Secondary Science Teachers Research Articles

Competence of Secondary Science Teachers in Developing Self-Learning Modules

Competence of Filipino Secondary Science Teachers in Developing Self-Learning Modules. Objectives: This study investigates the competence of Filipino secondary science teachers in developing self-learning modules (SLMs) in terms of intellectual property compliance, learning competencies, instructional design and organization, instructional quality, assessment, and readability. Methods: Data were gathered from 68 Filipino teachers using simple random sampling and clustered sampling techniques. To analyze the data, frequency count and percentage, mean and standard deviation, and one–way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were utilized. Findings: Results revealed that science teachers were highly competent in developing SLMs across all six variables. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant difference in the competence in developing SLMs in terms of intellectual property compliance based on their highest educational attainment and in terms of the aspects of learning competencies, instructional design, and organization, and assessment based on their sex. Conclusions: Teachers’ competence is essential in improving the quality of performance in the learning process. Keywords: science education, self-learning modules, teacher’s competence. Abstrak: Kompetensi Guru IPA SMA di Filipina dalam Mengembangkan Modul Belajar Mandiri. Tujuan: Penelitian ini menyelidiki kompetensi guru IPA SMA di Filipina dalam mengembangkan modul belajar mandiri dalam hal kepatuhan kekayaan intelektual, kompetensi pembelajaran, desain dan pengorganisasian pembelajaran, kualitas pembelajaran, penilaian, dan keterbacaan. Metode: Data dikumpulkan dari 68 guru Filipina menggunakan teknik simple random sampling dan clustered sampling. Untuk menganalisis data, digunakan frekuensi dan persentase, mean dan standar deviasi, dan Analisis Varians satu arah (ANOVA). Temuan: Hasil mengungkapkan bahwa guru sains sangat kompeten dalam mengembangkan SLM di semua enam variabel. Selanjutnya, terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan secara statistik dalam kompetensi pengembangan SLMs dalam hal kepatuhan kekayaan intelektual berdasarkan pencapaian pendidikan tertinggi mereka dan dari aspek kompetensi pembelajaran, desain pembelajaran, dan organisasi, dan penilaian berdasarkan jenis kelamin mereka. Kesimpulan: Kompetensi guru sangat penting dalam meningkatkan kualitas kinerja dalam proses pembelajaran. Kata kunci: pendidikan IPA, modul belajar mandiri, kompetensi guru. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23960/jpp.v12.i2.202214

Acceptance, Confidence, and Time: Exploring Dynamics of Middle and Secondary Science Teacher Autonomy in Teaching Evolution in the Southeastern United States

Evolution education represents the greatest challenge to scientific literacy in the United States. Long accepted as the foundational concept of biology, in the public realm evolution elicits controversy. The Southeastern United States is a breeding ground for this, and other, anti-science thinking that has far-reaching implications as seen during the 2020 pandemic and anti-science legislation from the region. One approach to close gaps in understanding evolution is to ensure that it is taught in schools in a way that is robust and accurate, as teachers are the front lines in the fight for scientific literacy. For that to happen, teachers must overcome their own barriers and concerns about teaching this so-called “controversial” topic. This quantitative study found that despite experience, certification, confidence in teaching evolution, and high levels of acceptance, teachers spent minimal time (less than three days) teaching evolution but there are factors that impact time and confidence that can be used to combat the problem. Identifying these fundamental interactions builds a starting point for targeted preparation and support to ensure that teachers have the tools, confidence, and content needed to teach evolution adequately.

Educational Values of Roadside Trees in Carcar City, Cebu, Philippines: Implications to Environmental Education

Roadside trees along the national highway in Barangay Perrelos in Carcar City are trees that considered a heritage, and yet are affected by urban developments in the province. The study determined the profile of the roadside trees as well as the knowledge, attitudes, and conservation efforts of the locals in the area. Questionnaires and interviews were given to 50 respondents, and data gathered were analyzed using ANOVA, Pearson r and thematic analysis. Ecological indices such as abundance percentage and species richness were also used by the study. Results revealed that there are 108 identified roadside trees, where the species richness is 0.962 and acacia trees are the most abundant (46.30%). Knowledge and attitudes of the respondents were high and low-to-moderate, respectively. Conservation practices towards the roadside trees included pruning, no burning near the trees and making of diversion roads, all adhering with existing environmental laws of the country. Tree abundance and richness, knowledge acquisition, attitude inculcation, and conservation efforts are manifestations of the educational values of roadside trees to the people. Research on these educational values of trees is novel as it provides importance on cultural heritage, environmental protection, and sustainable planning in the area. Implications to environmental education are formulated for the Philippine elementary and secondary education Science teaching.

Area of Specialization and Teaching Performance of the Secondary Science Teachers in Negros Oriental, Philippines

The K to 12 reform and the new Philippine Professional Standard for Teachers have changed the landscape of teacher quality requirements in the Philippines. It is in this context that this study is deemed necessary to determine the area of specialization and the teaching performance of the public secondary school Science teachers in terms of science content knowledge with this new educational schemeThere were 46 respondents in this study from the Department of Education-Guihulngan City Division, Negros Oriental Philippines. Findings reveal that the science teachers’ area of specialization can be categorized as Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) major in General Science, BS in Scientific Field (Nursing, Biology, and Chemical Engineering) and the Non-Science Field (English, TLE, Social Science). It indicates that majority of them lack the needed educational qualification to teach all science disciplines in the K12 curriculum. Furthermore, it shows that the BSED-General Science teachers with outstanding rating perform better than the B.S. in Scientific Field group and the non-science teachers with very good and good performance ratings respectively. It is an indication of lack of science content knowledge among the non-science teachers. Furthermore, the result discloses that the area of specialization is a determining factor in their teaching performance. It revealed that among the three groups of respondents, the general science teachers appear to be the most efficient. They are followed by those in the B.S. in Scientific field, and the non-science teachers came out to be the lowest. Hence, it clearly suggests that the BSED-General Science teachers are the most qualified to teach science since they have the sufficient educational preparations. The B.S.in Scientific Field teachers need to undergo more training and enroll in graduate studies to master all the science areas in the K12 curriculum. While the non-science teachers are discouraged to handle science subjects since they lack the necessary educational preparation to teach science.

Pre‐service teachers enactment of language‐ and literacy‐integrated science instruction in linguistically diverse science classrooms

AbstractThe Next Generation Science Standards and increasing linguistic diversity of students in United States science classrooms require language‐focused science instruction for which many secondary science teachers are not prepared. To date, minimal research has addressed how to best support secondary science pre‐service teachers (PSTs) in teaching in linguistically diverse classrooms despite the fact that most PSTs will have the opportunity to teach emergent bilinguals (EBs) at some point in their careers. The purpose of this multiple case study was to determine at what level and in what ways three secondary science PSTs were able to integrate language and literacy into their science instruction following their participation in two language‐ and literacy‐integrated science methods courses. PSTs' instruction was analyzed using an observation rubric and supported by instructional materials, interviews, and reflections. Results indicated that, following the intervention, PSTs were able to enact most language‐ and literacy‐integrated science practices at the targeted level. However, the ways in which they did so varied and at times led to missed opportunities for EBs' participation in key scientific practices. Implications for teacher educators and researchers are addressed.

Investigation of the relationships among science teachers' epistemic orientations, epistemic understanding, and implementation of Next Generation Science Standards science practices

AbstractEngaging students in the essential practices of science has been forwarded as an effective means to achieve scientific literacy for all students by promoting the learning of content, procedures, and the epistemology of science concurrently. However, the emphasis on science practices requires teachers not only to develop skills and knowledge specific to the science practices, but also to adopt epistemic orientations congruent with student‐centered, knowledge generation science teaching approaches. This exploratory quantitative study examined the relationships between secondary science teachers' epistemic orientations and their understanding and self‐reported implementation of the science practices described in the US Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This study also identified teacher‐level variables that predict teachers' epistemic orientations, their understanding and implementation of the science practices. Data were collected from 128 secondary science teachers in a southeastern state of the US using three instruments: epistemic orientation survey with demographic questions, epistemic nature of science practice survey, and science practice implementation survey. One‐way analysis of variance, correlation analyses, multiple linear regression, and path analyses were used to examine the relationship among these three variables and the influence of teacher‐level variables on each of the three variables. Our results indicated that teachers' participation in NGSS PD programs significantly predicted their self‐reported implementation of science practices. In addition, teachers' lateral entry was the only significant predictor of teachers' epistemic understanding of science practices. Concerning the relationship among the three variables, the path analysis revealed that teachers' epistemic orientations significantly mediated the relationship between their epistemic understanding and implementation of science practices (χ2/df = 1.530, p = 0.216, comparative fit index = 0.980, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.940, root‐mean‐square error of approximation = 0.065). This study highlights a close relationship between teachers' epistemic orientations and enactment of science practices, which suggests prioritizing epistemic orientations in supporting teachers to implement the science‐as‐practice approach.

Bringing Māori concepts into school science: NCEA

This commentary article discusses the inclusion of Māori knowledge in senior school science in the context of some new senior school science qualifications that are currently being trialled. These proposals raise challenging questions and are provoking intense debates among secondary science teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. We introduce the proposals and their rationale and summarise the main objections raised by science teachers. We focus on three specific Māori concepts used in the proposals and comment on the possibilities.

Inquiry-Based Teaching Practices, Attitudes, and Difficulties of Secondary Science Teachers in Masinloc District Division of Zambales for S.Y. 2020-2021

This study aimed to assess the science inquiry-based practices, attitudes, and difficulties of secondary science teachers in the district of Masinloc, division of Zambales.
 The data gathered through the questionnaire were statistically treated with percentage, weighted mean, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
 There is significant difference on the number of trainings towards origin of questioning, nature of problem, responsibility within the inquiry process, students’ diversity and variability and explanation of learning goals. There is significant difference on highest educational attainment towards explanation of learning goals and significant on sex towards origin of questioning. There is significant difference on the perception towards attitude on the use of inquiry-based teaching and learning when grouped according to highest educational attainment. There is significant difference on the number of trainings towards all dimensions of practices of science teachers exhibited components of scientific inquiry-based learning approach;
 The researcher recommended that the use of inquiry-based teaching and learning approach in teaching Science is highly encouraged in order to help the learners to overcome their problems in engaging with the lesson; that the teacher is encouraged to use the inquiry-based teaching and learning practices model to help them in attaining the consistency of the inquiry process within their lesson; and lastly a replication of this study is encouraged with in-depth and wider in scope so as to better determine the effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Teaching/Learning approach.

Science teachers in northern Scotland: their perceptions of opportunities for effective professional learning

ABSTRACT This research investigates the perceptions of a group of secondary science teachers (26) from six schools in a remote part of northern Scotland of the opportunities afforded to them for effective professional learning. Focus groups of science teachers were conducted, and the findings identified a number of key areas they perceived as effective professional learning, including the availability of a wide range of opportunities for professional learning from a number of providers, the professional learning in their own schools and collaboration with colleagues. However, they also identified a number of key barriers including their remote location from the Central Belt of Scotland, which they perceived to be the key source of effective professional learning in Scotland. They also identified lack of time, workload and initiative overload as key barriers. Finally, implications for further research are explored.

Science Teacher Noticing via Video Annotation: Links between Complexity and Knowledge-Based Reasoning

ABSTRACT This study adds to the construct of science teacher noticing through an analysis that integrates concepts from pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) frameworks. It examines 929 instances of science teacher noticing made via video annotation tools (VATs) over the course of 38 early-career, secondary science teachers’ participation in a two-year professional learning experience. This study asked specifically about: 1) interacting elements of a classroom (students, practice, content) teachers noticed in videos of their own practice, 2) patterns in knowledge-based reasoning evidenced in noticing, and 3) the role of content knowledge in such knowledge-based reasoning. Using mixed methods analysis, we found that the majority of annotations exhibited a singular focus (i.e. students, teacher practice, or content) and tended to focus on students and/or practice, with less attention to content. However, we also identified a statistically significant relationship between complexity of noticing (i.e. attention to multiple foci) and the presence of knowledge-based reasoning. Further qualitative analysis of the subset of annotations that attended to content suggested that such attention to content could be an important link within teacher noticing to connect practice to student thinking. This study highlights the value of scaffolding attention to content and to multiple foci within science teacher noticing. It also demonstrates the potential for VATs to facilitate noticing.

The Long Road to Shared PCK: a Science Teacher’s Personal Journey

Teachers’ development can be seen as a dialog between their reflective thinking and their actions, with an added gradient of complexity from their social interactions. All of these elements are conjugated within their classroom practice, with their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) as theoretical background. This paper analyzes the case of a secondary education science teacher’s development over different periods, with a focus on classroom atmosphere, social organization and problem-based interactions, the influence of the topic being taught, and the teacher’s participation in an Action-Research group. The sources of information included the teacher’s diaries, questionnaires, interviews, ethnographic records, and extracts from videotaped sessions of her lessons. The data analysis for the areas of reflection and of action was approached with methodological plurality. Although these two fields of study (reflection and action) share essential aspects, they presented subtle differences, with reflection being more fully developed than action in the classroom, and the contribution of the Action-Research group to the teacher’s development was important, but less so than her professional command of the content. Two underlying obstacles deeply rooted in the teacher’s thinking and actions impregnate her classroom interactions: classroom competitiveness, and the use of excessively rigid activities.

Experiments Gone Wrong? Lived Experience of Filipino Teachers in Remote Science Education amid COVID-19 Crisis

The COVID-19 crisis moved teachers to engage in a sort of emergency instructional experiment to redesign how science could and should be taught. The lived experience of the teachers as implementers in the ground can be a source of practical insights in the continuous improvement of remote science education. Thus, the purpose of this phenomenology research is to analyze the lived experience of teachers in remote science education in the wake of continuing COVID-19 crisis. Through online interview procedures, eight purposively sampled secondary science teachers from public schools in Mindanao, Philippines were involved in this study. Using data analysis framework consistent with the descriptive approach in phenomenology, the responses of the participants were examined in stages. The results revealed four themes: (1) presenting difficult concepts in remote science teaching; (2) encountering challenges in the delivery of remote science teaching; (3) adjusting instructional practices in remote science teaching; and (4) drawing types of support to improve remote science teaching. These themes form the phenomenon of remote science education from the perspective of the teachers in the context of a crisis. Several practical recommendations to improve current remote science instruction are discussed at the end of this paper.

Using epistemic instructional activities to support secondary science teachers’ social construction of knowledge of anthropogenic climate change during a professional learning experience

This article describes an innovative intervention used within a professional learning experience (PLE) for early-career high school science teachers. The intervention aimed to develop participants’ conceptual understanding of climate change while supporting engagement in learning via scientific practices through use of epistemic instructional activities. Participants were 18 teachers from 16 different public schools across the US, all serving historically underserved student populations. The intervention consisted of a sequence of three learning experiences, each of which engaged participants in learning through a unique epistemic tool or activity. We describe each activity and offer examples of our developed materials. Additionally, we use qualitative coding to analyze teacher-produced artifacts to evaluate the intervention. Results show: 1) a data analysis epistemic activity supported learner attention to variation in climate data; 2) an explanation-focused epistemic activity supported integration of several concepts within social constructions of mechanistic explanations; and 3) a claims evaluation epistemic activity supported participants’ linking of concepts about variation to mechanistic explanations of climate change, as well as their understanding of argumentation in general. We suggest that other educators could benefit from adapting our intervention to meet the needs of their contexts. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2021.1986785 .

An Insight into Teachers’ Classroom Practices: The Case of Secondary Education Science Teachers

Teachers’ knowledge rooted in classroom practices guides their actions when dealing with a specific subject matter. To assess the quality of these practices, a close examination of the “classroom reality” is needed. The present study, which was carried out in Greece, investigates secondary science teachers’ practices. To record these practices, we used special classroom observation tools as well as questionnaires to record students’ views of their teachers’ practices. The observation tools and the student questionnaire focus on specifically formed criteria deriving from aspects of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). In total, 32 secondary science teachers and 1154 students participated in our study. The results indicated that the strong points of teachers’ teaching practices concern their subject matter knowledge, the use of representations, their questioning, their communication of the instructional objectives to the students, and knowledge of students’ difficulties. The weak points are related to the use of a variety of teaching approaches, the investigation of the students’ alternative conceptions, the experimental and ICT-based teaching, and the implementation of inquiry-based activities. The methodology employed in our study was fruitful in providing a holistic view of science teachers’ practices and can be used for investigating classroom practices of teachers of other subjects as well.

Developmental Journeys from Teaching Experiences to the Teaching Profession: Cases of New Secondary Science Teachers

ABSTRACT Although there are initiatives to attract individuals with STEM degrees and experiences into teaching, little is known about the characteristics and development of qualified professional scientists with previous uncertified teaching experiences becoming teachers. One approach to prepare second career certified teachers (SCCTs) for teaching is through teaching fellowships. This qualitative case study investigated the experiences and development of three SCCTs who were accepted into a one-year, intensive teacher fellowship preparation program. The study focused on the SCCTs development and transformations over the fellowship year. The data collected consisted of questionnaires, interviews, and teaching observations. Cross-case synthesis revealed similarities and differences in the coherences and tensions experienced by the SCCTs throughout the clinical preparation year. In addition, the SCCTs experienced shifting identities from scientists, to students, to teachers, to professionals. This study suggests that science teacher educators need to recognize the diverse prior experiences of SCCTs and assist them in balancing and negotiating tensions that might exist between previous and current teaching experiences.

Secondary science teachers’ implementation of a curricular intervention when teaching with global climate models

In the past decade, emphasis on promoting “climate literacy” in K-16 science classrooms has increased. Teachers play a critical role in cultivating these opportunities, especially in secondary science classrooms. However, most prior climate education research has focused on students and student learning; little is known about how teachers implement climate-focused curricular interventions. Here, we report findings from a concurrent mixed methods, multiple-case study of four secondary science teachers’ implementation of a new, NGSS-aligned, model-centric climate curriculum module grounded in the use of a data-driven, computer-based climate modeling tool—Easy Global Climate Model (EzGCM). We employ multiple data sources, including video-recorded classroom observations, interviews, and instructional artifacts, and both qualitative and quantitative analyses, to investigate how teachers implemented the curriculum. Findings show that, overall, teachers implemented the curriculum in ways that were less model-centric than designed, placing greater emphasis on EzGCM itself rather than using the model to investigate Earth’s changing climate. Additionally, we present detailed single-case studies of each participant teacher that highlight differences in teachers’ implementation of the curriculum module and their reasoning for making observed instructional decisions. This research sheds light on the design of secondary science learning environments by illustrating the varied ways teachers implement a climate-focused curriculum to support students’ developing climate literacy. This has important implications for the design of climate-focused curriculum and supports for teachers.

Knowing Process of Rural Secondary School Science Teachers: A Case of Rakai District in Uganda

The study was an investigation of the Knowing Process of rural secondary science teachers in Uganda. The problem of the study was the poor performance of students in sciences in the rural secondary schools in Ugandan Certificate Examinations (UCE). The central point was to find out the beliefs of the rural secondary science teachers about how the educators come to know anything. A non-experimental research design was employed in the study. The research was carried using a purposive sampling technique. Regarding data collection, the researcher administered fifty (50) questionnaires to fifty (50) teachers; interviewed ten teachers and carried out classroom observations often live lessons. The findings of the study revealed that teacher’s conceptions about the mode of knowing to fall under three sources of knowledge, namely, authority, sense-perceptual experience, and reason. It was clear that teachers assume that learners do not have knowledge; hence the Bucket theory of mind is central in their teaching-learning process. Many teachers appeared to do things the way they were taught; in other words, a number of rural science teachers tended to be doing activities whose underlying assumptions they were not clear of. A functional approach to the teaching of Philosophy in Educational programs is recommended.

Perceptions of Pre-Service Secondary Science Teachers on Inquiry-Based Science Education: An Analysis of the Demographic Variables

Implementing the inquiry approach in the science classroom represents a challenge for pre-service secondary science teachers due to the perceptions they build around inquiry and determine their future teaching practice. In this work, we analyse the perceptions of 46 students of the science specialities of the Master’s Degree in Secondary Education Teaching, using the design of a questionnaire adapted from the PRIMAS project. The results obtained show some initial perceptions of the participants with a very homogeneous profile for the variables analysed, finding them favourable to the inquiry as a teaching approach, although showing some concrete difficulties. We also found some statistically significant differences regarding gender and previous academic and teaching experience. However, the prior research background associated with the science and technological degrees completed by the participants seemed not to affect their perception about inquiry. We finally raise some implications of the results obtained and give some orientation that might be useful for the initial training of secondary science teachers.

Teacher Responsiveness that Promotes Equity in Secondary Science Classrooms

This study aims to deepen our understanding of teaching, specifically the role of teachers’ responsiveness in promoting equity in secondary science teaching. To build a conceptual argument—that teachers’ responsiveness expands the opportunity to learn for students from historically marginalized communities—I explore one high school science teacher’s classroom instruction using multiple forms of data collected over 2 academic years. The teacher worked with students from Latinx, immigrant, and low-income communities. The data were analyzed focusing on both describing observable teaching behaviors and interpreting their meanings in relation to students’ opportunity to learn. The analysis showed that a “responsive” teacher who expanded students’ opportunity to learn attended to students’ identities, historical relationships, struggles, and ideas. The teacher addressed students’ relational challenges in participating in disciplinary practices at the stages of both planning and instruction while working against settled hierarchies, cultures, and ideologies reflected in dominant discourses. The theoretical significance and methodological complexity inherent in recognizing teachers’ responsiveness for equity are discussed.

Preservice Teachers’ Experience in Learning and Teaching Social Sciences in Secondary Education Using the Inquiry-Based Learning Method

The ability of teachers to adopt inquiry-based learning depends to a large extent on their knowledge, skills, perception, and attitudes toward it. Therefore, it is important to explore the preservice teachers’ experience of learning and teaching with this method, with the assistance and mediation of preservice teachers’ educators. Preservice teachers participated in a blended course to acquire the teaching skills needed for inquiry-based learning, at the same time gained experience teaching based on this approach in high schools in Israel. The study included 120 preservice teachers who completed questionnaires at the beginning of the course (first measurement) and at the end of the course (second measurement). The findings show that between the two measurements there was an increase in positive attitude toward inquiry-based learning and teaching. Most of the participants noted the difficulties they encountered in applying the inquiry-based method in teaching in schools. In the course of teaching with this method, they acquired tools to cope with these difficulties.