首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
相似文献
 共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 234 毫秒
1.
This mixed‐methods investigation compared the relative impacts of instructional approach and context of nature of science instruction on preservice elementary teachers' understandings. The sample consisted of 75 preservice teachers enrolled in four sections of an elementary science methods course. Independent variables included instructional approach to teaching nature of science (implicit vs. explicit) and the context of nature of science instruction (as a stand‐alone topic vs. situated within instruction about global climate change and global warming). These treatments were randomly applied to the four class sections along a 2 × 2 matrix, permitting the comparison of outcomes for each independent variable separately and in combination to those of a control group. Data collection spanned the semester‐long course and included written responses to pre‐ and post‐treatment administrations of the VNOS‐B, semi‐structured interviews, and a variety of classroom artifacts. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data with the goal of constructing profiles of participants' understandings of the nature of science and of global climate change /global warming (GCC/GW). These profiles were compared across treatments using non‐parametric statistics to assess the relative effectiveness of the four instructional approaches. Results indicated that preservice teachers who experienced explicit instruction about the nature of science made statistically significant gains in their views of nature of science regardless of whether the nature of science instruction was situated within the context of GCC/GW or as a stand‐alone topic. Further, the participants who experienced explicit nature of science instruction as a stand‐alone topic were able to apply their understandings of nature of science appropriately to novel situations and issues. We address the implications of these results for teaching the nature of science in teacher preparation courses. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 414–436, 2011  相似文献   

2.
The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of the inquiry-based and explicit–reflective laboratory instruction on preservice science teachers’ (PSTs) conceptions of the nature of science (NOS) aspects. This study was carried out during the Laboratory Application in Science II course. All 52 preservice elementary science teachers enrolled in the course consented to participate in the study; 37 were female and 15 were male, with a mean age of 22.8 years. All had the same science major background, and all of them were juniors. The course provided meaningful and practical inquiry-based experiences, as well as explicit and reflective instruction about NOS. Each week, a specific NOS aspect was targeted related to the inquiry-based laboratory investigation. The design of the study was qualitative and exploratory in nature. At the beginning of the study, the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire Version B open-ended questionnaire was applied to explore PSTs’ NOS views. At the end of the semester, the same questionnaire was conducted to determine the impact of the explicit–reflective and inquiry-based laboratory instruction. The results showed that many PSTs improved their views of NOS in each element, although to different degrees.  相似文献   

3.
Using the National Research Council's inquiry continuum framework, we use a multiple-case study research design to investigate the teacher- and student-directedness of elementary preservice teachers’ planned and enacted science lessons and their pedagogical reasoning about science instruction during a semester-long science methods course. Our specific research questions were (1) What ideas do elementary preservice teachers bring to a science teaching methods course about the inquiry continuum? and (2) How do their ideas about the inquiry continuum change over the course of the semester through engaging in planning, enactment, and reflection upon science instruction? Participants’ course artifacts (journals, reflective teaching assignments, and lesson plan rationales), interviews, and field observations of their enacted science lessons served as data for this study. Findings show that although the preservice teachers began the semester defining inquiry as highly student-directed, their ideas and definitions broadened over the course of the semester to include and embrace more teacher-directed forms of inquiry. Their early science lessons were more student-directed but, as they encountered challenges engaging in inquiry-based instruction and increasingly emphasized students’ learning needs, they began to plan and enact lessons that were more teacher-directed. Teacher education programs need to explicitly emphasize these variations of inquiry as a core component of supporting preservice teachers’ learning to teach science as inquiry.  相似文献   

4.
Part of the work of teaching elementary science involves evaluating elementary students' work. Depending on the nature of the student work, this task can be straightforward. However, evaluating elementary students' representations of their science learning in the form of scientific models can pose significant challenges for elementary teachers. To address some of these challenges, we incorporated a modeling-based elementary science unit in our elementary science teaching methods course to support preservice teachers in gaining knowledge about and experience in evaluating students' scientific models. In this study, we investigate the approaches and criteria preservice elementary teachers use to evaluate elementary student-generated scientific models. Our findings suggest that with instruction, preservice elementary teachers can adopt criterion-based approaches to evaluating students' scientific models. Additionally, preservice teachers make gains in their self-efficacy for evaluating elementary students' scientific models. Taken together, these findings indicate that preservice teachers can begin to develop aspects of pedagogical content knowledge for scientific modeling.  相似文献   

5.
6.
7.
This investigation assessed the impact of situating explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction within the issues surrounding global climate change and global warming (GCC/GW). Participants in the study were 15 preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a science methods course. The instructional intervention included explicit NOS instruction combined with explicit GCC/GW instruction situated within the normal elementary science methods curriculum. Participants’ conceptions of NOS and GCC/GW were assessed with pre- and postadministrations of open-ended questionnaires and interviews. Results indicated that participants’ conceptions of NOS and GCC/GW improved over the course of the semester. Furthermore, participants were able to apply their conceptions to decision making about socioscientific issues. The results provide support for context-based NOS instruction in an elementary science methods course.  相似文献   

8.
This study assessed the influence of a reflective, explicit, activity‐based approach to nature of science (NOS) instruction undertaken in the context of an elementary science methods course on preservice teachers' views of some aspects of NOS. These aspects included the empirical, tentative, subjective (theory‐laden), imaginative and creative, and social and cultural NOS. Two additional aspects were the distinction between observation and inference, and the functions of and relationship between scientific theories and laws. Participants were 25 undergraduate and 25 graduate preservice elementary teachers enrolled in two sections of the investigated course. An open‐ended NOS questionnaire coupled with individual interviews was used to assess participants' NOS views before and at the conclusion of the course. The majority of participants held naive views of the target NOS aspects at the beginning of the study. During the first week of class, participants were engaged in specially designed activities that were coupled with explicit NOS instruction. Throughout the remainder of the course, participants were provided with structured opportunities to reflect on their views of the target NOS aspects. Postinstruction assessments indicated that participants made substantial gains in their views of some of the target NOS aspects. Less substantial gains were evident in the case of the subjective, and social and cultural NOS. The results of the present study support the effectiveness of explicit, reflective NOS instruction. Such instruction, nonetheless, might be rendered more effective when integrated within a conceptual change approach. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 295–317, 2000.  相似文献   

9.
This study examined elementary preservice teachers’ beliefs about the role/image of a science teacher and science teaching and how these beliefs change during an elementary science methods course; this examination was conducted through an analysis of their metaphor writing. Data included personal metaphors and rationale papers for supporting them collected from 106 participants at the start and end of the semester. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method and also quantified for statistical analysis. Results indicate that most participants came to the course with traditional views and developed more constructivist views during the course. However, they tended to keep their traditional views and added new constructivist perspectives into their original belief systems. This study suggests that metaphor writing can be used as both a reflection tool for preservice teachers to clarify and refine their beliefs about science teaching and learning and a diagnostic assessment tool for teacher educators to understand their students for tailoring a methods course accordingly.  相似文献   

10.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of science education courses on a group of Taiwanese inservice and preservice teachers’ views toward the nature of science. There were two science education courses in the study; one was for 36 inservice teachers, while the other one was for 32 preservice teachers. Both of the courses included the philosophy of science, the instruction about student alternative conceptions and theories of conceptual change, and some classroom activities for science education. The data sources were based upon these teachers’ questionnaires, written responses to open-ended questions and interviews. The findings derived from this study revealed that both inservice and preservice teachers, to a certain extent, changed their views toward the nature of science when completing the courses. Many of them might reinterpret and reconstruct their views about science during the courses, and their views had progressed toward more constructivist-oriented. This study also suggested that the instruction about student alternative conceptions and conceptual change theories was more helpful than direct instruction about the philosophy of science in changing teachers’ views about science.  相似文献   

11.
To examine the notion of environmental education (EE) as context for integrating the elementary curricula, we engaged in a multi-case study analysis (Yin 2009) of two preservice elementary science methods courses that utilized an experiential reflective approach—case one (University A) through a science content focus (i.e., sustainability) and case two (University B) through a method focus (i.e., problem-based learning). We examined preservice teachers’ understandings of EE, their ideas to incorporate EE into their future teaching, and their conceptions of EE as a context for integration. Results indicate that both foci (content and method) were successful in building EE content, helping preservice teachers to envision EE in their future classrooms, and promoting EE as a context for integrating their instruction. Based on these results, we offer recommendations for the incorporation of EE as a context for integration into the elementary science methods course.  相似文献   

12.
This study tracked the influence of explicit reflective instructional methods on cultural values, ethical and intellectual development, and the relationship of these with preservice teachers' views of nature of science (NOS). The researchers used the Views of Nature of Science Form B (VNOS B) to describe NOS views, the Learning Context Questionnaire (LCQ) to classify preservice teachers' ethical and intellectual positions using Perry's scheme, and the Schwartz Values Inventory (SVI) to measure preservice teachers' cultural values. The interventions took place in two concurrent courses: a science methods course, and a foundations of early childhood course. The science methods course explicitly emphasized NOS throughout the semester, and the foundations of early childhood course reinforced these ideas through cultural activities that stressed empirical evidence. Analysis of data showed relationships between preservice teachers' Perry positions and responses on the VNOS B with those at higher positions exhibiting more informed NOS views. Relationships between preservice teachers' NOS views and their cultural values were identified, such as those at the dualism position holding achievement more highly for scientists than those at other Perry positions. The values preservice teachers held personally were different from those they held as important for scientists. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 748–770, 2008  相似文献   

13.
Inadequate science knowledge of preservice teachers enrolled in science methods courses not only limits their mastery of effective teaching practices, but also may foster negative attitudes toward science teaching. This study investigated the influence of science knowledge upon attitudes toward science teaching in a one-semester elementary science methods course by embedding a videodisk-based instructional component to remediate knowledge deficiencies. Preservice teachers in the experimental group first learned core concepts in physical and earth science through a series of 24 interactive videodisk lessons and then used the concepts as a foundation for preparing and presenting model science lessons. Results showed that the experimental group overcame their initial knowledge deficiencies by mastering the core concepts presented (mean proportion correct on mastery test = 0.91), with multivariate covariance analysis confirming that the experimentals gain in science knowledge was significantly greater than comparable controls in the parallel science methods sections. Additionally, as a result of mastering the core concepts underlying earth science, preservice teachers using the videodisk instruction also displayed significantly greater confidence in their understanding of science knowledge and more positive attitudes toward science teaching at the elementary levels. Implications for improving elementary science teaching through preservice and in-service training are discussed.  相似文献   

14.
This study explored preservice teachers’ views of their own cultural values, the cultural values they believed scientists hold, and the relationships of these views to their conceptions of nature of science (NOS). Parallel assignments in a foundations of early childhood education and a science methods course required preservice teachers to explore their own cultural backgrounds and their perceptions of the cultural backgrounds of scientists. The Schwartz Values Inventory was used to measure preservice teachers’ personal cultural values and those they perceived of scientists. The Views of Nature of Science version B questionnaire and interviews assessed teachers’ conceptions of NOS. Copies of student work were collected and sought for themes indicating how preservice teachers perceived scientists’ cultural values and how those perceptions changed over time. We found that from the beginning to the end of the semester, preservice teachers perceived fewer differences between their own cultural values and those they perceived scientists held, though they did not change their own cultural values. We found that preservice teachers’ NOS conceptions improved, and that they were related to both their cultural values and those they perceived scientists held. Preservice teachers who indicated the fewest differences between their own cultural values and those they perceived scientists held the most informed conceptions of NOS.  相似文献   

15.
The intent of this study was to investigate the influence of both locus of control as well as three instructional strategies, which differed in their respective emphases on science content, teaching methods, and process science, to foster an understanding of the nature of science. Data were collected from 135 elementary preservice teachers enrolled in science teaching methods courses at the endpoint of three sequences: (a) introductory process instruction with three subsequent semesters of integrated science content and teaching methods, (b) process instruction with separate subsequent content and teaching methods, and (c) only science content with subsequent teaching methods. Statistical procedures included ANOVA, regression, and correlation. Results revealed that the nature of science was most predictable for a separate process/content/teaching methods strategy. Major conclusions were (1) logical thinking ability was the most influential predictor of understanding the nature of science and (2) separate rather than integrated experiences in content and teaching methods were superior in developing an understanding of the nature of science. Implications for preservice elementary teacher preparation are discussed.  相似文献   

16.
Science educators have claimed that well-conceived instructional strategies and curricular sequences, emphasizing the process aspects of science, will foster an understanding of the nature of science. Furthermore, a process emphasis on science has been cited for its ability to promote logical thinking skill, develop a locus of control “shift,” and enhance science content acquisition. The intent of this investigation was to examine the purported influence and developmental nature of a science process emphasis during a given semester of study, as well as over extended curricular sequences, each sequence being representative of three recognized preservice elementary science teacher preparatory programs. Data were collected from 135 elementary preservice teachers enrolled in science teaching methods courses at the endpoint of one of three sequences: (a) introductory process instruction with three subsequent semesters of integrated science content and teaching methods, (b) process instruction with separate subsequent content and teaching methods, and (c) only science content with subsequent teaching methods. Another 29 preservice teachers, assessed prior to entry into instructional sequences, provided a cross-sectional sample for examining developmental changes in locus of control, logical thinking, nature of science, and science content knowledge. Statistical procedures included Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and Wilcoxon tests. Results indicated that a one-semester process skills course was influential in developing a basis for science content acquisition and in fostering an understanding of the nature of science. Results further indicate that expected additional gains are significant in science content acquisition through matriculation in an extended curricular sequence. Implications for science educators are discussed.  相似文献   

17.
This article describes teaching considerations related to the nature of science and scientific knowledge in an elementary science methods course. The decisions that were made, the rationale upon which these decisions were based, and the challenges evident are presented. Instructional strategies used during the course for the purpose of developing preservice teachers' understandings of the nature of science and scientific knowledge are described. The results of using these strategies, in regard to the impact on students' learning and their views on teaching the nature of science to elementary grade students are then discussed. The article concludes with a discussion on the implications for teaching the nature of science and scientific knowledge in the context of preservice elementary teacher education.  相似文献   

18.
Teachers’ curricular role identities are those dimensions of their professional identities concerned with the use of curriculum materials. In a previous study, we developed and tested a survey instrument designed to measure preservice elementary teachers’ development of curricular role identity for science teaching through their use of science curriculum materials. In this follow-up study, a revised version of the survey was administered to a second group of preservice elementary teachers in the same science methods course, and data were analyzed within and across years. Results from this study suggest that preservice teachers articulated important similarities and differences between the curricular role identities for science teaching they attributed to themselves and to more experienced elementary teachers. Over time, they were often able to begin to appropriate the curricular role identities for science teaching that they attributed to more experienced elementary teachers. However, findings from the second survey administration also suggest that preservice teachers’ curricular role identities for science teaching are more stable when characterized by their actual curriculum design practices than when characterized by comparative, probabilistic means. These findings have important implications for science teacher education and curriculum development, as well as the operationalization of curricular role identity in education research.  相似文献   

19.
The challenge of preparing students for the information age has prompted administrators to increase technology in the public schools. Yet despite the increased availability of technology in schools, few teachers are integrating technology for instructional purposes. Preservice teachers must be equipped with adequate content knowledge of technology to create an advantageous learning experience in science classrooms. To understand preservice teachers’ conceptions of technology integration, this research study explored 15 elementary science methods students’ definitions of technology and their attitudes toward incorporating technology into their teaching. The phenomenological study took place in a science methods course that was based on a constructivist approach to teaching and learning science through science activities and class discussions, with an emphasis on a teacher beliefs framework. Data were collected throughout the semester, including an open-ended pre/post-technology integration survey, lesson plans, and reflections on activities conducted throughout the course. Through a qualitative analysis, we identified improvements in students’ technology definitions, increased technology incorporation into science lesson plans, and favorable attitudes toward technology integration in science teaching after instruction. This research project demonstrates that positive changes in beliefs and behaviors relating to technology integration in science instruction among preservice teachers are possible through explicit instruction.  相似文献   

20.
In this nested mixed methods study I investigate factors influencing preservice elementary teachers’ adaptation of science curriculum materials to better support students’ engagement in science as inquiry. Analyses focus on two ‘reflective teaching assignments’ completed by 46 preservice elementary teachers in an undergraduate elementary science methods course in which they were asked to adapt existing science curriculum materials to plan and enact inquiry-based science lessons in elementary classrooms. Data analysis involved regression modeling of artifacts associated with these lessons, as well as in-depth, semester-long case studies of six of these preservice teachers. Results suggest that features of the existing science curriculum materials, including measures of how inquiry-based they were, have a relatively small influence on the preservice teachers’ curricular adaptations, while teacher-specific variables account for a much greater percentage of the variance. Evidence from the case studies illustrates the critical impact of the preservice teachers’ field placement contexts as an explanatory, teacher-specific factor in their curricular adaptations. These findings have important implications for science teacher educators and science curriculum developers, in terms of not only better understanding how preservice teachers engage with curriculum materials, but also how programmatic features of teacher education programs influence their ability to do so.  相似文献   

设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号