International Portal of Teacher Education
The online resource of academic content on teacher training and teacher education
Search results for: Science instruction
Page 1/9
88 items
1
The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of a female beginning elementary school teacher participating in a training program aimed at supporting her professional development through the use of video. The authors conclude that the findings showed that this type of program can have benefits for the participants’ professional development. By focusing on the beginning teachers’ concerns and expectations, such programs can help them integrate new knowledge into their frame of reference and apply it in a concrete way in the classroom.
Published: 2018
Updated: Jun. 13, 2018
2
The authors want to understand how preservice teachers, who enrolled in elementary science concentration, negotiate a science teacher identity to support their motivations and goals to teach elementary science. Results suggest that when elementary preservice teachers learned science through hands-on, constructivist practices, they negotiated norms about how they believed that science could be taught and compared it to their own previous experiences. In early experiences with constructivist practices, participants described learning science as fun and innovative. Elementary preservice teachers who completed three or four classes saw themselves as a possible teacher of science as well as a learner of science. The authors conclude that providing elementary preservice teachers with individual courses that focus on the standards and expectations of elementary students in a particular domain influences the progression from learner to teacher in content and in practice.
Published: 2017
Updated: Apr. 24, 2018
3
This study examined pre-service elementary teachers’ use of curriculum materials in lesson planning by identifying types of instructional tools used during the Learning Cycle.Findings highlight the importance of providing pre-service elementary teachers with supportive frameworks and opportunities to learn to critique and adapt curriculum materials in order to begin the development of their pedagogical design capacity for Learning Cycle lessons.
Published: 2015
Updated: Jul. 09, 2017
4
The purpose of this multi-case study was to explore the extent and nature of changes in elementary pre-service teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and self-efficacy toward science and science teaching as a result of participating in a science methods course.
Published: 2015
Updated: Feb. 28, 2017
5
This article aims to provide a concrete illustration of a practice-based teacher education strategy. This strategy applied to the preparation of high school biology teachers learning to enact lab lessons that enhance opportunities for students to engage in reasoning with scientific concepts. The authors conclude that the tools of the bridging approach presented in the article—the heuristic goal system and the teaching impact analysis— allow teachers to construct their own authentic representations of the components of their practice and the values and goals that hold their practice in place. As a result, the path to improvement can be made both concrete and attainable.
Published: 2014
Updated: Nov. 01, 2016
6
The purpose of this case study was to document the development of a beginning elementary teacher identity for science teaching at the elementary school. In doing so, this study traces the experiences throughout her life in various contexts and examines how those impacted the development of her identity for science teaching. As revealed in the findings, the beginning teacher did not have a strong science identity as a young learner of science. She articulated no enthusiasm about science and was unable to share many critical experiences with science across her schooling years. A shift in her identity occurred when she went to university and gained an interest in science because she was provided with opportunities to think and do science in contemporary ways.
Published: 2014
Updated: Oct. 31, 2016
7
This study investigated preservice science teachers’ use of inscriptions in their peer teaching lessons. The results indicate that they used different kinds of inscriptions for a wide range of purposes, both pedagogical and normative, and the level of abstractness of inscriptions used varied across different science sub-disciplines. The finding demonstrated that preservice teachers have multiple purposes when using inscriptions and that their purposes differ from scientists’ purposes. Preservice teachers use inscriptions to help students conceptually understand science and to communicate students’ understanding of science for themselves and others. This study indicates that inscriptions and their relation to the discourse and practices of science are critically important as an area of emphasis in preparing preservice teachers.
Published: 2013
Updated: Sep. 26, 2016
8
This study examined preservice elementary teachers’ development of science content knowledge (SCK) within the context of an elementary science methods course. The findings reveal that the participating preservice elementary teachers strengthened and deepened their science content knowledge upon completing the course. This study suggests that any preexisting science content knowledge must be solidified and deepened and that potential misconceptions must be addressed.
Published: 2014
Updated: May. 10, 2016
9
In this study, the authors report on the results of an empirical investigation of teachers’ understanding of energy. In particular, the focus is placed on pre-service teachers’ ability to employ energy as a framework for analyzing the operation of physical systems. The results corroborate the claim made in the literature that teachers typically do not possess functional, coherent understanding of this principle. Most importantly, the data serve to identify and document specific difficulties that hamper attempts to use energy for the analysis of the operation of physical systems. The difficulties which the authors were able to document lend support to the idea that it is important to introduce the idea of energy degradation alongside the conservation of energy principle.
Published: 2014
Updated: Mar. 30, 2016
10
The purpose of this study was to examine the partnership and roles of an informal educator and a classroom teacher. The authors also sought to define this relationship in order to gain insight into the roles of each educator. In addition, this study explored student outcomes as a result of the partnership. Findings suggest that a partnership of only moderate commitment may be needed for students to learn from programs and that during the programs each educator hold distinct roles. Furthermore, the roles played by the classroom teacher included classroom management, making connections to classroom activities and curricula, and clarifying concepts. Consistent with previous examinations in science education of educator roles, the informal educator’s role was to provide the students with expertise and resources not readily available to them.
Published: 2013
Updated: Mar. 22, 2016