Science Teaching Environments Research Articles

Connecting Cultural Knowledge with Western-Based School Science: Experiences of Marginalized Students

This study focuses on interactive, creative, collaborative, and inclusive science teaching environments both in school and at home to create and extend multicultural science knowledge based on the experience of culturally marginalized students toward science learning. This case study explored the knowledge construction system of students. Two culturally and economically marginalized students of a public secondary school located at Gorkha Municipality were purposively selected. To collect information in-depth interview was taken with two students jointly, and classroom teaching activities were observed and noted in the diary. The transcription of interviews and field notes taken from the classroom observation were coded, categorized and three global themes were identified. Based on global themes, the data were analyzed according to the view of participants compared to the culturally relevant pedagogy and cultural theories. The selected students were not satisfied with their teacher’s teaching strategies. The study found that culturally relevant science teaching is mainly affected by pedagogical, environmental, and strategic problems. Teachers and the school culture are seen as the main problem in implementing and braiding culturally relevant science teaching in the multicultural classroom. Science teacher is found to fail to link modern science teaching with community knowledge of culturally and economically marginalized students. Underestimating the other cultural students’ participation and teachers’ voices in science teaching is the limitation of this study.

Primary Teachers and Students Images of Teachers and Learning Environments

The purpose of the current study is to elicit both primary teachers’ and their students’ images of the primary teacher in science classes and to discuss the similarities and differences between the teachers’ image of the primary teacher in science classes and the students’ image of the primary teacher in science classes. In the current study, the data were collected by using The Draw-A-Science –Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C) developed by Thomas et al. (2001). The DASST-C is a useful tool to show how the science teaching environment is and how teacher behaviors in the science teaching environment are. A total of 50 primary teachers and 120 primary school students (3rd and 4th grades) participated in the current study. The obtained data were analyzed by using the DASST-C Score sheet and the criteria proposed by Sahin Kalyon (2020) to evaluate the learning environment. It was concluded that the participating teachers have almost equally adopted each teaching style. In other words, the teachers have equally adopted student-centered, teacher-centered, and both teacher and student-centered teaching. In the drawings of the participating primary school students, the most frequently depicted image of the teacher was found to be the teacher having an explicit teaching style, followed by the exploratory teaching style and conceptual teaching style. In other words, most of the students depicted a teacher who has adopted the teacher-centered teaching in their drawings. As a result of the analyses, it was concluded that the students of the teachers having the exploratory and conceptual teaching styles largely drew teachers in their pictures having the exploratory teaching style. The students of the teachers having the explicit teaching style also largely depicted teachers in their drawings having the explicit teaching style. Considering these findings, it can be argued that the teaching style of the teacher affects his/her students’ image of the teacher.

Female Secondary Students’ and Their Teachers’ Perceptions of Science Learning Environments Within the Context of Science Education Reform in Saudi Arabia

This mixed methods study explored how Saudi Arabia’s science education reform is functioning in 2 public girls’ secondary schools located in Dammam, 1 of the main cities in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia recently launched a new initiative to promote science education innovation by providing science curriculum change, professional development for science teachers, and progress towards a new educational system. This study examined Saudi secondary girls’ perceptions regarding science learning environments and the metacognitive science learning orientation within the context of science education reform in Saudi Arabia (N = 202). Further, 3 science teacher participants were interviewed in order to ascertain their perceptions of their current science teaching environments and their science teaching. Particular emphasis was placed on examining differences between the Course System, which is a new system designed to facilitate science experiments and constructivist teaching and learning, and the regular system in terms of students’ perceptions about science learning environments and their metacognitive science learning orientation. Results and findings indicate that teachers supported the constructivist pedagogy, and science education reform efforts may gradually change Saudi science education environments and improve Saudi girls’ science metacognitive learning orientation.

Comparison of Elementary Students’ Images of Science Teaching for Turkish, Dutch, Scottish, and German Science Classrooms

The Draw-A-Science –Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C) is an useful instrument to show how our science teaching environment and science teacher behaviors have been going on. This study is a cross cultural and comparative study to contribute to literature of problems of science teacher behaviors and of science learning environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate Turkish, Scottish, Dutch and German elementary students’ images of science teachers and science teaching environment and to compare Turkish science teaching environment with other three countries. 128 elementary students from four different countries have joined this study in order to collect data. The results from the study have showed that Turkish elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 4.5% student-centered, 36.4% between student- teacher-centered, and 59.1% teacher-centered. The Scottish elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 38.6% student-centered, 52.3% between student- teacher-centered, and 9.1% teacher-centered. The Dutch elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 25% student-centered, 50% between student- teacher-centered, and 25% teacher-centered. The German elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 24% student-centered, 55% between student- teacher-centered, and 21% teacher-centered.

Análisis de las actividades de Química en los libros de texto de Física y Química de 1.º de Bachillerato desde una perspectiva de «Química en contexto»

In the last few years there are two worrying phenomenon happening in the science teaching environment, on one hand there are fewer students who choose science subjects at the time they’re optional and on the other hand the decreasing number of university students enrolled in science careers, if we add those two facts the results of the latest pisa tests, which show that students who choose these materials do not get satisfactory results, we have a hopeless outlook. One way of analysing the situation is exploring what happens in the classroom and in this context we find that the textbook is a resource used extensively in the teaching of Chemistry; one essential element for learning are planned activities in the classroom, so it seems essential to make a full review of them. The objectives in this study are: Analysing and classifying the activities contextualized of chemistry textbooks currently used in eleventh grade and comparing books from different educational laws based on their contextualized activities. For the review and classification of activities it uses a methodology of analysis for qualitative content. The results demonstrate the anecdotic presence of this kind of activities in textbooks; 8308 activities were reviewed of which only 6,46% corresponded to contextualized activities. In addition when comparing the different books, whether they are currently used or the ones from previous educational laws, we see that there is not a turnaround in what refers to the contextualized activities, as a significant variation is not observed in the percentages and therefore do not adapt well to curriculum changes.

Science Teachers’ Indigenous Knowledge Identities

The purpose of this study is to report on science teachers’ indigenous knowledge (IK) identities, in relation to the teacher professional development program whose aims were: to research IK, to produce teaching and learning materials on the integration of IK and science, and to introduce pre-service and in-service teachers to the construct of multicultural science learning and teaching environments. The formation of a teacher identity in multicultural science teaching environments is a complex construct because of the existence of the multicultural environment. It is important to understand the effectiveness of the current teacher preparation and professional development programs; these have important implications for educational success, access to education, and the effectiveness of such education, which could ultimately lead to sustainable development in developing countries. The trajectory of the transition of science teachers’ IK portraits and formations, based on the findings of this study of six teachers, provides a rich yet sobering account of the potential challenges and pitfalls that teachers working with multicultural science classes can experience – especially when students bring their own IK from their communities into the science classrooms. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1554

Becoming an Insider: Teaching Science in Urban Settings

The discourse of urban science education is often framed by discussions of achievement gaps and limited resources. Although these realities are part of the urban education landscape, they focus on deficits—what urban youth and their teachers and schools lack. We argue that it is more productive to frame urban science education as a function of place. Place, in the urban classroom, accounts not only for the physical spaces of the community but also for the historical and sociocultural dimensions that play out as people interact with and in place. We argue that becoming an insider within the multidimensions of place is critical to science teaching environments that value and sanction their students' unofficial and often non-dominant ways of knowing.

The Self-efficacy of Pre-service Elementary Teachers Using Cooperative Learning in Science Teaching

This study examines the self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers who employ cooperative learning methods in their science classes. The participants consist of 363 science teachers-in-training, including 288 trainees at the primary school level (grades 1-5, age 6-11) and 75 junior high school trainees (grades 6-8, age 12-15). Data was collected using the Cooperative Learning in Science Education Questionnaire (CLSEQ). Frequencies were calculated to reveal existing tendencies in the participants' use of cooperative learning methods and strategies in science teaching. Practitioners' definitions of the term cooperative learning were also examined using the content analysis approach. In general, the majority of participants believed that it was possible to successfully implement cooperative learning in science teaching environments. Interdepartmentally, pre-service junior high school teachers viewed themselves as more practically trained to carry out cooperative learning in science teaching when compared to their primary teacher counterparts. The implications of this for teacher education concerning this issue are also mentioned.

Using Facets of Effective Science Learning Environments to Examine Preservice Elementary Teachers` Observations of Their Clinical Experiences in Korea and the U.S.

This study examined the science learning environments experienced by Korean and U.S. preservice elementary science teachers during their 3-week clinical experience. Observational experiences of 97 Korean and 112 U.S preservice teachers were surveyed with an instrument that we developed for the study. Follow-up interviews provided a clearer picture of what preservice teachers observed and experienced in science classrooms during their clinical experiences. Korean preservice teachers experienced a variety of science teaching environments, whereas the U.S. preservice teachers reported limited opportunities to observe science teaching and learning in terms of 6 identified facets that we posed. Along with our interpretation of the contrast in findings, some of the challenges are discussed in providing preservice teachers with opportunities to observe, experience, and teach in effective science learning environments during the clinical experience.

Emotional Issues in Teaching Science: A Case Study of a Teacher?s Views

Science teaching environments are social environments, and teachers’ emotions interact with their science teaching in powerful ways. To value the teacher is to value the whole person, not just the intellect. In this paper, a theorization of teacher emotion in science teaching is developed which illustrates the role of emotion in establishing and maintaining self-esteem in science teaching situations. From the standpoint of social-constructionist theory of emotion, it is argued that emotion is a social construction within social relationships. Arising from this view, are the emotions of intellectual excitement, frustration and shame that play a key role in the development of self-esteem. The dynamics of these emotions, in the context of experiences of success and failure, may dispose teachers to act positively or negatively towards science teaching. The theorisation developed is illustrated in the emotional experiences of an elementary school teacher in an early childhood science classroom. These experiences indicate that emotion is constitutive of teaching, and merits greater consideration in science teaching.

The Relationship Between Changes in Teachers' Self-efficacy Beliefs and the Science Teaching Environment of Danish First-Year Elementary Teachers

This study's purpose was to determine whether science teaching self-efficacy beliefs among new teachers of elementary science interact significantly with teaching environments in their schools. The study hypothesized a mechanism by which environments can interact with self-efficacy and, consequently, affect the quality of science teaching. The self-efficacy of new elementary teachers from Denmark was assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of their first year of teaching. Their teaching success and environments were also assessed. It was found that positive changes in self-efficacy seemed positively related to the occurrence of environmental factors helpful to teaching (r= .401; p= .011; n= 39). In three case studies, there was some support for this association from assessments, interviews, and success in teaching.