2005). Such groups of participants have usually been working on a programme dedicated to change in a specific area. One such has been technicians on a Science Learning Centre course (Jarvis, Hingley & Pell, 2008) in which detailed follow-up and observation of participants was possible. We wished to examine impact on a larger scale than these projects and through systematic means that are available to all participants.

The Network has some diversity in programmes and large number of teachers are expected to benefit from Science Learning Centre programmes (16950 teacher days in total for 2008-09 6700 - National Centre; 10250 Regional Centres). Since 2008 for a large number of programmes across the network, the same systematic approach to identifying impact has been adopted which can provide self-reported evidence of change in practice.

This paper thus addresses the questions:

What is the evidence of impact on change on participants on core Science Learning programmes?

What are the strengths and limitations of evidence collected through cost-effective tools across a national network?


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Methods

Participants on network programmes use a set of three forms – the impact tool - on which they record the progress of their professional development:

1. Their initial expectations (intended learning outcomes for themselves, school and pupils); 2. Action plan from initial sessions (formulation of a personal action plan following identification of key

learning taking account of intended learning outcomes); 3. Impact of the professional development (a record of the evidence they have collected of the impact on

themselves, the pupils, other staff, any impact beyond their own school, and longer term action plans).

Participants are asked to record impact in four areas, involving peers / line managers in the discussion and to provide statements of evidence supporting impact:

knowledge and skills (e.g. new knowledge & confidence) - Guskey’s level 2;

school (e.g. sharing learning in school / cluster) – Guskey’s level 3;

practice (e.g. use of new skills, classroom changes) – Guskey’s level 4;

pupils (e.g. changes in attainment, learning, motivation) – Guskey’s level 5.

For programmes with initial sessions, follow-up in school but no further sessions at the relevant Centre (SF model), impact records are logged in the centre a minimum of 6 weeks after the initial sessions. For programmes with further sessions in the Centre (SFS model, typically at the National Centre) participants report to their peers on how/whether they implemented their action plan. The presentation and impact records can be used to assess the extent of self-reported impact on practice in school.

Participants are also asked to record their views on the extent of impact – low, medium or high. Although this is self-reported, the National Centre uses criteria to categorise impact for each participant, depending on the quality of evidence presented (qualitative/quantitative data or anecdotal feedback):

Low: anecdotal evidence regarding changes to practice.

Medium: involvement of pupils &/or colleagues in the change in practice and anecdotal evidence gathered from them of the impact.

High: qualitative and/or quantitative evidence collected to analyse and reflect upon the impact of change at the pupil /classroom level. (e.g. questionnaires, pupil interviews, work sampling, assessment)

It is thus possible from analysing the completed impact tools, through categorisation of the statements and evidence presented:

a) to determine the nature of the self-reported & peer-reviewed impact according to Guskey’s levels

b) to determine the robustness of self-reported evidence (low-high) in making claims of impact.

The sample for the analysis reported here is 464 records representing course completion of core secondary courses across the Regional Centres – the majority of these courses being of one day’s duration with a pre-task and follow-up. The impact records were collected during the period September 2008 – March 2009. The analysis used a grounded theory approach to develop categories for the nature of impact. Detailed examination of a few impact forms led to some initial categories of the nature of impact cited under the four headings on the impact form: Impact on your knowledge & skills; Impact on your practice; Impact on the school; Impact on pupils. These categories were then tested on further forms by two researchers and refined (by collapsing two categories into one and addition of other categories) with full agreement from both researchers on categorisation of the statements by participants. The


298

framework was then used by one researcher on the remaining forms, with reliability checks on a random set of forms by the other researcher. Although open to additional categories during the analysis, no additional categories were generated. The categories used for analysis are shown in table 1.

Table 1. Categorisation of impact

Categorisation of impact Knowledge and skills Knowledge / understanding of particular science content (SCI) Knowledge / understanding of management / curriculum /assessment concepts (CON) Skills in teaching methods e.g. use of practical work, group discussion, IT equipment (TEA) Skills in management / organisational techniques (MAN) Change in attitude towards knowledge and skills e.g. confidence (ATT) Awareness of resources / support organisations (RES) Practice Use of Skills in teaching methods e.g. use of practical work, group discussion, IT equipment (UTEA) Use of Skills in management / organisational techniques (UMAN) Change in attitude towards teaching / management e.g. more confidence (ATT) STEM coherence (STEM) Impact on School Share knowledge / understanding with colleagues (COL) Improve other teachers’ teaching (TCC) Improve other teachers’ management (MAC) STEM coherence (STEM) Extracurricular activities (EXT) Other (OTH) Impact on pupils Improve pupils’ learning (PUL) Improve pupils’ motivation / attitude to science (PUM) Different classroom activities (ULEA)

Results

The analysis showed that the most frequently reported gain in knowledge and understanding was that of skills in new teaching methods (67% citing this – table 2). The emphasis on skills was matched in the changes in practice that were reported, with 88% indicating that they had used new skills in teaching (table 3). Increased confidence was an outcome for many.

Table 2. Impact on knowledge and skills

N=464 Number of participants

% of participants

Skills in teaching methods 311 67Change in attitude towards knowledge and skills – Increased confidence 209 45Knowledge / understanding of science content 197 42Awareness of resources /support organizations 184 40Knowledge / understanding of management / curriculum /assessment concepts 133 29Skills in management / organisational techniques 43 9


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Table 3. Impact on practice N=464 Number of

participants% of

participants Use of skills in teaching 410 88 Change in attitude towards teaching / management – Increased confidence

93 20

STEM coherence 68 15 Use of skills in management / organisational techniques 47 10

The types of comments made by teachers in terms of knowledge and skills, and links with change in practice,

varied from very specific changes to more general changes. For example, this male participant identified a very specific teaching strategy as being embodied effectively in a change of practice:

Steve (pseudonym) (one day gifted and talented programme)

Impact on knowledge ‘Numerous ideas that provide a stimulus for further exploration and questioning. Really useful for getting students started in lessons through stimulating questions, and identifying misconceptions’ [evidence - lesson plan; gifted and talented lesson sequence planned; self-rated as high impact]

Impact on practice ‘Implemented the use of post-it-notes for top set year 11 class during science, so that interesting and relevant questions can be collated, discussed and set as research tasks if appropriate.’ [evidence – lesson plans and challenge poster created by students – self-rated as medium impact]

Many indicated that the combination of new knowledge, skills and increased confidence combined to give a tangible impact on pupils and had influenced teachers (tables 4 and 5). The vast majority of participants (86%) shared their knowledge and skills with others, with a significant proportion (43%) indicating that other people’s teaching had improved through their actions in following through the development in school. Large numbers (82%) indicated the change to pupils had been through exposure to classroom activities that were better matched to curriculum intentions (table 5). Pupils’ motivation was seen to increase (73%) and many (56%) indicated that there was better learning.

Table 4. Impact on the school N=464 Number of

participants% of

participants Share knowledge / understanding with colleagues 399 86 Improve others’ teaching 198 43 Coherent approach to STEM 72 16 Extracurricular activities 42 9 Improve other teachers’ management 32 7 Other 22 5

Table 5. Impact on pupils N=464 Number of

participants% of

participantsDifferent classroom activities 382 82Improved pupil motivation 337 73Improved pupil learning 259 56


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Three examples of the claims and evidence chain are shown in full from different courses. These illustrate the nature of reporting and evidence used, about which further questions can be asked.

Susie (one day How Science Works programme)

Impact on knowledge: ‘Huge – learning curve is very steep. Acquisition of knowledge and resources for use in the classroom.’ [evidence - I am more confident and have produced resources for use in the classroom; self-rated as high impact]

Impact on practice: ‘Some useful strategies to introduce the concepts to different classes.’ [evidence – resources produced, pupil responses; self-rated as high impact]

Impact on the school: ‘Introduced to all year groups. Lots of powerpoints to use with different classes. Long term gains.’ [evidence – laminated cards on lab walls for review; self-rated as high impact]

Impact on pupils: ‘Improved understanding and given them more confidence. Short term gains.’ [evidence – use of language fluently by the pupils, enjoyment of lessons, confidence in use of terminology; self-rated as high impact]

Paul (four day chemistry for non-specialist programme)

Impact on knowledge: ‘Since doing the course I feel a lot more confident when doing chemistry (both practical and theory) [evidence – pupils are stretched more. Expectations are greater, greater interest from the pupils because the practicals are more interesting / spectacular in some cases; self-rated medium impact]

Impact on practice: ‘I now complete more practical sessions – chemistry practicals that 12 months ago I would not have attempted.’ [evidence – pupils seem to enjoy the practical sessions a lot more these days; self-rated high impact]

Impact on the school: ‘The greater knowledge and confidence obtained has been passed on to other non-qualified science teachers in the school.’ [evidence – other teachers are attempting to cover areas they otherwise would not consider. Greater appreciation from these staff for the help they are given; self-rated high impact]

Impact on pupils: ‘Pupils come to lessons a lot more motivated and interested. Pupils are very keen to do well and continue science into KS4.’ [evidence – started GCSE for the first time last year in this special school – 3 pupils passing. Hope to continue this trend. There is a greater number wanting to do GCSE science 2009/100; self-rated high impact]

Julie (one day contemporary science, climate change)

Impact on knowledge: ‘Improved awareness of the implications of climate change, and improved ideas for classroom activities to deliver these new ideas to children.’ [evidence – materials beginning to be written into lesson plans and schemes of work, including plans for climate change week; self-rated high impact]

Impact on practice: ‘Using the climate change materials weekly with a year 7 group. New skills and fitting in How science works into new KS3 curriculum.’ [evidence – have met several How science works objectives through these materials. Climate change materials included in new year 7 schemes of work; self-rated medium impact]

Impact on the school: ‘Climate change week arranged to be delivered in July. I have disseminated materials to colleagues and a planning team has been put together to plan the climate change week. Full staff meeting held, explaining the materials and what is available.’ [evidence – hopefully change pupils’ views on wasteful lifestyle and the importance of climate change on today’s society. Planning team have timetabled time to organise climate change week. Minutes from meeting and feedback from other staff; self-rated medium impact]

Impact on pupils: ‘Change in pupils’ attitude. Children more aware of issues of climate change.’ [evidence – school schemes such as recycling collection, turning lights off, willingness to take part in eco lessons. Classroom displays on eco awareness. One year 7 class


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wrote whole school assembly on climate change. School Council minutes on discussion on how to reduce carbon footprint. School New Year Resolution number 3 is to reduce the school’s carbon footprint by 10%; self-rated medium impact.]

We have confidence from the analysis that the nature of the impact is clearly attributable to attendance at network CPD. Participants see tangible benefits to their engagement in network CPD and can evidence changes in practice. The chain of evidence presented by participants (see examples above) illustrates the key categories shown in tables 2-5. Where there is more debate is over the extent of impact. The judgement of high-medium-low impact was with the teacher. While many claimed high impact, there was variation in interpretation and evidence presented. For example Susie, above, claimed high impact in each area on the basis of limited evidence. It would appear that some of her intended learning outcomes were achieved – ‘to increase confidence and develop our teaching’ but there remains uncertainty about wider goals ‘to improve the life chances of our pupils; to ensure science in the news can be effectively evaluated in later life’. Clearly this short programme has had some influence on Susie’s practice – and may have triggered further development. However, it is difficult to tell the extent of longer term impact from this short CPD episode. In Julie’s case, a focused CPD episode led to wider school initiatives yet her rating of impact is not as high as some.

Table 6 shows the extent of impact identified by participants for each of the impact categories and the nature of evidence provided for that impact.

Table 6 Extent of impact claimed and nature of evidence presented by participants Impact on knowledge

and skills Impact on practice

Impact on school Impact on pupils

No. % No. % No. % No. % Extent of impact: 0 16 3 8 2 13 3 19 4 Extent of impact: low 40 9 68 15 88 19 67 14 Extent of impact: medium 189 41 195 42 181 39 157 34 Extent of impact: high 199 43 163 35 118 25 125 27 Extent of impact: TBC 20 4 30 6 64 14 96 21 Nature of evidence: 0 19 4 27 6 30 6 32 7 Nature of evidence: low 272 59 248 53 179 39 99 21 Nature of evidence: medium 149 32 156 34 197 42 222 48 Nature of evidence: high 3 1 3 1 5 1 12 3 Nature of evidence: TBC 21 5 30 6 53 11 99 21

While quite high proportions claim medium or high impact on their practice, few present the highest quality

of evidence to support that claim. We regard high quality evidence as quantitative or qualitative evidence that is systematically collected and analysed (e.g. pupil questionnaires, work sampling etc). In contrast, participants attending the second residential session of National Centre programmes (SFS) are frequently more systematic in their presentation of evidence. For 2007-08 44% of National Centre participants, from a sample of 190, were able to present high quality evidence of the impact. For those attending a National Centre programme which had one residential session (SF), like Regional Centre programmes, the proportion presenting the highest quality evidence drops to 8% (from a sample size of 73).

These findings suggest that teachers need expectations of the nature of evidence of change to be clarified. It may not be realistic to expect teachers to gather data systematically about a change in practice without significant training – indeed a research study has shown that science teachers judge changes in their own practice by less tangible criteria than they use to judge the efficacy of educational research (Ratcliffe et al, 2005). Science teachers tend to judge educational research by the same rigorous criteria as researchers, yet evaluate changes in their own practice through the ‘feel’ in the classroom and pupils’ responses.

Thus to evaluate the extent of impact, it would be best to rely on evidence collected systematically and independently, but in collaboration with teachers. This is a further stage of the evaluation of CPD in which we are engaged, with two independent studies examining the nature and extent of impact due to report in March 2010.


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Evidence indicates that professional development through the National Science Learning Centre network has impact on practice at all of Guskey’s levels from increased knowledge through to improvements in pupils’ motivation and learning. Although the evidence used in this analysis is self-reported, the process has been undertaken in conjunction with the teacher’s line manager who countersigns the record. There is thus some validation of the nature of impact and of the evidence presented.

Some may be surprised that the impact of professional development from a short programme can be as significant as teachers claim. However, we attribute the targeted impact to the careful design of the professional development and the support provided to participants in their own settings. The development of an impact tool that provides participants with the means of self-reflection and peer review is enabling participants’ progress through professional development to be monitored effectively by themselves and others.

This evaluation has implications for the design of impact studies which fulfil the ‘What Works Clearinghouse’ evidence standards in addressing the effect of teacher professional development on pupils’ achievement. Yoon et al (2007) show that there is ‘a paucity of rigorous studies that directly examine this link’. We would not claim that this is the most rigorous study in demonstrating a link between professional development and pupils’ achievement, but it provides some evidence and a starting point for further research. During 2009-10, we plan to sample participants and undertake the same analysis, but in addition undertake follow-up studies in schools.

References

Adey, P., with Hewitt, G., Hewitt, J. and Landau, N. (2004) The Professional Development of Teachers: Practice and Theory Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Darling-Hammond, L. & Youngs, P. (2002) Defining ‘highly qualified teachers’: What does ‘scientifically-based’ research actually tell us? Educational Researcher, 31 (9), 13-25

Guskey, T. R. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Thousand Oaks, Ca., Corwin Press

Jarvis, T., Hingley, P., & Pell, A. (2008) Changes in secondary technicians’ attitudes following a four day in-service programme and subsequent effects on school practice. Journal of In-service Education 34, 1, 27-46

Jeanpierre, B., Oberhauser, K., Freeman, C. (2005) Characteristics of professional development that effect change in secondary science teachers’ classroom practice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 42, 6, 668-690

Loucks-Horsley, S., Hewson., Love, N., & Stiles, K. (1998) Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Luft, J. (2001) Changing inquiry practices and beliefs: the impact of an inquiry-based professional development programme on beginning and experienced secondary science teachers International Journal of Science Education 23, 5, 517-534

Ratcliffe, M., Bartholomew, H., Hames, V., Hind, A., Leach, J., Millar, R. And Osborne, J. (2005) Evidence-based practice in science education: The researcher-user interface. Research Papers in Education, 20 (2): 169-186

Yoon, K. S., Duncan, T., Lee, S. W.-Y., Scarloss, B., & Shapley, K. (2007). Reviewing the evidence on how teacher professional development affects student achievement (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2007–No. 033). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs


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VARIOUS MEANS OF ENACTING A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP

PHYSICS TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE

Silke Mikelskis-Seifert University of Education, Freiburg, Germany

Reinders Duit IPN – Leibniz-Institute for Science Education, Kiel, Germany

Abstract

The processes of teacher professional development in 17 sets of teachers participating in the project Physics in Context are investigated. The project was funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. The key goal of the project is to improve the range and quality of teachers’ thinking about teaching and learning physics as well as their teaching behaviour by developing new teaching and learning methods. The process of improving teachers’ thinking is deliberately supported. Evaluation includes student and teacher measures. The results are encouraging – on the student side and regarding teacher professional development. It turns out, for instance, that teachers are of the opinion that their thinking about instruction and also their instructional behaviour developed substantially during participation. However, there are significant differences between the participating sets. The philosophy of the project is enacted quite differently in the 17 sets – as might be expected. It seems that the intensity of coaching and reduction of the normal teaching load are essential factors for fruitful development. It turns out that the set achieves outstanding measures regarding the development of teachers’ beliefs about good instruction and their instructional behaviour that enjoys by far the most intensive coaching and reduction of teaching load.

Background, Framework, and Purpose

Developing teachers’ way of thinking about “good” instruction as well as their views of the teaching and learning process are generally seen as essential for improving teaching behaviour and implementation of more efficient teaching and learning settings (Borko, 2004; Abell, 2009). The German project Physics in Context (Mikelskis & Bell, 2008; Mikelskis & Duit, 2009) explicitly draws on this position. In general, the results of evaluation are encouraging. The development of interests (and additional affective variables) for students taught by the participating teachers is significantly better than for students in a control group. The development of teacher beliefs is less substantial with regard to their views about teaching and learning. However, there is evidence from teacher questionnaires and interviews as well as from student questionnaires that their instructional behaviour changed into the intended direction (Mikelskis-Seifert & Duit, 2008). We would like to point to similar findings by Luft (2001) as well as Luft and Roehring (2007). They found that it is hard to change experienced teachers’ beliefs substantially but that it is possible to change their instructional behaviour. The focus of the present paper is on substantial differences of change measures in the different sets of teachers participating in the project Physics in Context. It turns out that there is a significant relation between the way the program is enacted and the development of change measures.


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Rational

“Physics in Context” (www.physik-im-kontext.de) is a project that was funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research. The project team comprises members of the Leibniz –Institute for Science Education in Kiel (IPN) and four other universities in Germany.1 It is part of various attempts in Germany to improve school science instruction. Among them are the “sister” projects Chemistry in Context (www.ipn.uni-kiel.de/abt_chemie/chik.html) and Biology in Context (www.bik.ipn.uni-kiel.de). The key goal of Physics in Context is to improve the range and quality of teachers’ thinking about teaching and learning physics as well as their teaching behaviour by developing teaching and learning materials and methods.

To develop teachers’ ways of thinking about “good” instruction we draw on the literature of teacher competencies, in particular on Shulman’s (1987) approach of PCK and on the Model of Educational Reconstruction (Duit, Gropengießer, & Kattmann, 2005). The process of developing teachers’ thinking is deliberately supported. Sets of some ten teachers and a physics educator are working together. 17 sets in 11 of the 16 German federal states participated. The cooperation between teachers and physics educators is viewed as “symbiotic”. That means that teachers are seen as experts for the practice of teaching physics and physics educators as set members who are familiar with the recent science education research literature and also with the literature on new teaching methods. The role of the physics educators is to serve as coaches guiding the work of the “communities of practice” composed of teachers and physics educators. Brief summaries of research findings and theoretical perspectives (piko letters) as well as workshops (partly video-based) play the major role in supporting the development of teachers’ thinking and their actual practice. This concept of teacher professional development is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Set work – a model of teacher professional development

The piko letters are short texts (about 4 to 5 pages) on important topics of science education research that aim at improving instruction. There are the following basic piko-letters: (1) On constructivist views of teaching and learning, (2) on the above “Model of Educational Reconstruction”, (3) on the role of affective variables in the teaching and learning process, and (4) on “Characteristics of good Physics Instruction”. The other letters address constructivi2st teaching and learning strategies as well as tools to evaluate instruction and to provide feedback.

1 The PHYSICS IN CONTEXT Team: Reinders Duit, Manfred Euler, Silke Mikelskis-Seifert, Thorsten Bell, Gunnar Friege, Michael Komorek, Christoph T. Wodzinski (IPN Kiel); Rita Wodzinski (University of Kassel); Peter Reinhold (University of Paderborn); Lutz-Helmut Schön (Humboldt University, Berlin); Raimund Girwidz (University of Education, Ludwigsburg). Homepage: http://www.physik-im-kontext.de 2


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In the set work teachers and physics educators develop new “concepts” (e.g., new ideas for physics instruction, new instructional materials and instructional strategies). These processes are guided by theoretical inputs of physics educators – by explicitly discussing piko-letters or providing workshops on various topics. When the teachers develop and test the new concepts, the physics educators are the coaches of these processes and of the reflection phases. We hope that the teachers’ thinking about “good” physics instruction and their instructional practice will develop in the intended direction by these interventions and supports.

However, we experienced substantial variance in which way the model of teacher professional development in figure 1 was actually enacted in the different sets. There are substantial differences, first, concerning organization of set work and incentives for the participating teachers. Second, the support provided by piko-letters and workshops varies significantly. Whereas, in some sets the physics educators carefully guided teachers to use the piko-letters for their work when developing new teaching sequences this is missing in other sets. It turns out that the way the project is enacted seems to result in significantly different development of teachers’ thinking about good instruction and their instructional behaviour. In the following we will have a closer look at three target sets. In table 1, information on these sets is presented.3

Table 1. Characteristics of the work in three piko sets

In set 1 the major development work happened during the meetings whereas for the other two sets development took place between the meetings. For set 2 small groups of teachers cooperated in developing various new materials. Set 3 focused on the development of a new curriculum for grades 5 and 6 (model and inquiry oriented). Coaching by the physics educators played a substantially different role in the three sets – as time for intensive coaching in the full group was limited for sets 1 and 2 due to the subgroups they formed. Clearly, set 3 stands out in various respects. The teachers closely cooperated in developing just one instructional unit at a certain time. The time they met was by fare the largest and they enjoyed the most substantial reduction of their normal teaching load. That means that coaching and hence science education research input was by far most intensive for this set. Further, the time provided for the developmental work by the incentives was also outstanding.

Methods – Design of Evaluation

The program was evaluated in various ways. Formative evaluation served to support and to document the processes within the sets. It included both student and teacher measures (see figure 2). At the beginning and the end of the school year students were asked how they perceived their learning and which activities took place in their classroom. The questionnaire also addressed the development of affective and cognitive variables (like interests and

3 We would like to point out that Set 3 was coached by one the authors, namely Silke Mikelskis-Seifert.


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views of the nature of science). Teachers were provided with a questionnaire that allowed to investigate the development of their subjective theories and beliefs (their thinking) about physics instruction as well as of their perception of the own instructional practice at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Further, teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire on issues of their acceptance of the program near the end of the school year and interviews were carried out with three teachers from most sets. Additionally, there were set questionnaires to investigate students’ learning of the set specific contents. All questionnaires were carefully piloted and it was investigated whether they meet the necessary standards concerning reliabilities.

Figure 2. Mixed-method-design of evaluation

Results – Various Ways of Enacting the Philosophy of the Program in the Different Sets

Teachers’ perceptions of their instructional behaviour

The development of teachers’ perceptions of what they are doing in class to support students during the school year of participation in the project is investigated by a number of scales in the teacher questionnaire. The results of three scales serve as examples. They address teachers’ perceptions of student-self responsible and inquiry based learning. The reliabilities of the scales are sufficiently high.

In all three scales, there are significant increases. Hence, we are allowed to conclude, that teachers are of the opinion that their instruction changed into the direction intended in Physics in Context. Science processes and self-responsible learning are given substantial attention in the project’s philosophy. A couple of piko-letters provide the teachers with the state of research concerning these issues and in which way they may be set in practice.

Latent Class Analysis (LCA) allows identifying different types of teachers with regard to the three characteristics of instruction in figure 3. The analysis carried out identifies general structures in pre- and post-measures. Figure 4 displays the result of this analysis. The best fit of data is achieved for the three latent classes called “continuous”, “sometimes” and “seldom” according to the value achieved on the scale given. Please notice that the numbers in the diagram do not denote values like the ones in figure 3. They are parameters.


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Figure 3. Teachers’ perceptions of student self-responsible learning and inquiry based learning

Figure 4. Result of the latent-class-analysis – three teachers groups

The neutral line is located at “1,5”. “3” denotes the maximum value of the LCA parameter. It stands for the highest parameter possible for student self-responsible and inquiry based learning. The answer profiles illustrated by the three lines characterize the class of teachers that carry out this kind of learning continuously, sometimes and seldom.

Table 2. Percentages of teachers in the latent classes of figure 4

Teachers groups pretest posttest

group “continuous” 38% 60%

group “sometimes” 38% 26%

group “seldom” 24% 14%


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It is interesting to analyse how many teachers fall into the three classes in the pre- and in the post measure (s. Table 2). As may be expected, in the pre-measure the upper class is somewhat small – but becomes much larger in the post-measure. The frequencies for the remaining two lower classes become substantially smaller. Hence, it may be concluded that during participation in the project Physics in Context teachers’ perception of their instructional behaviour developed into the intended direction. As students’ perceptions of their piko instruction show an increase of inquiry based instructional activities (Mikelskis-Seifert & Duit, 2009) it is somewhat likely that teachers’ instructional behaviour actually changed into the desired direction.

Set specific analysis

In the following we put a major emphasis on comparing the development of teacher and student measures in the three sets of table 1. As mentioned above set 3 stands out with regard to intensity of set work and coaching by the physics educators and also concerning the reduction of 4 lessons a week given the teachers by the school administration. It is interesting that the change measures provided by the above methods of evaluation for set 3 are also outstanding. This holds, for instance, for teachers’ perceptions of changes in their thinking about instruction, changes in instruction itself and changes in student interest. It is interesting that the members of this set also listed substantially more aspects of the personal value they experienced in the feedback questionnaire. Results of the interviews reveal that the value of cooperation was experienced most intensively by the members of set 3.

Figure 5. Teachers’ perceptions of student self-responsible learning

Figure 5 presents exemplary data on the changes of teachers’ perceptions of the degree of student self-responsible learning in their piko classes before and after a year of work in the project. Results from the three target sets but also from two additional sets and from all sets are provided to indicate the variance in the project. Again the most impressive increase occurs for set 3. Briefly summarized, quantitative data from teacher and student questionnaires and qualitative data from teacher feedback questionnaires and interviews show that the development of teacher thinking about instruction and their instructional behaviour are best in the set that enjoyed the most intensive coaching and the largest reduction of lessons for their work in the project.4

4 For the significance of support in teacher professional development see Lücken and Elster (2009) as well as Ostermeier, Prenzel, and Duit (in press).


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Similar set specific results we can also find in the data of the open feedback questionnaires. Findings indicate that most teachers highly value their participation in piko (see figure 6). The results of the set specific analyses reveal substantial differences between the sets. In set 3 with very intensive coaching, we find the highest acceptance of the program. Similar results we can also find in other scales (see figure 7).

Figure 6. Teachers’ perceptions of the value of participating in piko

Figure 7. Teachers’ perceptions of changes

Finally we present data on teachers’ perceptions of changes in thinking about instruction, changes in instruction and changes in students’ learning and interest (Figure 7). Most teachers quite strongly are of the opinion that participation in Physics in Context changed their thinking about good instruction – interestingly highest in set 3 that enjoyed a particularly intensive coaching. In the open feedback on changes of their instructional thinking and their teaching, the teachers of sets 1 to 3 mentioned several different aspects. In all three sets, teachers reported that Physics in Context put much emphasis on the issue of student-centred instruction. Student activation played a significantly larger role in their lessons than before participating in piko. These changes seem to be seen as particularly significant in the sets 1 and 3.


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The focus of the present paper is on the various means of enacting the philosophy of the teacher professional development program Physics in Context. It turned out that indeed various means of enacting the philosophy in practice of the project work occurred in the participating 17 sets. Whereas the philosophy emphasizing student based inquiry types of teaching and learning and embedding instruction into contexts that make sense for students was accepted by all sets we observed flexible ways of interpreting the philosophy – due to the particular interests and views of efficient physics instruction of the set coaches. Our data – qualitative and quantitative measures – show that the way of coaching in a number of sets was somewhat different from the “ideal” cycle in figure 1. Some coaches obviously did not put major emphasis on bringing in science education research findings (e.g. on the role of student conceptions in the learning process by pointing to or discussing the piko-letters) but were more concerned about organisational issues and providing latest news about physics and technology issues (which are clearly also important). As a result the piko-letters were given only little value in many sets. The data for target set 3 point out that the value attached to these piko-letters (that summarize research findings and present views of teaching and learning) is only high if teachers experience the value of these information in their daily work, namely if the letters were discussed in the sets and if teachers could use them in planning and performing instruction. Hence, the intensity and quality of coaching in the sets has proven an essential factor in the process of teacher professional development observed in the sets. In addition the incentives by the school administration, e.g. by providing reduction of lessons to give, plays a significant role – as these reductions provide the teachers with more time to engage in the project and to seriously deal with new ideas. Of course, this is common wisdom in the field of teacher professional development (Abell, 2009; 2007). However, we think our findings may contribute to the further empirical back up of this common wisdom. So far we were not able to analyse all data available. Further analyses will be carried out – especially qualitative data based on the 19 interviews we carried out with participating teachers.

The results of the evaluation of the project Physics in Context briefly outlined above seem to favour a model of teacher professional development that builds on a combination of theoretical input of recent educational conceptions and of intensive coaching during the development of new teaching materials and methods. Clearly the enacted focus of the work in a number of the participating sets was too much on the development side and not on reflection about student learning. In order to improve this side we think video-analysis including set-work may be helpful. Analysis of video-documented classroom trials of the materials and methods developed has proven to lead attention on the reflection of student learning (cf Brophy, 2004; Kastens et al. 2008).

References

Abell, S. (2007). Research on science teacher knowledge. In S. Abell & N. Ledermann, Eds., Handbook of research on science education (pp. 1105-1150). Mawah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Abell, S. (2009). A model for evaluating science teacher professional development projects. Paper presented at the ESERA Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 31 – Sept. 4.

Borko, H. (2004). Professional development and teacher learning: Mapping the terrain. Educational Researcher, 33, 3 –15.

Brophy, J., Ed. (2004). Using videos in teacher education. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.

Duit, R., Gropengießer, H. & Kattmann, U. (2005). Towards science education research that is relevant for improving practice: The model of educational reconstruction. In H.E. Fischer, Ed., Developing standards in research on science education (pp. 1-9). London: Taylor & Francis.

Kastens, C., Duit, R., Drübert, N., & Lehrke, M. (2008). Studies on videobased physics teachers’ professional development. In NARST, Ed., Proceedings of the Annual International Conference “Impact of Science Education Research on Public Policy”. Baltimore, MD: National Association for Research in Science Teaching (CD-ROM).


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Lücken, M., & Elster, D. (2009). The role of learning communities in implementing context- and competence oriented biology instruction. Paper presented at the ESERA Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 31 – Sept. 4.

Luft, J.A. (2001). Changing inquiry practices and beliefs: The impact of an inquiry-based professional development programme on beginning and experienced secondary science teachers. International Journal of Science Education, 23, 501-515.

Luft, J., & Roehring, G.H. (2007). Capturing science teachers’ beliefs: The development of the Teacher Belief Interview. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 11, 2-26.

Mikelskis-Seifert, S., & Bell, T. (2008). Physics in Context – Teacher professional development, conceptions and findings of evaluation studies. In S. Mikelskis-Seifert, U. Ringelband, & M. Brückmann, Eds., Four decades of research in science education – from curriculum development to quality improvement (pp. 221-238). Münster, Germany: Waxmann.

Mikelskis-Seifert, S., & Duit, R. (2008). Physics teacher professional development in the project Physics in Context. In NARST, Ed., Proceedings of the Annual International Conference “Impact of Science Education Research on Public Policy”. Baltimore, MD: National Association for Research in Science Teaching (CD-ROM).

Mikelskis-Seifert, S., & Duit, R. (2009). Development of physics teachers’ beliefs about about good instruction and their instructional behaviour. In NARST, Ed., Proceedings of the Annual International Conference “Grand Callenges and grand Opportunities in Science Education”. Garden Grove, CA: National Association for Research in Science Teaching (CD-ROM).

Ostermeier, C., Prenzel, M., & Duit, R. (in press). Improving Science and Mathematics Instruction -The SINUS-Project as an example for reform as teacher professional development. International Journal of Science Education.

Shulman, L.S. (1987) Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-21.


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ENGAGING GIRLS IN PHYSICS: LESSONS FROM TEACHERS’ ACTION RESEARCH AND

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ENGLAND

Angie Daly Edge Hill University

Laura Grant Laura Grant Associates

Karen Bultitude University of the West of England, Bristol

Abstract

The Girls into Physics programme focusses on girls’ under-representation in physics after the age of 16. In England a substantial number of girls do well at Key Stage 4 (ages 14-16) but choose not to study physics further. In 2005, physics was the 6th most popular A level subject for boys but only the 19th most popular choice for girls. This gender divide narrowed only slightly by 2008 (Institute of Physics, 2008). Previous reports on factors affecting girls’ decisions to participate in physics (Murphy and Whitelegg, 2006) and a teacher’s guide to action (Hollins et al., 2006) identified six pedagogical clusters which were then incorporated into a programme of professional development: learning and teaching, classroom management, progression, careers, ethos and workforce. In 2008 teachers from 100 schools across England undertook professional development at regional Science Learning Centres. These courses enabled teachers to conduct action research projects into effective pedagogical approaches to engaging more girls in physics. This paper presents the findings of the evaluation of the Girls into Physics Action Research programme. Three key areas for teacher practice and professional development were identified: action research enhancing reflective practice; understanding gender equality; and including pupil voice.

Introduction The Girls into Physics programme of work led by the Institute of Physics focuses on the persistent problem

that, in England, girls are under-represented in physics after the age of 16 (Hollins et al., 2006, p5). The programme to date has included the development of a series of supporting resources1 for the science teaching community that build understanding of how teaching and learning strategies can be used to engage girls with physics. In 2004 the Institute of Physics commissioned two reviews to investigate the reasons why girls choose not to progress to physics post-16 and to explore what kind of teaching and learning strategies successfully support girls who do progress. Murphy and Whitelegg’s (2006) review of the literature in this area identified three key factors that influenced girls’ decisions about studying physics. These are (Murphy and Whitelegg, 2006; pp 9-10):

• Self-concept - students’ sense of themselves in relation to the subject: the value they place on the subject and their willingness to engage in it

• Views of physics - how students experience physics at school

• Teacher-student relationships - how personally supportive students find their physics teacher

1 Girls into Physics resources are available from the Institute of Physics website www.iop.org


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In 2005 a review of best practice in schools where girls had successfully progressed was conducted in England. These findings were reported in Hollins et al. (2006; pp 4-9), identifying seven aspects of effective classroom practice:

• The school culture and ethos

• The curriculum and its organisation

• Classroom organisation and management

• Questions and answers

• The use of language

• The use of analogy and illustration

• Relevance In 2007 a pilot programme of continuing professional development (CPD) was delivered to support thirty-

two teachers in understanding the issues and take action within their own classrooms. Four Science Learning Centres2 were commissioned to recruit the schools and to work with teachers to review participation of girls in physics in their own schools and to develop action research projects to address the issues identified. Drawing on the best practice review (Hollins et al., 2006), it was anticipated that the research projects would fall into the following clusters:

• School culture: whole school ethos and support from senior management

• Teaching and learning strategies: shaping physics curricula and pedagogies to be more relevant and inclusive

• Classroom management: using mixed and/or single gender groups within lessons

• Careers education and guidance: strategies for teachers and IAG (information advice and guidance) specialists or providing careers-focussed teaching and learning strategies

• Progression: exposing girls to more pathways for studying physics

• Workforce: exposing more pupils to specialist physics teaching In 2008 the CPD programme was rolled out to reach 100 teachers across England and delivered through six

Science Learning Centres. This paper reports on key findings from the external evaluation which was commissioned to provide a synthesis of impact of the teachers’ action research projects. The evaluation was designed to work through three interconnecting strands:

1. Mapping evidence from teachers onto an appropriate framework for comparison.

2. Working with schools and teachers to enable them to evaluate the impact of their individual in-school interventions.

3. Collecting and collating the results from individual schools and produce a synthesis of impact.

2 The Science Learning Centres are a network of 10 centres throughout England who provide Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for everyone involved in science education, at all levels. www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk


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Methods

CPD Action Research Methodology The Girls into Physics Action Research programme involved supporting teachers to conduct action research

investigations in their own schools. The CPD programme brought groups of up to twelve teachers together regionally to their local Science Learning Centre for two separate one-day workshops. The first workshop focused on planning and skills development followed by a second workshop three to four months later in which teachers reported their findings. During the intervening time the teachers implemented the projects in their schools, collected and analyzed data and prepared their project reports. The programme budget allowed for schools to receive funds to cover the costs of three days of teachers’ time in order to facilitate payment of a replacement teacher or to support purchase of materials. An action research approach of three broad and cyclical stages of plan, act and observe, and reflect/review was adopted (McNiff et al., 1996; Reason and Bradbury, 2004).

Plan

• To help teachers prepare the context for their project by discussing themes and ideas arising out of the literature and best practice reviews on girls’ participation in physics

• To help teachers self-evaluate their own situation in schools and to establish the research focus of their projects

• To support teachers to plan the implementation of strategies that had already been identified as effective

Act and observe

• To help teachers conduct an action research project in school to address these issues

• To encourage teachers to use qualitative as well as quantitative methods, including consultation with students and colleagues

• To ensure teachers could gather data relevant to the small scale of the projects

Reflect and Review

• To provide teachers with an opportunity to analyse data

• To encourage teachers to discuss their findings with colleagues, and students in most cases, and to reflect on changes

Evaluation methodology Locating teachers as agents of change in their classrooms and schools was central to the developmental

approach of the Girls into Physics: Action Research programme. The evaluation sought to capture teachers’ reflections on their own practice and experiences of physics teaching, and their findings and reflections from their action research projects. The evaluation approach was structured around three areas of activity and is summarised below. 3

Developing a theory of change. Building a theory of change provided a useful visual framework for the evaluation of the programme (Chen and Rossi, 1992). This was used to map evidence from the literature and to locate the specific focus of teachers’ action research projects. A comparison across research clusters could thus be established (see figure 1).

3 Detailed information on the methods and tools used in the evaluation are contained in the full research project report available from the Department of Children, Schools and Families http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR103(R).pdf


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Research clusters and questions

More girls take physics post‐16

Physics seen as relevant by girls

Progression routes visible

Physics learned (and taught) in a way that is accessible and engaging

for girls

Value of physics to careers is highlighted

Ethos of ‘physics is for everyone’: positive perception of the subject in school

Girls feel competent in physics

Physics teachingsupports uptake post‐

16Classroom managed to

promote girls’ engagement in group

work Workforce: Girls [and boys] access good physics teaching

Girls have positive experiences in physics

classrooms

Progression?

ClassroomManagement?

Workforce?

Learning and Teaching? School Culture?

Careers education and guidance?

Figure 1: Locating teachers’ action research in a theory of change

Data collection relating to projects and participating schools included planning tools such as: an action research planning template; self-evaluation activities & audit; and a ranking activity to access and prioritise literature themes and areas of focus. Guidance was provided to teachers on research methods, including using an attitude to physics questionnaire and how to use qualitative methods to gather information from students.

In addition contextual information including demographic data and organisation of physics teaching in schools was gathered through a survey to teachers and analysis of Government data.

Synthesis of impact. Evidence and results were collected from the teachers during the planning and reporting workshops and from visits to a sample of schools. Reporting tools included: individual reports on the action research projects; observations from school visits; presentation of findings by teachers at the reporting workshops; and videos and photographs provided as evidence by teachers.

Various support mechanisms enabled teachers to access relevant advice and information, especially during the period in between the workshops. A dedicated Girls into Physics community area of the National Science Learning Centre’s portal was set up to share and store information. Access to the evaluation team and the Science Learning Centre lead staff was also available to teachers via email.


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Analysis

Evaluation findings were grouped according to the six research clusters identified previously. Each cluster began with a brief summary of the key literature findings, as well as an overview of the participating teachers’ practice at the start of the project as related to that research cluster. A summary of the action research projects within the cluster was provided, as well as an outline of teachers’ experiences during their interventions. Both of these elements were grouped according to the ‘effective pedagogies’ identified within the theory of change. Key areas of impact identified for that cluster were outlined. Finally, a synthesis of impact was drawn together by the evaluation team that identifed key teacher practice that supports postive change for girls studying physics. A key focus of the evaluation and analysis approach was to enable teachers’ voices and personal reflections on their experiences in addition to teacher-to-teacher recommendations to be highlighted in the final report.

Results

“For me every lesson is a mini action research project. This project has reminded me of the value of risk taking. It is energising, informative, creative and enlightening.” [participating teacher]

This paper focuses on the key findings relating to the synthesis of impact of the teachers’ action research into girls’ participation in physics. Further information (for example on the discrete aforementioned research clusters) is outside the scope of this synopsis however is available from: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR103(R).pdf

The synthesis of impact identified three critical approaches that empowered teachers to adjust their teaching practice to support girls’ participation in physics. These essential practices begin in the classroom, but have implications for learning and teaching beyond the classroom and CPD. Three overarching findings were that:

• Gender aware teaching supports girls’ participation

• Listening to students’ views - especially girls’ - results in better planning

• The action research process enhances sustainable change in teaching practice Figure 2 demonstrates how these themes can be included in a simplified version of the theory of change

model. They are presented here as steps for teachers towards accessing the effective pedagogies identified in the Teachers’ Guide to Action (Hollins et al., 2006).

Each of the three key findings is illustrated in more detail below, including case studies of individual teachers’ experiences relating to these issues.


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Figure 2: Teachers effecting change

Gender aware teaching supports girls’ participation

Many teachers want to be gender aware in their teaching but are less sure of differentiating between gendered approaches to knowledge, curriclum and school/classroom organisation (Ivinson and Murphy, 2007). The finding that gender aware teaching supports girls’ participation may seem obvious however the teachers involved in the Girls into Physics Action Research programme identified key subtleties related to how best to achieve this. Whilst teachers are generally aware of the necessity of placing ideas in context, using examples and analogies that appeal to both girls and boys and so on, they can also misunderstand what gender aware teaching means in practice. Strategies were outlined in the overview of teaching practice by Hollins et al. (2006) and the power of building gender awareness as part of CPD was again reinforced by teachers as a key recommendation within this project.

Influential factors

addressed

More girls take physics post‐16

Essential practice

Effective pedagogies

Listen to students’ voices

Focus on girls’ participation as an equality issue (theory, practice, evidence, policy)

Reflect on own & collective practice


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One of the most common misconceptions relates to gender neutrality. Often we think we are being gender aware in the activities that we develop, but are we really? For example, the way in which the gendered nature of examples interacts with other factors affecting engagement is also important. James4 decided to investigate the impact of the examples he used in class on the girls involved. He ran similar exercises relating to speed-distance-time calculations using three very different focuses: a prediction of who would win a race-off between Ronaldo (the football player) and a Bugatti car; a calculation of whether a superhero (the students could choose the gender and abilities of the superhero) would be able to catch their villain when they jumped off a particular building, and a standard ticker-tape practical. James predicted that the superhero example would be the most popular with the girls, since they could take some ownership of the example and present it as a female role model should they so desire. However as it turned out they much preferred Ronaldo Vs the Bugatti – even though ostensibly it is a ‘male oriented’ example. This was mainly because it had a clear context and they could very quickly relate to the situation, whereas the superhero was too ‘abstract’ and the ticker tape experiment too ‘boring’. This teachers’ intervention showed that prioritising gendered examples in this way can sometimes be unhelpful for learning.

Overall teachers’ experiences reinforced the perspective that gender aware teaching is not something that can be superficially incorporated. It takes time for teachers to be able to comprehend the complexities involved and adapt their practice to incorporate gender aware teaching alongside other aspects of good teaching practice.

Listening to students views - especially girls’ - results in better planning

Throughout the Girls into Physics Action Research project the teachers involved were encouraged to seek feedback not only from their immediate colleagues and wider associates within the school, but also from the pupils themselves. Some teachers approached this by directly investigating girls’ (and boys’) perceptions of physics, what they found most (and least) interesting, and what their future priorities were. This was not an easy step for many teachers, but certainly proved valuable. As one teacher put it:

“I have used more informal discussions to inform [interventions]. Asking pupils to comment on teaching is a risky but worthwhile exercise. Painful but does win respect from the pupils.” [participating teacher]

Most teachers were surprised – even horrified – by the results. One teacher from an all-girls’ school discovered that not one of her Year 9 (age 13) pupils envisaged going to University, which was very unexpected and prompted an immediate careers and guidance intervention. Others became aware for the first time that their female students ‘hated’ physics for various reasons, even though they were relatively well behaved in class and achieved reasonable results. Uncovering these perceptions clarified elements of complacency and miscommunication within some schools, which the teachers were then able to take steps to remedy. Identifying these attitudes on a local scale also brought home the relevance of the previous Girls into Physics findings (Murphy and Whitelegg, 2006; Hollins et al., 2006). This recognition meant that the teachers were more likely to value the recommendations within those documents and act on them.

4 No real names have been used in this report


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Some teachers went a step further, incorporating the pupils as ‘student researchers’ on the project and involving them directly in planning and implementing the interventions. At the planning workshops, teachers found it difficult to conceive of ways they could have an impact on their entire school. However Maria5 recruited a group of pupil researchers who approached the issue head-on. They set about creating a large physics-related display in the school hall/dining room. As one of the students highlighted:

“Our ideas of what we wanted to do were very different to those our teacher had. She was a bit horrified at the prospect of making a massive display that the whole school would see!” [pupil researcher]

The Year 10 (age 14) students worked together to produce the display, then the pupil researchers interviewed the students lower down the school (Year 9; age 13) at break times before and after it was installed. The results showed changes in students’ understanding about physics and interest in studying physics post-16. Before the display was created 56% of Year 9 students said they knew what physics was, while afterwards 93% of Year 9 students said they knew what physics was. Those with a definite interest in studying physics at a higher level rose from 9% to 39% and those who were considering physics as a possible subject choice rose from 20% to 47%.

After the project Maria said:

“It seemed our action had a positive effect on students. Creating the bigger picture led to a lot of discussion of the many different ways physics is relevant in our lives…” [participating teacher]

Incorporating the students’ ideas directly into her intervention was highly successful – and somewhat surprising to Maria. She also noted that the pupil researchers acted as positive advocates for physics throughout the school and that this had contributed to the growing interest of younger pupils. Hence listening to girls’ ideas – both in seeking feedback and in planning activities – was proven to be a powerful mechanism for improving the physics culture within schools.

The action research process enhances sustainable change in teaching practice

Teachers required time, space and support to place the Girls into Physics literature and pedagogies in the contexts of their own schools and classrooms. Capturing and listening to students’ opinions and voices was a powerful way to inform practice. The wealth of information in the guide for action (Hollins et al., 2006) was overwhelming for some teachers, so support in identifying a starting point for change was crucial to success. As briefly described above a theory of change model (Daly et al., 2009; pp3-9) was developed to contextualise the existing literature for the teachers involved.

To put the situation in context, consider Kay6, a teacher who was originally trained in biology who felt she was ‘going out of her comfort zone’ when teaching physics. Her action research project involved placing physics in the wider school context. Her school had a strong tradition of using drama to promote communication, analysis and presentations of ideas, especially in Year 7-8 (age 11-12). Since the whole school were involved in a drama project and students had some skills in this area to build on, the science department developed a series of topic plans around “Drama meets Science”. The intervention incorporated

5 No real names have been used in this report 6 No real names have been used in this report


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drama methods into the topic ‘Radiation and Life’ which was taught over a two week block. The inclusion of drama methods in science teaching was a novel approach for the school. Sessions included:

• Activities to identify and build confidence in using relevant vocabulary, including ‘Electromagnetic Fruit Salad’ and ‘Let the Sun Shine On…’ In these activities each student is allocated a technical term or effect (such as ‘infra-red’, ‘x-ray’ or ‘electromagnetic spectrum’). When those terms are called out students with those terms have to gather together.

• Activities to allow a personalised choice of methods for the students to describe their understanding and learning. These included role plays where students were given a choice of phenomenon to describe the properties of, the effects of, and the uses of. Another activity used was ‘Hot Seating with Experts’ where students researched a topic over three weeks by using the internet, books, and talking to the teacher, until they became the experts on that topic. Then a session was held in which other students can ask questions of the ‘student experts’ about the topic under discussion.

Kay found that by drawing on the drama experience the young people already had, the students were more confident in transferring these skills to understanding physics. She found the students’ responses demonstrated “meaningful talk about science” and students’ capacity for “independent student research.”

Reflecting on the overall experience of the project Kay concluded,

“Change needs to travel beyond our own classrooms. This work is embedded in an overall action research approach in our department which is fostering a culture of independent learning and personalised learning. What I would say to teachers is to uses a variety of teaching and learning strategies in your class, even if that means getting out of your comfort zone …show the students you enjoy your subject and are prepared to take risks. This is a big shift for teachers but if the result is ‘physics is not boring’ it is worth it!” [participating teacher]


The three phases of the Girls into Physics programme are described in figure 3 below:

Figure 3: Phases of the Girls into Physics Action Research Programme

Capturing and listening to students’ opinions and voices was an important part of understanding the extent of girls’ exclusion from physics and most of the teachers did not have the tools or confidence to do this prior to their involvement in the project. The Girls into Physics Action Research programme enabled teachers to place wider research in context and gave them the time and effective strategies to tackle issues in their own schools and classrooms.

Teachers’ guide to action

Identifying good practice

Action research

Effecting change

Literature review

Understanding the problem


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It is important to remember the scale of the issue that the Girls into Physics programme is addressing. The inequality between girls and boys in physics is long established and teachers are not the only influencers of students’ attitudes towards the subject. Improving this situation is not a quick or straightforward process and every teacher of physics will need to take a slightly different approach in his or her classroom. Significant work in understanding the problem and identifying good practice has already been completed. However, arguably the biggest challenge is in making the necessary changes in classrooms, departments and schools for girls (and boys) to better engage with physics. This point was made eloquently by one of the pupil researchers discussing gender equality:

“We need to think about changing girls’ attitudes to physics including our own. If boys like it why shouldn’t we? It is not about making everything pink… [it is about] trying to get equality not make it stereotypical. I like a pink fluffy room but I also play football in my area. I have two sides to me. The way I see the Girls into Physics project is not to make physics girly but to make girls like it.” [pupil researcher]

Acknowledgements

Both the Girls into Physics Action Research programme and its evaluation were supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

References

Bradbury, P. and Reason, H. (2006) Handbook of Action Research, Sage, London

Chen, HT and Rossi, P.H. (1992) Using Theory to Improve Program and Policy Evaluations, New York, Greenwood Press

Daly, A., Grant, L. and Bultitude, K. (2009) Research Brief DSCF-RB103 Girls into Physics: Action Research, Department of Children, Schools and Families. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RB103.pdf

Daly, A., Grant, L. and Bultitude, K. (2009) Research Report DCSF-RR103 Girls into Physics: Action Research, Department of Children, Schools and Families. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR103(R).pdf

Gillbourn, D. and Youdell, D. (2000) Rationing Education: Policy, Practice, Reform and Equity. Buckingham: Open University Press

Hollins, M., Murphy, P., Ponchaud, B. and Whitelegg, E. (2006) Girls in the Physics Classroom: A Teachers’ Guide for Action. London, Institute of Physics

Institute of Physics (2008) Year on year increase of physics A-level entrants. Available from:http://www.iop.org/News/Community_News_Archive/2008/news_31001.html [accessed 5 February 2009]

Ivinson, G. and Murphy, P. (2007) Rethinking Single-Sex Teaching: Gender, School Subjects and Learning, Maidenhead, Open University Press

McNiff, J., Lomax, P. and Whitehead, J. (1996) You and Your Action Research Project. London: Routledge

Murphy, P. and Whitelegg, E. (2006) Girls in the Physics Classroom: A Review of the Research on the Participation of Girls in Physics. London, Institute of Physics


323

LANGUAGE IN SCIENCE EDUCATION AND THE INFLUENCE OF

TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Sandra Nitz IPN – Leibniz-Institute for Science Education at the University of Kiel

Claudia Nerdel School of Education, Technische Universität München

Helmut Prechtl IPN – Leibniz-Institute for Science Education at the University of Kiel

Abstract

According to scientific literacy, science education is meant to enable students to participate in social discourse about scientific topics. In order to reach this goal one important factor is the appropriate use of scientific language. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the integration of (scientific) language aspects in science classes. Science education that satisfies both subject matter and (scientific) language aspects makes high demands on teachers’ competence as the use of scientific language in class is mainly determined by this. One aspect of teachers’ competence is professional knowledge which includes the components of general pedagogical knowledge as well as subject-specific content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Empirical studies reveal a positive correlation between subject-specific professional knowledge and students’ achievements. Based on theoretical considerations and empirical results, it might be auspicious to examine the subject-specific components of teachers’ professional knowledge regarding to the use of scientific language in science classes and the impact on students’ abilities to deal with the scientific language. This study aims to analyze whether and how the use of scientific language in class can be fostered as a part of professional knowledge to enhance the quality of education in the demand for scientific literacy.

Introduction

According to scientific literacy, the goal of science education is to enable students to participate in the social discourse about scientific topics and make meaningful decisions about scientific issues (OECD, 2006). One crucial requirement for participation is the ability to appropriately understand and use the scientific language (Norris & Phillips, 2003; Yore, Bisanz, & Hand, 2003; Yore & Treagust, 2006). Yore and colleagues consider language to be “an integral part of science and science literacy – language is a means to doing science and to constructing science understandings; language is also an end in that it is used to communicate about inquiries, procedures, and science understanding to other people so that they can make informed decisions and take informed actions” (Yore et al., 2003, 691). The great importance of the ability to understand the scientific language is also emphasized by Norris & Phillips (2003) who explicitly incorporated the ability to appropriately use scientific language in a definition of scientific literacy. Concerning this broader definition of scientific literacy, science education has to enable students to understand and use the scientific language to enable them to communicate with different addressees and to participate in social discourse about scientific topics. To achieve this goal it is necessary to emphasize the integration of (scientific) language aspects in science class (Vollmer, Holasova, Kolsto, & Lewis, 2007; Wellington & Osborne, 2001).


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Rationale

The first part of the following section enlarges the definition of scientific language which is the foundation of this project. Empirical studies concerning scientific language in science education are also mentioned. The second part describes the model of teachers’ professional knowledge which is taken into account in this study. Empirical results regarding the influence of teachers’ professional knowledge on instructional quality are reported as well.

Scientific language in science education

According to Lemke (1998), the scientific language does not only comprise the verbal language, the words and terms said or used in scientific texts. Scientists use multiple semiotic systems to express science: “the natural language of science is a synergistic integration of words, diagrams, pictures, graphs, maps, equations, tables, charts, and other forms of visual and mathematical expression” (Lemke, 2003, section ‘How science says what it means’). In science education one can also distinguish among different languages or representations that are used to communicate about scientific topics in science class. These are amongst others visual, verbal and symbolical representations of a scientific topic (Leisen, 2005a, 2005b; Lemke, 2003).

In reference to the definition of scientific literacy mentioned above, the goal of science education is to empower students to use all these scientific representations appropriately and to relate them to one another (Stäudel, Franke-Braun, & Parchmann, 2008). These abilities are crucial for being a scientifically literate person. However, on the one hand large-scale assessment studies such as PISA showed that many German students have difficulties in dealing with the different languages of science, or rather with science texts, pictures, diagrams or combinations of the different representations. On the other hand other studies revealed that the use of scientific language or representations in science classes is inappropriate regarding the promotion of the students’ abilities to deal with them (Berck & Graf, 1992; Cassels & Johnstone, 1985; Lemke, 1990; Merzyn, 1998; Mortimer & Scott, 2000; Sumfleth & Pitton, 1998; Wellington & Osborne, 2001). The students’ difficulties may be caused by the inappropriate handling of representations in science class. Stäudel et al. (2008) argue that the ability to handle the different representations has to be explicitly developed using the characteristic representations of a subject. Therefore it is necessary to improve the integration of scientific language aspects in science classes and thus enhance the quality of science education regarding the demands of scientific literacy.

Science education that satisfies both subject matter and scientific language aspects makes high demands on teachers’ competence as the use of scientific language in class is mainly determined by teachers’ decisions which are in turn influenced by their professional knowledge. One can assume that students’ progress in understanding and using the different scientific representations is influenced how their teachers teach them.

Teachers’ professional knowledge

In educational research, models of instructional quality have been developed which describe variables that influence students’ achievement (Helmke, 2008; for biology education see Neuhaus, 2007). In these models the professional competence of the teacher is an important factor that determines the quality of education. The professional competence of teachers is an interaction of professional knowledge, beliefs, motivation and self-regulation (Brunner et al., 2006; Krauss, Baumert, & Blum, 2008). These components are the basis of professional teaching. One pivotal aspect of teachers’ professional competence is professional knowledge (Baumert & Kunter, 2006).


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Shulman (1986) was the first to mention different categories of teachers’ professional knowledge. Many educational researchers have been investigating teachers’ knowledge since Shulman’s early work. After twenty years of research there is now a broad consensus that teachers’ professional knowledge comprises three core categories: subject specific (1) content knowledge and (2) pedagogical content knowledge as well as general pedagogical knowledge (Baumert & Kunter, 2006; Krauss et al., 2008). Content knowledge is the deep understanding of the domain itself, whereas pedagogical content knowledge is the knowledge of “ways of representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to others” (Shulman, 1986, 9). Pedagogical knowledge is general knowledge of how to optimize learning situations in the classroom (Abell, 2007; Krauss et al., 2008). The following section enlarges on the subject-specific components content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge that are taken into account in this study.

Content knowledge (CK)

CK is a necessary condition for teaching a subject. Referencing to Schwab (1978), Shulman (1986) distinguishes between substantive and syntactic knowledge. The substantive knowledge of a domain encompasses the domain’s key facts, concepts, principles, structures and explanatory frameworks. The syntactic knowledge is epistemological knowledge; it is knowing the “set of rules for determining what is legitimate to say in a disciplinary domain and what ‘breaks’ the rules” (Shulman, 1986; 9). Beyond the deep understanding of science knowledge itself, the science teacher needs to know about the characteristics and the development of science knowledge. The teacher’s content knowledge is also important relating to the use of scientific language in class. The different visual, verbal or symbolical representations for a topic can be originally regarded as subject matter.

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)

PCK is used to transform subject matter content into forms that are easier to understand for students. In literature on PCK, different conceptualizations can be found that differ in which components are included (for an overview see Abell, 2007; Park & Oliver, 2008). In this study three major theoretically derived cognitive aspects of PCK are taken into account (modified from Abell, 2007; Park & Oliver, 2008):

(a) Knowledge of students’ understanding in science

This aspect of teachers’ PCK encompasses the knowledge of students’ conceptions of science topics and students’ learning difficulties that are typical for this specific topic. Teachers have to take students’ existing conceptions and difficulties into account to provide instruction that enhances understanding. Knowledge of students’ understanding in science facilitates the anticipation of students’ perspectives and the adaption of instruction.

(b) Knowledge of instructional strategies in science

Construction of knowledge is often only successful with instructional support. This component of PCK contains the knowledge about subject-specific and topic-specific instructional strategies. Subject-specific instructional strategies are general methods such as inquiry-oriented instruction to teach a subject, e.g. Biology. Topic-specific instructional strategies are used to teach a specific topic within the domain of biology. This aspect includes the knowledge of different representations of science topics as well as their advantages and disadvantages in the context of learning a specific topic.

(c) Knowledge of science curriculum

This aspect comprises the teachers’ knowledge about the vertical and horizontal curriculum and other educational guidelines. This component is indicative of teachers’ understanding of the importance of a topic. It helps to arrange lessons in a reasonable manner and to focus on core concepts of the subject.


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Regarding the use of scientific representations in science class, PCK might be necessary to use and translate the different representations in a way that suits subject matter and students’ abilities. Due to their theoretical conceptualization, two components can be regarded as essential for this purpose: knowledge of students’ understanding and knowledge of instructional strategies.

Empirical studies on the influence of teachers’ professional knowledge

According to models of instructional quality, one can assume that teachers’ professional knowledge directly or indirectly influences both the quality of instruction and students’ achievement. The LMT-study (Hill, Rowan, & Loewenberg Ball, 2005) investigated the influence of primary school teachers’ professional knowledge. It revealed that the combination of teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge allows the prediction of students’ achievement. The COACTIV study (Baumert & Kunter, 2006; Brunner et al., 2006) showed that the teachers’ PCK and CK are predictors of the quality of instruction in mathematics. It was also shown that PCK, mediated by aspects of instruction, positively influences students’ achievement in mathematics. The study also revealed a positive correlation between teachers’ CK and their PCK.

Research questions and hypotheses

According to these theoretical considerations and empirical results, it might be auspicious to investigate the subject-specific components of teachers’ professional knowledge – content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge – with regard to the use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in science classes and the effects on students’ abilities to deal with scientific language (i.e. representations) of science. Thus, our study aims at analyzing whether and how the appropriate use of scientific language in class can be promoted as a part of teachers’ professional knowledge to enhance the quality of education in demands for scientific literacy.

We plan to investigate the following research questions:

1a) Do teachers’ CK and PCK influence their use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in science class?

1b) Do these components have different effects on the use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in science class?

2) What kind of interdependency can be detected between CK and PCK?

3) Do teachers’ CK and PCK influence their students’ abilities to deal with scientific language (i.e. representations)?

4) What kind of relation can be detected between students’ abilities to deal with the scientific language (i.e. representations), the use of use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in class, and teachers’ professional knowledge?

We hypothesize that teachers’ CK and PCK positively influence the use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in class and the students’ abilities to deal with scientific language (i.e. representations). We also expect the use of use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in science class is a mediator between teachers’ CK and PCK and the students’ abilities (see figure 1).


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Figure 1. Graphical representation of hypotheses

Methods

We use questionnaires for teachers and students to collect data in order to investigate the effects of teachers’ CK and PCK on the use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in class and the impact on students’ abilities to deal with scientific language (i.e. representations).

1) CK and PCK (independent variables 1 and 2): a questionnaire for teachers is constructed to collect data about their CK and PCK. The CK-test (closed item-format) focuses on teachers’ knowledge about photosynthesis (substantive knowledge) and their syntactical knowledge. The PCK-test (open item-format) covers the components knowledge of instructional strategies, knowledge of students’ understanding and the knowledge of science curriculum.

2) Use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in science class (dependent variable 1): a questionnaire for students and teachers is constructed to cover this variable. Students and teachers are asked to evaluate instruction and use of scientific language (i.e. representations) in science class. According to Baumert et al. (2004), the students’ common perception of instruction is a valid measurement to describe instruction, whereas the teacher’s perception is a valid measurement of didactical and methodical aspects of instruction.

3) Students’ abilities to deal with the scientific language (i.e. representations) (dependent variable 2): a questionnaire (closed item-format) is used to collect data about students’ abilities to use the different representations (symbolical, verbal and visual representations) and relate them to one another in the context of photosynthesis. The students’ knowledge about photosynthesis is also surveyed (closed item-format, control variable).

Multilevel structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses. The sample comprises 150 biology teachers (secondary school) and their biology courses (11th grade). The study is conducted in a pre-/post-test design (see table 1). A teaching unit on the topic “photosynthesis” takes place between pre- and post-tests.


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Table 1. Design of the study

pre-test

teaching unit

topic: photosynthesis

(ca. 15 lessons)

post-test

Teachers:

Content knowledge (independent variable 1)

Pedagogical content knowledge (independent variable 2)

Teachers:

evaluation of instruction and use of scientific language in class (teachers’ perspective; dependent variable 1)

Students:

content knowledge (photosynthesis)

ability to deal with scientific language, i.e. representations (dependent variable 2)

Students:

evaluation of instruction and use of scientific language in class (students’ perspective; dependent variable 1)

content knowledge (photosynthesis)

ability to deal with scientific language, i.e. representations (dependent variable 2)

References

Abell, S. K. (2007). Research on Science Teacher Knowledge. In S. K. Abell & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Science Education (pp. 1105-1149). Mahwah, New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Baumert, J., & Kunter, M. (2006). Stichwort: Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 4, 469-520.

Baumert, J., Kunter, M., Brunner, M., Krauss, S., Blum, W., & Neubrand, M. (2004). Mathematikunterricht aus der Sicht der PISA-Schülerinnen und -Schüler und ihrer Lehrkräfte. In M. Prenzel, J. Baumert, W. Blum, R. Lehmann, D. Leutner, M. Neubrand, R. Pekrun, H.-G. Rolff, J. Rost & U. Schiefele (Eds.), PISA 2003. Der Bildungsstand der Jugendlichen in Deutschland - Ergebnisse des zweiten internationalen Vergleichs. Münster: Waxmann.

Berck, K.-H., & Graf, D. (1992). Begriffsauswahl und Begriffsvermittlung - Überblick über den Forschungsstand für den Biologieunterricht. In Sprache und Verstehen im Biologieunterricht. Bad Zwischenahn: Leuchtturm-Verlag.

Brunner, M., Kunter, M., Krauss, S., Klusmann, U., Baumert, J., Blum, W., et al. (2006). Die professionelle Kompetenz von Mathematiklehrkräften: Konzeptualisierung , Erfassung und Bedeutung für den Unterricht. Eine Zwischenbilanz des COACTIV-Projekts. In M. Prenzel & L. Allolio-Näcke (Eds.), Untersuchungen zur Bildungsqualität von Schule. Münster: Waxmann.

Cassels, J., & Johnstone, A. (1985). Words that matter in science. London: Royal Societcy of Chemistry.

Helmke, A. (2008). Unterrichtsqualität und Lehrerprofessionalität. Diagnose, Evaluation und Verbesserung des Unterrichts. Seelze-Velber: Kallmeyer.

Hill, H. C., Rowan, B., & Loewenberg Ball, D. (2005). Effects of teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching on student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 42, 371-406.


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Krauss, S., Baumert, J., & Blum, W. (2008). Secondary mathematics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge: validation of the COACTIV constructs. ZDM Mathematics Education, 40, 873–892.

Leisen, J. (2005a). Muss ich jetzt auch noch Sprache unterrichten? Sprache und Physikunterricht. Naturwissenschaften im Unterricht Physik, 16(87), 4-9.

Leisen, J. (2005b). Wechsel der Darstellungsformen. Eine wichtige Strategie im kommunikativen Physikunterricht. Naturwissenschaften im Unterricht Physik, 16(87), 10-11.

Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking Science: Language, Learning, and Value. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Lemke, J. L. (1998). Multiplying Meaning: Visual and Verbal Semiotics in Scientific Text. In J. R. Martin & R. Veel (Eds.), Reading science: critical and functional perspectives of discourses of science (pp. 87–111). New York: Routledge.

Lemke, J. L. (2003). Teaching all the languages of science: Words, Symbols, Images, and Actions [Electronic Version]. Retrieved 20.03.2009 from http://www.personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/papers/barcelon.htm.

Merzyn, G. (1998). Sprache im naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht. Physik in der Schule, 36(7-8), 243-247.

Mortimer, E., & Scott, P. (2000). Analysing discourse in the science classroom. In R. Millar, J. Leach & J. Osborne (Eds.), Improving Science Education (pp. 127-143). Buckingham (Philadelphia): Open University Press.

Neuhaus, B. (2007). Unterrichtsqualität als Forschungsfeld für empirische biologiedidaktische Studien. In D. Krüger & H. Vogt (Eds.), Theorien in der biologiedidaktischen Forschung. Berlin: Springer.

Norris, S. P., & Phillips, L. M. (2003). How literacy in its fundamental sense is central to scientific literacy. Science Education, 87, 224-240.

OECD. (2006). Assessing Scientific, Reading and Mathematical Literacy - A Framework for PISA 2006. Paris: OECDPublishing.

Park, S., & Oliver, J. S. (2008). Revisiting the Conceptualisation of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): PCK as a Conceptual Tool to Understand Teachers as Professionals. Research in Science Education, 38, 261-284.

Schwab, J. J. (1978). Science, curriculum and liberal education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.


Stäudel, L., Franke-Braun, G., & Parchmann, I. (2008). Sprache, Kommunikation und Wissenserwerb im Chemieunterricht. Naturwissenschaften im Unterricht Chemie, 19(106/107), 4-9.

Sumfleth, E., & Pitton, A. (1998). Sprachliche Kommunikation im Chemieunterricht: Schülervorstellungen und ihre Bedeutung im Unterrichtsalltag. Zeitschrift für die Didaktik der Naturwissenschaften, 4(2), 4-20.

Vollmer, H. J., Holasova, T., Kolsto, S. D., & Lewis, J. (2007, 08.-10.11.2007). Language and communication in the learning and teaching of science in secondary schools. Paper presented at the Languages of schooling within a European framework for Languages of Education: learning, teaching, assessment, Prague.

Wellington, J., & Osborne, J. (2001). Language and literacy in science education. Buckigham, Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Yore, L. D., Bisanz, G. L., & Hand, B. M. (2003). Examining the literacy component of science literacy: 25 years of language arts and science research. International Journal of Science Education, 25(6), 689-725.

Yore, L. D., & Treagust, D. F. (2006). Current realities and future possibilities: Language and science literacy - empowering research and informing instruction. International Journal of Science Education, 28(2-3), 291-314.


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331

USING EMPIRICALLY ANALYZED PUPILS’ ERRORS TO DEVELOP A PCK TEST

Melanie Jüttner & Birgit Jana Neuhaus University of Munich (Germany)

Abstract

One important consideration of an optimal teacher education is dealing with criteria of the quality of lessons’ instructions. Thus, research on teachers’ professional knowledge is essential as it fosters the quality of instruction. Shulman (1987) differentiates seven categories of teachers’ professional knowledge, whereof three are established as the most important ones: pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge (PK, PCK, CK). The presented project develops reliable and valid instruments to test and analyze the connections between these categories of science teachers’ professional knowledge in two different federal states as well as in two different school types. Findings are to be applied by universities for teacher education and for in-service teacher trainings to improve the quality of teacher education and science lessons. This article focuses on one important extract of the project: The development of a PCK test on the basis of empirically analyzed pupils’ errors. We created a pupils’ achievement test with open-ended items. The answers of 110 pupils were used to identify five categories of pupils’ errors that were used to develop open-ended PCK items. Until now, we utilised the method in the field of neurobiology. In the future, this method can be transferred to other contents.

Introduction

Research on teachers’ professional knowledge is one opportunity to influence the quality of instruction in biology lessons. Science education researchers have studied science teachers’ knowledge since the 1960s and Shulman’s theory still contains basic ideas of topical research programs (Abell, 2007; Baumert et al., 2003). Shulman’s seven categories of teacher knowledge (1987) formed the background for German researchers like Bromme (1997) and Baumert et al. (2003). German educational research has mainly paid attention to three major categories (Baumert & Kunter, 2006): pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), pedagogical knowledge (PK) and content knowledge (CK). It is demonstrated that the PCK of mathematic teachers can be seen as an indicator for pupils’ achievement and for the quality of classroom management (Krauss et al., 2008). Nevertheless, comparative studies in the field of scientific subjects, such as biology, chemistry or physics are still missing (Abell, 2007).

In cooperation with the university of Duisburg-Essen and Bochum, we are now realizing a project which is similar to the existing mathematics studies, but focuses in science education. The project, called ProwiN (Professional knowledge of science teachers), focuses on the dependency of knowledge base for teaching in natural science and PCK, CK and PK. Moreover, the correlation between the three different types of knowledge and the teachers’ way of organizing their lesson will be analyzed. Therefore, in a first step, we develop three different instruments for each domain. The tests measuring PCK and CK are developed separately for each subject (biology, chemistry and physics), whereas the PK test is equal for all three subjects and developed by a cooperating psychologist. In a second step, selected teachers are videotaped to find correlations between teachers’ knowledge and instructional quality.

In this article, the focus will be on the development of an empirically based PCK test for biology teachers that was constructed by using typical errors of pupils. Due to this, in the theoretical background the pedagogical content knowledge and afterwards theories about pupils’ errors will be mentioned.


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Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)

Pedagogical content knowledge is one important aspect of teachers’ professional knowledge (cf. Abell et al., 2009; Magnusson, Krajcik & Borko, 1999). In the project ProwiN, we define pedagogical content knowledge based on the original definition of Shulman (1986), as knowledge of structuring and description of teaching, the content that would be necessary to prepare the subject matter so that is comprehensible for pupils. The COACTIV-study illustrates the pedagogical content knowledge through the vertices of the didactical triangle. They name the difference between aspects of negotiation and of intermediation (1), of subject matter (2) and of pupils (3) (cf. Brunner et al., 2006; Krauss et al., 2008). Another model with 7 dimensions published by Hashweh (2005) illustrates the interaction of these categories and the “dialectical relationships between PCK, or TPCs in particular, and the different knowledge categories” (Hashweh, 2005, p. 282). As one can see, Hashweh (2005) defines a categorisation of PCK by using the new term TPC (teacher pedagogical construction). The theoretical model also demonstrates deep connectedness of the separated knowledge categories (Hashweh, 2005). Park and Oliver (2008) reviewed a lot of PCK conceptualisations, coming to the conclusion of a hexagon model demonstrating different influences of the facets of professional knowledge as well as the integration of the different components through the action and reflection of the teacher. There exist many more different theoretical conceptualisations of teachers’ PCK (Abell, 2007; Abell et al., 2009), all with different setting of priorities, but often considered the ideas of Shulman (1987). Hence, this definition can be seen as a leitmotif through most existing PCK conceptions.

Most of the studies testing reliability of different PCK-models or developing test instruments for collecting PCK data are located in the Anglo - American speaking area. The relatedness of teachers’ PCK or between all three dimensions of teachers’ professional knowledge and the learning efficiency are rarely analyzed. Some studies in mathematics like the LMT study (Learning Mathematics for Teaching; Hill et al., 2005), the COACTIV study (Cognitive Activation in the Classroom: Learning Opportunities for the Enhancement of Mindful Mathematics Learning; Baumert et al., 2003; Krauss et al., 2008) and the MT21 study (Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century; Schmidt et al., 2007) are exceptions, because they were able to allocate a significant correlation between learners’ efficiency and teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, but only in mathematics (cf. Hill et al., 2005; Krauss et al., 2008). They also analyzed different parts mostly of mathematic teachers’ professional knowledge and identified different relationships (cf. Hill et al., 2005; Krauss et al., 2008; Loughran, Mulhall & Berry, 2008; Schmidt et al., 2007).

Pupils’ errors and (mis-)conceptions

In most of the different suggestions for PCK scales, reaction and knowledge of teachers’ on pupils’ (mis-) conceptions and errors are often part of the PCK conceptualizations (Park & Oliver, 2008; Abell, 2007). For this reason, we decided to analyze pupils’ errors in the chosen topic of neurobiology. We chose one main topic, because some theories are based on the foundation that PCK is subject-specific or even content-specific (Hill et al., 2005; Rohaan, Taconis & Jochems, 2009).

Since the 70ties there are two main directions established in research: one direction deals with the error pupils make (Educational Psychology) and the other direction mentions (mis-)conceptions and pre-conceptions of pupils (Science Education). Terminologies, definitions, as well as the aims of research are very different in these two traditions, but both directions utilize the theory of conceptual change (e.g. Duit, Treagust &Widodo, 2008; Oser & Spychiger, 1999). Therefore, the conceptual change theory builds a bridging element of the two different research traditions.

Combined to the aim for developing a PCK test instrument both traditions are of importance. On the one hand, there exist already PCK items using pupils’ (mis-)conceptions (Rohaan et al., 2009; Schmelzing, Wüsten, Sandmann & Neuhaus, 2008) for collecting data about teachers’ knowledge of pupils’ (mis-)conceptions. On the other hand, known pupils’ errors which could arise after the learning process, can be used additionally for collecting data about teachers’ knowledge of possible reasons of pupils’ errors as well as teachers’ knowledge about how to


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Please draw the essential properties of the central nervous system into the human contour and label them.

deal with errors and how to use errors for planning lessons. The last aspect concerns one scale of PCK dealing with teaching strategies (cf. Schmelzing et al., 2008). The knowledge about reasons of pupils’ errors is mainly important for realisation of the conceptual change, but up to now this aspect was neglected in other studies. This study shows a first step towards this research idea.

Rationale

The study presented here is a new path of developing PCK test instruments. The objectives of the research project are:

(1) to analyze pupils’ errors concerning an exemplary biological topic (central nervous system),

(2) to analyze possible reasons of pupils’ errors by analyzing schoolbooks

(3) and to develop reliable and valid tests to measure biology teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, using pupils’ errors and the identified reasons for these errors.

Methods

Due to the fact that there is no literature about pupils’ errors concerning the central nervous system, we created a pupils’ achievement test on that topic. The item was created according to Hammann (2003) who developed a similar item to analyze pupils’ errors concerning the cardiovascular system. In this test presented here, the pupils had to draw the essential parts of the central nervous system into a given contour of a human body (cf. fig. 1). The item was tested in two different school types: Hauptschule (“lower” track) and Gymnasium (“higher” track).

110 Bavarian pupils (51 male, 57 female and 2 unknown), answered the open-ended items about the central nervous system. 38 pupils were from the Hautpschule, 72 were from the Gymnasium. The pupils got the questions in the 9th grade at the end of the school year 2009. At that time, all of the pupils had already learned about the central nervous system (in Germany the topic is mostly taught at the beginning of the school year; in this case: November 2008).

Figure 1. Exemplary item about the structure of the central nervous system in the 9th grade (N=110).

Based on the given answers, five categories of pupils’ errors could be identified. Multiple counting of the answers was possible.

Relative frequency for each category was computed using the statistical software SPSS. Additionally, ten typical Bavarian schoolbooks were analyzed to get information about possible reasons for each of these errors.


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Results

Categorization of pupils’ errors

In the answers of the 110 pupils, five categories of pupils’ errors could be identified:

Table 1. Five identified categories of pupils’ errors concerning the central nervous system. Category Figure

1) Missing connection between the brain and the spinal cord (34%). 2) No differentiation between peripheral nervous system and central nervous system (17%).

a. In addition to the brain and the spinal cord, nerves diverging directly from the spinal cord are drawn (12%).

b. In addition to the brain more organs are drawn (15%). 3) ‘Nerves’ as a component of the central nervous system (15%).

a. Nerve fibres are drawn instead of the spinal cord (7.5%). b. Trichotomy of the central nervous system into nerve fibres (without connection to

the spinal cord), brain and spinal cord (7.5%). 4) No differentiation between spine and spinal cord (15%).

a. Spine as a synonym for the spinal cord (10%). b. Trichotomy of the central nervous system into spine, brain and spinal cord (5%).

5) Heart as a component of the central nervous system (10%). a. No connection between the heart and the central nervous system (3%). b. Heart embedded into nerve fibres (7%).

2

3

6

4

5

5

6

In the following, the five categories will be explained in detail. Figure 2 gives an example answer, which can be assigned to the first and most frequently named category, called missing connection between the brain and the spinal cord.

Figure 2. Isolated knowledge of the separate organs of the central nervous system (assigned to category 1).

Thirty four percent (34 %) of the pupils did not connect the spinal cord and the brain in their drawings (cf. fig. 2). This would implicate that the transportation of signals to the brain would not be successful. That is the reason why you can interpret this pupils’ error as an ignorance of the interaction of the organs from the central nervous system.


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Figure 3. left side: afferent and efferent nerve fibres have their origin in the spinal cord (assigned to category 2a). right side: In addition to the brain more organs are drawn (assigned to category 2b).

The second most frequent category is named no differentiation between peripheral nervous system and central nervous system. Additionally to the central nervous system 17% of the pupils drew nerve fibres (pupils called them “nerves”). This category can be split up into two subcategories. Like figure 3 (left side) demonstrates, subcategory (a) deals with errors about drawing nerve fibres in addition to the components of the central nervous system where the nerve fibres have their origin in the spinal cord (12%). The other error located here is demonstrated by 15% (fig. 3; right side). Pupils drew a lot of other organs in the human body. Due to the fact that the peripheral nervous system (sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system) regulates the functions of organs it is possible that the pupils are not able to differentiate between the central and the peripheral nervous system.

The following category, ‘Nerves’ as a component of the central nervous system is closely connected to the category mentioned before. Half of the counted answers generated the subcategory: Nerve fibres are drawn instead of the spinal cord (cf. fig. 5; left side). The other 7.5% constructed a trichotomy central nervous system consisting of the brain, the spinal cord and disconnected nerve fibres (cf. fig. 4). These paintings reminded of the reticulated nervous system of the coelenterates. A possible reason for this error can be that the word ‘system’ is accepted at face value. The trichotomy demonstrates problems of the complex comprehension of spinal cords’ function.

Figure 4. Trichotomy of the central nervous system into nerve fibres (without connection to the spinal cord), brain and spinal cord (assigned to category 3b).

Fifteen percent (15%) of the pupils had problems with the differentiation of the spine and the spinal cord. Some of the pupils (10%) painted the right structures of the central nervous system, but labelled them wrong. They used the spine as a synonym for the spinal cord (cf. fig. 5; left side). The rest of the pupils of this 4th category (5%) divided up the central nervous system into three parts: brain, spinal cord and spine (fig. 5; right side). One possible reason therefore could be that for introducing the spinal cord, figures of the already known spine within the unknown


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spinal cord are presented often. In subcategory (a) additionally the pupils did not understand the differences of the function: spine is part of the skeleton and the spinal cord is an organ, protected by the skeleton.

Figure 5. left side: Spine as a synonym for the spinal cord (assigned to category 4a). right side: Trichotomy of the central nervous system into spine, brain and spinal cord (assigned to category 4b).

Finally a fifth category was identified: Heart as a component of the central nervous system. First of all it seems deeply connected to the second category (b): in addition to the brain more organs are drawn), but on the basis of the facts that 10% of the pupils painted as the only additional organ the heart it seemed legitimate to take this as an extra category. This can be split up into two subcategories as well: (a) No connection between the heart and the central nervous system (3%) and (b) Heart embedded into nerve fibres (7%). Figure 5 (right side) is an example for the possibility of multiple counting: on the one hand the figure shows the heart involved into the nerve fibres and on the other hand the missing connection of brain and spinal cord (category 1) as well as the spine is painted as one additional component (category 4b).

Figure 6. Heart as a component of the central nervous system. left side: Heart embedded into nerve fibres (assigned to categories 5b; 3a). right side: No connection between the heart and the central nervous system (assigned to categories 5a; 1; 4a).

To sum up the five categories are demonstrated in table 2, by differentiating between the two types of school (Gymnasium and Hauptschule).


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Table 2. The five categories of pupils’ errors, answers recorded and corresponding frequencies differentiated concerning the two types of school (Gymnasium and Hauptschule).

category Relative frequency Total (N = 110)

Relative frequency Gymnasium (N = 72)

Relative frequency Hauptschule (N = 38)

(1) missing connection between the brain and the spinal cord

34% 36% 29%

(2) no differentiation between peripheral nervous system and central nervous system

17% 17% 3%

(3) ‘nerves’ as a component of the central nervous system

15% 15% 13%

(4) no differentiation between spine and spinal cord 15% 19% 5%

(5) heart as a component of the central nervous system 10% 13% 5%

The rank of the categories differs between the two school types, whereby the first category, missing connection between the brain and the spinal cord is the only one which seems to demonstrate the most frequent errors.

Schoolbook analysis for finding possible reasons of pupils’ errors

Due to the additional analysis of schoolbooks (in Bavaria, 9th grade, Hauptschule and Gymnasium) you can say that maybe the figures in the books effect the named problems. For example, in schoolbooks often the brain is shown in detail, but not in combination with the spinal cord and the other way round (40%). This could cause the problem that pupils are not able to realize that the transmission of signals would not proceed with a missing connection between the brain and the spinal cord, because they only know of them isolated and in detail. So the pupils’ errors origin is the problem of understanding the relatedness of the function and structure of the organs in the central nervous system. Other figures often shown in books (in 90% of the 10 analyzed books) illustrate the function of the parasympathetic nervous system and sympathetic nervous system by the brain, connected with the spinal cord and the afferent nerves. This could be the origin of pupils’ errors of the second category (no differentiation between peripheral nervous system and central nervous system).

The rest of the possible problematic contents in the analyzed schoolbooks are shown in table 3 within the different frequencies.


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In the end of the school year, pupils in the 9th grade took an achievement test. Therefore they had to answer the following open-ended question by drawing the parts of the central nervous system into the contour of a human body. The topic had been finished for months. Below there are shown three different answers of pupils:

answer 1 answer 2 answer 3

Please describe as many reasons as possible for the resultant errors of the pupils. Think about reasons which could arise out of the biology lesson and/or out of the everyday-life of the pupils.

Table 3. Analysis of schoolbooks: possible reasons for the identified and classified error categories.

category Problematic or misunderstanding information

Relative frequency of all analyzed schoolbooks (N = 10)

Relative frequency of schoolbooks of the Gymnasium (N = 5)

Relative frequency of schoolbooks of the Hauptschule (N = 5)

1 details of the spinal cord are illustrated isolated from the brain

40% 60% 20%

2 (b) Peripheral nervous system is demonstrated by figures of the brain and the spinal cord as origin of the afferent and efferent nerve fibres (parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system)

90% 100% 80%

3 In figures afferent and efferent ‘nerves’ with the origin in the spinal cord are given.

70% 60% 80%

4 (a) Often, figures show the spinal cord inside of the spine.

50% 100% 0%

4 (b) Figures are headed with ‘ spine and spinal cord’

20% 40% 0%

Development of a PCK item based on pupils’ errors

According to Schmelzing et al. (2008) and based on pupils’ errors in the test as well as on the analysis of schoolbooks to find reasons for these errors, the PCK item below was created (fig. 7) below.

Figure 7. Sample item for the teachers’ PCK-test.


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It is expected that the teacher will recognize three different categories of the errors: Missing connection between the brain and the spinal cord (1); ‘nerves’ as a component of the central nervous system (3); no differentiation between spine and spinal cord (4). This knowledge is the foundation for being able to think about possible reasons. Because of our schoolbook analysis (N = 10) there exist basic facts of causing problems. For example in many schoolbooks (in Germany) the detailed structure of the spinal cord is often (40%) demonstrated by a lateral cut through it. The label of the figure includes words like spinal cord, spine, afferent or efferent nerves. Moreover, the title of this figure was the spinal cord and the spine. Due to the fact, that the spine is a normal word out of everyday-life for the pupils they have problems by differentiating between the organ spinal cord and the select spine – which is not a part of the central nervous system. In the English language, the close connectedness of the words could have another more cumulative effect than in Germany (Rückenmark and Wirbelsäule). Something like this argument is one possibility the teacher should write down. In this context, more than one solution is conceivable. Because in such questions you cannot say if one answer is a pedagogical good answer (cf. Rohaan et al., 2009), in this item it will be counted how many possible reasons the teacher is able to think of (cf. Schmelzing et al., 2008).


The information developed about pupils’ errors and their problems in neurobiology were already used for the development of the paper and pencil test to assess teachers’ PCK, as it is demonstrated throughout the sample item above (fig. 7).

Furthermore, the developed PCK instruments should be transferable to other features. So they can be used for quality examination of the teachers and afterwards, by using the adequate videotape and analysis of the pupils’ knowledge, these results are the basis for further developments in teacher education. Based on the tests, it is possible to localize deficits in teacher education. The dependency of the teachers’ CK and PCK to the pupils’ learning gains and the quality of biology lessons can be ensured. Following to that it is aimed to take these data-collecting instruments also for researches in different trainee phases of teachers’ education. Finally, all these evaluations in different parts of teachers’ education can cause advancement of educational quality.

References

Abell, S. (2007). Research on science teachers' knowledge. In S.K. Abell & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 1105-1149). Mahwa, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Abell, S., Park Rogers, M. A., Hanuscin, D. L., Lee, M. H. & Gagnon, M. J. (2009). Preparing the Next Generation of Science Teacher Educators: A Model for Developing PCK for Teaching Science Teachers. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 20, 77-93.

Baumert, J. & Kunter, M. (2006). Stichwort: Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 9, 469-520.

Baumert, J., Krauss, S., Brunner, M., Blum, W., Martignon, L. & Neubrand, M. (2003). COACTIV: Cognitive Activation in the Classroom: The Orchestration of Learning Opportunities for the Enhancement of Insightful Learning in Mathematics. Berlin: Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development.

Bromme, R. (1997). Kompetenzen, Funktionen und unterrichtliches Handeln des Lehrers. In F. E. Weinert (Ed.), Psychologie des Unterrichts und der Schule. Enzyklopädie der Psychologie. Themenbereich D. Serie I. Pädagogische Psychologie, Band 3 (pp. 177-212). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Brunner, M, Kunter, M., Krauss, S., Klusmann, U., Baumert, J., Blum, W. et al. (2006). Die professionelle Kompetenz von Mathematiklehrkräften: Konzeptualisierung, Erfassung und Bedeutung für den Unterricht. Eine Zwischenbilanz des COACTIV-Projekts. In M. Prenzel & L. Allolio-Näcke (Eds.), Untersuchungen zur Bildungsqualität von Schule. Abschlussbericht des DFG-Schwerpunktprogramms (pp. 54-82). Münster: Waxmann.

Duit, R., Treagust, D. F. & Widodo, A. (2008). Teaching Science for Conceptual Change: Theory and Practice. In S. Vosniadou (Ed.), International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change (pp.629-647).New York: Routledge.


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Hammann, M. (2003). Aus Fehlern Lernen. Unterricht Biologie, 287, 31-35.

Hashweh, M. Z. (2005). Teacher pedagogical constructions: a reconfiguration of pedagogical content knowledge. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 11 (3), 273-292.

Hill, H. C., Rowan, B., & Ball, D. (2005). Effects of teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching on pupil achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 42, 371-406.

Krauss, S., Brunner, M., Kunter, M., Baumert, J., Blum, W., Neubrand, M. et al. (2008). Pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge of secondary mathematics teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 716-725.

Loughran, J., Mulhall, P. & Berry, A. (2008). Exploring Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Science Teacher Education. International Journal of Science Education, 30 (10), 1301-1320.

Magnusson, S., Krajcik, J. & Borko, H. (1999). Nature, sources, and development of pedagogical content knowledge. In J.Gess-Newsome & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Examining pedagogical content knowledge (pp. 95-132). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Oser, F. & Spychiger, M. (2005). Lernen ist schmerzhaft. Zur Theorie des Negativen Wissens und zur Praxis der Fehlerkultur. Weinheim: Beltz.

Park, S. & Oliver, S. J. (2008). Revisiting the conceptualisation of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): PCK as a conceptual tool to understand teachers as professionals. Research in Science Education, 38, 261-284.

Rohaan, E. J., Taconis, R. & Jochems, W. M. G. (2009). Measuring teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in primary technology education. Research in Science & Technological Education, 27 (3), 327-338.

Schmelzing, S., Wüsten, S., Sandmann, A. & Neuhaus, B. (2008). Evaluation von zentralen Inhalten der Lehrerbildung: Ansätze zur Diagnostik des fachdidaktischen Wissens von Biologielehrkräften. Lehrerbildung auf dem Prüfstand, 1 (2), 617-638. Landau: Verlag Empirische Pädagogik.

Schmidt, W. H.et al. (2007). The Preparation Gap: Teacher Education for Middle School Mathematics in Six Countries. Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21).

Schumacher, R. (2008). Der produktive Umgang mit Fehlern. Fehler als Lerngelegenheit und Orientierungshilfe. In R. Caspary (Ed.), Nur wer Fehler macht, kommt weiter. Wege zu einer neuen Lernkultur (pp. 7-11). Freiburg: Herder.

Shulman, L. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22.


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TEACHERS’ AFFECTIVE LEARNING IN TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

ACTIVITIES USING CLASSROOM VIDEOS AS THE MEDIATING

ARTIFACT

Fei Yin Lo & Benny Hin Wai Yung The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper reports on teachers’ learning as a result of their participation in a school-based teacher professional development (TPD) programme that utilizes classroom videos as a mediating artifact. Research on teacher learning has emerged as an important area for research in education. Much research that focuses on the content of teacher learning considers what teachers need to know and be able to do in order to teach well, such as knowledge, skills and beliefs. But little attention is put on the emotional and motivational aspects of learning in teachers. Based on two case studies, this paper reports on teacher learning as development of confidence in teaching. It also discusses on the significant role of classroom videos in these teachers’ learning. This study contributes to the TPD literature by showing how the use of classroom videos can be best utilized to facilitate teacher affective learning.

Introduction

Teacher learning has emerged as an important area for research in education (Beijaard, Korthagen, & Verloop, 2007). Research on the content of teacher learning considers what teachers need to know and be able to do in order to teach well, such as knowledge, skills and beliefs. There are a large number of studies on the content of teacher learning, mainly focusing on the knowledge base of teachers (e.g. Berliner, 1986; Grossman, 1990; Shulman, 1986, 1987) and knowledge structure held by novice and experienced teachers (e.g. Barba & Rubba, 1992; Billett, 2001; Kelly, 2006). Other studies often focus on the changes in teacher behavior or cognition in teachers after receiving some professional inputs or participation in teacher professional development (Timperley & Phillips, 2003). For example, Eilam and Poyas (2006) examined the ability of student teachers to notice classroom complexity. However, little attention is put on the emotional and motivational aspects of learning in teachers (Alsop & Watts, 2003; Korthagen, 2005). As Claxton (1991) writes “learning is generally a risky business because it means moving out from the safety of the known into the unknown and the uncontrolled… The involvement of emotion in learning, especially any that involves personal risks of the kinds described, is inevitable” (p.99). In other words, teacher learning is a place of mixed emotion and these affective aspects warrant more detailed investigations.

Theoretical perspectives

A focus on teacher learning as confidence development

Affective learning is one of the three domains of learning identified by Bloom in his taxonomy of learning. Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia (1964) referred to the affective domain of educational objectives as “objectives which emphasize a feeling tone, an emotion, or a degree of acceptance or rejection” (p.7). Kearney (1994, p.81) defined it as “an increasing internalization of positive attitudes towards the content or subject matter”. It concerns with interests, emotions, motivations, attitudes, beliefs, etc, of an individual as a result of their participation in learning


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activities. As affective learning covers a wide range of emotional and motivational aspects of learning, this paper focuses on teachers’ development of confidence about their own teaching as they participated in a teacher professional development programme. Claxton (1989) and Graven (2004) regard confidence as an important factor associated with teachers’ willingness to become a life-long learner. Claxton (1989) further asserts that dealing with emotional issues, uncertainties, stresses and worries which arise from changing is a part of personal development. He warns that an inability to manage these feelings may end up in the teacher becoming burn-out or disengaged. In view of the changing demands of recent education reforms imposed on teachers, our premise is that teacher development needs to be centred around teachers’ development of confidence in their own teaching including those changing classroom practices that are called upon by the education reforms.

Role of classroom videos in teacher professional development

Advancement of technology has led to increasing use of videos in teacher education and teacher professional development. Video can be used as models, exemplars, or illustrators of a point, and/or for analysis of teaching practices (Sherin, 2004). Through viewing the exemplary cases, teachers can see concrete and practical examples of how to realize the goals of recent education reforms. According to Black & Atkin (1996), the use of exemplary cases can increase teachers’ exposure to other ideas, show existence proof of new methods under ordinary classroom conditions, and demonstration of actions in a real context. In Yung, Wong, Cheng, Hui, & Hodson’s study (2007), videos of exemplary teaching acted as an effective probe to elicit student teachers’ conceptions of good science teaching and had significant influence on the development of those conceptions in different stage of the teacher education programme; videos also acted as a catalyst to socialize the student teachers from the role of student to the role of teacher (Wong, Yung, Cheng, Lam, & Hodson, 2006). In short, video has the potential to develop in teachers a different kind of knowledge for teaching – knowledge not of ‘what to do next’, but knowledge of how to interpret and reflect on their own teaching practices.

Teacher learning from the use of classroom videos

Recent research on the use of videos in teacher education and professional development suggests that video can help teachers learn in various aspects: like content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge (e.g. Olivero, John, & Sutherland, 2004; Strickland & Doty, 1997), and ability to notice and analyze classroom interaction (e.g. Eilam & Poyas, 2006; Rosaen, Lundeberg, Cooper, Fritzen, & Terpstra, 2008; Sherin & van Es, 2005; van Es, 2004; van Es & Sherin, 2008). In the studies of Sherin & her colleagues (Sherin & van Es, 2005; van Es, 2004; van Es & Sherin, 2008), groups of pre-service and in-service teachers eventually developed their ability to notice classroom interactions with the use of videos: teachers changed their focus from pedagogy to student thinking, identified significant interactions, discussed the classroom events from evaluation to interpretation, and increased use of evidence from the videos. In the study of Eilam & Poyas (2006), besides the shift of perspectives, teachers also increased their ability to identify and interpret factors and their interrelations in the teaching-learning process, and enhanced their capacity to link perceived teaching-learning processes to theoretical knowledge. Sherin and van Es (2009) recently examined how teachers developed what they referred to as “professional vision” - the ability to notice and interpret significant features of classroom interactions as a result of their participation in video clubs. They found that teachers’ professional vision was exhibited in the video club meetings, in interviews outside the video club meetings, and in the teachers’ instructional practices. This finding suggests that learning from video clubs have the potential to influence teachers’ daily work. However, research in this field, as in other literatures on teacher learning, has fallen short of revealing how videos actually facilitate teachers’ affective learning. The present paper intends to fill this gap by reporting two case studies of how teachers built up their confidence in teaching as a result of participating in a TPD programme that utilized classroom videos as a mediating artifact for teacher learning.


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Method and context of study

The context of this study was a year-long school-based teacher professional development programme. The TPD programme was divided into three stages:

Stage 1: Sensitizing teachers

Teachers and students’ conceptions of good science teaching (CoGST) were probed by having them filling in questionnaires developed in a previous study (Yung, Wong, Cheng, Lo & Hodson, 2008). Teachers were presented with their individual results and sensitized of the gaps between their CoGST and those of their students. The aim was to motivate them to seek ways to critique and develop their own teaching.

Stage 2: Conducting video workshops

Four video workshops (VWs) with selected themes (e.g. lesson planning, assessment for learning, dealing with students’ misconceptions, teaching nature of science) were conducted to equip teachers with the ‘critical lenses’ (Fernandez, Cannon, & Chokshi, 2003) and dispositions necessary for conducting effective lesson study. Videos of exemplary teaching were given to teachers to study at home with the help of some guided tasks. During the workshops, teachers shared their views on the videos with the researchers as facilitators.

Stage 3: Undertaking video-based lesson study (LS)

Teachers collaboratively designed a lesson. They then taught the lesson, which was videotaped. Teachers then reflected on the lesson video individually and selected clips for group sharing with the researchers as facilitators. The researchers also selected clips with verbatim transcripts for the participants to review and to discuss.

All the meetings were audio- and videotaped. Data collection was supplemented by participant observations and field notes. Learning of each individual teacher was traced and monitored by the reflection tasks submitted by teachers before and after each VW and LS meeting. Individual teacher interviews were conducted at the end of stage 2 and stage 3 respectively to find out how teachers experienced the VWs and LS and in what way they found the VWs/LS useful to their PD.

Results

In total, there were 16 teachers from 4 different schools participated in the TPD programme. For space reason, we select the cases of two teachers, Matthew and Ivan, to report our findings regarding teacher affective learning and the role of videos in bringing about teachers’ affective learning. We begin by providing some background information about the teachers so that readers can make a better sense of our findings.

Matthew: Resonating with the teaching shown in exemplary videos

Matthew has 14 years of teaching experience. He has been teaching in the current school, which is a Band One1 secondary school, for more than 10 years. His goal of science teaching is “to inculcate in students a profound interest in learning science, and helping them grasp the methods and skills to explore science”.

Although Matthew has been teaching for 14 years, he seldom had chances to observe other teachers teaching, be it in the present school or in the other school. As a result, he did not know much about the teaching of his colleagues. In the Video Workshops of the present project, Matthew had the chance to view many videos of

1 Secondary schools in Hong Kong are divided into 3 bandings according to the academic ability of students. In Band One schools, a large proportion of the students are the high achievers with strong learning ability. In Band Three schools, most of the students are the low achievers with weak learning ability and less motivation to learn.


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exemplary science teaching. This has had a positive influence on boosting Matthew’s confidence in pursuit of his ideal goal of science teaching. For example, in Video Workshop 1, through watching the teacher-in-video, Mr. Mark, teaching, Matthew did not only admire Mr Mark’s skillful teaching techniques but also his caring attitude towards students as well as his enthusiasm and passion towards science teaching. In his reflective task following the Video Workshop, Matthew used a metaphor to describe the teaching shown in the video,

The teacher in the video was like a tourist guide and his students were like the tourists. A good tourist guide would prepare well in advance, understanding the past experience, the background and the expectation of the tourists. The tourist guide will provide his tourists some traveling tips, help the tourists get away from mistakes, often communicate with his tourists, find out the misconceptions of tourists through questions, and take care of those who are late or lag behind. The tourist guide will also tell the tourists the history of the places the tourists visit, such that the tourists get more and more interest in the trip. The tourists feel they gain a lot from the tour, which worth much more than what they have paid for. (Matthew, VW1 Follow-up Task)

Matthew admired Mr. Mark’s teaching very much. In his own words, “Mr. Mark makes the students the master of their own learning. They are the little scientists who discover knowledge and enjoy learning science a lot”. He described Mr. Mark’s teaching as resonating with his own goal of science teaching.

Thought it may seem I am bragging about myself, I think I am quite similar to Mr. Mark in some ways, such as how we want our students to enjoy their study life. … His teaching touches the bottom of my heart… There’s an idiom “like attracts like"; if I'm right, it’s from some old Chinese record, probably I-Ching. Ancient Chinese already found out that things of similar nature would produce resonance, as from the viewpoint of physics; they would respond to each other. (Matthew, VW Interview)

Such resonance with what was observed in the video boosted Matthew’s confidence in continuing his pursuit of ideal science teaching. This is because, through the video, Matthew realized that his goal or ideal image of science teaching was realistic and achievable; but not purely imaginary, as he put it.

Before I attended the video workshops, I had a bit of this idea (his ideal science teaching), but it had been blurry. However, after I watched the video, I found that Mr. Mark could achieve it. So I started to focus and become clearer, knowing that someone could do it. Now I see this way seems to be the way to move forward. It is not from my own imagination, not just an idealistic one, but there really is someone who is doing it and is achievable. (Matthew, VW Interview)

He regarded this surge of confidence in himself of “feeling sure about what he had been doing and why, and thinking that is the correct thing to do” as the biggest benefit he got from the video workshops, as he put it.

The biggest benefit I got was that …I knew that there must be someone who teach science better than I do. However, I never had a chance to come across a real figure… The video showed me a real example, Mr. Mark. He demonstrated to me what a good science teacher could achieve. (Matthew, VW Interview)

Clearly, for Matthew, the video acted as a proof of existence of good practices under normal classrooms. This, in turn, has given him moral support in pursuing similar teaching goals. The video showed Matthew a real figure who is capable of realizing his ideal goal of good science teaching. This reassured Matthew that “it is the correct direction (to achieve his ideal science teaching)”. In his words, “I am empowered with the confidence and motivation to try some new methods because when you see a successful example before you, you will find it worth a try towards that direction.”

However, Matthew did not “blindly learn from” or simply imitated what Mr. Mark did in the video. Instead he “searched in [his] inner self” and underwent “self-actualization”, as he revealed in the interview,

There were lots of great people in history. Can we blindly learn from and imitate each and every one of them? I don't think so. I think people are born with their own gifted talents and values. I think people should not blindly learn from other people; they should first try to explore themselves, and to understand themselves. …If you flooded yourself in all knowledge


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and around all respectful, successful people, you would get drowned. You wouldn't find yourself and undergo self-actualization. You have to search in your inner self, instead of in the outer world, and find out who you are, what you need, your direction in life, and your talents. (Matthew, VW Interview)

Here, video was a stimulus for Matthew to reflect on his own practices, such that he was able to search in “his inner self”, and to find out that his goal of science teaching actually resonated with that shown in the video.

On watching videos of exemplary science teaching, it reassured Matthew that his ideal goal of science teaching is achievable in normal classroom settings. This, in turn, further boosted Matthew’s confidence in pursuing his ideal goal of science teaching. However, not all teachers would become more confident about their own teaching after they watched the videos of Mr. Mark. Another teacher, Ivan, was a case in point. Ivan lost confidence of his own teaching after viewing the videos of Mr. Mark, as described below.

Ivan: From a correctional service officer to a competent IS teacher

Ivan is a newcomer to the school, which is a Band Three school. Before joining the present school, he taught in another Band Three school for five years. There, he taught senior secondary Physics and Mathematics. Thus, it was a great challenge for him to teach junior secondary Integrated Science when he joined the current school. To him, ideal science teaching is that “students are eager to learn and the teachers provide a suitable environment so as to let students learn happily.” Disappointedly, however, students in this school have serious discipline problem which, according to Ivan, was the greatest barrier that had hindered him to achieve his ideal teaching. In short, prior to this study, teaching junior secondary students Integrated Science was “a hard job” to Ivan.

Though Ivan watched the same videos as Matthew did in Video Workshop 1, his response was completely different from that of Matthew. Observing the very skillful teaching of Mr. Mark and noting the outstanding performance of his students, in particular, their very good behavior in class, Ivan lost confidence in his own teaching. He even queried about his own identity as a teacher, as revealed from the following excerpt:

Sometimes I would ask myself whether I was a teacher or not. It seems that I am not teaching at all, but doing correctional services inside a prison. I need to punish my students all the time in order to make them behave. When I saw the students in Mr. Mark’s class, I found that he could teach his students knowledge. …However, this did not happen in my case…If students do not have any response to your teaching and do not learn anything when you teach them, you would be unhappy either. (Ivan, LS interview)

Ivan felt very depressed because he found his teaching far from satisfactory when compared with what he saw in Mr. Mark’s video. Rather than seeing the video as a resource of different kinds of practices for him to try and test in his teaching or to stimulate him to reflect on his teaching, Ivan regarded what he saw in the video as some sort of ‘standards’ that a good science teacher should be able to attain. He felt that he was not up to the standard because he could not handle the discipline problems in his class. He was so depressed that he described his emotional state as “at the bottom of a very deep valley” after watching the video. This feeling had persisted for a few months until in the third Video Workshop when he watched the lesson video of another teacher, Mr. Luke.

Like Ivan’s students, Mr. Luke’s students were noisy and with discipline problems. For example, during the lesson a student broke a measuring cylinder rather carelessly and was greeted with a lot of teasing from her group mates; and a student could not work cooperatively with her group mates and wanted to change group. After reviewing these episodes, Ivan regained a little confidence in his own teaching, as he put it.

In the video, I can see that there are also naughty students in other schools. Other teachers also face the problems that I am now facing. This makes me feel better. This is because I have been wondering if this is my own problem, my inability to control the class discipline. This has made me questioning about my own abilities. (Ivan, VW interview)


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Watching the video had made Ivan ‘feel better’ and stopped questioning his own abilities in controlling class discipline. This is because he found that student behavioral problems also existed in the classroom of teachers whose teaching had been known to be exemplary. He began to appreciate that one cannot simply equate students’ behavioral problems in class with a teacher’s competency – a wrong perception he got when he watched Mr. Mark’s video where the students are behaving very well and the teacher teaching very well. In sum, watching the video, where the classroom situation was similar to his school, had made Ivan felt better and laid a good foundation for him to re-build confidence in his own teaching as described below.

After four Video Workshops, Ivan and his colleagues carried out a Lesson Study on “Density of Solid Cubes” where they tried to apply what they had learnt from the Video Workshops. In particular, they wanted to infuse some elements of nature of science into the lesson. Instead of following what was prescribed in the textbook, they came up with a very innovative instructional design. They designed a worksheet that begins with a table as shown below:

Students were given four different kinds of solid cubes and asked to measure their mass and volume, record the results and calculate the quantities as required by Columns A and B in the table. On completion of the practical task, students were asked: Which column, A or B, is a better way of representing density of metals and why? In short, the teachers did not want students just to memorize the formula of density. They wanted to challenge students with questions like: Why density is equal to mass over volume and not the other way round? How did scientists come to an agreed definition of density? That is, they wanted their students to take on the role of scientists, to experience the process of how they should definite the concept of density, so as to arouse their interest in learning science (and to enhance their memory of the definition of density which they find students often mix up).

Clearly, this lesson requires students to practise high order thinking skills and demands a lot from teachers with respect to their skills in guiding students in the discussion of what the definition of density should be. For these reasons, Ivan was worrying a lot throughout the planning process. He feared about his own performance as well as his students’ performance. He thought, “it was very difficult for his students to achieve the intended learning outcomes”. However, as the plan was designed and agreed upon by all colleagues involved in the lesson study, he felt obliged to teach according to the agreed lesson plan. So he “taught the lesson gingerly”, fearing that he would not be able to achieve the intended learning outcomes as laid down in the lesson plan.

However, it turned out that Ivan’s lesson was considered by his peers the best among the three lessons that were taught based on the same lesson plan. The other two lessons were taught by colleagues who were more experienced than Ivan. In reviewing the lesson videos, with the help of the facilitator who often referred teachers to the verbatim transcript of the lessons, Ivan came to notice that his students did learn from his lesson. This was because by referring to the transcript, Ivan was able to focus on the interaction between him and his students word by word quietly without being distracted by some of the students’ noises in the lesson when one watches the lesson video. Noticing evidence of student learning from his lesson was an important turning point for Ivan’s own learning. He felt better about himself as a teacher, as he put it.

Table 1. A table extracted from the student worksheet Column A Column B

Substance Mass(g) Volume(cm3) Mass (g) Volume(cm3)

Volume (cm3) Mass(g)

Iron Copper Aluminium Rubber


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Before that, I did not have any sense of satisfaction on teaching this class. I thought I was not able to teach them anything; they didn’t learn anything at all. However, after this lesson, I can see the effect, which proves that, to a certain extent; I can teach students this piece of science knowledge. This has strengthened and boosted my confidence. (Ivan, LS Interview)

Reviewing his own video and seeing the positive effect of his teaching to students has helped Ivan rebuild his confidence in his teaching and his identity as a competent IS teacher. That ‘better learning’ was occurring was perceived by Ivan as a reason to keep on using the new activity in his classroom. Ivan saw the ‘better learning’ as a payoff to keep on developing his teaching.

In addition to watching his own video, watching the videos of his colleagues has also exerted a positive influence on rebuilding his confidence.

This may be due to the comparison… As I saw the performances of other classes were similar to that of my class from the videos. The students were similar to mine… I could tell that I was not especially bad. Thus, I regained some confidence in my own teaching. (Ivan, LS Interview)

Teachers in Ivan’s school used to work in isolation. Before the Lesson Study, Ivan did not have any chance to observe his colleagues’ lessons. He knew nothing about the teaching and students in other classes. Through the Lesson Study, it was the first time that Ivan was able to find out more about what was happening in his colleagues’ classrooms. Through watching their lesson study videos, Ivan found that his colleagues were facing the same problem that he had been facing. Their students were behaving very much like his students. Thus he regained some confidence in his own teaching as he found he “was not especially bad”. This, together with his successful experience in the Density Lesson, further rebuilt Ivan’s confidence of himself as a teacher.

It turned out that students could achieve what we have planned. So, my teaching did have some effects on students. With such an experience, emotionally speaking, I was liked climbing out from the bottom of a very deep valley. This showed that it’s not a problem with my teaching. It was like receiving an injection re-invigorating my heart to keep me alive. This keeps me in the teaching profession. (Ivan, LS interview)

To sum up, classroom videos have exerted both positive and negative influences on building Ivan’s confidence in developing his own teaching. Showing the exemplary practice of Mr. Mark (whose students differed a lot from Ivan’s) had a demoralizing effect on Ivan. Instead of motivated to try the new practices demonstrated by the teacher-in-video. Ivan lost his confidence and queried his identity as a competent science teacher. This finding echoes with what we have previously found (Wong, et al., 2006; Yung, et al., 2007). For example, exposing student teachers to videos of exemplary teaching too soon may lower their confidence by setting too high a standard for them. Indeed, an exclusive focus of good practice can be daunting for not only to student teachers, but also inexperienced practicing teachers, like Ivan who just got five years of teaching experience. On the other hand, videos of classroom situations similar to Ivan’s own had exerted a positive influence on him. When he saw teachers (both Mr. Luke and his colleagues) with similar problems like himself, he felt relieved that he was not especially bad. He felt he was not alone. With suitable help from the TPD facilitator, he regained his confidence via analyzing his own lesson video. Not only was the video instrumental in Ivan’s learning, the transcript has also played a crucial role.

In the past, I was easily influenced by the noisiness students made. Their noises made me thought that they were not attentive and hence did not learn much. However, this time, I looked at the video [of my lessons] and their responses [by making reference to the transcript of the lesson]. It’s much clearer this time. I can judge from the video [and the transcript] clearly whether they had learned or not. (Ivan, LS Interview)

In summary, a guided analysis of the lesson study video with reference to the verbatim transcript of the lesson enabled Ivan to turn students’ noises (that had lowered his confidence) to students’ voices (that helped him to regain his confidence as a competent IS teacher).


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Discussion and Implications for Teacher Professional Development

Recently Hong Kong, the context of this study, is undertaking a structural education reform; schools have to make changes to the curriculum, teaching, management and other aspects of the system to adapt to the reform. In science education, it entails teaching science as inquiry and emphasizing the nature of science. Science teachers find responding to the reforms challenging (Wong, Yung & Cheng, in press). Some even express that they feel exhausted and burn-out. Set against this background, not only is it important to provide teachers with continual professional development opportunities, it is also crucial to find ways to engender in them the confidence that would keep them as life-long learners. The findings in this paper illustrate the importance of developing confidence both in experienced and novice teachers. In Matthew’s case, the confidence developed helped him to persevere and stick with his ideal goal of science teaching. In Ivan’s case, his re-invigorated confidence has not only kept him in the profession but helped reconstructing his identity as a teacher from that of a correctional officer inside a prison. Both cases also support Graven’s (2004) assertion that confidence is the primary condition for ongoing learning in a profession. Hence, it is imperative for teacher developers to include affective learning, such as confidence discussed in this paper, as one of the objectives of their TPD programmes.

There can be many ways to nurture confidence in teachers. This study suggests that authentic classroom videos can be used for this purpose as demonstrated in both Matthew’s case (boosting his confidence in pursuing his ideal goal of science teaching) and Ivan’s case (re-invorgorating his confidence of his identity as a teacher). Video provides teachers opportunities to review others’ teaching. As teachers usually work in isolation, they seldom have the chances to observe others’ teaching for the purpose of their professional development. Video breaks the walls between teachers. Video is like a window that connects teachers inside each of the respective classrooms. Through the window, teachers are able to see what teaching in other classrooms is like. Getting to know the work of like-minded teachers (in Matthew’s case) or teachers with similar experience (in Ivan’s case) increases teachers’ confidence about their own teaching and their identity as a teacher. This window breaks the isolation among teachers and relieves them from the loneliness of their work, as Matthew said, “There is someone who reaches the destination [as shown in the video], so I become more motivated to follow the same path.” And so did Ivan, when he found out from the video that his colleagues were facing the same problem he was facing.

Video also acted as a mirror as what Lundeberg et al. (2008) described. Reviewing the video with a verbatim transcript of his own lesson allowed Ivan to study his teaching in details, finding out the strengths and weaknesses in his own teaching, and the effect of his teaching to students, just like looking at our face in the mirror. This allowed Ivan to find out what he did not notice during the time of teaching (because he was preoccupied by the noises students made). It is only when he reviewed the video and making reference to the relevant transcript, he came to notice that his students did learn from his teaching. It is argued that Ivan’s learning would not have been possible if there was not a permanent record of the video and transcript which Ivan could review again and again.

Though authentic classroom videos can be used to help develop confidence in teachers, several issues need to be addressed. First, attention needs to be paid to the orientation of teachers used in reviewing the classroom videos. For example, Ivan regarded teaching shown in the video as a standard of which he was expected to perform in his own teaching. When he thought that he was not up to the standard, he lost his confidence and queried his identity as a teacher. On the other hand, Matthew saw the video as a resource for his learning which had stimulated his reflection and searching for his ‘inner self’. So, teachers have to be reminded that the video is just a resource or tool for their learning. Instead of setting up a standard for teachers to follow, video provides teachers opportunities to review their own teaching as well as those of others, and engage themselves in deep reflection of their own teaching. Following this line of argument, though comparison between his own teaching and those of his colleagues in the same school had helped Ivan regained part of his confidence, the confidence so developed was on a shaky ground. Only when he was able to focus on his students’ learning by referring to the verbatim transcript (and with the help of the PD facilitator), did he become really more confident of his identity as a teacher compared with the feeling of “I was not especially bad.” That is, the confidence is built on a more solid foundation this time by referring to evidence


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of student learning. Hence, when teachers are asked to review classroom videos, teachers should be encouraged to focus on student learning rather than on comparing the teaching performance of teachers. This also brings forth the importance of a knowledgeable facilitator to orientate and guide teachers in the video reviewing process. The provision of a verbatim transcript to facilitate teachers’ analysis of the videos is another issue as it can be very costly.

Finally, teacher development facilitators should be alerted that ‘one size cannot fit all’. This is well illustrated by the two cases in which both Matthew and Ivan watched the same video (of Mr. Mark) but with contrasting effects on their confidence development. That is, the same video may be interpreted differently by different teachers. Hence, teacher development facilitators need to consider the existing knowledge and background of teachers, as the same way as teachers considering the existing knowledge and background of their students. Teacher development facilitators need to address the prime concerns of the teachers as well as their experiences and values. We concur with the suggestions made by Wong et al. (2006) and Yung, et al. (2007) that a range of videos covering teaching in different schools with various nature of students can be provided to teachers such that the goal set for teachers is challenging but achievable, and would not be too high to lower their confidence. This is especially important because, as pointed out earlier, confidence is the primary condition for ongoing learning in a profession.

To sum up, this paper reports the affective learning of teachers as they participated in a TPD programme using classroom videos as the mediating artifact. Implications for teacher professional development are discussed. It highlights that we need to expect and plan for unintended learning outcomes of which affective learning of teachers is a case in point. We need to let teachers know that having positive and negative feelings is an integral part of the change process, and a part of teacher development. The negative feelings especially need to be seen by teachers as a part of the change process to be managed, rather than as an aspect to be avoided or ignored.

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BIOLOGY TEACHERS AS DESIGNERS OF CONTEXT-BASED LESSONS

Nienke Wieringa, Fred Janssen & Jan van Driel Leiden University

Abstract

In sience education in The Netherlands, an innovation is taking place, which is based upon a context-based approach. When teachers design lessons, they are consciously or subconsciously using design principles: notions of what a lesson should look like, if certain classroom outcomes are to be reached. The aim of the current study was to identify design principles biology teachers use when designing context-based lessons for their own practice. Six biology teachers designed a lesson for their own practice, while thinking aloud. While there were some similarities (choose a context at the organism level, aim at motivating and activating students), each teacher turned out to use quite different design principles, associated with different intended outcomes. The range of intended outcomes was broadest for the two teachers experienced at designing context-based lessons. The concept of ‘design principles’ appeared helpful in describing the relation between a teacher’s knowledge and lesson design. Only one teacher chose to faithfully implement the innovation. This could be explained by three tensions between the personal design principles and formal innovative principles. The results have implications for the current innovation and curriculum innovations in general. More research into teachers’ lesson design and the role of design principles is proposed.

Introduction

There is an international trend in science education towards context-based approaches. If concepts are taught in relationship to real-world contexts, science education is expected to become more meaningful, relevant and motivating for students (Gilbert, 2006). In biology education in the Netherlands an innovation process towards context-based education is currently taking place (Boersma et al, 2007). As in any innovation, the outcome will largely depend on the teachers implementing it (Fullan, 2004; van Driel, Beijaard, & Verloop, 2001).

Teachers generally do not implement an innovation exactly the way it was originally envisioned and described in curriculum documents (Fullan, 2004). When teachers interpret an innovation, their practical knowledge, which integrates experiential knowledge, formal knowledge and personal beliefs, has been shown to act as a filter (Levin & He, 2008; van Driel et al., 2001). Moreover, knowing that innovations often are poorly translated into teaching materials (Van Berkel, 2005), teachers often need to design innovative lessons themselves. In this study, we explore the role of teachers’ practical knowledge while designing context-based lessons for their own classroom practice. Although many authors have pointed at the importance of studying teachers’ instructional design in order to understand how practical knowledge informs instructional decision making (Clark & Dunn, 1991; Hashweh, 2005; Sanchez & Valcarcel, 1999), still little is known about the relation between teacher knowledge and instructional design (Hashweh, 2005).

The research reported here consisted of six case studies of secondary school biology teachers designing a context-based lesson for their own classroom practice, while thinking aloud. Analysis specifically focused on the design principles teachers use when designing the lessons.


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Theory

Context-based biology education

Context-based education is not new. In different parts of the world, in slightly different forms and with different purposes, context-based education has been propagated, often in response to alleged failures of the traditional science curriculum (Aikenhead, 2007). Likewise, context-based education is seen as a possible answer to the problems in biology education in The Netherlands, as identified by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in their 2003 report (KNAW, 2003). According to the KNAW, biology education in the Netherlands suffers from a lack of relevance (both from the viewpoint of students and from the viewpoint of science and society), a lack of coherence (between biological concepts and between concepts and contexts) and an overload of biological concepts in the curriculum.

In the international literature, the objectives to be obtained by the use of context-based education are manifold. Context-based education is, most importantly, expected to lead to more meaningful learning. Meaningful learning occurs when students are not only able to remember knowledge, but also to transfer it to new situations (Mayer, 2002). Furthermore, context-based education is thought to motivate students to learn, more than is accomplished by using more traditional educational approaches, and let them feel more positive about science (Bennett, Lubben, & Hogarth, 2007). Others stress the importance of changing the educational emphasis from the learning of scientific “facts” to involving students in scientific activities such as argumentation, modelling, and designing (Krajcik, McNeill, & Reiser, 2008), and more in general, of increasing the relevance of the science curriculum.

In the same way as there are various, often related, reasons for using contexts in science education, there are many different ideas about how to define “context” in education and what a “context-based lesson” should look like. A “context” has been alternately described as a theme, issue, story, topic, situation, practice, application and problem (Bennett, Grasel, Parchmann, & Waddington, 2005; Goedhart, 2004; Pilot & Bulte, 2006). Of these, the interpretation of a context as a “situation” is mostly used. The type of situation chosen also varies. Some only select situations that are of personal relevance to students (Taasoobshirazi & Carr, 2008), or have societal relevance (Zeidler, Sadler, Simmons, & Howes, 2005), while others include all contexts that students may encounter in their personal or future professional life or that may help them understand how science “works” (Aikenhead, 2007). In this study, we are interested in teachers’ own interpretation of the concept of context-based education. Therefore, we adopt a definition that encompasses all: a context is a realistic situation from students’ own life, from society or from professional or scientific practices.

Although opinions differ on definitions and goals of context-based education, there seem to be some basic characteristics of context-based lessons many agree upon, which, in this study, will be called the formal design principles. A context-based lesson or lesson sequence typically starts with an introductory phase, during which students are enabled to imagine themselves being part of the situation (Bennett et al., 2007). From this situation a question of problem logically arises. Students answer this question by performing learning activities, meanwhile gaining insight into biological concepts, which are needed to answer the question or solving the problem (Bennett et al., 2007; Bulte, Westbroek, de Jong, & Pilot, 2006; Glynn & Koballa, 2005; Kortland, 2007). In the end, reflection on the process takes place, the answers are summarized and explicit attention is given to the biological concepts used, which is expected to enable transfer of these concepts to new contexts (recontextualization; Van Oers, 1998).

Teachers’ personal design principles

Many authors have pointed out the fact that teachers generally do not implement an innovation the way it was originally envisioned. Innovations are being interpreted, while teachers’ personal practical knowledge plays an important role. Hashweh (2005) informs us that teacher practical knowledge results initially, and most importantly, from


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teacher planning, which is essentially a design process (p. 278). He adds that the relation between lesson design and a teacher’s practical knowledge is a reciprocal one: teachers draw on their knowledge when deciding on instructional goals and strategies. Still, little research has been conducted to explore the manner in which practical knowledge informs teachers’ decision making during lesson planning.

In the past, descriptive studies into teacher lesson planning have been carried out, where most considered the process as one of solving problems. This was answered with justified criticism, saying that teachers, when designing lessons, are not dealing with clearly defined problems (Clark & Dunn, 1991). Others considered lesson planning as a process of decision making, where teachers generate alternatives and choose between them (Borko & Shavelson, 1990). This perspective also has been criticized, because teachers, instead of balancing multiple alternatives when designing their lessons, seem to be guided by a limited set of rules-of-thumb, or design principles, that they developed during the process of planning, teaching and reflecting. Such design principles are defined as prescriptive notions of advisable lesson characteristics, mostly related to some intended outcomes in student understanding, students behaviour, student and teacher emotions and lesson organization (Elbaz, 1983; Feldman, 2000; Janssen, Veldman, & Van Tartwijk, 2008; Peters & Beijaard, 1983). In this study, we adopt the notion that teachers, , use design principles when designing their lessons, these principles are largely implicit and can be elicited when investigating teachers’ reasoning when designing lessons. When designing innovative lessons, teachers are thought to combine their personal design principles they derived from former experiences designing and implementing lessons, with formal design principles that come with the innovation.

This study aims to explore six biology teachers’ decision making processes when designing innovative context-based biology lessons for their own educational practice. We start from the tentative assumption that both formal and personal design principles determine the outcome of these decision making processes. This leads to the following research questions: (1) What design principles do biology teachers use when designing context-based lessons for their own educational practice? And (2) How do biology teachers’ design principles relate to the formal design principles?

Methods

Selection of participants

Because the context-based innovation is meant to be implemented by teachers of different experience and teaching style and in different grade levels, in this study we aimed to include a variety of secondary school biology teachers teaching a variety of grade levels. Advice has been obtained from two experts possessing a wide network of biology teachers in the region, which led to the invitation of 14 biology teachers. Six teachers agreed to participate. The teachers teach at different Dutch city schools. Table 1 summarizes participant characteristics. Both David and Vera are experienced designers of context-based lessons: David because he is involved in the design of an experimental context-based curriculum and Vera has been using context in her lessons for the last three years, independently from the current innovation in biology education.

Table 1. Participant characteristics Teacher Kate Richard Marion Thomas David VeraTeaching experience (yrs) 8 6 13 1 22 4Innovation type1 A A B B C CExperience in designing context-based lessons

None None Minor None 3 yrs 3 yrs

1 A = following the book, B = innovative lesson designer but no or minor experience in designing context-based education, C = innovative lesson designer and some experience in designing context-based education.


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Data gathering

Every teacher has been asked to design a context-based lesson or short lesson sequence of maximum three lessons for one of their own classes, which they would be able to implement shortly after the interview. We did not train the teachers in designing context-based lessons, but only informed them about the definition of context-based education and the formal design principles used in this study and provided them with a small literature package that mirrored the information about the context-based innovation, that was easily available to teachers at that moment.

A short structured interview was held to gather information about the teachers’ background, teaching experience, and knowledge and beliefs concerning context-based education. Directly after this interview, participants designed their context-based lesson while thinking aloud. The teachers were asked to use the formal design principles as a starting point, and use all the materials they would normally use. During the lesson design process, the researcher in general did not intervene, except for asking “What are you thinking right now?”. The teachers in our study reported that they experienced the design process while thinking aloud being similar to the natural situation, although Richard said he now spent some more time designing the lesson then he would normally do, and both Thomas and Marion said the situation felt slightly uncomfortable, but they did not think that influenced their thinking processes a lot. Following the thinking aloud session the teachers were asked to reflect on the design process, to clarify decisions made, and to explain what factors hinder or promote the design of context-based lessons. Audio- and video recordings have been made of the thinking aloud sessions and all interviews, and all interviews and thinking aloud protocols have been typed out verbatim.

While all teachers had drawn up the basic structure of the lesson within the thinking-aloud session, most teachers performed some supplementary design activities between the thinking aloud and the implementation of the lesson in the classroom, like drawing up student assignments in detail and making practical arrangements. The teachers kept notes of all these activities. The lesson itself was videotaped. Following the lesson, an open interview was held in order to further clarify decisions made, if reasons had not been clear from the summaries.

Data analysis

The first analytical step was to identify all decisions made by the teachers during the design process. These decisions could be diverse, e.g. about the choice of strategy (use a context-based approach), the choice of student activities (use a creative activity), a choice of organisation (this time, students don’t work in groups, but individually), or a choice not to do something, that had been considered (I don’t choose the holiday context). Then, every decision was linked to the reasons that particular teacher had for taking that decision. Often, these reasons would be obvious from the thinking aloud protocol. If the reason for taking a certain decision was unclear, the teacher was asked for clarification directly after the thinking aloud session. Based upon this information, the first researcher drew up a summary of decisions and reasons. This summary has been presented to the teacher during the following interview, when teachers were asked to confirm and/or adapt this summary. No major adaptations appeared needed.

Thorough consideration of the teachers’ reasons behind their design decisions led to the observation that, as was expected, most reasons referred to the outcome intended by enacting a particular lesson element (e.g. have students realize how their current knowledge determines the way they view the world), or to some basic design principles teachers use when designing lessons in general (make room for students to make their own contribution to class). Therefore, the decision summaries were used by two researchers independently to identify all personal design principles and intended outcomes that influenced the design process, while it was tried to keep as close to the teacher’s own phrasing as much as possible. There were some minor differences between the two researchers. All of them could be resolved easily during discussion. Ultimately, we sent the design principles and clarifying text as they appear in this paper to the teachers, who confirmed that their personal theories had been correctly and recognizably represented in the text and tables. One teacher asked us to rephrase one design principle, which we did.


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Results

Below, the individual teachers’ design principles will be presented, preceded by a short description of the lesson and the forgoing decision making process and the resulting lessons

Kate (pre-university education, 12/13 yrs old)

Kate’s lesson started with a question, central to biology, namely: What does an animal need to be able to survive and reproduce? Kate aimed to have students understand the meaning of this question by letting them draw their own house and identify elements of their surroundings they really need, like food, safety, a pleasant room temperature, etc. This is what Kate called the main “context” of her context-based lesson. After drawing their own house, students drew the “house” of an animal they knew from a recent park visit. For this purpose, Kate had prepared 27 different biographies of the animals involved. Also, she had brought a map of an imaginary park to the classroom that students could use to find a home for “their” animals. This moment in the lesson led to emotional scenes: There is no place my frog can live! There is no pond in the park! After deliberation, the teacher and students resolved this by adapting the park in such a way, that every animal could have its place in it. During the lesson, the school book was regularly used so that students could link the classroom activities to the concepts used in the book: habitat, nature development and biodiversity.

Kate, during her years of practice, has dedicated a lot of thoughts about the goals she wants to reach, which is visible in her elaborated set of personal design principles used when designing the lesson (table 3). The intended outcome for most of these principles comes down to one thing: better student understanding of biological concepts. While discussing her decision summary during the second interview, Kate formulates the ultimate goal of her lessons: she wants her students to be able to recognize biology in the real world, while thinking like a biologist, not like a park designer or a doctor: In my lesson you [the student] are a biologist, you think like a biologist.

Table 3. Kate’s design principles and intended outcomes Design principle Intended outcome Use a context-based approach. Students understand what biology is really about.

A nice learning atmosphere. Start the lesson by giving meaning to the concepts, using students’ own life.

Students learn they are organisms who are part of the science of biology. Students are able to give meaning to the concept.

Use well-structured assignments. Students think at a higher level Let students learn the theory first, before applying it in a context.

Students acquire the biological thinking tools needed to interpret the context.

Use the school book. Students feel secure, and are able to connect the lesson to the theory in the book.

Use creative activities. Students are motivated. Start at the organism level. Students learn to think “biologically”, by wondering how

organisms succeed in staying alive. Use concepts in multiple situations. Students learn to use the concepts in multiple situations.

Richard (upper general secondary education, 15/16 yrs old)

Richard’s lesson starts with a gripping story about the class being on a safari trip, celebrating the birthday of one of the students, eating cake, when suddenly a lion jumps forward while the guide is distracted by the new gadgets on his cell phone. The question that follows is: what should you organs be doing in the cake-eating situation? And what should they do when the lion appears on stage? Without needing more information, the students can figure out what the answers to these questions should be, after which the teacher explains how the autonomous nervous system is designed to make sure the organs are in fact doing what the students predicted they should be doing.


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Retrospectively, Richard shows his satisfaction with the lesson. He thinks it is a context-based lesson, and most importantly, that it is a better lesson than his regular ones. He realizes that the student activities in this lesson do not resemble the activities one would undertake in the context given (it would be very foolish to ponder on the state of your kidneys while you’re being attacked by a lion), but he does not consider that problematic at all. The function the context has in this lesson is motivating students, making them active and giving them something which helps them to remember the concepts. The concepts are not gaining more relevance if understanding of these concepts is really necessary in some situation or another. It is important enough, he says, to understand how your body works, without needing this information in some particular context.

Table 4. Richard’s design principles and intended outcomes Design principle Intended outcome Use a context-based approach.

Students understand the relevance of biological concepts. Students are motivated to learn.

The context matches the complete concept. Students get a perception of the complete concept. Use a simple context. Students easily understand and remember the context. If talking about the human body, processes in students’ own bodies are central.

Students imagine how their own body works.

Do not use medical contexts.

The positive facts get most attention: the beauty of the complexity of the body when it goes right, instead of wrong.

Use an appealing context. Students’ attention is drawn to the lesson. Give students examples that help them to remember facts.

Students remember the facts they learn.

Use a variety of students’ activities. Students’ concentration levels are high. Have students invent the knowledge themselves. Students acquire knowledge that retains. The teacher gives a structured overview of the biological concepts.

Students are helped to build a conceptual network.

Marion (Pre-university education, 16/17 yrs old)

Marion is an experienced biology teacher who also is a coach for new teachers at her school. She has since long been fascinated by learning styles, which she repeatedly explained as being the base for her most important design principle: the curriculum should be comprised of a variety of student activities. The main reason for her to embark on context-based education is to add to the variety of teaching approaches in her repertoire.

Unlike the other teachers, there is not much practical reasoning in Marion’s thinking aloud protocol, which is reflected in the confined size of table 8. In the beginning of the session, Marion produced two possible contexts: one based upon a newspaper article she read, about a fossil shell that had been found, and the other about the Victoria Lake. Quickly, the second option was abandoned, because Marion felt she lacked the biological knowledge needed to elaborate on this example. From the newspaper article onward, Marion composed a lesson, faithfully using the formal design principles. She used a television documentary about a palaeontologist’s work to introduce the context. Then, her students are asked to imagine they are a palaeontologist who finds a fossil shell in a certain earth layer at a certain place in The Netherlands. Using geological information from internet, the students infer what the age of this shell would be.


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Table 5. Marion’s design principles and intended outcomes Design principle Intended outcome Use a context-based approach.

The biology is closer to the students More variety in the curriculum, so that students with different learning styles are catered for. Get detached from the book Help students to give meaning to the concepts.

Use a context that students can relate to. Students give meaning to the concepts. Students remember the concepts.

Use a variety of students’ activities. Students are motivated for class. Students are active.

Use structured assignments. Use the media (television, internet)

Thomas (upper general secondary education, 12/13 yrs old)

Thomas is in his first year of teaching. He is a passionate collector of “amazing biological stories”. Anecdotes from the newspaper or television shows have a prominent place in his lessons. For Thomas, the main reason for participating in this research was his willingness to innovate in general. From the beginning, however, he had been sceptical towards the assumptions underlying the current innovation. He felt that most of the contexts that feature as examples in official documents would not motivate students to learn and teachers to teach. Thomas considers it very important to give original, fun lessons, where both students and teacher share their experiences. Most of his regular lessons have the following features: start with a newspaper article, then give a clear explanation of the concepts to be learnt, after which students make exercises from the book, and end the lesson with an educative video fragment.

Table 6. Thomas’ design principles and intended outcomes Design principle Intended outcome Use the context-based approach.

Teacher learning: extended teaching repertoire Fun lessons Cater for different learning styles Students are motivated to learn.

Concepts should be presented in a structured fashion. The context should neatly fit the concepts: avoid contexts where too many biological concepts play a role.

Students understand the concepts.

The context is appealing to teacher and students. Both students and teacher are having a good time.

The student activities are “fun” to do. Students have fun The use of clichés is avoided. Students have the opportunity to move around during the lesson.

There is room for students to make their own contribution to the lesson.

Use newspaper articles. Students see the relevance of biology in daily life. Use video material. Students enjoy class.

While designing his context-based lesson, Thomas spent a lot of time searching for a context that was

interesting enough to spend a whole lesson on and that, at the same time, covered the concepts to be taught, getting frustrated because he felt he did not succeed in finding a context in which it is necessary to have understanding of the function of every part of the eye, which was the concept to be taught this lesson. Therefore, Thomas chose to start by thinking of an activity that covered the concepts (making a drawing of an eye with a certain defect) and later on selected a context to fit this activity (making an illustration for a medical handbook). Interestingly enough, Thomas forgot to mention this context altogether during the lesson itself, showing that he did not consider this


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particular context essential to the lesson, that started with a discussion of a newspaper article about colour-blind monkeys, which naturally resulted in a discussion of vision impairments in general, after which students made drawings to illustrate these vision impairments.

David (Pre-university education, 15/16 yrs old)

David is an experienced, very enthusiastic biology teacher and teacher educator. He has some years of experience in developing context-based lesson sequences. The current lesson is part of a larger lesson sequence about love, sex and reproduction. In his already made long-term plan, he had determined the concepts to be learnt each lesson, and the materials he had to offer. This way, it was already certain that this lesson would cover hox genes and cell differentiation in embryos, and that a movie about cell migration in a zebra fish embryo should be shown. During the thinking aloud session, David used many other design principles to make up the rest of the lesson, while he explicitly linked every design principle to objectives to be reached (table 10). The resulting lesson was built around the central question: What is happening at cellular level during embryonic development?, while many examples (“contexts?”) were used to illuminate the answer to this question in different situations. The contexts in this case mainly served to give meaning to the question and concepts and to show an example of current biological research. The central question nearly coincided with a central biological concept, reminiscent of Kate’s biodiversity lesson. The central question and its answer in different contexts were presented by David, using lots of visually fascinating examples (scientific research into zebra fish embryo development, causes of growth disorders, a pregnant woman growing a beard, etc.), while the students mainly sat and listened, with the exception of two short moments when the students were asked to answer a question on paper.

Table 7. David’s design principles and intended outcomes

Design principle Intended outcome Use the context-based approach

Students understand coherence with other subjects and between concepts and contexts. Students get a picture of real, current biology.

Use a context that fits the concepts to be learnt. Concepts from examination program are covered Use examples from current biology. Students get a picture of real, current biology. Start with a context that surprises and involves students.

Students are involved

Start with a human context, at the organism level. Preconceptions are triggered Show somatic disorders. Students wonder about the fact that they ended up

complete and healthy. Give students access to nice materials, even if it means there is less time for students to ask questions.

Move up and down organization levels (organism-organ-cell-molecule).

Students learn to move up and down organization levels.

Make connections with other biological themes. Students build up coherent conceptual networks. Use personal stories. Students’ see importance of personal developmental skills. Use Binas (a handbook with biological figures) Students’ skills to use Binas are being developed. Use historical contexts. Students realize how their current knowledge determines

the way they view the world. Vera (pre-vocational secondary education, 13/14 yrs old)

Vera started her teaching career as a nurse and medical teacher in the Israeli army. After her migration to the Netherlands she started a beauty salon, which she since four years has been combining with teaching external care and biology at a vocational secondary school in Rotterdam.


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During the interviews Vera explained that story-telling is a very important ingredient of her lessons. Those stories can sometimes be considered contexts in which biological concepts play a role, and sometimes these stories merely serve as metaphors, for example when she compares the circulatory system to the railways or the nervous system to a bread factory. Often, she does not prepare her lessons, choosing an improvisational approach instead, responding to the stories students bring to the classroom or the ideas that come into her mind during the lesson.

Vera’s main goal for this particular lesson was, to have her students realize the importance of the knowledge of DNA in society. For this reason, Vera chose to start the lesson telling her students a very personal story in an interactive way, really involving her students. Vera has a son with haemophilia, which is a genetic disease. She told her students how this had been discovered, and asked them what they thought it would mean to her son to have this disease (hereby referring back to another concept domain: circulation). Then, she explained that she herself appeared to be the carrier. She asked her students to help her explain what a “carrier” is and what that has to do with DNA and chromosomes, but, at the same time, she gave her students a pile of newspaper articles on a wide range of DNA –related topics and a very open assignment to choose a subject, search the internet and make a PowerPoint presentation about DNA. Vera was the only teacher who did not determine the concepts to be learnt on beforehand. She considered it more important for her students to realize the importance of the biological domain of genetics for society and people’s personal life, and left her students fairly free to determine what they wanted to investigate.

Reflecting on her lesson, Vera said that it would have been better to have a more structured assignment, but in general she likes her students to have room to decide what and how they want to learn, and have them learn from their own experiences and questions.

Table 8: Vera’s design principles and intended outcomes Design principle Intended outcome Use a context-based approach. Have students involved.

Have students ask their own questions. Show relevance of biology for students’ own life.

Tell gripping stories, while the teacher really puts herself into the situation.

Give students something to help them remember what they learn.

Do not start from the school book. Boredom is avoided. Use examples from students’ own life. Students can give meaning to the concepts. Stress solutions instead of problems. Students learn to think positively. Make room for improvisation and for students to make their contribution.

Keep students’ attention. The concepts are linked to real situations that are important to students at that moment. If students learn from their own interest, better learning occurs.

Use newspaper articles.

Let students learn to interpret biological concepts if they encounter them in the media.

Use students’ activities that force them to higher-level thinking.


Research question 1: teachers’ design principles

As our analyses showed, lesson design in these six cases was indeed strongly guided by the teachers’ personal design principles. Although teachers’ design principles are personal and depend on the specific context, it is possible to identify some similarities. All teachers stressed that the context chosen should be appealing to the students, in order to motivate students for the lesson. Four teachers aimed to include real materials, such as video fragments or newspaper articles, because it fits the objective of helping students recognize the biology in the real world (Kate,


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Thomas, Daniel) or simply because video fragments are a fun element of the lesson (Thomas). David, Kate and Richard stressed the importance of choosing a context at organism level, preferably something human, because that is what students can relate to. From that level, it is possible to zoom in into the cellular and molecular levels (David) or zoom out to the ecosystem level (Kate). Kate, Richard and Vera had a preference for starting their lesson using a context from students’ own life, which helps students to give meaning to the concepts and, the other way round, to recognize the concepts in their own life. To further the relevance of the lesson for students, both Thomas and Vera liked to be flexible when implementing their lesson, giving room for students to contribute and pose their own questions, while David explicitly said: There are soft subjects where I give them more room… but this is hard biology… and I want to proceed towards that movie. Interestingly, David and Vera, who were the two teachers most experienced in designing and enacting context-based lessons, said to choose their context in such a way to allow making connections between different biological themes or between different lessons. Kate’s haemophilia context, for example, connected genetics with circulation. In contrast, Thomas and Richard explicitly tried to avoid such contexts, saying a context should be simple and cover the concepts and concepts should be put in a clear framework.

Research question 2: relation between teachers’ design principles and formal design principles

If comparing the lesson designs resulting from this study with the formal design, it is notable that only Marion chose to implement all of the formal design principles, while the other teachers did not. The teachers apply the context-based approach mainly to activate and motivate students and to a lesser extent to enlarge conceptual understanding. Only the experienced designers of context-based lessons (David & Vera) aimed at enlarging relevance, having students learn about contexts and specific ways of thinking and acting, and stimulating the personal development of students. Apart from the formal purposes, the teachers named three more: strengthen the professional development of teachers, help teachers to enjoy their practice, and help students to remember acquired concepts (which is different from learning to understand these concepts). There seem to be two main tensions between the formal design principles and these teachers’ personal practical knowledge.

Tension 1: Authenticity and complexity versus intelligibility

Real-life situations often are very complex. This means it is difficult to make a meaningful translation to the classroom (Boersma et al., 2007; Goedhart, 2004). The importance of contexts and students activities being derived from authentic contexts is often stressed in literature. One reason is the idea that if concepts from different concept domains come together within a context, this would make it easier for students to recognize the coherence between concepts and between concepts and contexts, which is thought to enable transfer. This view is in conflict with the principle applied by four teachers in this study that concepts should be taught in relation to other concepts within the same concept domain, avoiding the confusion that would occur if concepts from different concept domains come together. Another objective to be obtained by the use of complex, authentic contexts, is to have students learn about specific contexts and specific ways of thinking and acting. This, however, was only shared by David, while the other teachers were focused on covering the concepts from the book or the examination program. Finally, referring to authentic contexts is important if specific contexts, of current or future relevance to students, are used to select the concepts to be learnt. This, however, is only done by Vera. In summary, in order to obtain the intended outcomes that form part of the teachers’ practical theories, the use of authentic, complex contexts was not considered helpful.

Kate even said that using authentic activities would mean to fool students: they will not do these activities for real; the only real thing is the test in the end. Marion thought it would be impossible for students to learn by using authentic activities. A palaeontologist, for example, already has the knowledge the students still have to acquire, so that a palaeontologist’s questions and activities necessarily have to be essentially different from the questions and activities of students learning in a palaeontology context. The most important argument teachers brought forward was that a context too specific would not motivate students to learn, which was exactly their reason for using a context-based approach. Both Kate and Thomas fear that using authentic contexts will decrease the relevance of the


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curriculum in the eyes of the students: Why should I know what a mussel farmer needs to know? I will never be a mussel farmer!, while one of the aims of context-based approaches is to increase relevance. Most teachers in this study did not use the context-based approach to enlarge the relevance of the curriculum, because covering the examination standards is relevant in itself.

Tension 2: context-first versus concept-first

This third tension can be defined at two levels: first, at the level of the design process: Should the design process start with the context, which defines the concepts to be learnt, or should one decide on the concepts first, finding a matching context? Four teachers choose the first approach, while Vera and Marion choose the second, which is closer to the formal curriculum. Second, at the level of the learning process: should the learning process start with the context or the concepts? Inherent to the context-based approach is the idea that students start from a context, proceeding towards an abstract concept, that can be applied in a new context. Kate explicitly steps away from this principle, which leads to a lesson structure that is essentially different from the structure implied by the formal design principles.

Implications

This study shows that biology teachers’ practical knowledge seems to guide their educational decision making during lesson design via the use of personal design principles, and as such offers one answer to the question how teacher knowledge influences their action in the classroom. The method of thinking aloud appears to be an appropriate method to map these personal design principles. Moreover, the outcomes of the study illustrate the necessity to consider teachers’ personal practical theories when working on educational innovation, and illuminates possible tensions between formal and personal design principles in the case of context-based biology education.

It seems that teachers, when designing lessons, take their decisions according to the outcomes they want to produce. If a formal design principle is not in compliance with a personal intended outcome, this formal design principle will be neglected. This does not necessarily mean that teachers’ personal practical knowledge should be the norm, for it is possible that teachers are not aware of importance of these innovative objectives. A professional development program that aims to build upon teachers’ practical knowledge could start by eliciting teachers’ personal design principles. Then, common ground could be sought between formal and personal design principles and intended outcomes. If tensions appear, it would be logical to start by discussing the intended outcomes, and subsequently raising the question whether the proposed design principles will indeed lead to the outcomes that have been proposed.

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IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL STANDARDS IN SCIENCE

EDUCATION

Martin Lindner IPN at the University of Kiel

Andreas Ammann Sinus-Programm, IQSH, Kronshagen

Claudia H. Overath University of Kiel

Abstract

Th As one consequence of PISA (Programme of international student assessment) in Germany the national educational standards were introduced in 2003 and 2004 for the core subjects and the science subjects Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Since 2005 quality fora were established to support the implementation of these standards. Interviews in five different schools in Schleswig-Holstein with 24 teachers of the subjects of the natural science and Mathematics were done to gain insight into the implementation progress. Teachers were interviewed separately in single interviews. The results of the survey show that teachers accept the general sense of the standards and fora but criticize their practicability. Especially the additional workload is under heavy critique as there are several other important time consuming tasks the teachers have to deal with. The answers in regard to motivation strongly indicate that the motivational frame is very disadvantageous for the implementation of innovations like the educational standards.To solve these motivational problem several recommendations can be concluded: a concentration on innovation independent motivational factors, strengthening the confidence in governmental decisions and their longevity, reducing the number of parallel time consuming tasks and the implementation of instruments for progress control.ke scientists.

Introduction

After reaching comparable poor results in international students´ assessments the German educational system underwent a change after suffering the “PISA-Schock”. There is more freedom for the single school to develop their own curriculum by reducing the steering through central curriculums which are designed by the 16 German federal states. On the other hand the tendency of assessment was introduced in several states, especially for the core subjects German, Foreign Language and Mathematics. Parallel to the greater liberty the German national educational standards were introduced in 2003 and 2004, and additional to the core subjects also the science subjects Biology, Chemistry and Physics got national standards (Klieme et al., 2004).

These standards are introduced state wise, even if there is some attempt to find solutions on national level. In the northern state of Germany, Schleswig-Holstein (with about 2.4 million inhabitants and 480 schools on secondary I level), the introduction of the standards for the science subjects was coordinated by a programme called SINUS (Increasing the efficiency of mathematics and science instruction) (Prenzel & Ostermeier, 2006).


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From that work we experienced that continuous work in teams is an effective tool for the professional development of teachers. The members of the SINUS project meet regularly four to six times per annum and furthermore take part in two conferences each year. They are combined in the so-called sets which are put together from representatives of about 10 schools. On the set meetings thematically and methodologically oriented teams are formed which cooperate over a certain time (Lindner, 2008). A similar mode of operation was chosen as well for the implementation of the educational standards in the subjects biology, chemistry and physics in Schleswig-Holstein. Meetings were regularly established taking place every six months, the so-called quality fora. They take place in five regions. 50 to 90 persons join these meetings, altogether almost 320 for five times between 2005 and 2007. The meetings were structured by a team of twelve in-service teacher trainers. The programme covers a short introduction and the work in small teams lasting for about 1.5 to two hours. The work focusses on different aspects of the educational standards, such as the competence analysis or the school curriculum.

From 2008 on we changed the implementation. As our evaluation of the regional quality fora showed, only 20% of the teachers met regularly, 40% came two or three times and the rest came only to one meeting. This was not enough to establish a continues collaboration. So we offered the fora to the whole subject-group in schools. Since the beginning of 2008 we visited the science teachers in about 60 school and reached more than 1000 participants.

It was the task to connect the top-down implementation of the educational standards with the bottom-up approach of the development programme SINUS. The problems of the quality fora have to be taken into account respectively:

1. Usual reservations and the hesitation concerning changes and innovations. 2. The orientation of the lesson towards the education of students' competences requires partly a heavy

change of the lesson. 3. Only the subject heads of the schools and interested voluntary colleagues take part in the quality fora till

now. In order to reach the entire staff strategies must further be developed. Appropriate experiences exist from the Sinus work of a pilot project, which have to be evaluated and disseminated.

Methods

24 teachers out of five school participate in the first set of interviews in Summer 2007 in single interviews in their schools. Ages of the teachers ranged from 30 to 60 years, the working experience from three to 36 years. Due to organisational issues only 15 teachers of the first interview participate in the second interview in Autum 2008. Teachers were able to choose between several answering options. Additional they were asked to answer in their own words. Answers of the first interview in regard to the information events refer to the regional fora, answers of the second interview to the events at the schools.

The answers of the interviews were directly prompted to the survey software tool GrafStat2 (U.W. Diener 2007, version 3.44). For the calculation of frequencies and graphs excel was used, R (R development team, 2008) and SPSS (SPSS for Windows, Rel. 15 2006. Chicago: SPSS Inc) were used for statistical tests.

Results

Motivation

One aim of the study was to gain insight into the motivation of a teacher for working on the implementation of educational standards. The interviewees were asked to choose out of several categories and to answer in their own way. Fig.1 shows the results for three different time points. For the first time point teachers were asked to remember their motivation at the beginning of the implementation of educational standards. The second time point represents the motivation for continuing the work and the third the motivation to continue after one year between the interviews.


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The factor pedagogic responsibility implies the opinion that due to the potential benefit for the pupils one has to learn about the educational standards and to work on their implementation. The need for innovation represents a rather general need for change in the everyday work and the attitude that it may worthwhile to update teaching methods by new knowledge. The factor dissatisfaction represents the attitude that the recent teaching methods are not efficient. The need for further training represents the attitude of the interviewees that his personal professional abilities should be improved by further professional training. The factor command implies instruction or command by the principle or other superordinate institution. Benefit for career implies any positive effect on the career of a teacher, e.g. a better chance for promotion or the chance to switch to the work in the government.

Overall the most important motivational factors are pedagogic responsibility for the pupils and need for innovation. Command by the principal and the benefit for the career were only of minor importance. The importance of pedagogic responsibility and the command by principal has changed during the different time points. While at the beginning of implementation pedagogic responsibility was only a minor motivational factor more than 70% of the interviewees mentioned it as a important factor for the later work. This may show a certain progress in the understanding of the value and meaning of the educational standards for the pupils. In contrast to this command by the principal has a strong influence at the beginning of the implementation. But as mentioned by most the interviewees in the aftermath mostly the principle did not control the progress any more.Dissatisfaction with the

present methods of teaching and a benefit for the career are mentioned only by few interviewees (20-35%).

Figure 1. Motivational factors and their change: The proportion of teachers named the specific motivational factor in regard to three specific time points is shown. Black bars: begin of the implementation, dark grey bars: survey one, light grey bars: survey two. Frequencies based on the sample of teachers who participated in both interviews. For the motivation at the time point “begin of the implementation” the interviewees were asked in the first survey to remember why they started to implement educational standards.

The modality of the answers were often rather indifferent. It is possible that although these motivational factors were of importance their impact on the motivation for the implementation may be rather low. The disadvantageous of the frequent mentioned categories is that they are likely to represent rather general motivational factors of teachers. They do not necessarily affect the motivation for the implementation of educational standards but may be mentioned only because of their meaning as general factors.

For this reason in the second interview a more concrete model of motivational factors was chosen. Three groups of motivational factors were distinguished: innovation independent factors, innovation dependent factors and innovation independent estimates. The innovation dependent factors were further separated into two

pedagocic responsibilityneed for innovation

dissatisfactionneed for further training

commandbenefit for career

other

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subgroups: One subgroup with only one factor needs no or very few time effort by the teacher to be generated (the general value of the standards). The second subgroup of factors needs a certain time effort to be generated (e.g. time to inform about the standards or trying methods in practice). The third group of motivational factors implies innovation independent factors that are sources for estimations of the value and success chance of the implementation of educational standards. Answer possibilities were “true”,”rather true”, “rather not true” and “not true” in the four-scale items and “true” or “not true” in the two-scale items. Table 1 shows the items of the model and the results of the motivation survey. The results in most motivational items are alarming.

Only in one item, the general sense of the educational standards, the majority of the interviewees achieved rather high values. The median of this item concerning the general sense of the educational standards is “rather true” (scale value two). The most frequent mentioned value of the educational standards was the comparability of pupils. A major critique were the lack of practicability. This critique can also been found in the suggestions for improvement the teachers gave in the interview: concrete input. In all other motivational items the percentage of interviewees with high scores is very low (11-47%). In these items only 26 – 42% of the maximum score were achieved. The standard derivation in most items is lower or only approximately as high than one step in the item scale. This homogeneity of the answers indicates that this findings represents general motivational problems for the interviewed teachers and are not dependent on individual teachers or schools. Especially the results of the items “reward for effort” and “experience with governmental instructions” are very low.

Additional the modality of the answers underlined the meaning of these low values. Mostly the question for the “reward”-item was answered very fast, doubtless and often in a resigned way. Some interviewees pointed out that in general at the work as a teacher rewards for efforts are not common.

The answers for the “experience with governmental instructions” reveals another major problem of the motivation for implementing innovations. Even though that the ideas and innovation-instructions of the government was rated generally as reasonable, the way of the implementation was heavily criticized. The main problem was that very often the innovations were cancelled by the government or new instructions messed up the old efforts before the implementation was finished resulting in a waste of time and effort. The ideas were “drafted at the writing desk” and not adjusted to the practical situation at the schools.

This disadvantageous motivational frame for the implementation of educational standards coincides with urgent tasks the teacher has to deal with beside the implementation of educational standards (Fig.2). Especially reorganization of schools itself (e.g. the G8 -changing the length of the secondary school from nine years to eight years- or the reorganization of schools into community schools) occupies lots of personal resources and has concrete deadlines. 73% of teachers were occupied by such reorganization tasks.

In contrast to the implementation of the educational standards these tasks have in common that they have more or less strict deadlines and the results of the effort are noticeable. Even though most tasks compete with the implementation of the educational standards, one task seems to improve the implementation. The implementation of the subject “integrated science” gave the involved teachers the opportunity to implement the educational standards into a new concept of teaching. Hence most weekly meetings regarding to the implementation of the new subject also included the implementation of educational standards. This is the reason for the striking high number of group meetings in regard to the educational standards in one of the interviewed schools.


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Table 1. Strength of motivational factors. Values based on the sample of teachers who participate in both interviews.

Item group Item Scale1 Mean Standard

deviation

% of interviewees

with high score2

average percentage of

max. score3

achieved in item group

Innovation independent factors 36,1

Incentives for career? 0-3 0,6 1,02 23,5

Necessary for being a “good teacher”?

0-3 1,13 1,26 35,3

Are efforts rewarded? 0-1 0,07 0,25 11,1

Command of principal? 0-1 0,2 0,4 21,4

Innovations dependend factors (hig time effort) 41,98

Improvement of educational quality? 0-3 1,4 0,88 47.1

Practicability of educational standards?

0-3 1,6 1,2 33,3

Can educational standards improve performance of pupils in big

performance tests?

0-3 0,78 1,03 22,2

Innovation independent estimates 25,98

Experience with the instructions and innovation of ministry and experts?

0-3 0,87 1,09 12,5

educational standards accepted by colleagues?

0-1 0,23 0,72 23,1

Innovation dependent factors (low time effort) 68,89

educational standards general reasonable?

0-3 0,86 0,83 70,59

1: Scales ranges from zero to three (four-scale items) or zero to one (two-scale items), with zero representing the lowest value (“does not agree”) for the motivation.

2: High score is defined as values in the upper half of the scale (two and three in the four-scale items, one in the two -cale items). 3: Maximum score is defined as the sum of the score of all items in a factor group. For the calculation the two-scale items were transformed into four-scale items by linear transformation.

Overall the motivational frame for the implementation of educational standards is very disadvantageous. With the exception of the implementation of the new subject “natural science” no strong motivational factor was identified which may increase the motivation in regard to educational standards. If the implementation of the subject “natural science” itself is a general motivational factor for the implementation of educational standards is questionable. The teachers in this situation emphasized that the work in their special subject team is very efficient and enjoyable due to the very good cooperation of the team members. It is likely that the positive effect on the motivation is here due to the good cooperation in the subject team.


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Figure 2. Proportion of teachers with important tasks beside the implementation of educational standards and everyday school work. Category “reorganisation”: teachers who have at least one task of the categories “G8”, “community school” “new school subject” or “new curriculum”. Frequencies based on the sample of teachers who participate in both interviews.

Team work

One part of the interview questions deals with team work of the subject team in regard to the implementation of educational standards. There was a broad spectrum of subject team sizes. One question of the interview was, whether the implementation of educational standards has an effect on the team work in the subject team. Motivating factors for the team work were comparable to the motivating factors for the single person (fig.3). The most important factor was pedagogic responsibility. All other factors offered to the interviewees were of minor importance.

Figure 3. Motivating factors for the work on the implementation of educational standards. The factors for the interviewed person itself and its estimation in regard to the subject team is shown (results of second interview). Black bars: motivation of the interviewees; grey bars: motivation of the subject team, estimated by the interviewees. Data based on the interviewees who participate in both interviews.

change to G8 change to communitv school

leader of subject team new school subject (NaWi)

new curricula reorganisation

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Team work was often limited to the subject team itself. 53% of the teachers answered that there was cooperation with other subject teams. But these answers includes the teachers of the subject “integrated science” who has to cooperate across the borders of subjects. In the first interview only 33% mentioned a cooperation crossing the border of subjects. Although the way of cooperation is moderate the quantity of cooperation in regard of educational standards is rather low. Teachers were asked how often their subject team work together on the implementation of educational standards. In both interviews the median of these meetings is two per year. In most subject teams these meetings were the normal semestral meetings of the subject team and were not focusing on the educational standards. In practice that means that there is no intensive systematic cooperation for the implementation. Because of the exceptional high number of meetings of a subject team “integrated science” the median is chosen to express the average. These team had to implement the subject in the school and hence has meetings twice a moth up to every week. Implementation of educational standards was often implied showing that the implementation of a new subject can give the opportunity to implement innovation in parallel.

Discussion

The general low values in the motivational items point out that the motivational frame for the implementation of educational standards is disadvantageous. As a consequence the efficiency of implementation of educational standards can be expected rather low. Fora, other information events and information material are the recent tools to improve the acceptance and the implementation of the standards. At the basis of the interview data it is rather questionable if these tools can be really efficient. These tools target at the understanding, the sense and the necessity of educational standards. The underlying idea is that teachers accept the educational standards as an important professional goal and hence are highly motivated for their implementation. But several motivational problems can interfere and reduce the efficiency of these tools. The classification of the motivational items makes it possible to discuss the tool efficiency in context with several motivational aspects. Fig.4 shows possible relationships between the classes of factors.

Figure 4. Strategy for increasing the motivation for implementation of innovations by innovation dependent and independent factors. Using and learning about the innovation needs time and effort. The formation of some motivational factors (e.g. practice experience, theoretical familiarisation) demands time effort itself (light grey box), hence a certain initial motivation is needed. Factors with low time effort may built this motivation (white boxes). Innovation independent factors may build up a high motivation regardless of the value or practicability of the innovation itself.

innovation independent motivational factors

innovation independent experience

innovation dependent motivational factors

(low time effort)

innovation dependent motivational factors

(high time effort)

acceptance and usage ofthe innovation

timeeffort

timeeffort

time effort

timeeffort

timeeffort


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The innovation dependent factors can be considered as achievement goals of educational standards and their related probability of success. The innovation independent factors can be considered as consequences of effort which are not directly linked to the outcome or the goal of the achievement itself. They are able to reward efforts independently of the teachers personal view about the outcome or the goal of the efforts. To estimate the decision of teachers to invest time into the implementation of educational standards, a general class of motivational models is discussed here: the expectancy-value models (for a review see Feather, 1982). In these models the product of the achievement goal and the chance that this goal could be achieved is a central term for the calculation of motivation. Motivation is not only determined by the height of the achievement goal but also strongly by the chance of success. Hence scepticisms in regard to success chance is able to reduce strongly the motivation even if the value of the achievement goal may be very high.

As the results of the interviews show the general sense of the educational standards is well accepted. This can be considered as an achievement goal. But the items which are related to the success chance show a striking low trust in the success of the effort in regard to educational standards. One of the most important factors is the alarming bad experience with innovations and instructions from the government in the past. Regardless of the value of the achievement goal, the motivation for the implementation of any innovation may be - in the sense of the motivation model - strongly affected in a negative way. Additional other indicators for the chance of success - the possibility that teaching is really improved and the practicability of educational standards - are also rather low. Some answers suggest that another motivational factor is missing: the confirmation of progress. Teachers cannot confirm whether their pedagogic methods and the learning success for the pupils really improve due to the implementation of educational standards.

The results indicate that the motivation to deal with the educational standards is hardly to improve only by convincing teachers by offering information or training. The success of the tools fora and training not least depends on the willingness of the teachers to invest time and effort into the learning process. Hence a rather strong initial motivation is needed. It is highly questionable if a tool is suitable for the increase of motivation when its success requires a rather high amount of already existing motivation itself. The model in Fig.5 points up that the initial motivation has to be build up by other factors. If this is not the case it is very unlikely that teachers will invest their time to make an intensive evaluation of the objectives or the practicability of educational standards. The claim for more concrete usable support by the fora and educational standards itself confirms these view. Most interviewees expects fast usable input without investing much time. This collides with the strategy of the information events to support more general information to stimulate self responsible implementation of educational standards. Under these disadvantageous motivational frame this strategy is not likely to be accepted by the teachers. This explains the low interest in the fora or information events and their rather low influence on the change process.

This problem is intensified by the lack of other general motivational factors at the school. Object independent motivational factors are able to increase motivation regardless of the success chance or value of the direct achievement goal. The motivation in this case is build by innovation independent consequences of the effort. This includes social tribute to efforts, possible positive consequences for the career and also the professional responsibility to implement the instructions of the principle. The innovation independent consequences of the effort and the chance that these consequences will be achieved can be seen as variables of a expectancy-value equation of motivation. Hence these factors may influence the motivation in a positive way. In such an equation the direct value of the educational standards or the chance of a successful implementation has no influence. Hence motivational problems due to these two factors can be avoided. The school principal plays an important role in these innovation independent motivational factors. The impact of the managerial skills of the principal on the implementation of innovation in schools has been well proven (Hall et al., 1984; Rutherford, 1984; Hall & Hord, 1987).


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From the view of the motivation theory of “intrinsic motivation” innovation independent motivational factors may be interpreted as a form of “extrinsic reward”. Such extrinsic rewards are under suspicion to have a negative effect on the long term “intrinsic motivation”. The validity of this negative effect, known as the “overjustification-effect”, has been doubted by several authors and analyses (e.g. Eisenberg & Cameron, 1996, Deci et al., 1999). In contrast it has been found that providing of “extrinsic rewards” has a positive effect on the motivation of a task if this task itself is only of low interest for a person (Cameron et al., 2001). Because the implementation of educational standards has been shown to be of rather low interest for the teachers, this finding strengthen the meaning of innovation independent motivational factors for a highly motivated implementation.

In this context the numerous tasks of the teacher which occupy most of the working time may also cause motivational problems. In the model of cumulative achievement (Atkinson et al., 1976) the time effort is dependent on the relative strength of competing motivation motives. Hence even a strong motivation to familiarise with educational standards competes with strong motivational motives of the other tasks of teachers. The medium priority of educational standards indicates that the interviewees have other tasks with strong motivational motive. In these case the time effort for the implementation of educational standards is expected to be rather low. Additional it is disadvantageous to waste time while time is short and the number of tasks is high. It is likely that there is a strong motivation to avoid a waste of time when time is short.

The lack of time was a major obstacle for the implementation of the educational standards and it was mentioned that with more time there would be a higher commitment. But with the view on competing motivation motives this is questionable. There is the danger that the result of providing more time may be that the majority of the additional time flows into the tasks with strong motivational motives and only a small percentage is invested effectively in the implementation of educational standards.

From the view of the theoretical model there are two tools which are likely to be more efficient than providing more time. First the number of parallel tasks with strong motivational motives have to be reduced. This can be achieved by a clear structure of priorities. E.g. if a school has to restructure itself into another form of school there should be an instruction from the government that the work on the implementation of educational standard has to be set out until the restructuring is finished. When the implementation of educational standards is in the order of the day other tasks have to be set out by instruction. The government is a suitable institution to style such schedules because it can modify the motivation by the tools of command and instructions and itself is responsible for the number of tasks the schools have to deal with.

The second tool is to influence the strength of the motivational motives. E.g. restructuring a school has strict deadlines and its outcome strongly influences everyday school work. Hence it is likely that its motivational motive is strong in comparison to the implementation of educational standards. If the teachers are expected to invest more time and effort in the implementation, the strength of the involved motivation has to be increased. Possible methods for this are to strengthen innovation independent factors, e.g. offering benefits for the career.


The actual motivational framework is very disadvantageous for the implementation of innovation. Tools like the fora and information material which are dependent on a rather strong initial motivation are likely to miss their intention as motivating factors and the needs of the teachers. The main motivational problems - lack of reward, low trust in success and the high number of other tasks with strong motivational motives - has to be solved. Due to the involvement of innovation independent factors (e.g. the lack of trust in governmental instructions and number of parallel tasks) these problems are not limited to educational standards but are likely to be a general problem of implementation innovation in schools.


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To engage the general problem of motivation a concentration on innovation independent tools is advantageous. This has the advantage that implementation of innovation is affected in a general way. Examples for worthwhile factors are awarding efforts, benefits for the career or a more obligatory structure of the chain of command. Teachers must have confidence that their efforts really will be awarded. A second important factor is the stability of governmental projects and innovations. The government have to work on teachers trust in the longevity of innovation projects. The third recommendation deals with the different tasks of the teacher. The number of parallel innovations should be orientated on the time which is needed for a reasonable implementation. This ensures that each implementation can be finished before the next one is set on the schedule. Such reasonable schedules have to be developed by the government. Forth the teachers need a instrument which makes their progress noticeable. Central student assessments are potentially useful. The power of these tests to detect progress in the implementation of educational standards has to be tested and shown to teachers. Generally each implementation of innovation should be accompanied by instruments of success feedback.

References

Atkinson,J.W., Lens,W., O'Malley,P.M.(1976). Motivation and ability: Interactive psychological determinants of intellective performance, educational achievement and each other. In Sewell, W.,H., Hauser, R.M.,Featherman, D.L. (Eds.),Schooling and achievement in American society (pp. 29-60). New York: Academic Press.

Cameron, J.; Banko, K.M.; Pierce, W.D. 2001. Pervasive negative effects of rewards on intrinsic motivation: The myth continues. The Behavior Analyst 24: 1-44.

Deci, E.L.; Koestner, R.; Ryan, R.M. 1999. A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin 125: 627-668.

Eisenberger, R.; Cameron, J. 1996. Detrimental effects of reward: Reality or myth? Americ. Psychologist 51:676-679.

Feather, N.T. (Eds.) 1982. Expectations and actions: Expectancy-value models in psychology. Hillsdale,N.J.: Erlbaum.

Hall, G., Rutherford, W., Hord, S. and Huling-Austin, L. 1984. Effects of three principal styles on school improvement. Educational Leadership 41(5): 22–29.

Hall, G. and Hord, S. 1987. Change in schools: Facilitating the process. Albany: SUNYPress.

Klieme, E, Avenarius, H, Blum, W., Döbrich, P., Gruber, H., Prenzel, M., Reiss, K., Riquarts, K., Rost, J., Tenorth, H., Vollmer, H. J. (2004). Published by Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung / Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).The Development of National educational standards. An Expertise /p. 167). Berlin.

Lindner, M. (2008). New programmes for teachers’ professional development in Germany. The programme SINUS as a model f or teachers’ professional development. INTERACÇÕES, 2008(9), 149-155. http://nonio.eses.pt/interaccoes/artigos/I8.pdf (16/10/2009).

Prenzel, M., & Ostermeier, C. (2006). Improving mathematics and science instruction: A program for the professional development of teachers. In F. K. Oser, F. Achtenhagen & U. Renold (Eds.), Competence oriented teacher training - old research demands and new pathways (pp. 79-96). Rotterdam.

Rutherford, W. 1984. Styles and behaviors of elementary school principals: Their relationship to school improvement. Education and Urban Society 17(1): 9–28.


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PRELIMINARY EFFECTS OF A LARGE IN-SERVICE SCHEME ON

SCHOOL PROGRAM AND CLASSROOM PRACTICE IN ELEMENTARY

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

Thomas van Eijck

Hogeschool van Amsterdam

Ed van den Berg Universiteit van Amsterdam

Edith Louman Ipabo, Alkmaar

Abstract

Although science has been included in the Dutch elementary curriculum since 1857, it has been a relatively unimportant subject in the school “implemented” curriculum (Graft, 2003). At present the Netherlands’ Government supports a large in-service scheme which is to involve 5000 elementary teachers between 2008 en 2010 and aims at implementation of Science and Technology (S&T) education by inquiry. Hogeschool Amsterdam has 150 teachers enrolled in 2008/2009. The course consists of 7 half-day sessions plus school visits by a trainer who assists/mentors in class and advises on the school’s S&T program. To monitor impact of the training the following data were collected: intake form/interview describing the S&T program of the school at the start of in-service, an exit form describing changes made, observation forms and reports of classroom visits by the trainers/mentors, and video recordings of selected classroom visits. Participants do implement hands-on S&T in all observed lessons but rarely reach beyond the first exploration step of the multi-step inquiry process. A case study with two teachers with intensive mentoring showed which problems occur on the way from hands-on activities to minds-on inquiry.

Introduction.

Although science has been included in the Dutch elementary curriculum since 1857, it has been a relatively unimportant subject in school curriculum as implemented in schools (Graft, 2003). Since the 2000 Lisbon declaration the Netherlands has invested large sums to support science and technology education including the primary level. The main purpose of these investments is to create more interest in S&T so that more students will opt for S&T studies and professions. Efforts at the pre-puberty primary level are thought to be effective.

As elsewhere, most primary teachers have a weak S&T background, typically equivalent to grade 9 science. Primary teachers shy away from S&T. The little curriculum time spent on S&T (the intention is 1 hour/week) is usually used for teaching Biology, not Physics nor Technology. Traditionally, 'science', is considered as 'nature education', which consists largely of Biology. Only since 1998, Technology became an explicit part of S&T education in the Netherlands, at least in government guidelines for the primary curriculum; but in reality, lessons in S&T were not considered as mandatory by most schools. Moreover, Science and Technology are seen as different


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disciplines, and as a result, integration of Science and Technology education is rare, even though almost any explanation in technology leads to science. This situation hasn't changed much until recently.

The first large government project to enhance primary technology education was the National Action Plan for the Broadening of Technology Education 2004-2010. Under this scheme several hundred schools received funding (Euro 12000/school) to invest in S&T education. Schools decide what to spend the money on, equipment, textbooks, training, or special school activities. Finally, a large government in-service program (2008-2010) came along to train 5000 teachers nationwide on S&T content and pedagogy at regional centers across the country between 2008 and 2010. Most programs require 6 or 7 half day meetings spread across a school year. Although the in-service is quite limited, the national project designers hope that the in-service course will be the start of a longer professional development process in S&T education. During 2008/2009 Hogeschool Amsterdam handled in-service training for 150 teachers. Some participants come as single representatives from one school, others in groups of 3 or 4 from one school, and in a few schools all teachers participate and have exclusive school-based training and coaching on-site. With about one third of the schools the relationship with the Hogeschool will continue beyond the training as these schools are or will become co-responsible for the student teaching components of the elementary teacher training. In addition to the training sessions, in our Amsterdam program trainers visit schools and classrooms. They assist/mentor teachers in the classroom and act as a resource to discuss the school’s science and technology program and plans. Unfortunately, classroom assistance is limited to one or at most two visits per teacher. This paper describes a preliminary evaluation of the training in the Amsterdam region.

Research on in-service training and professional development has shown that results of intensive and expensive in-service workshops are very limited (Joyce & Showers, 1988; Fullan, 2001). Since then, much research has been conducted to elaborate the conditions for effective professional development (Loucks-Horsley et al, 1998; Appleton, 2008). Conclusions include:

In-service on use of new or modified teaching methods should be accompanied by support in the classroom through expert or peer coaching (Joyce & Showers, 1988).

Professional development works better when it is school-based and teachers assist each other in implementation or even form communities of practice (Desimone et al., 2002).

In-service should have a strong content component aimed at broadening and deepening knowledge of the subject and its pedagogy (Wayne et al, 2008; Garet et al, 2008; Vescio et al, 2008).

Each educational change requires changes at different levels of the education system: systemic change (Fullan, 2001).

For less than 40 hours of training, one should not expect lasting results.

Research questions The research questions for the evaluation of our S&T education in-service courses were:

1. Which changes take place in the class and school programs for Science and Technology? (e.g. time for S&T, teaching methods and student activities, increase in the physical science and technology component of S&T at school).

2. Which characteristics of inquiry based teaching and designing are visible or not visible towards the end of the training?

3. Which aspects of S&T implementation in school and classroom are difficult and what are solutions schools/teachers use?

4. Are there differences in answers to questions 1 – 3 depending on the in-service arrangement (single participants versus school-based participation)?


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Methods

To answer the questions the following data were collected:

Intake questionnaires on school S&T programs were collected from 32 of the schools involved in the program and answered by in-service participants and from a random comparison group of 20 schools that were not involved. Some questions are summarized in Table 1. Quantitative data (questions 2 – 3) from the experimental groups (A+B) and the control group were compared using a t-test for independent samples.

Observations and reports of 18 coaching visits by the first author to schools and classes. Often video recordings are made during visits. Each participant of training groups A and B was visited for coaching in the classroom at least one time during the period September 2008 – May 2009. Visits were pre-planned thus may have measured ‘best’ rather than ‘typical’ performance of the teacher. Each coaching visit took approximately 1.5 hours and consisted of the following elements:

1. Observation of a S&T lesson; observations were written down on a 5-minute time-base;

2. Video capturing, especially video shots of tasks performed by pupils during the lesson;

3. Post-lesson discussion with the teachers about several aspects of the S&T lesson, especially: (a) What is the general feeling about the lesson? (b) What was the general aim of the lesson? (c) What went right? (d) What went wrong? (e) How can the lesson be improved?

Subsequently, the handwritten observations and video clips were kept in a database for further processing. The following aspects of group A have been analyzed in more detail:

- Age group (varying from 4 to 12 years);

- General topic of the lesson;

- Aim of the lesson;

- Teacher activities;

- Pupil activities (in the recording of these activities, a distinction was made between exploring and experimenting: 'exploring' is defined as an open activity with no apparent direction, while 'experimenting' is defined as an activity directed by the scientific method with, design, predictions, etc.);

- Percentage hands-on;

- Which phases were covered of the Inquiry-based Learning or Learning by Design learning cycles?

Case study mentoring two teachers: In order to get a better understanding of problems in-service participants faced in their classrooms when starting to apply methods of inquiry and design we conducted a case study where one of us (Edith Louman) mentored two very experienced and capable teachers. Lessons and post-lesson discussions were recorded on video. Because of space limitations only a summary of results has been included in this paper. A report is available from the authors.

Post-interviews with principals or deputies, S&T coordinators if there was one, and/or S&T-in-service participants. The interviews were held at 9 schools from group A+B during the period May-August 2009. In most cases, a school administrator (principal or deputy) was interviewed. Occasionally, teaching personnel and/or a S&T coordinator were also present at the interview. Handwritten data, derived from the interviews, was subsequently processed and coded, and kept in a database for further processing.


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Results and Discussion

Intake Questionnaire data are summarized in table 1. Group A + B are in-service participants. Group R is a random sample of teachers who are supervising student internships but do not participate in S&T in-service. A t-test for independent samples of the aspects 2 and 3 (time spent on science and technology and percentage of this time that was spent on 'hands-on' activities) revealed that group A+B spent significantly more time on technology and that the percentage of this time that was spent on 'hands-on'-activities was also significantly higher (t-test, p< 0,05). For science the differences were not significant. The time for technology and hands-on was twice as high indicating that the schools and teachers of group A+B were already making a start with the implementation of technology education before they joined the program. This might also be concluded from the fact that the percentage of schools where a science and-or technology coordinator is present is also almost twice as high in group A+B compared to R. Most of the A+B schools already received the special one time funding for S&T one or two years before the start of the training while R schools generally had not.

Table 1: Intake questionnaire results for participants compared to non-participants

Aspect/Group A+B (n = 32, participants)

R (n= 20, non-participants)

1. Scheduled % S&T 59% 65%

2a. Time Science (hrs/wk) 0.8 hr 1.0 hr

2b. % time Hands-on Science 25% 28%

3a. Time Technology (hrs./wk) 0.6 hr 0.3 hr

3b. % time Hands-on Technology 41% 21%

4. % reporting Examples 87% 95%

5. % reporting Inquiry Based-Learning 31% 30%

6. % reporting Learning by Design 25% 10%

7. % S&T Method 81% 75%

8. % having a Coordinator 56% 30%

9. % Pos. opinion S&T-teacher 78% 68%

11. Division per age group 4/5: 16%, 6/7: 28%,

8/9: 9%, 10/11: 31%

4/5: 10%, 6/7: 15%

8/9: 25%, 10/11: 50%

12. Average age 40 42

13. Teacher gender M: 12,5%; F: 87,5% M: 30%; F: 70%


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Observations and reports of coaching visits by a trainer to schools and classes.

During the period September 2008 – May 2009, each training participant of group A and B was visited for coaching in the classroom at least once. The observations of group A, consisting of 18 teachers, have been analyzed in detail; the average observation time per lesson was 38 minutes). The following aspects have been quantified:

Age group (varying from 4 to 12 years): pupils of all age groups were observed (4-5 years: 4x (22%); 6-8 years: 8x (44%), 9-11 years: 6x (33%).

The following topics were encountered during class observations: Science subjects: mirrors (5), magnets (2), floating/sinking (1), activities on the senses (1), water activities (1), diverse activities (1). Technology topics: constructions (3), houses (2), levers (1), bridges (1).

Aim of the lesson: during the evaluation with the teacher after the observation of the lesson, the following aims were mentioned: exploring/experiencing (13), constructing (5), experimenting (2), formulation of research questions (1), designing (1) and cooperating (1).

Teacher activities: in almost all of the lessons observed, a clear distinction between the various kinds of teacher activities could be made. The following activities of the teachers were identified (number and average time in minutes based on the observation record): giving a demonstration (1x; 10 min.), an introduction (10x; 15 min.) and/or an instruction (4x, 9 min.); coaching the pupils during their activities (15x; 36 min.) and a post-activity discussion (3x; 10 min.).

Generally children responded well to activities. They were busy, engaged, and enjoyed the hands-on lessons. This by itself is an important motivator for the teachers.

Pupil activities: in almost all of the lessons observed, a clear distinction between the various kinds of pupil activities could be made. The following activities of the pupils were identified (number and average time of the activity in minutes): Listening (15, 14 min.) followed by exploring (5, 28 min.), experimenting (7, 36 min.) and/or constructing (8, 38 min.) and a post-activity discussion (3; 10 min.).

Hands-on percentage of lesson time: the average percentage of the time that the pupils performed practical ('hands-on') tasks during 17 lessons was at least 67%. In the 10 science lessons this percentage was at least 70%. In the 7 'technology' lessons, this percentage was at least 62%.

Phases of Inquiry-based Learning or Learning by Design: the following phases, and the number of occurrences of either inquiry-based learning or learning by design could be identified: - Experiencing/exploring (without research questions): 16x (88% of number of lessons visited) - Formulation of research questions: 1x (5%) - Predicting the outcome of an experiment: 5x (27%) - Performing an experiment (multiple steps of an inquiry learning cycle): 4x (22%) - Drawing a conclusion/explaining results: 3x (7%) - Designing: 2 (11%) - Testing a design: 2 (11%)

Most lessons were aimed at an introduction to the topic rather than a deepening the understanding of

scientific or technological content knowledge, let alone inquiry-based-learning or learning-by-design and use of an appropriate learning cycle (Harlen & Qualters, 2004). In 13 of the 18 lessons observed, the emphasis of the activities was on exploration, but hardly led to the formulation of research questions which were formulated on only one occasion. In the 5 lessons that experiments were performed, predictions of the outcome were made, but conclusions from these experiments were only drawn on 2 occasions. In only 2 of the 18 lessons observed, pupils were instructed to make and evaluate a technical design. These observations are coherent with the aims of the lessons, as defined by the teachers during the evaluations afterwards. Often such aims were limited to exploration.

The general conclusion that can be drawn about the occurrence of inquiry-based learning and learning by design is that important elements of this teaching method, such as the formulation of research questions and the drawing of conclusions, or the making and evaluating of a technical design, are almost absent in the lessons observed even though the first session of the training already presented 7-step models of inquiry and of design and example materials of 4 modules were provided (Graft & Kemmers, 2007).


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The topic ´Mirrors´ was the most popular, probably because the topic had been introduced to the trainees during the training program with a ready-to-use module and common materials (http://tinyurl.com/mirrorpollen). Also the topics ´magnets´, ´floating and sinking´ and ´levers´ were used by teachers who had a ´kit´ on this topic from a commercial supplier. All technology activities had to do with construction; the other domains (transport, communication, production) were not covered in the lessons that were observed. The number of science-lessons (11) is somewhat higher than technology-lessons (7); however, no links were made between science and technology while there were many opportunities to do so.

In almost all of the lessons observed, a clear distinction between the various kinds of teacher activities could be made. In most cases, there were mainly two teacher activities: an introduction/instruction phase of about 15 minutes, followed by guidance of pupil activities for an average time of 36 minutes. In only 3 of the 18 cases (16%), this period was followed by a closure activity with an average time of 10 minutes. Like the teacher activities, the pupil activity phases are stereotyped by listening during the introduction/instruction phase (sometimes asking questions), followed by a phase of exploring, experimenting and/or constructing of about 30 – 40 minutes. Again, there were only 3 cases of post-activity discussion.

Case studies Two competent and experienced teachers in grade 1 and grade 6 were observed and mentored for 5 months.

They had a positive attitude towards S&T and had experience with hands-on learning. Their lessons and interactions with children were videotaped and observation notes were taken. There were meetings and telephone and e-mail interactions regarding lesson preparations. After all observed lessons there were reflective discussions. There were 3 extra long sessions prior to which the teachers watched their own lessons on video. Teachers kept a portfolio in which they reflected on their experiences and defined personal goals towards some aspects of inquiry based learning. In both classes hands-on was going fine but children were not yet asking crucial inquiry questions and thinking deeper about their experiences. Reasoning was simple and shallow. Confronted with their own teaching behavior on video the teachers became more conscious of their own dominance and their questioning and limited opportunities for children to react to each other (Simon et al, 2008). They also became more aware of the type of S&T outcomes worth pursuing. The mentoring process gave eyes to the teachers to look at themselves and the children and categories to reflect. Both teachers are making progress in getting children more active and minds on and the mentoring process continues. Just like Appleton’s (2008) this study shows that even very experienced teachers may need intensive mentoring to acquire the teaching skills needed for guiding real inquiry and design in their classrooms. For more information see Louman and Berg (2009).

Post Interviews In this section, results of the interviews with representatives (principal/vice-principal, S&T coordinators

and/or training participants) from 9 different schools are presented.

Activities undertaken by school leaders were generally aimed at the implementation and facilitation of S&T education in the school curriculum, and included actions such as: organization of information sessions for parents and study-sessions for teachers, writing of funding requests (per school, there was a standard amount of € 12.000,- available) and, in case the request was approved, communication with the funding institution and management of the financial resources, encouragement of teachers to enroll in the S&T training program, providing written information about S&T education policy in the school plan, participation in S&T-network meetings and in some cases (3x) participating themselves in the training program.

Activities undertaken by the S&T coordinator and/or S&T committee and by the teachers were mostly aimed at the implementation of S&T education at the classroom level, and included: participation in the training program, the organization of S&T lessons and projects, the organization of S&T-school-excursions, experimenting with S&T educational materials (for example disseminated through the training program) and making of working agreements


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with other colleagues, for example about the number of lessons that should be offered at a particular grade level and about the storage, availability and maintenance of the S&T educational materials. In some cases (4x), internship students were also involved in aspects of the implementation such as teaching and collection of materials.

Budget/materials: 8 of the 9 schools that were interviewed had received a government funding of € 12,000.- in order to support their S&T program. The rate and manner in which this money has been spent varied considerably, although more than half of the schools had decided to invest in a 'package deal', in which a complete set of educational materials/equipment was provided by a commercial publisher (for example 'Technology Towers 'or 'Technology Cart'). In those cases, at least half of the funding was spent at once. Technology Towers and Technology Carts consist of science/technology kits with equipment and worksheets for experiments. They are “loose” activities with a rough indication of grade level rather than modular activities fitting into a well thought out sequence from age 4 – age 12 with a consistent inquiry cycle.

Only one of the schools decided to invest in a new S&T textbook series, which consumed 67% of their funding and to take this series as a guideline for the investment in supplementary equipment, which consumed the other 33%. At present in the Netherlands there is not yet an inquiry based science and technology modular program such as Science Technology and Children (STC), or Nuffield Primary Science. Countries like France (1996, INSIGHTS) and Sweden (1998, STC) and recently the city of Berlin started their inquiry science with adoption of a complete and well thought out modular programs from abroad and only later developed supplementary units.

S&T committee: In almost all cases (7 schools), a Technology coordinator and/or a Technology committee was appointed; the committee varying from 2 to 6 members, dependent on the total number of teachers at the school (table 2). In some schools there was also a 'Science/environmental science' committee , but no cooperation with the Technology committee was reported. No explicit integration of science and technology activities was encountered. No generalizations can be made about the professional position of the coordinator; it can either be a junior or a senior teacher, teaching younger or older children. In most cases, it is a matter of affinity of the person with S&T. The number of hours that should be spent on the task on a yearly basis is not always specified, but when it is, it varies between 20-25 hours on a yearly basis. The emphasis of the activities is on the logistics of the lessons rather than on the content; hardly any discussion takes place on content. As a result, schools have not yet developed a plan or program for their S&T education; only intentions, if any, are present.

Implementation of S&T: The aims of the implementation vary from one school to another. In three schools, the aim was an integration of S&T with other school subjects. In two schools S&T is considered as a main part of the school profile to be emphasized to parents and other outside parties. In other cases S&T are seen as means to meet the specific needs of the pupils (a more 'practical' approach to education, with more 'hands-on'-activities). None of the schools had a clear vision on the ultimate goals of S&T education such as scientific literacy and technological competences.

The impressions of the principal/vice principal about the training program, as received through the trainees, are mainly positive: the trainees are 'enthusiastic, motivated', the training is 'applicable', 'useful', 'nice', one 'sees things happen', but is also characterized as 'intensive', 'time-consuming', 'not clearly effective' and, in one school the trainees were severely disappointed in the training.

At the classroom level, impressions of the school administration are mainly positive, especially about the motivation of the pupils: 'the pupils enjoy it', 'enthusiasm', 'success experience of the teacher', etc. Again, no comments about the ultimate goals of S&T education were made.

Several aspects of the implementation were experienced as difficult. The main obstacles mentioned by the interviewees were:


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(1) Science content knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (5 schools). On the whole, most elementary school teachers in The Netherlands lack of basic knowledge about S&T content and their scientific literacy is rudimentary. They also lack basic practical (hands-on) experience with science and technology subjects, such as electricity, air pressure, light, and so on. Obviously the same holds for knowledge about teaching and learning S&T (PCK). Many countries report similar problems (Appleton, 2007). In the Netherlands most elementary education students have only had science up to grade 9 and time spent on science and technology during this teacher education is less than 5% of the total curriculum time. (2) Organization of the lessons (6 schools). This involves aspects such as: practical experience, availability of materials, school logistics and integration with other subjects. (3) Time for the preparation of the lessons (4 schools): time for studying content knowledge as well as time for practical preparations.

Cooperation: At most schools, the age group of the pupils sets the structure for internal cooperation; teachers of young pupils cooperate with each other, the same goes for the teachers of the older pupils. As a result, much less cooperation is seen between the teachers of different age groups, especially in the larger schools; however, in most cases the S&T committee provides a means for inter-level cooperation on S&T items.

The input provided by the training is not always shared with non-trained colleagues, and when this happens, it mostly happens in a spontaneous ad hoc way, for example during briefings or teacher meetings. Most of the teacher teams are open to change, although in some cases, there is a kind of saturation with regard to implementation of projects as there are too many government projects, programs, and priorities.

In most cases, multiple other types of training of the teachers took place in the same time-span that the training on S&T was offered, the number of programs in which one or more teachers were involved varied from 1 to 25, depending on the size of school and the type of challenges that the school is confronted with, such as language problems or behavioral problems.

In some cases, forms of inquiry-based learning in other subjects, such as language, math or history, were reported; for example because of the fact that the specific type of education promotes this in general (Montessori or Multiple Intelligence oriented) or because of the fact that the science textbooks sometimes use this approach (4 schools). In none of these cases a connection was made with the inquiry-based learning on S&T used in the training.

There is hardly any regular contact between schools to exchange information or to share good practices. The ways in which representatives (such as school leaders or S&T coordinators) took note of practices of colleagues from other schools was through so-called 'VTB-network meetings', but these meetings have been poorly attended and, when coordinators visited other schools they mainly shared details on organization and logistics rather than on lesson content and teaching methods.

The percentage of teachers of each individual school that participated in the S&T training program differed considerably and varied from 10% to 83% of all teachers in the school. Of the 13 schools of groups A+B that engaged in the training program, also school leaders of 3 schools attended the training.

In half of the schools, teachers of all grade levels participated; from the other half, it were mostly teachers of the younger age groups (4-8 years) that followed the training.

There were several types of schools involved in the training, such as Christian (2x), Montessori (3x), Special Education (1x) and other public (3x). In the Netherlands almost all private schools are 100% government funded if they fulfill certain requirements with respect to enrollment, teacher qualifications, core curriculum, and some quality indicators. So differences between private and public schools are much smaller than in other countries.


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Conclusions

We now return to the research questions.

1. Which changes take place in the class and school programs for Science and Technology?

Class level: when the results of the questionnaires, filled-in at the beginning of the program and the observations, done during and towards the end of the program, are compared on the percentage of time that is spent on 'hands-on'-activities, one sees an increase from 25% to 70% for science lessons and an increase from 41% to 62% for technology lessons. However, the percentages compared come from different information sources (intake questionnaire answered by teachers vs. direct observations by the researcher). When filling out the questionnaire, teachers might have a tendency to underestimate themselves since they are convinced they need training in order to provide an adequate form of S&T education, and while they are observed by an external trainer during a classroom visit, they might show most ambitious rather than typical performance. Another effect of the training is that teachers become aware of their lack of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, but this can also have a discouraging effect, lowering the motivation for further professional development on this point.

The most important change at the school level is an increase of organizational activities, such as the obtainment of educational materials and the appointment of technology coordinators, but none of the schools has yet developed a detailed plan or program for their S&T education, while dissemination of the output of the training within the school is ad hoc rather than planned.

2. Which characteristics of inquiry-based teaching are visible or not visible towards the end of the training?

The only main characteristic of inquiry-based teaching visible in the observations done during the training is the hands-on exploration-phase; other important characteristics, such as children formulating questions, analyzing/comparing data, and drawing conclusions, were rarely observed. However, that does not imply that they are not understood by the trainees. Presumably, they lack the competence to develop/implement inquiry-based lessons on their own. This is also illustrated by the notion that most teachers are not used to teaching without a textbook, but that there are still hardly any Dutch S&T textbooks which consistently use inquiry-based learning or learning-by-design. As a result, teachers might feel that they have to reinvent the wheel on their own over and over again without adequate support from their colleagues and/or superiors, which might be very demotivating, time-consuming or even just beyond their professional reach.

3. Which aspects of S&T implementation in school and classroom are difficult and what are the solutions schools/teachers use?

The case study shows several aspects of inquiry-based teaching which are very difficult to achieve such as really stimulating intellectual activity and creativity of children in S&T and listening to their ideas and developing them. The case study also showed that progress can be made through intensive mentoring. The extensive research on teaching in the laboratory (Hodson, 1993; Hofstein & Lunetta, 1982, 2004; Lunetta et al, 2007) shows that this is still a key problem in science education. Video turned out to be a powerful medium to become aware of these weaknesses. Both training and mentoring will focus more on these issues and we are searching for ways to introduce video feedback with all in-service participants. This experience is similar to the one described by Appleton (2008). Just in-service is not enough as we have known for quite some time (Joyce & Showers, 1988).

4. Are there differences in answers to questions 1 – 3 depending on the in-service arrangement (single participants versus school-based participation)?

In spite of the expectation that the school-based participation has a positive effect on the outcome of the training, no differences between single participants and school-based participation can be found. This can be caused by (a combination of) several factors, such as: Insufficient cooperation between teachers, especially in the organization and logistics of the lessons and sharing of S&T and pedagogical content knowledge; Insufficient


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benefit of the training because of lack of sharing the output of the training program throughout the school; The fact that on several occasions, teachers are 'forced' into the training, that the initiative to participate was not theirs but from their superiors; Lack of commitment from the school administrators, for example illustrated by the absence of a school program, absence of facilitation of teaching personnel or insufficient (financing of) S&T equipment and logistics.

The results of this study confirm once again that positive in-service effects are difficult to obtain and that one has to work on many fronts and levels simultaneously to achieve lasting effects. For the second year of the program we are expanding the cooperation with two school associations. One of them wants to develop S&T as a distinguishing feature of 6 their 18 primary schools. A special project with these 6 schools has obtained national funding. This should lead to school-based approaches around pioneering teachers at each school. These schools will also be developed to become “academic development schools” in a new version of elementary pre-service education where a considerably part of teacher education (25 – 40%) will take place in the schools. This will provide us with multiple opportunities to provide on-site assistance and mentoring and assist in establishing “communities of practice”.

References

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Appleton, K. (2008). Developing science pedagogical content knowledge through mentoring elementary teachers. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 19, 523-545.

Desimone, L. M., Porter, A. C., Garet, M. S., Yoon, K. S., & Birman, B. F. (2002). Effects of professional development on teachers’ instruction: results from a three-year longitudinal study. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 24, 81-112.

Fullan, M.G. (2001). The New Meaning of Educational Change (3rd edition). London: RoutledgeFalmer

Garet, M. S. , Cronen, S., Eaton, M., Kurki, A., Ludwig, M., Jones, W., Uekawa, W., Falk, A., Bloom, H. S., Doolittle, F., Zhu, P., Sztejnberg, L. & Silverberg, M. (2008). The impact of two professional development interventions on early reading instruction and achievement. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Science, U.S. Department of Education.

Graft, M. van (2003). Natuuronderwijs op de basisschool? Natuurlijk! (Science education in primary? Of course!). NVOX, 28(8), 365-367.

Graft, M. van, Kemmers, P. (2007). Onderzoekend en Ontwerpend Leren in Natuur en Techniek (Learning Science and Technology by Inquiry and Design). The Hague: VTB Project.

Harlen, W. Qualter, A. (2004). The Teaching of Science in Primary Schools (4th edition). David Fulton Publishers. ISBN: 1 84312 132 8.

Hodson, D. (1993). Re-thinking old ways: Towards a more critical approach to practical work in school science. Studies in Science Education, 22, 85-142

Hofstein, A., & Lunetta, V.N. (1982). The role of the laboratory in science teaching: Neglected aspects of research. Review of Educational Research, 52(2), 201-217.

Hofstein, A., & Lunetta, V.N. (2004). The laboratory in science education: Foundations for the 21st century. Science Education, 88, 28-54.

Joyce, B., & Showers, B. (1996). Student achievement through faculty development. London: Longman.

Klentschy, M.P. (2008). Using Science notebooks in Elementary Classrooms. Washington: NSTA Press. ISBN 978-1-933531-03-8.

Loucks-Horsley, S., Hewson, P.W., Love, N., Stiles, K.E. (1998). Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics. Thousand Oaks (CA): Corwin Press.


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Louman, E., Berg, E. van den (2009). Case study of mentoring of two experienced teachers who started to use inquiry based strategies. Preliminary report available upon request from [email protected].

Lunetta, V.N., Hofstein, A., Clough, M.P. (2007). Learning and teaching in the school science laboratory: An analysis of research and practice. In Abell and Lederman (eds): Handbook of Research on Science Education. Mahwah (NJ), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 393-442.

Simon, S., Naylor, S., Keogh, B., Maloney, J., Downing, B. (2008). Puppets promoting engagement and talk in science. International Journal of Science Education, 30(9), 1229-1248.

Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 80-91.

Wayne, A. J., Yoon, K. S., Zhu, P., Cronen, S., & Garet, M. S. (2008). Experimenting with teacher professional development: Motives & methods. Educational Researcher, 37(8), 469-479.


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385

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A LEARNING-PROCESS

ORIENTED TRAINING OF PHYSICS TEACHERS

Rainer Wackermann & Georg Trendel, Hans E. Fischer University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract

A learning-process oriented training of physics teachers was developed and carried through. The effects have been evaluated at various levels including effects on students. Sample size is n = 2x18 in-service physics teachers in a quasi-experimental pre-post-design with control group. Theoretical background of the training is the theory of basis models of teaching and learning by Oser & Baeriswyl (2001). Main features of the intervention consisted of coaching physics lessons, video analysis according to the theory of basis models and post-reflection with the teachers (ca. five times per teacher). Findings of repeated-measures ANOVAs show large effects for teachers’ subjective beliefs, large effects for classroom actions and small to medium effects for student outcomes such as perceived instructional quality and student emotions. The teachers/classes that applied the theory especially well according to video analysis showed the larger effects. The results show that differentiating between different models of learning processes improves physics instruction. Effects can be followed through to student outcomes. Since the education program effect was clearer for classroom actions and students’ outcomes than for teachers’ beliefs, evaluations of teacher training programs should include classroom actions and student outcomes. Final results of the study will be reported.

Background and Aims

Recent investigations of German physics courses show that physics teachers pay much attention to subject matter contents, but far less attention is given to support learning-processes of students. Teachers’ teaching strategies do not foster learning-processes and results as required by national and international standards. Instead, we find rather narrow ranges of instructional strategies that yield insufficient opportunities for learners to develop, reflect and apply important subject concepts (Fischer et al., 2005). Comparable results are also reported from other countries and from mathematics (Pauli & Reusser, 2003).

Research concerning learning-process oriented physics teacher training programs is rare. Some work has been done to successfully change subjective beliefs of physics teachers (Hand & Treagust, 1994), although it remains unclear whether such belief changes subsequently alter classroom actions and whether students gain anything from it. Other work could not even change the teachers’ beliefs in the first place (Yerrick, 1997). Work done by Luft (2001) was in parts able to change teaching patterns in the classroom more than corresponding beliefs. However, again the effect on students was not investigated.

It is therefore our aim to develop and conduct a learning process oriented physics teacher training and evaluate its effects at various levels including effects on students.

Research Question: What are the effects of a learning process oriented physics teacher training on beliefs of teachers, on actions of teachers and students in the classroom as well as on certain aspects of student affections?


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Design and Methods

Sample size is n = 18 in-service physics teachers who all volunteered to participate. They teach at upper level secondary schools and have at least one course in grades 8 to 11. The teachers took part in our teacher training course oriented towards student learning-processes as described in Trendel et al., 2007. Theoretical background of the training is the theory of basis models of teaching and learning, a general instructional model by Oser and Baeriswyl (2001). It combines teaching and learning by differentiating between characteristic learning goals and addressing to each of these goals specific learning processes, which are operationalized as chains of lesson phases. The theory was modified and specified in order to meet the particular characteristics of planning and analysing physics instruction. The training focused on learning through discovery, problem solving and concept building. The intervention lasted one school-year and ended in June 2006. Main features of the intervention consisted of coaching of physics lessons, video analysis according to the theory of basis models and post-reflection with the teachers.

The study followed a pre-treatment-post design with 17 teachers teaching parallel classes as a control group. Levels of evaluation include the teachers’ subjective beliefs, teachers’ and students’ actions in the classroom as well as student perception of instruction, their interest/motivation and performance. Teacher and student data were gathered by means of questionnaires. Teachers’ and students’ actions in the classroom were investigated by means of a category-based video analysis (five videos per teacher, first time before start of intervention, the following four times subsequently throughout the school-year). Control group classes did only the questionnaires.

We hypothesized that the training should alter teacher’s subjective beliefs towards valuing learning-processes more than before. We also hypothesized that teachers’ and students actions in the classroom should increasingly follow the theory of basis models as the training went on. Finally, we hypothesized that such theory-oriented instruction can be followed easier by the students thus improving student perception in areas like clarity and structuredness, possibly also having effects on student interest, motivation and performance. We also expected that classes following the theory especially well should show larger effects for the students.

The effectiveness of the teacher training was determined by comparing possible changes over time in the intervention group with changes in the control group. Calculations were performed using repeated measures-ANOVAs.

Findings

For teachers’ subjective beliefs, the teacher training could significantly and as expected change the intervention group teachers’ views for example on the importance of the instructional aims (F(1,29)=3.87, p = 0.016, eta2 = 0.184). In addition, the perceived importance of professional development was raised for the intervention group teachers (F(1,29)=5.218, p=0.030, eta2 =0.152).

With regards to classroom actions there were no control group videos. Hence, only changes over time within the intervention group can be reported. The analysis shows that for the basis model of problem solving, which played only a marginal role in the first videos, the time share rose to 17.9% during the intervention. The variety of models of learning processes thus increased in the course of the education program as hypothesized. Furthermore, the average time students participated at a relatively high level of cognitive activation increased significantly from 3.3 minutes to 8.0 minutes (paired t-test, 2-tailed, t(57)=2.31, p=0.02, effect size d=0.8). So there is evidence that the intervention did change classroom actions. According to the video data, a subgroup of five teachers can be separated which followed the theory especially well. For them alone, the increase in cognitive activation from 3.0 minutes to more than 12 minutes is especially large (paired t-test, t(17)=4.4, 2-tailed, p<0.01, d=1.5). Consequently, for the analysis of students’ data three groups are considered: Classes of high (IG High) and low performing teachers (IG Low) and the comparison group (CG).


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For students’ perception of instructional quality the largest effect with eta2 = 0.038 occurs for the variable of perceived teaching for understanding (F(2,722)=14.22; p<0.01). A pair-wise comparison confirms the three groups: Students of the comparison group report no change in their perception of teaching for understanding over time. In the same time, students of the low performing group (IG Low) show an increase of perceived teaching for understanding and students of the high performing group (IG High) show an even bigger increase with the interaction effect between IG High and control group being midsized (eta2 = 0.054, p<0.001). For other investigated variables of student perception of instructional quality, intended effects occur only for students of the high performing group. The effects extend to interest and motivation and results of a TIMSS performance test validate these findings.

Finally, analyses of variance for the teachers’ subjective beliefs were repeated with three groups. However, at the level of teachers’ subjective beliefs, the subgroup of teachers cannot clearly be identified.


The intervention proves to be successful at all intended levels thus linking already existing literature concerning effects of learning-process oriented teacher trainings. It shows that a learning-process oriented teacher training can alter teachers’ subjective beliefs, can improve teachers’ and students’ actions in the classroom and can improve students’ perceived lesson quality.

Also, this study shows that scaffolding instruction according to the specific theory of basis models improves physics instruction. Effects of such learning process-oriented instruction can be followed through down to student outcomes. And the study shows that teachers can actually learn to follow the theory of basis models. Four or five coached lessons in our case proved to be enough for some teachers.

Furthermore, one may conclude that an overall education program effect can be seen clearer for classroom actions and students’ outcomes than for teachers’ beliefs. Concerning belief changes the intervention group appears as one homogenous unit. But classroom and student data both show a similar split-up of the intervention group. These two data sources support each other and they appear to be more critical for the students. Evaluations of teacher education programs should therefore include classroom actions and students’ outcomes as more rigorous tools to determine program effectiveness.

A complete report with more findings including limitations of this study can be found in the International Journal of Science Education article at the end of the reference list.

References

Fischer, H. E., Reyer, T. Wirz, T. Bos, W. and Höllrich, N. (2002) Unterrichtsgestaltung und Lernerfolg im Physikunterricht [Instructional methods and student performance in physics instruction]. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, Beiheft 45, 124-138.

Fischer, H. E., Klemm, K. Leutner, D., Sumfleth, E., Tiemann, R., & Wirth, J. (2005). Framework for empirical research on science teaching and learning. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 16(4), 309–349.

Hand, B., Treagust, D., (1994) Teachers’ Thoughts about Changing to Constructivist Teaching/Learning Approaches within Junior Secondary Science Classrooms. Journal of Education for Teaching 20(1), 97-112.

Luft, J. A. (2001) Changing inquiry practices and beliefs: The impact of an inquiry-based professional development programme on beginning and experienced secondary science teachers. International Journal of Science Education 23(5), 517-534.

Oser, F. K., Baeriswyl, F. J. (2001) Choreographies of teaching: Bridging instruction to learning. In V. Richardson (ed.), AERA’s Handbook of Research on Teaching – 4th Edition (Washington: American Educational Research Association).


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Pauli, C. & Reusser, K. (2003) Teaching-learning scripts in Suisse and German math instruction. Unterrichtswissenschaft 31 (3), 238-272.

Trendel, G., Wackermann, R., Fischer, H.E. (2007). Lernprozessorientierte Fortbildung von Physiklehrern [Learning process-oriented training of physics teachers]. Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Naturwissenschaften (ZfDN), 13, 9-31.

Yerrick, R., Parke, H., Nugent, J. (1997) Struggling to Promote Deeply Rooted Change: The Filtering Effect of Teachers’ Beliefs on Understanding Transformational Views of Teaching Science. Science Education 81, 137-159.

Wackermann, R. (2008). Überprüfung der Wirksamkeit eines Basismodell-Training von Physiklehrern [Evaluation of a basis-model training of physics teachers]. Berlin: Logos.

Wackermann, R., Trendel, G., Fischer, H.E. (2009). Evaluation of a theory of instructional sequences for physics instruction. International Journal of Science Education,99999:1.


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CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH: PRESERVICE & INSERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION

This book includes a collection of papers on the following topics:

PART1: Preservice Science Teacher Education Pre‐service professional development of teachers, pre‐service teacher education programs and policy, field experience, and issues related to pre‐service teacher education reform

PART 2: Teacher Professional Development In‐service science teacher education, teachers as lifelong learners; methods, innovation and reform in professional development; evaluation of professional development practices, reflective practice, teachers as researchers, and action research

Altogether, these contemporary scholarly works, coming from countries around the world, are successfully displaying the current tendencies and applied methodologies in research on pre‐service and in service science teacher.

ISBN 9786053640325

CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH

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