{"title":"Supporting the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge about Planning for Practical Work","authors":"Jennifer Mansfield","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2022.2042979","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2022.2042979","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Practical, or laboratory, work is a common pedagogical strategy used in school science classrooms, yet its effectiveness for enhancing student learning is contested. Developing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge about planning for practical work can improve its effectiveness by ensuring that tasks are well-conceived and effective for linking what students actually do in practical work with the concepts teachers intend them to learn. This paper reports findings from an intervention that aimed to develop pre-service teachers’ pedagogical knowledge about planning for practical work. The intervention took place during a 12-week secondary biology teacher preparation method unit over two consecutive years. The intervention introduced the problems associated with ineffective practical work then engaged pre-service teachers in recall, immersion, noticing, microteaching and reflection experiences designed to promote their pedagogical thinking about practical work. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed using data collected from 76 student assignments and one focus group. Thematic data analysis used declarative and procedural knowledge as a theoretical lens to seek evidence of the development of preservice teachers’ pedagogical knowledge. The intervention was found to enhance the development of PST declarative knowledge about various aspects of planning, in particular by recognition of the complexity of planning for practical work, the need to link what students do with objects and the ideas the teacher intends students learn, and the value of reflective practice. Findings indicate more scaffolding is needed to support PSTs when developing procedural knowledge in relation to practical work.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"225 - 247"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47871387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephen C. Scogin, Montserrat Dorantes, Abby Couwenhoven, Josie Vander Kolk, Abbey Schuen, Cara Grimmer, Melissa Porchik, Cameryn Veine, Sara Plohetski, Shelby Bowers
{"title":"The Relationship Between Pre-Service Teachers’ Ideologies and Learner-Centered Approaches in STEM Classrooms","authors":"Stephen C. Scogin, Montserrat Dorantes, Abby Couwenhoven, Josie Vander Kolk, Abbey Schuen, Cara Grimmer, Melissa Porchik, Cameryn Veine, Sara Plohetski, Shelby Bowers","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2022.2039344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2022.2039344","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT A generalist teacher is one who has been trained and certified to teach multiple core subjects. As the training and certification of generalists can vary greatly between preparation programs, generalists can enter the profession with conflicting beliefs about how a STEM classroom should be structured and facilitated. As few studies focus on perceptions of generalists in STEM, researchers in the current study sought to understand pre-service teachers’ perceptions of a STEM clinical experience and determine which factors most affected their perceptions. By determining which factors most affected PSTs’ perceptions, researchers hoped to provide suggestions for educator preparation programs so they can better support generalists who end up teaching in STEM classrooms. Researchers interviewed 13 PSTs and 6 in-service teachers and qualitatively analyzed their responses to semi-structured questions. Findings indicated 11 of 13 PSTs devalued the STEM clinical experience, primarily because they were not comfortable with the amount of freedom given to students in the classroom. Two of the 13 PSTs did value the experience, and researchers determined their learner-centered ideologies played a major role. Based on these findings, educator preparation programs can better prepare generalist PSTs for STEM classrooms by: (a) providing more opportunities for generalists to experience authentic STEM classrooms; (b) focusing more on the relationship between ideology and practice; and, (c) creating stronger partnership between preparation programs and K-12 schools.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"181 - 200"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45698268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Trends in K-12 Teacher Agency Research: A Review of Science Education Research","authors":"A. Miller-Rushing, Elizabeth Hufnagel","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2022.2037875","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2022.2037875","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In-service teachers of science work with unique content and pedagogical experiences within a changing educational landscape. Understanding teacher agency in these circumstances will help researchers understand the actions that these teachers take. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to review how the agency of K-12 in-service teachers of science has been examined empirically in the science education research literature during the period of 2007–2020. Informed by grounded theory, we qualitatively analyzed 48 peer-reviewed articles, which we located using specific search criteria. We identified that science teacher agency is currently conceptualized largely paper-to-paper and without fully attending to the professional and lived experiences, and thus humanity, of science teachers; thereby, creating exciting opportunities for science education researchers to expand on both the breadth and depth around the theorization and operationalization of in-service science teacher agency. Recommendations are addressed.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"157 - 180"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43604983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Changes and Sources of Changes of Middle School Teachers’ Self-efficacy for Teaching Science in A Computationally Rich Environment: A Mixed-Methods Study","authors":"A. Rachmatullah, E. Wiebe","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2022.2035990","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2022.2035990","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The inclusion of computational thinking (CT) into science curricula has advocated implementing a computationally rich science learning environment where students learn science via building models in a computer programming platform. Such an approach may influence teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science which may also be associated with their self-efficacy for teaching CT. Framed using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, this study investigated the changes and sources of changes of Indonesian teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science and CT and looking at whether the two constructs are correlated. A total of eleven Indonesian middle school science teachers (seven in-service and four pre-service) participated in a CT-integrated science instruction workshop. They then implemented the curriculum they learned and obtained from the workshop in their classrooms. The teachers took questionnaires on science and CT teaching efficacy beliefs four times: before and after the workshop and before and after they taught. As a follow-up, interviews and writing reflections were collected after they took the instruments. Skillings-Mack and repeated-measures correlation tests were run on the quantitative data, and the qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results from quantitative analyses revealed a pattern of increasing teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science and CT in a computationally rich environment over the administrations of the instrument. Thematic analysis showed three sources of teachers’ self-efficacy: computer programming experience, students’ interests, and teaching repetition and field experience. This study calls attention to the importance of providing experience for teachers to teach science in a computationally rich environment, whether through professional development or teacher education programs.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"132 - 156"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46504575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"That Exists Today: An Analysis of Emerging Critical Consciousness in a Professional Development Setting","authors":"Lenora M. Crabtree, M. Stephan","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2022.2031479","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2022.2031479","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Recent events reveal the impact of systemic inequities on marginalized communities and highlight the importance of critical frameworks in science teacher education. Education theorists and research suggest that lack of sociopolitical, or critical, consciousness among teachers limits their ability to engage students in culturally relevant teaching and learning; provoking critical consciousness among white educators is an especially daunting task. Research is needed to uncover how science teacher educators might support the development of critical consciousness among practicing science teachers. In this article, we present findings from a study situated within a larger Design-based Research project to test and revise an instructional sequence grounded in science content, collaborative inquiry, and critical place-based pedagogies. This analysis of how participants’ collective awareness developed over the course of a four-day Professional Development workshop offers insight into how innovative in-service science teacher education might be employed to support practitioners’ understanding of oppressive systems including those inherent in the discipline of science. Findings suggest that the incorporation of collaborative inquiry as a design heuristic supported teachers’ emerging understanding of the role inequitable systems play in disparate health outcomes. In addition, interrogating race and racism in the context of science challenged deficit frameworks and prompted some participants to acknowledge the limitations of their own lived experiences in comparison with those of their students. Implications include a new model for professional development to support practicing teachers’ moves toward justice-oriented science teaching and learning.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"105 - 131"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42983876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kylie J. Swanson, Jason Painter, Margaret R. Blanchard, Kimberly D. Gervase
{"title":"Why Olympiad: Investigating Motivations and Benefits of Coaching Elementary Science Olympiad","authors":"Kylie J. Swanson, Jason Painter, Margaret R. Blanchard, Kimberly D. Gervase","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2021.2024690","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2021.2024690","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Science Olympiad is a K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competition that engages approximately 7,000 teams across the U.S. in individual and team challenges at regional, state, and national levels. Science Olympiad began expanding to include elementary students in 2008. Yet, little is known about the adults who volunteer to coach elementary Science Olympiad teams or their coaching motivations. The purpose of this study was to investigate who coached elementary Science Olympiad teams, what motivated them to volunteer, and how their participation influenced their science teaching self-confidence, knowledge, and practices. This mixed-methods study investigated 125 Elementary Science Olympiad coaches’ beliefs in the southeastern U.S. Survey items were based on the Coach Motivation Questionnaire (CMQ). Open-response questions following the survey items were coded in two ways; inductively and based on a priori motivational codes. Participant coaches were most likely to be teachers (92%), female (85%), and White (85%). Survey findings indicate that coaches’ most significant motivating factors were intrinsic (M = 4.33/5); minor differences were based on gender, role, and length of time coaching. The qualitative responses supported the survey findings and gave more insight into teacher-coaches’ thinking. The coaching experience had many positive effects on the teachers, such as enhancing their science and pedagogical content knowledge in science and other subjects, strongly influencing their self-confidence, and increasing their use of hands-on science and STEM activities.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"63 - 85"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46976973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christina Tsaliki, P. Papadopoulou, George Malandrakis, P. Kariotoglou
{"title":"Evaluating Inquiry Practices: Can a Professional Development Program Reform Science Teachers’ Practices?","authors":"Christina Tsaliki, P. Papadopoulou, George Malandrakis, P. Kariotoglou","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2021.2005229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2021.2005229","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In the last 30 years, there has been an ongoing discussion about the effectiveness of Professional Development (PD) programs, which aims to promote reform-based Science Education (SE). Among the many, different trends of reform-based science teaching, inquiry-based approaches hold a dominant role. This study shows how teachers’ practices were affected by a PD program that aimed to familiarize them with reform-based teaching through gradual instructional design, with the main focus on inquiry. The PD program had a duration of 12 months and involved four science teachers (two primary and two secondary) who were trained in both in and out of school teaching settings. The changes in teachers’ practices were recorded through an observation protocol containing predefined categories in eight domains, one of which––that of inquiry––is discussed in this paper. A semi-quantitative method was used for data analysis. Results indicate that all the teachers had an overall improvement in the domains of guided inquiry practices and student-centered teaching approaches. However, there did not appear to be any substantial progress in open inquiry practices. Restrictions of the present study are presented, and suggestions for improving future PD programs promoting sustainable inquiry implementation are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"33 1","pages":"815 - 836"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41715197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Developing Pre-service Teachers’ Competence in Assessing Socioscientific Argumentation","authors":"Nina Christenson, Susanne Walan","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2021.2018103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2021.2018103","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Research has revealed that teachers find teaching and assessing socioscientific argumentation (SSA) to be challenging. In this study, ten pre-service science teachers (PSTs) tested a new Practical Assessment of Socioscientific Argumentation Model (PASM) that was developed to enhance skills in assessing SSA. The models’ design is based on the Teacher oriented Assessment Framework. Here, we present the characteristics of PASM and examine how PSTs perceive that the use of PASM effects competences in assessing SSA. PASM is divided into multiple phases and requires PSTs to perform three roles: arguing for and against a given socioscientific issue, and assessing other PSTs’ argumentation. It also includes group discussion and individual reflection phases. Two cycles of the model were performed, focusing on different issues (GMOs and nuclear power). Data were collected in the form of audio-recordings of group discussions, field notes from whole class discussions and the PSTs’ written individual reflections. Thematic data analysis revealed that the PSTs discussed and reflected on four main themes: the focus of the assessment, the tools in PASM, the nature of PASM, and coping strategies. The nature of PASM, with iterative cycles and repeated reflections, expanded their views on assessing this kind of argumentation, making PSTs aware of quality criteria that should be included in assessment of SSA. We conclude that it is important to include training on assessing SSA in teacher education and that PASM could be a valuable tool for this purpose.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"1 - 23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45329905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“My Curriculum Has No Soul!”: A Case Study of the Experiences of Black Women Science Teachers Working at Charter Schools","authors":"Alexis D. Riley, F. Mensah","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2022.2028710","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2022.2028710","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This qualitative case study examines the experiences of three Black female science teachers who experienced and participated in the triumphs and failings of today’s charter school system while teaching Black and Brown students. Using Critical Race Theory and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy as frameworks, the findings of the study revealed that the teachers explained the rationale behind how and why they teach science to Black and Brown students, the actions that define their thinking (both positive and negative), and the personal and professional repercussions for being a Black woman science teacher working at a Charter Management Organization (CMO). Based on these findings, we suggest that science teacher educators encourage teachers to take risks by engaging in socio-political consciousness through curriculum redesign. Disrupting the White status quo requires science teacher educators to practice culturally relevant teaching themselves.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"86 - 103"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41787487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Assessment of Greek Pre-service Primary Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs in Physics Teaching","authors":"Georgios Stylos, S. Kamtsios, K. Kotsis","doi":"10.1080/1046560X.2021.2023959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2021.2023959","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT International research shows that primary school teachers don’t have the necessary level of self-efficacy to provide high quality science learning and teaching opportunities to their students. The aim of the present study is to validate the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B) and to investigate the self-efficacy beliefs of 408 Greek pre-service primary teachers to teach physics. The STEBI-B assesses two dimensions: Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs (PSTEB) and Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy (STOE). An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis substantiated this 2-factor structure. Moreover, results revealed that gender and year of study did not have a significant effect on Personal Physics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs (PPTEB) or Physics Teaching Outcome Expectancy (PTOE). On the contrary, high school course specialization had an effect on PPTEB. Both self-efficacy dimensions were positively correlated with variables such as interest in the subject of physics, interest in teaching physics, general self-efficacy in teaching physics, self-related knowledge in concepts of physics and self-related effectiveness in teaching physics. The findings also showed that variables such as interest in physics and self-related effectiveness in physics teaching were predictors of the PPTEB and PTOE dimensions. The discussion presents implications for the organization, structure, and dynamics of elementary teacher preparations. The limitations section acknowledges the weaknesses that restrict the applicability of the findings to other contexts.","PeriodicalId":47326,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Science Teacher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"44 - 62"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41494684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}