Good Science Teaching Research Articles

“This Type of Teaching Moves Beyond Academic Achievement on Tests as the Only Measure of a Good Science Education and Student Achievement”: Exploring Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Justice-Centered Science Pedagogy Through a Class Social Justice Project

ABSTRACT Science content, teaching, and teacher preparation are all political acts. However, accepting the political nature of science as well as that of science teaching has proven to be a hard shift for many in the science community. In this paper, we suggest a shift away from an apolitical teaching of science toward a system of practices that transforms the purposes of science education through a justice-centered science pedagogy approach. For science teachers to engage their students in this type of transformative teaching and learning, we argue that the science teachers themselves need to be immersed in conditions under which their learning experiences foregrounds the transformative power of justice centered science pedagogy. In this study, we explore a residency program, and in particular, a secondary science methods course in which pre-service teachers engaged in a social justice project exploring social justice science issues to illustrate preservice teachers’ conceptualizations of justice-centered science teaching and learning.

Pre-service Primary School Teachers’ View of Nature of Science Helps Decision-making on Socio-scientific Issues

Since the 20th century, science and technology have developed rapidly, and the industrialization and modernization of countries around the world have been in full swing. In this context, the education of Socio-scientific issues (SSI) in classroom teaching in primary and secondary schools becomes particularly important. SSIs can serve as an important carrier for scientific, ethical, and moral education, an important path to develop the core competencies of individuals in the 21st century. As future teachers, pre-service primary school teachers receive good science education in the university, develop fundamental scientific literacy, and obtain a basic understanding of nature of science (NOS). Their mastery of NOS has a significant impact on their decision-making skills on SSIs. In science education for pre-service primary school teachers, more attention should be paid to improving their comprehension of NOS and critical thinking ability.

Pivoting in a Pandemic: Supporting STEM Teachers’ Learning through Online Professional Learning during the Museum Closure

Drawing on data from STEM teacher education programs collected during museum closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this article examines the shifts that a large natural history museum made in educational programming. We explore three questions; _who participated; the nature of participants’ experiences with programming; and what we learned as an education department within and across teacher education programs_ by drawing on systematically collected quantitative and qualitative data (attendance, surveys, focus groups, and interviews). We draw upon case study data to delve into our online teacher professional learning offerings as an example, and then ground it within data and findings from our other teacher education programs at the museum offered during closure. We conclude by identifying implications for developing ongoing work with teachers going forward. Three central implications were: 1) continue to offer remote teacher professional learning sessions, 2) develop a shared vision of good science teaching online, and 3) model pedagogy that supports this shared vision. During a time of extreme uncertainty and tragedy, this article seeks to document and capture the innovative approaches developed to help support teachers, continue educational efforts, strive to act as an agent of change, as well as address challenges that emerged in the move to remote.

Emotional Performance of a Low-Cost Eco-Friendly Project Based Learning Methodology for Science Education: An Approach in Prospective Teachers

Enhancing the emotional dimension of prospective teachers in science subjects—which has become increasingly important in recent decades—is a responsibility of higher education institutions. The implementation of active methodologies has the potential to modify the traditional student-teacher roles that are encouraged by the educational policies implemented in the Bologna Process. Simultaneously, it is possible to promote knowledge of sustainability, as well as the attitudes and behaviors required by UNESCO. The main aim of this work is to describe a project-based learning methodology with a transversal sustainability approach (low-cost and eco-friendly) and to introduce this as a potential resource for the emotional and cognitive improvement of 19 prospective primary teachers enrolled in scientific subjects. This is a qualitative study in the context of a research line focused on higher education for sustainable development. A questionnaire was designed and filled in by students at two different stages, before and after implementation of the activity. The initial feedback from students was surprisingly enthusiastic due to the fact that they were working with rockets, despite this not being considered a common emotion expressed by students in science lessons. The results show the emotional improvement of prospective teachers after implementation of the activity. It is concluded that a good science education, with implementation of sustainable approaches is necessary during the training of teachers, taking into account their emotional dimensions and social repercussions as a consequence of future transmission.

Seventh-Grade Students’ Levels of Associating Science Courses with Real Life

This study aims to reveal the extent to which secondary seventh-grade students can associate what they learn in science courses with real life. The study was conducted with a descriptive method after selecting participants through probability-based sampling methods, namely, stratified sampling and cluster sampling. The research was carried out with 274 seventh-graders from 12 secondary schools in the central districts of Ankara province during the 2017-2018 academic year. The students’ levels of associating science with real life were studied from two perspectives: proposing solutions to real life problems by drawing on scientific principles and identifying the scientific principles applicable in solving related life problems. To properly assess these measures, two tests were developed by the researcher and were used. These tests consist of open-ended problem scenarios and are called the “Test of Life in Science” and the “Test of Science in Life”. The data analysis results revealed that the students cannot sufficiently associate science courses with life, as they cannot propose solutions for life problems employing scientific principles and they also cannot elicit the principles applied in solving life problems related to science. Moreover, the students’ levels of associating science courses with life significantly vary depending on the students’ socioeconomic status, access to supplementary science courses, domestic Internet access, and out-of-school experience of science learning. The study results seem significant, as they imply the need for necessary arrangements to educate students as individuals who are able to do the following: solve real-life problems by using their scientific knowledge; make decisions and put forward useful outcomes for the good of society by using such knowledge from good science education; adapt easily to their community; and develop favorable consumption habits.

Functional coordination between present teaching and policy reform in Swedish science education

ABSTRACT Major policy changes make teachers reconsider how they teach. In Sweden, a new curriculum, a grading system, and national tests were introduced in science education in Year 6 (Y6) for the 2012/2013 academic year. After two years, the national tests were made voluntary, and they ended the following year. In this interview study, we investigate what implications these reforms had for teachers’ teaching and assessment practices in science education. Interviews with 10 teachers over four subsequent years were analysed by applying Dewey’s notion of habits in order to explore how teachers coordinate between their teaching habits and new policies. The result show that teachers work to adjust their teaching practices in order to; make teaching transparent, deal with the experience of increased levels of stress, develop professionally in collective practices, and reconsider the teaching content and methods. However, in the last round of interviews, it was evident that, after the tests were taken away, teachers downplayed the significance of the national tests as a factor that changed their teaching and changed what they consider as good science education.

Perceptions of Science Teachers on Implementation of Seven Principles for Good Practice in Education by Chickering and Gamson in Courses

The present study aimed to determine the perceptions of science teachers on the implementation of the seven principles for good practice in education by Chickering and Gamson in their courses. Seven principles for good science education were used as a data collection tool in the survey. “The seven principles for good practice in science education scale" for teachers was used as the data collection instrument in the study. “The seven principles for good practice in science education scale" is the adapted form of the “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Education: Faculty Inventory” developed by Chickering and Gamson into Turkish language and junior high school science courses. The scale was applied to 285 science teachers employed in Elazığ province in Turkey and interviews were conducted with 45 teachers. Analysis of the study data demonstrated that the surveyed teachers implemented each of these seven principles at different levels. Conducted interviews revealed the examples of different strategies adopted by the teachers in implementing the abovementioned seven principles.

John A. Raven.

John A. Raven.

Students’ conceptions of radiation and what to do about them

For good science teaching, it is necessary to have knowledge of your students’ preconceptions. Numerous studies have been conducted about typical ideas that students bring to the science classroom in science education research. Unfortunately the domains of which we know preconceptions are not distributed evenly and there is a lack of studies about students’ conceptions of electromagnetic radiation. This literature review focuses on the existing body of studies around those conceptions. All studies focusing on conceptions of radiation, including nuclear radiation, have been considered if they were published in international peer reviewed journals in English and German between 1980 and the present day. Some interesting conceptions mentioned in different studies are pointed out, as well as gaps in the literature that need to be filled. At the end, some ideas to conquer misconceptions are presented.

교육실습에서 예비과학교사들이 경험하는 딜레마의 유형과 대처 방법

본 연구의 목적은 예비 과학교사들이 교육실습 과정동안 겪는 딜레마를 탐색하여 딜레마의 특징과 대응방법을 통해 교사교육에의 시사점을 알아보는 것이다. 이를 위해 사범대 과학교육전공 4학년에 재학 중인 34명의 예비 과학교사들에게 교육실습 동안 경험한 딜레마에 대해 실습기간동안 작성한 딜레마 성찰일지 131편을 수집하여 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 첫째, 예비 과학교사들이 인식하는 딜레마는 크게 '어떤 교사가 될 것인가', '어떤 수업을 해야 하는가', '어느 권력을 따라야 하는가', '어떤 인간관계를 형성해야 하는가', '교육실습생이란 어떤 사람인가' 라는 다섯 가지의 주제와 연결되어 있었다. 둘째, 예비과학교사들이 교육실습과정에서 부딪히는 딜레마는 교육실습생이라는 모호한 지위가 딜레마를 더 심화시키거나 소극적으로 대응하도록 하는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 예비 과학교사들의 딜레마 상황에 대한 대응방법을 분석한 결과, 딜레마 상황에서 대해 단순한 양자택일 상황으로 인식하여 조율과 협상의 전략을 시도하는 노력이 부족하며, 과학교육 전문성에 연결시키는 수준이 높지 않았다. 넷째, 예비 과학교사들의 딜레마 중 과학 교과의 특징이 확연히 드러난 것들은 과학탐구 지도에 관련된 딜레마와 과학교수학습 모형의 적용에 대한 딜레마였다. 이 밖에도 본 연구결과가 교사교육에 주는 시사점을 결과와 함께 논의하였다. The purpose of the study is to explore the types and coping methods of dilemmas that pre-service science teachers experience during student teaching. For this, we collected 131 dilemma journals that 34 pre-service science teachers wrote during a four-week period of student teaching. Results show that first, there are five categories of dilemmas, they are, 'Which science teacher should I be?', 'What is good science teaching?', 'How should I build relationships with the people around me at school?', and 'Who am I as a student teacher?'. Second, pre-service science teachers' status as a students-teachers made them cope with dilemmas passively. Third, when they cope with the dilemmas, student-teachers considered the dilemmas as conflicts of irreconcilable alternatives rather than opportunities of conciliation and compromise, therefore, most pre-service science teachers choose just one alternative and only 20% of dilemmas are resolved by compromise choice. Finally, dilemmas which showed the features of science teaching are the dilemmas related to scientific inquiry teaching and science teaching-learning model. Based on the results, we discussed the implications for teacher education.

A qualitative study on good science teaching based on the science education experiences of child care teachers

A qualitative study on good science teaching based on the science education experiences of child care teachers

Teachers’ and Students’ Conceptions of Good Science Teaching

Capitalizing on the comments made by teachers on videos of exemplary science teaching, a video-based survey instrument on the topic of ‘Density’ was developed and used to investigate the conceptions of good science teaching held by 110 teachers and 4,024 year 7 students in Hong Kong. Six dimensions of good science teaching are identified from the 55-item questionnaire, namely, ‘focussing on science learning’, ‘facilitating students’ understanding’, ‘encouraging students’ involvement’, ‘creating conducive environment’, ‘encouraging active experimentation’ and ‘preparing students for exam (PSE)’. Significant gaps between teachers’ and students’ conceptions on certain dimensions have been revealed. The inconsistency on the dimension ‘PSE’ is particularly evident and possible reasons for the phenomenon are suggested. This study raises the important questions of how the gap can be addressed, and who is to change in order to close the gaps. Answers to these questions have huge implications for teacher education and teacher professional development.

Not Just Good Science Teaching: Supporting Academic Language Development

In this article, the authors explore ways in which they have worked together in understanding the complexities of academic language within the science classroom and discuss strategies they have used to teach academic language to young adolescent English Language Learners (ELLs) within inquiry-based science lessons.— They discuss strategies they use to explicitly teach linguistic components of academic language and provide examples of ways they support ELLs in understanding how mathematical expression and visual representation support meaning making with the hybrid language of academic science.

A Perspective on the Intended Science Curriculum in Iceland and its ‘Transformation’ over a Period of 50 Years

In recent decades, a consensus has emerged among educators and scientists that all compulsory school students need good science education. The debate about its purpose and nature as a school subject in an emerging information society has not been as conclusive. To further understand this, it helps to examine how the science curriculum has transformed and what forces have shaped it as a core curricular area over time. This article sheds light on the transformation of the science curriculum for compulsory schools in Iceland in force from 1960 to 2010. Using criteria based on curriculum ideologies regarding the function of learners, instructors and subject matter in the learning process and the orientation of content and product versus process and development, it offers findings from content analysis of the intended science curriculum. The official curriculum was studied and conceptualised as it has evolved over time. The curriculum developers appear to have been striving for a compromise between conflicting views, resulting in what the authors of this article conceive as a ‘kaleidoscopic quilt’ of ideas over the period studied.

Report on 2nd Royan Institute International Summer School on Developmental Biology and Stem Cells Tehran, Iran, 17–22nd July 2011

The 2nd Royan Institute International Summer School was built around the topic of stem cells and grounding in the discipline of developmental biology. The meeting provided not only direct transfer of technical and intellectual information, the normal process in scientific meetings, but was also a forum for the exchange of personal ideas of science as a creative pursuit. This summer school introduced aspiring young Iranian scientists to international researchers and exposed the latter to a rich culture that highly values learning and education, attested by the confident, intelligent young men and women who asked probing questions and who were eager to participate in the workshops. Hossein Baharvand's dedication and passion for science have led to an impressive record of national and international peer-reviewed publications and an increasing number of students who pursue science in Iran, and shows how the right people can create an environment where good science, good science education and motivation will flourish. This report summarizes some of the activities of the workshop in the Royan Institute and the impressions of the visiting scientists in the wider context of the scientific and cultural heritage of Iran.

To go, or not to go, that is the question - Six personal reflections on how geographic mobility may affect your career and life

To go, or not to go, that is the question - Six personal reflections on how geographic mobility may affect your career and life

The elements of good science teaching as perceived by early childhoodteachers with high science teaching self-efficacy

The elements of good science teaching as perceived by early childhoodteachers with high science teaching self-efficacy

Scientists and Their Society: Between Advocacy and Arbitration

ABSTRACT: Science is playing an increasing part in many decision making processes. It is now up to the scientists and scientific communities to advocate an importance of science in society. In doing so, we should be able to distinguish analysis from advocacy and should also be humble in remembering that good science does not necessarily produce an obvious policy main road. Our task is to ensure the maximal results, for the public at large and to offer advice to the society to gain a minimal risk. Along the line, we should be concerned of the value of good science education through formal and informal channels. One maxim that is sometimes overlooked is that we should not try to make politics more scientific. It is counter productive as it will turn science more political. More importantly, it is suggested that the following way and mechanism can be followed: (1) to improve the awareness of scientists about the current and future scientific and technical aspects of basic science; (2) to enhance scientific co-operations among developing institutions, including the exchange of scientific information; (3) to explore avenues of education, training and research on basic science subject for the benefit for people in the region; and (4) to create an “international” core group of scientists to pursue the objective of the cooperation and to link with advanced industrial countries. At the same time, our realization of the wealth of scholarly resources in the Asia-Pacific regions should grow. It is advisable, therefore, to start as a first step in the near future to pool these valuable human resources for environmental research. KEY WORD: The scientists, roles, society, advocacy, science in society, good science education, and peace and wealth society. About the Author: Prof. Dr. Bambang Hidayat is a member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI, Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia ) in Jakarta; former Director of Bosscha Astronomy Observatory in Lembang, Bandung; and Professor at ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) in West Java, Indonesia. For academic purposes, he can be reached at: hidayatbambang@yahoo.com and bhidayat07@hotmail.com How to cite this article? Hidayat, Bambang. (2011). “Scientists and Their Society: Between Advocacy and Arbitration” in ATIKAN: Jurnal Kajian Pendidikan , Vol.1(1) Juni, pp.59-74. Bandung, Indonesia: Minda Masagi Press owned by ASPENSI in Bandung, ISSN 2088-1290. Chronicle of the article: Accepted (April 10, 2011); Revised (May 20, 2011); and Published (June 5, 2011).

Blackawton bees

Real science has the potential to not only amaze, but also transform the way one thinks of the world and oneself. This is because the process of science is little different from the deeply resonant, natural processes of play. Play enables humans (and other mammals) to discover (and create) relationships and patterns. When one adds rules to play, a game is created. the process of playing with rules that enables one to reveal previously unseen patterns of relationships that extend our collective understanding of nature and human nature. When thought of in this way, science education becomes a more enlightened and intuitive process of asking questions and devising games to address those questions. But, because the outcome of all game-playing is unpredictable, supporting this 'messyness', which is the engine of science, is critical to good science education (and indeed creative education generally). Indeed, we have learned that doing 'real' science in public spaces can stimulate tremendous interest in children and adults in understanding the processes by which we make sense of the world. The present study (on the vision of bumble-bees) goes even further, since it was not only performed outside my laboratory (in a Norman church in the southwest of England), but the 'games' were themselves devised in collaboration with 25 8- to 10-year-old children. They asked the questions, hypothesized the answers, designed the games (in other words, the experiments) to test these hypotheses and analysed the data. They also drew the figures (in coloured pencil) and wrote the paper. Their headteacher (Dave Strudwick) and I devised the educational programme (we call 'i,scientist'), and I trained the bees and transcribed the childrens' words into text (which was done with smaller groups of children at the school's local village pub). So what follows is a novel study (scientifically and conceptually) in 'kids speak' without references to past literature, which is a challenge. Although the historical context of any study is of course important, including references in this instance would be disingenuous for two reasons. First, given the way scientific data are naturally reported, the relevant information is simply inaccessible to the literate ability of 8- to 10-year-old children, and second, the true motivation for any scientific study (at least one of integrity) is one's own curiousity, which for the children was not inspired by the scientific literature, but their own observations of the world. This lack of historical, scientific context does not diminish the resulting data, scientific methodology or merit of the discovery for the scientific and 'non-scientific' audience. On the contrary, it reveals science in its truest (most naive) form, and in this way makes explicit the commonality between science, art and indeed all creative activities. 'We discovered that bumble-bees can use a combination of colour and spatial relationships in deciding which colour of flower to forage from. We also discovered that science is cool and fun because you get to do stuff that no one has ever done before. (Children from Blackawton)'.

Helping Scientists Become Effective Partners in Education and Outreach

How does a scientist find herself standing before a group of lively third‐graders? She may be personally motivated—seeking to improve public understanding of scientific issues and the nature of science, or to see her own children receive a good science education—or perhaps she simply enjoys this kind of work [Andrews et al., 20057semi; Kim and Fortner, 2008].In addition to internal motivating factors, federal funding agencies have begun to encourage scientists to participate in education and outreach (E/O) related to their research, through NASA program requirements for such activities (see “Implementing the Office of Space Science Education/Public Outreach Strategy,” at http://spacescience.nasa.gov/admin/pubs/edu/imp_plan .htm) and the U.S. National Science Foundation's increased emphasis on “broader impacts” in merit review of research proposals (see http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf032/bicexamples.pdf).