Abstract
This paper presents a pilot case study on developing a qualitative tool to evaluate science student teachers‟ beliefs concerning science teaching and learning. The study is based on student teachers‟ drawings of themselves in a typical classroom situation and four open questions. Data was collected from 104 freshman science student teachers, and evaluated based on the basic tenets of Grounded Theory. Applying Grounded Theory led to a framework of categorising the student teachers‟ beliefs in three categories: (I) Beliefs about Classroom Organisation, (II) Beliefs about Teaching Objectives, and (III) Epistemological Beliefs. All three categories were expanded to a dimension between more traditional beliefs and beliefs in line with modern educational theory. The participants in the study were from different groups of student teachers in one of four domains of science teaching: secondary school Biology, Chemistry or Physics or Primary Science. The tool proved to be interesting for gaining insights into the beliefs of freshman science student teachers. The initial results from this case study indicate that secondary student teachers of Chemistry and, even moreso, Physics hold teacher- and content-structurecentred beliefs about science teaching and learning, whereas Biology student teachers, and even more pronouncedly Primary Science student teachers, hold more student-centred and scientific literacy-oriented beliefs.
Highlights
Science education research in the last decades focused extensively on students‟ learning and a lot of school teachers tend to teach the way they have been taught as pupils at school, and their teacher education does not really affect their initial conceptions about learning and instruction (Larsson, 1986; Koballa et al, 2000). Sears, Marschall and Otis-Wilborn (1994) stated that teacher education doesn't seem to be effective in changing central dispositions and characteristics of the personality of prospective teachers:“Teaching is a moral craft with social and political consequences
The present study indicates that the tool developed and inspired by the central idea of DASTT–C and the use of Grounded Theory (GT) for evaluating the totality of the data provided an interesting approach for identifying differences among different groups of
To what extent can these pre–existing beliefs predict students‟ decisions to select the teaching profession either for primary or secondary school Science, and in the latter case for Physics, Chemistry, or Biology?
Summary
Science education research in the last decades focused extensively on students‟ learning and a lot of school teachers tend to teach the way they have been taught as pupils at school (or even at the university), and their teacher education does not really affect their initial conceptions about learning and instruction (Larsson, 1986; Koballa et al, 2000). Sears, Marschall and Otis-Wilborn (1994) stated that teacher education doesn't seem to be effective in changing central dispositions and characteristics of the personality of prospective teachers:“Teaching is a moral craft with social and political consequences. Science education research in the last decades focused extensively on students‟ learning and a lot of school teachers tend to teach the way they have been taught as pupils at school (or even at the university), and their teacher education does not really affect their initial conceptions about learning and instruction (Larsson, 1986; Koballa et al, 2000). Developing the necessary dispositions or characteristics, like those above (means wish to offer service to students) is, in the short period of time available in teacher preparation programs, not possible. Wubbels (1992) stated that beliefs or preconceptions that student teachers bring to the university teacher education programs are strongly affected by their earlier experiences as learners, and that this is more the case when the presence of these pre– experiences is not consciously realized. Knowledge and research evidence about studentslearning and alternative conceptions in science is extensive, and almost unanimously agreed upon, there is much less knowledge about the way science teachers‟ beliefs and knowledge affect the way they teach science. Nespor (1987) and Pajares (1992) stated that teachers‟ beliefs are a neglected field in science education research. Fischler (1999) acknowledged that there is too little research evidence about German science teachers‟ beliefs and knowledge concerning their perceived role, science teaching objectives, and their influence on students‟ learning
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