Prospective gymnasium teachers' conceptions of chemistry learning and teaching

This study aims to analyze the conceptions of the senior students at the faculty of education along with their attitudes towards multicultural education according to gender and department variables, and to identify degree to which their conception of teaching and learning predicts their attitudes towards multicultural education. A total of 278 prospective teachers, including 190 female and 88 male, who are attending the Faculty of Education of Cumhuriyet University participated in the study, which was conducted using a relational screening model. Data were collected using the Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS) and the Teaching and Learning Conceptions Questionnaire (TLCQ). Data obtained in the study was analyzed using One-Way Anova, Scheffe Test and Multiregression analysis. According to the findings of these analyses, the prospective teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning, and their multicultural educational attitudes varied significantly depending on the variables of department and gender. The prospective teachers’ conceptions of teaching and learning predicted their attitudes towards multicultural education at a significant level. The obtained results were discussed in the light of the relevant literature, and were made for future studies. Key words: Conceptions of teaching and learning, multicultural education, prospective teachers.

Previous research has established a close link between students'conceptions of learning, approaches to study and learning outcomes.Until recently, there have been few studies of lecturers' approaches toteaching in higher education and their relationship with conceptions ofteaching. This study aimed to characterise the alternative approaches toteaching of university lecturers, and to examine the relationshipbetween lecturers' approaches to teaching and their conceptions of goodteaching. This study adopted an open naturalistic approach. Seventeenlecturers in three departments in a university were selected forinterview based on their rank, years of teaching and industrial orprofessional experience. Lecturers were interviewed individually abouttheir conceptions of good teaching, motivational strategies andeffective teaching. The interview records were then content analysed bythe two researchers of the study. The study found that (a) it waspossible to characterise lecturers' approaches to teaching with onemotivation and five strategy dimensions; (b) the conceptions of teachingof the lecturers were best described by two main orientations oftransmissive and facilitative teaching; (c) lecturers who conceivedteaching as transmitting knowledge were more likely to usecontent-centred approaches to teaching, while those who conceivedteaching as facilitative tended to use learning-centred approaches. Thestudy concludes by suggesting that fundamental changes to the quality ofteaching and learning are unlikely to happen without changes tolecturers' conception of teaching.

This study examines prospective elementary teachers' growth and development of competencies, conceptions, and perceptions of mathematical modelling in a mathematics content course for elementary teachers. A series of lessons were implemented that engaged students in the modelling process through modelling tasks. The goal was to capture prospective teachers' thoughts and perceptions on the meaning of mathematical modelling and their conceptions of teaching and learning modelling at the elementary and middle school level. The research questions were: (1) How do prospective teachers translate the mathematical modelling cycle into their practice of doing modelling? and (2) How do prospective teachers' conceptions of modelling and teaching and learning modelling evolve throughout the implementation of a series of mathematical modelling lessons? Data sources included posters, modelling reports, responses to a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire, and semi-structured interview dialogue. Data analyses included mixed methods using provisional coding, open coding, and a categorical rubric. Findings from this study indicate that (1)Prospective elementary teachers translated the modelling cycle into their practice by developing their range of modelling competencies including multiple components of the modelling cycle, and (2) They developed a professionally appropriate conception of mathematical modelling along with productive perceptions of the benefits of teaching and learning modelling.

In this paper the question is addressed as to whether physics teachers' conceptions of teaching are related to their conceptions of their own learning. Both a questionnaire and interviews were used in order to investigate physics teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning concerning goals and approaches in teaching and teachers own professional development. Goals involved include structuralist, realistic and personal development goals of teaching physics, structuralist and realistic goals in physics learning and growth as a teacher. Approaches investigated in this study are physics teaching as facilitating active knowledge construction of students, physics learning as active construction of knowledge and an internal orientation in the development of self as a teacher. Moreover, whether teachers' conceptions of goals and approaches in teaching and learning are related to teacher characteristics was investigated. The expectation that the ways in which teachers want to teach and their goals in teaching are related to their approach and goals in their own learning process was confirmed quite convincingly, in the questionnaire results as well as in the interviews.

ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to propose and examine a comprehensive model embracing prospective teachers’ beliefs about self, teaching and learning conceptions, and attitudes towards using instructional technologies. Prospective or inservice teachers’ beliefs (from central to peripheral) and attitudes may empower the support of teacher training related to using instructional technologies. Participants were 1208 Turkish prospective teachers from five different universities who participated voluntarily and were selected using convenience sampling. Structural equation modelling analysis showed that prospective teachers’ beliefs about the autonomous self and autonomous–related self positively related to both their constructivist beliefs about teaching and learning and attitudes towards using instructional technologies, whereas the same beliefs negatively related to traditional conceptions of teaching and learning. Moreover, participants’ constructivist beliefs about teaching and learning positively predicted their attitudes towards using instructional technologies. Furthermore, their beliefs about related self positively and unexpectedly predicted their constructivist conceptions and attitudes. Implications are presented considering these results.

Prior studies indicate a teacher's conceptions of teaching influences teaching practice. Although there is abundant research on teachers' conceptions of teaching and students' conceptions of learning, there is a dearth of information on future engineering professors' conceptions. The development of conceptions of learning and teaching is not well understood either. This work-in-progress paper presents a study exploring future engineering professors' conceptions of learning and teaching engineering. The study also explores what these future professors describe as the reasons for those conceptions. For this study, future engineering professors are defined as doctoral students in engineering programs who intend to pursue teaching careers in higher education. These students' conceptions are explored through semi-structured interviews. Phenomenographic methods are used to identify variations in conceptions of learning and teaching engineering. Understanding these conceptions can help educators and faculty developers facilitate the development of more complex and appropriate conceptions of learning and teaching.

In this study we compare university teachers’ and first-year students’ conceptions of teaching and learning at the Faculty of Environmental and Biological Sciences. The conceptions were analysed using data from open-ended questionnaires. The results showed that at the beginning of studies the gap between teachers’ and students’ conceptions of teaching and learning is substantial. This finding has important implications for the educational process. In order to enhance successful studying from the beginning of students’ university careers, it is important for teachers to become aware of the differences between students’ and teachers’ conceptions of learning.

The main purpose of this paper is to present Slovenian and Finnish prospective chemistry teachers? perceptions of their future profession, especially with regard to their understanding of the role of the triple nature of chemical concepts (macro, submicro and symbolic) and their representations in chemistry learning. A total of 19 prospective teachers (10 Slovenian, 9 Finnish) at master?s level in chemical education participated in the research. The prospective teachers? opinions were gathered using an electronic questionnaire comprising six open-ended questions. The study revealed many parallels between Slovenian and Finnish prospective chemistry teachers? perceptions of their future profession and their understanding of the role of the triple nature of chemical concepts, especially particle representations, in chemistry learning. The majority of the prospective teachers from both countries believe that personal characteristics are the most important attribute of a successful chemistry teacher. Thus, they highly value teachers? enthusiasm for teaching and the use of contemporary teaching approaches in chemistry. The prospective teachers displayed an adequate understanding of the role of the triple nature of chemical concepts (i.e., particle representations) in the planning and implementation of a specific chemistry lesson.

Twenty preservice teachers were interviewed prior to commencement of their teacher education course to establish the conceptions of teaching and approaches to learning with which they entered the course. Students were categorised as surface, deep or achieving in their learning orientations (Biggs, 1987). Five conceptions of teaching were identified: the nurturing helper, authorityand disciplinarian, shaper of children's lives, presenter of information and facilitator of thinking and learning. There was a consistent relationship between conceptions of learning and conceptions of teaching. Surface learners tended to see teaching as transmission of information. There were very few deep learners, however they tended to see teaching as facilitation of thinking and learning. Achieving learners tended to see teaching as nurturing. Achieving learners also indicated that shaping children's lives and imposing discipline were important. Beginning Teacher Education Students' Conceptions of Teaching and Learning Because of their extensive experience of classroom life, prospective students enter teacher education programs with well established conceptions of teaching and learning (Britzman, 1986; Calderhead, 1988; Feiman-Nemser, McDiarmid, Melnick & Parker, 1988; Weinstein, 1990). For . example, Lortie (1975) referred to the long apprenticeship of observation in schools which forms the basis of students' knowledge of teachers' work. This student experience has resulted in the belief by many preservice teachers that to become a teacher it is merely necessary to behave like the teachers they have observed (FeimanNemser et al., 1988). Consequently, many students ·enter teacher education with an over-optimistic confidence in their ability to teach and a lack of appreciation for the complexity of classroom practice (Book, Byers & Freeman, 1983). Additionally, Feiman-Nemser et a!. (1988) found that many students believed that teaching conVol. 20, No. 1, 1995 sisted merely of giving students information and Hollingsworth (1989) found that student teachers frequently believed that learning resulted from the provision of teacher-directed information. Other researchers have found that students see teachers in a nurturing role. Weinstein (1990) reported that a capacity to be friendly and caring was the most frequently mentioned attribute of a really good teacher. Book et a!. (1983) found that substantial numbers of students entering teacher education saw teaching as an extended form of parenting. Similarly, Calderhead (1988) reports that many students build ideal images of teaching which emphasised the teacher as a guide, confidant and friend. There is some evidence to suggest that conceptions of teaching correspond with conceptions of learning. For example, Feiman-Nemser et al. (1988) report that the belief that teaching is the giving of information is supported by the understanding that learning is the reproduction of teacher-given information. Prior beliefs and understandings exert a major influence on the impact of teacher education on students' development as teachers. Hollingsworth (1989) found that prior beliefs provided a filter through which students viewed their teacher education and classroom experience. Thus, she argued that preprogram beliefs interacted dynamically with program content and classroom practice. Similarly, Korthagen (1988) reports that students' learning orientations influenced their ability to benefit from teacher education. Specifically, he found that a reflective (internal) approach to learning fitted more comfortably with a reflective teacher education program. Students with an external learning orientation often dropped-out of the program. Teachers' images, conceptions and ~eliefs also exert a powerful influence on their classroom practice (Calderhead, 1988). For example, Anning (1988) found that teachers' beliefs about

Patterns of development in second-career teachers' conceptions of learning and teaching

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between students’ epistemological beliefs and conceptions of teaching and learning. The results showed that the epistemological beliefs dimension ‘learning effort/process’ was positively related to the constructivist conception of teaching and learning, and negatively related to the traditional conception of teaching and learning, indicating that students recognize the importance of self‐directed learning. The relationships that were established between the ‘expert knowledge’ dimension of epistemological beliefs and the conceptions of teaching and learning show that students who do not believe in teachers as a main source of expertise tend to have constructivist conceptions of teaching and learning. Moreover, a positive relationship was found between the ‘certainty of knowledge’ dimension and the traditional conception of teaching and learning. These findings are in line with a constructivist philosophy of education and the principles of problem‐based learning.

Prospective teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning revealed through metaphor analysis

The aim of this study was to determine the learning styles of prospective chemistry and science teachers, and to examine the effects of different learning styles on their self-regulated learning skills. The survey method which is one of the quantitative research methods was used in this study. A total of 251 prospective chemistry and science teachers from the Departments of Chemistry and Science Education of three different public universities participated in the study. The Self-Regulated Learning Skills Scale was used to determine the self-regulated learning skills of the prospective teachers, and the ‘Maggie McVay Lynch Learning Style Inventory’ was used to determine the prospective teachers’ learning styles. The results showed that 61.8% of prospective chemistry and science teachers had a visual learning style, followed by a moving or kinaesthetic learning style (19.9%) and an auditory learning style (18.3%). Furthermore, a statistically significant difference was determined in the prospective chemistry and science teachers’ lack of self-directedness scores. Keywords: Learning style, prospective chemistry and science teachers, self-regulated learning

Delivering chemistry materials in the vocational school need to be prepared in a meaningful way to increase the relevance among the chemistry concept with students’ vocational expertise. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning became a prominent choice in this context. The objective of this research was to explore prospective chemistry teachers’ initial knowledge in integrating STEM based chemistry learning at vocational school. To meet this objective, survey research with qualitative approach was employed. A total of 27 third year prospective chemistry teachers who enrolled in the vocational chemistry course in a public university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia was participated in this research. The data of this research were obtained through STEM Initial Knowledge Survey (STEM-IKS) consisted of 8 open ended questions varying from basic knowledge about STEM approach, possibility to implement STEM based chemistry learning, advantages and drawbacks using STEM in chemistry learning at vocational school. Content analysis using interpretative coding was used in the data analysis technique. The findings show that prospective chemistry teachers have known the basic concept about STEM. Unfortunately, they have a lack understanding in giving the example of STEM implementation in the chemistry learning at vocational school. They found difficulties in making the relevance among the STEM discipline with vocational expertise. Therefore, the prospective chemistry teachers need to be given any chances in designing STEM-based chemistry learning at vocational school when they were participated in the teacher preparation program. Thus, when they will become the real chemistry teacher, they can integrate meaningful STEM based chemistry learning especially in the vocational school.

The related literature implies that phenomenographic arguments on teaching conception are primarily developed for in-service teachers or university educators. There is also an ongoing tenet among educational phenomenographers that instructors’ conceptions of teaching are inquired into by discriminating teacher-centered and student-centered modes of teaching from each other. In addressing these two issues, first, the present study established a phenomenographic argument regarding prospective teachers’ (PTs) experience-based conceptions of the teaching phenomenon. Second, the current study considers teaching phenomenon in a broader sense within five hierarchical categories: monological, dialogical, dialectical, adaptive-pragmatic, and reflective. A phenomenographic research was conducted to comprehend 39 senior PTs’ teaching conceptions. It is concluded that the PTs mainly experienced and reported three focused dimensions of the phenomenon: monological, dialogical, and dialectical. However, two more sophisticated dimensions, adaptive-pragmatic and reflective teaching, were absent in the PTs’ experienced-based conceptions. Finally, suggestions are offered for educators who considerably fluctuate the PTs’ experiential cognition of the instruction and related conceptions of enacted teaching.