Examining Teachers’ Views, Context, and the IREC Model in ICT-inquiry-based Atomic Structure Instruction

Practical work is critical to understanding science concepts. A case study was carried out to understand teachers’ perceptions regarding practical work in Mankweng Circuit, South Africa. Four Grade 11 Physical Science teachers from different high schools were purposively selected. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations, and teachers’ portfolios. Results show that teachers’ had different perceptions, enactment and motives regarding practical work. Teachers used demonstrations, narratives, and structured investigations to teach practical work, which deprived learners’ science process skills. All teachers recorded one practical work in a term to fulfill the national Curriculum Policy Statement (CAPS) requirements. The study contributes to the literature on teachers’ perceptions regarding practical work and gives insight into the implementation of practical work in the classrooms. The study recommends developing teachers’ professional development programs that focus on how to design and implement quality practical work lessons, and to assess process skills during practical work.

This chapter presents the pedagogical orientations of Malawian science teachers towards practical work. Data were collected through classroom observations, student questionnaire and post-lesson interviews. The lesson observation schedule and students' questionnaire were similar to each other and adapted from an instrument used to measure the principles of scientific inquiry developed and trialled by Campbell, Abd-Hamid, and Chapman (2010). The instrument closely mirrored the science teaching orientation spectrum (Cobern et al., 2010), which was used as an analytical framework. The framework has two variants of direct instruction and two variants of inquiry instruction. The two variants of direct instruction are called Direct Didactic (DD) and Direct Interactive (DI) approaches, and the two variants of inquiry instruction are Guided Inquiry (GI) and Open Inquiry (OI). The findings from both the classroom observations and students' questionnaire show that teachers use the DD pedagogical orientation in their practice of practical work. The teacher provides questions to investigate, procedures for doing so and ways for recording and analysing data. The students are, however, involved in collecting data which depicts a Direct Interactive pedagogical orientation. There is a mix of practice where some teachers allow their students to draw their own conclusions, but the majority also help the students to draw conclusions and justify them. Post-lesson interviews showed that these practices are influenced by the teachers' understanding of the role of practical work, which does not include developing scientists. The implications of the findings on teacher education in Malawi are discussed.

This study investigated the implementation of best teaching practices by science graduate teaching assistants [GTAs] (3 chemists and 2 biologists) in five inquiry-based, interdisciplinary chemistry-biology experiments during a six-week professional development (PD) program,EngagePD. Additionally, we examined GTAs’ experiences in implementing specific PD aspects. The PD program took place as the GTAs taught sections of biology and chemistry laboratory courses, each comprising five interdisciplinary experiments. The PD aspects included defining expected learning outcomes, subject-matter knowledge, relevance to real-world and chemistry-biology connections, and other active classroom teaching practices. Data were collected through classroom observations, reflection questionnaires, and individual interviews. Findings indicated that 57% of the PD aspects investigated were implemented in the five interdisciplinary experiments. Results also revealed GTAs’ initial areas of struggle in implementing specific PD aspects. Perceived implementation difficulties were attributed to individual perceptions and beliefs, and contextual factors. Through practice, continuous feedback, and reflections, most GTAs overcame the hurdles and refined their teaching. Findings imply the need to design training PD programs that offer mentoring and support to GTAs and future faculty in implementing teaching innovations. The teaching context and reflection prompts are helpful in identifying areas of difficulties and how to improve.

Background and Context Integrating computational thinking (CT) into K-12 education is hindered by insufficient teacher training, gender biases in STEM, and challenges in evaluating professional development (PD) programs due to limited assessment tools. Most research overlooks affective and contextual variables, focusing only on CT skills. Objective The study aims to understand the factors that enable an effective integration of CT teaching practices and gender affirmative actions, after teachers participate in a PD program. Method We used a sequential explanatory mixed methods design to examine a nationwide PD program for middle and high school teachers in a middle-income country. Pretest-posttest surveys (n = 3790) and classroom observations (n = 383) assessed teachers’ CT knowledge, technological self-efficacy, practices, and gender bias, while three focus groups involving 17 teachers explored the mechanisms influencing these outcomes. Findings The PD program significantly improved teachers’ content knowledge in CT, technological self-efficacy, and reduced gender bias in STEM. However, classroom observations revealed incomplete implementation of CT practices and gender equity strategies. Qualitative findings suggest key mechanisms shaping teacher implementation practices: teachers’ cognitive shifts toward recognizing CT’s relevance across disciplinary domains and school subjects; perceived capacity in managing technological tools and technological complexity; the importance of institutional support; and, reflective processes triggered by observing increased engagement among female students. Implications Teachers’ cognitive shifts, self-efficacy, and institutional support are pivotal for effective CT integration into school practices. Our findings underscore the necessity of PD programs to address these aspects, fostering the intentional application of CT practices and gender equity strategies.

This research to practice paper describes a K-12 Teacher Professional Development (PD) program model which has been applied in multiple academic settings to help teachers develop an understanding of four main principles for effective teaching: pedagogy, curriculum, system thinking, and technology integration. The Engaged Quality Instruction Through Professional Development (EQuIPD) PD Program was an intensive 3-year program with 184 hours of facilitative coaching, bootcamps, and PD sessions for over 200 K-9 teachers from 121 schools across Florida. This paper explores the coaching model that was developed to support the successful grant program. A facilitative/dialogic coaching model was developed for this PD model and was designed to allow coaches to support teachers in achieving personalized grant objectives while simultaneously targeting program goals. These grant goals were centered around eight key areas: inquiry-based lessons, student use of technology for concept knowledge building, collaborative grouping for concept development, core concept model building, engineering design/design thinking, system thinking/process mapping, authentic workforce applications, and fostering quality classroom discourse. The facilitative/dialogic coaching model was unique in that it combined research-based practices for coaching with an infrastructure and coaching model that provided coaches with rubrics, coaching logs, resources, and templates for use with their teachers. This unique coaching model can be applied to other professional development programs to improve teacher practice. The role of the coaches was not specifically addressed in the grant, but we posit the in-service teacher PD coaching framework was largely responsible for the successful implementation of the PD model. This coaching model is novel in that it transcends the traditional relationship between expert and learner through facilitative coaching. This study analyzed the coaching process utilized by expert instructional coaches and teachers within a teacher professional development program, EQuIPD, and the resulting PD framework for coaching.

Drawing on the notion of the ‘didactical transposition’ of curriculum texts, this paper takes a critical look at why one science teacher still persists with a traditional teacher-centred approach towards practical work. It flows from a multi-case study on the instructional decision-making of Grade 9 Natural Science teachers currently implementing the new outcomes-based Curriculum 2005 in South Africa. Data were collected through classroom observations, pre-lesson and post-lesson interviews, video-stimulated recall sessions as well as content analysis of various artefacts. The paper describes how and explains why the respondent uses the Learner Support Material (LSM) in a rather mechanical manner to shape practical work for his learners.

Teacher feedback during active learning : the development and evaluation of a professional development program

This action research project examines first year science teachers’ conceptions of scientific inquiry and their challenges in implementing inquiry-based lessons. Classroom observations and interviews represent two first-year primary school science teachers’ conceptions of science as inquiry. Because the current educational landscape emphasizes inquiry-based learning as a foundation of science education, teacher-training in Singapore focuses on augmenting the quality of inquiry-based science lessons. Through a mandatory reduced workload, first-year primary school science teachers can focus on transitioning from being student teachers to full-time teachers. A video of each teacher’s lesson was analysed using the EQUIP (Electronic Quality of Inquiry Protocol) instrument. Data analysis of the interviews involved a process of a priori coding based on the essential features of inquiry as well as grounded theory to expose the challenges the teachers faced in their enactment of inquiry-based instruction. Findings suggest that the two first-year teachers formed conceptions of inquiry through their teacher training programs. The teachers revealed three key considerations that affected their practice of inquiry: (1) assessment demands, (2) lack of resources and (3) lack of time to plan and to teach inquiry lessons. Findings in this action research project provide salient implications for other Asian countries which need to improve in-service teacher professional development programs in order to successfully enactment inquiry-based instruction.

This study aims to explore how elementary school teachers’ beliefs about the nature of history and pedagogical beliefs about teaching history developed over the course of a two-year professional development (PD) program and which elements of the program stimulated this development. This PD program aimed to develop participants’ skills in historical reasoning and in designing inquiry-based history lessons that encourage students to reason historically. Teachers engaged in historical reasoning and developed and implemented activities for inquiry-based learning in their history lessons. In this qualitative study, we interviewed nine teachers before and after the program, and they completed the Beliefs about Learning and Teaching History questionnaire before, during and after the program. Thematic analysis of the data shows that elementary teachers participating in our PD program developed more nuanced beliefs about history. Both epistemic and pedagogical beliefs became more crystallized and more criterialist in nature, but it is especially participants’ pedagogical beliefs that became more oriented toward inquiry into historical sources and the importance of developing historical reasoning skills in students. Our findings also indicate that more naïve ideas remained in addition to more nuanced beliefs. Participants indicated that their pedagogical beliefs about teaching history and conducting historical inquiry changed because of the program. Based on the final interviews, we identified five elements that enhanced participants’ professional development toward teaching inquiry-based history lessons and influenced their epistemic beliefs. It was the combination of engaging in historical inquiry, modeling by the facilitator, participating in group discussions about historical inquiry, searching for historical sources themselves and developing and discussing their own lesson designs and putting them into practice that made participants see the possibilities of inquiry-based history learning and stimulated the development of their beliefs. The findings of this study imply that to prepare elementary teachers to teach history in a way that fosters inquiry into historical sources and historical reasoning, PD programs and teacher education should pay attention to the epistemology of history as a discipline and provide teachers with tools to do inquiry.

Reform efforts are often unsuccessful because they failed to understand that teachers play a key role in making educational reforms successful. This paper describes a long‐term teacher professional development (PD) program aimed at educating and training teachers to teach interdisciplinary topics using case‐based method in science. The research objective was to identify, follow and document the processes that science teachers went through as they assimilated the interdisciplinary, case‐based science teaching approach. The research accompanied the PD program throughout its 3‐year period. About 50 teachers, who took part in the PD program, were exposed to an interdisciplinary case‐based teaching method. The research instruments included teacher portfolios, which contained projects and reflection questionnaires, classroom observations, teacher interviews, and student feedback questionnaires. The portfolios contained the projects that the teachers had carried out during the PD program, which included case studies and accompanying student activities. We found that the teachers gradually moved from exposure to new teaching methods and subject matter, through active learning and preparing case‐based team projects, to interdisciplinary, active classroom teaching using the case studies they developed.

This study explored the effectiveness of Professional Development (PD) programmes in improving teaching practices and students’ learning outcomes at Samtse Higher Secondary School. PD is often utilised as an agency to educate teachers and bring about changes in their classroom practices. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study collected quantitative data using students’ performance records and qualitative data through classroom observation and interviews. A total of 17 classroom observations and five focus group interviews were conducted. The findings revealed improvement in teachers’ classroom practices after attending the PD programme. Teachers demonstrated increased use of technology to support classroom instruction, enhanced classroom management practices, and use of diverse assessment strategies. Qualitative findings also revealed that teachers perceive PD as a beneficial and relevant programme in helping them enhance instructional efficacy and address diverse learning needs. However, analysis of students' learning outcomes indicated no measurable improvement, largely due to the differences in the abilities of students, their prior knowledge and motivation. Despite limited short-term effects on students’ learning outcomes, the study highlights that PD programmes significantly improves classroom engagement, teacher competence and students’ participation. The study suggests that context-based and ICT-related PD programmes are essential to bring in pedagogical change and positive classroom practices.

This article is dedicated to examining a bilateral project established between the Republic of Korea and Türkiye, with the overarching objective of elevating awareness and endowing preschool teachers with the capacity to embed education for sustainability (EfS) within their classroom practices seamlessly. For this purpose, a professional development (PD) program was developed regarding three pillars of sustainability and 7R themes. Fourteen preschool teachers attended the PD program. Three teachers participated in this case study to reveal teachers' transformation regarding sustainability and early childhood education for sustainability. The data were collected through pre-post-follow-up interviews and classroom observations. Thematic content analyses were conducted. According to the results, the PD program enhanced and deepened teachers’ sustainability knowledge. In addition, teachers could transfer the knowledge from the PD program on education for sustainability into their practice not entirely but acceptably, and they have a chance to reconsider their lifestyle habits regarding sustainability in many areas.

This article draws from a study that explored how Ugandan secondary school teachers' competences are continuously developed to cope with the ever changing trends in Science and Mathematics teaching. The study was premised on a framework of professional development that views teacher education as a continuum that includes training, recruiting, retaining, and retraining. The article argues that in Uganda more research has been focused on the first two levels of the continuum, with evidence on the last one remaining less documented. Data was largely collected from qualitative semi-structured interviews with selected policy makers, school administrators, and teachers. The interviews were complemented with an analysis of relevant documents and a workshop with the participating teachers. A thematic analysis of the data revealed three categories of existing Continuing Professional Development programmes in Uganda including those initiated by government agencies and donors; those initiated by schools; and those initiated by individual teachers. The article highlights the need for a critical examination of these existing programmes with a view to ensuring that they reinforce each other.

Examining how actively teachers participate in inquiry-based professional development is the goal of this qualitative study. The research used classroom observations and in-depth interviews to investigate teachers' viewpoints, experiences, and difficultieswith professional development programs. The main focuses of the study are their level of participation and their perception of its impact on classroom learning. Schools that value research aim to develop reflective practitioners among their faculty by making research and an inquiry-based pedagogy integral parts of their curricula. A lack of data about the academic and personal success of program alums is a major drawback. This research sought to evaluate the development of inquiry-based practice among seven first-year teachers from Dutch academic teacher training programs. For three years, these grads and their school administrators were subjected to questioning. Their level of engagement with the curriculum increases as the school and students go through inquiry-based learning. It has been suggested by scholars that inquiry-based learning might have many interesting benefits for educators. While obstacles like time and reluctance to change persist, the findings demonstrate that inquiry-based professional development fosters collaboration and self-reflection. The findings might provide valuable information for future professional development (PD) programs that aim to increase student achievement via increased teacher engagement and the use of inquiry-based teaching methods.

This qualitative research aims to assess the level of engagement among educators in inquiry-based professional development. The study examined teachers' perspectives, experiences, and challenges regarding professional development programs using classroom observations and in-depth interviews. How much they participate and what effect they think it has on classroom learning are the primary foci of the research. By incorporating research and an inquiry-based pedagogy into their course work, schools that place a premium on research want to train teachers capable of reflective practice. Unfortunately, there is a lack of information about the program's alumni' personal improvement and academic accomplishment. Seven first-year teachers from Dutch academic teacher preparation programs were the subjects of this study, which aimed to assess how inquiry-based practice developed among them. These graduates and their school officials were questioned during a three-year period. As students and the school go through inquiry-based learning, their involvement in the program rises in the organisational hierarchy. Educators could benefit from inquiry-based learning in a number of intriguing ways, according to researchers. While there are still challenges with time and resistance to change, the results show that inquiry-based professional development promotes cooperation and reflective practice. Findings may inform future professional development (PD) initiatives with the goal of raising student accomplishment via more active participation from teachers and the adoption of inquiry-based pedagogy.