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1.
Current curriculum demands require primary teachers to teach about the Nature of Science; yet, few primary teachers have had opportunity to learn about science as a discipline. Prior schooling and vicarious experiences of science may shape their beliefs about science and, as a result, their science teaching. This qualitative study describes the impact on teacher beliefs about science and science education of a programme where 26 New Zealand primary (elementary) teachers worked fulltime for 6 months alongside scientists, experiencing the nature of work in scientific research institutes. During the 6 months, teachers were supported, through a series of targeted professional development days, to make connections between their experiences working with scientists, the curriculum and the classroom. Data for the study consisted of mid- and end-of-programme written teacher reports and open-ended questionnaires collected at three points, prior to and following 6 months with the science host and after 6 to 12 months back in school. A shift in many teachers’ beliefs was observed after the 6 months of working with scientists in combination with curriculum development days; for many, these changes were sustained 6 to 12 months after returning to school. Beliefs about the aims of science education became more closely aligned with the New Zealand curriculum and its goal of developing science for citizenship. Responses show greater appreciation of the value of scientific ways of thinking, deeper understanding about the nature of scientists’ work and the ways in which science and society influence each other. 相似文献
2.
Ken Blaiklock 《International Journal of Early Years Education》2010,18(3):201-212
Te Whāriki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, has received much praise since its introduction in 1996. There is, however, little research evidence about the implementation or effectiveness of the curriculum in early childhood centres. This article raises questions about the structure and content of Te Whāriki. The holistic and integrated nature of the curriculum means that subject content areas (e.g., art, music, science, literacy) can be overlooked. The generalised nature of the guidelines in Te Whāriki on programme planning allows for flexibility but may result in children being provided with an inadequate range of learning experiences. Concerns are also raised about the value of Learning Stories, a novel form of assessment that was designed to align with the approach of Te Whāriki. 相似文献
3.
Since 1999, Slovenia has been in the process of introducing nine years of compulsory education to replace the previous eight-year system of compulsory education. Under the new system, the school entry age is six years rather than the former seven years. This reform of the system necessitated a number of other changes, such as those relating to the curriculum and teaching approaches. The purpose of this study was to compare the “new” Slovenian science curriculum with the “old” to ascertain if different relationships exist between the two in terms of achievement and gender, attitudes toward science, and the amount of experimental work undertaken by students in school. Data from the IEA TIMSS 2003 study were used to analyze these relationships. The analyses employed basic statistics and log-linear modeling of the effects of gender, school system, amount of experimental work in school, and students’ science achievement. Compared to students taught under the old curriculum, students taught under the new curriculum performed slightly better on the overall science test. A large decrease in gender differences in achievement was also apparent. The relationship between experimental work and achievement strengthened. Conducting experiments at every lesson related to lower student achievement, while conducting experiments during half of the science lessons related to higher achievement. These findings have a clear message for teachers and policymakers. A moderate amount of time devoted to student experimental work seems to raise science achievement of students as well as promote more positive attitudes toward learning science. 相似文献
4.
On Modern Cosmology and its Place in Science Education 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
Helge Kragh 《Science & Education》2011,20(3-4):343-357
Cosmology in its current meaning of the science of the universe is a topic that attracts as much popular as scientific interest. This paper argues that modern cosmology and its philosophical aspects should have a prominent place in science education. In the context of science teaching a partly historical approach is recommended, in particular an approach that gives priority to the relationship between observation and theory during the formative years of modern cosmology from about 1910?C1970. It is further argued that there are very important aspects of cosmology that are not primarily of a scientific nature, but are mainly conceptual and philosophical (and perhaps religious), and that these, too, might advantageously enter courses in astronomy and physics. While cosmology is a science, it is not just a science. Among the topics dealt with are the big bang, the cosmological principle, cosmic creation, and the multiverse. The paper outlines some cosmological questions of a qualitative and conceptual nature that, in the author??s view, are organic parts of cosmology. Courses and textbooks which deal with cosmology should encourage discussions of such questions, not shun them in the name of science. 相似文献
5.
蒋永贵 《高等师范教育研究》2012,(5):50-55
合科初中科学课程开设是我国新课改的一个突破和亮点,教师知识是影响其实施的一个强影响因素。基于对浙江省某市合科初中科学教师的课堂观察与访谈,研究发现：一是教师知识越专业、越丰富,教学就可能越成功、越有效,否则将有很多困难;二是教师最难适应的非专业知识教学貌似生物、天文、地理等,实则物理更严重;三是进行有效教学的教师,其各类知识是不可分割的,它们相互联系、相互组织。可以说,教师知识发展水平决定着合科初中科学课程实施质量。为深化实施,教师知识亟待发展：一是夯实合科初中科学学科内容知识,完善知识结构;二是促进科学本质理解,强化课程整合意识,体现科学探究精神。最有效路径是,善用教师发展平台,重在自我提升。 相似文献
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7.
The aim of this paper is not to bury practical work in school science but to (once again) reconsider it. We draw on three main areas of discussion: accounts of science and ‘school science work'; teachers and others’ views of the nature of science; and our own data on teachers’ reactions to ‘critical incidents’ and practicals which go wrong. We use this as a basis for re‐thinking the role of practicals. An account of practical work is suggested which has as its main feature diversity rather than a single model or template. Within this diversity we believe that teachers should be open and honest with pupils about which type of practical work they are doing and why. We advocate that students should be made aware of the different kinds of practical work they do and the purposes of this practical work. In short, teachers should explain to students what type of practical work they are doing and why. Our second message is that teachers’ views about the nature of science both inform and are informed by their classroom practices and experiences‐‐especially during lab‐work. To encourage, promote and support critical reflection of these classroom practices and experiences is therefore a vital part of teacher professional development; this in time will promote science curriculum development. 相似文献
8.
Ian Taylor Miles Barker Alister Jones 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(10):1205-1225
While astronomy has recently re-emerged in many science curricula, there remain unresolved teaching and learning difficulties peculiar to astronomy education. This paper argues that mental model building, the core process in astronomy itself, should be reflected in astronomy education. Also, this crucial skill may promote a better understanding of the nature of science by pupils and it resonates with current understandings about pupils' learning in science. However, three practical questions to be considered are: the expressed reservations about the connection between mental model building and meaningful learning; the earliest age of pupils for whom mental model building is appropriate; and the lack of research into pupils' prior ideas about the role of models in science. The paper describes how a four-phase general pedagogical strategy was adopted to create an astronomy teaching and learning package to promote mental model building. The package consists of notes explaining the mental model building followed by an overview of the teaching-learning approach and suggested outlines of the 12 lessons. Research investigated whether that package can help Year 7-8 pupils interrogate and refine their mental models of the Sun-Earth-Moon system within the constraints of an ordinary class of 33 pupils. The results showed that all four phases of the general strategy were necessary and effective in that most pupils were able successively and successfully to critique their mental models of the Sun-Earth-Moon system while also achieving traditional astronomy knowledge goals. Implications are that pupils as young as Year 7-8 may be able to construct other appropriate mental models, such as those for biological populations, atomic structure and plate tectonics. 相似文献
9.
Okhee Lee David C. Eichinger Charles W. Anderson Glenn D. Berkheimer Theron D. Blakeslee 《科学教学研究杂志》1993,30(3):249-270
The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to understand the conceptual frameworks that sixth-grade students use to explain the nature of matter and molecules, and (2) to assess the effectiveness of two alternative curriculum units in promoting students' scientific understanding. The study involved 15 sixth-grade science classes taught by 12 teachers in each of two successive years. Data were collected through paper-and-pencil tests and clinical interviews. The results revealed that students' entering conceptions differed from scientific conceptions in various ways. These differences included molecular conceptions concerning the nature, arrangement, and motion of molecules as well as macroscopic conceptions concerning the nature of matter and its physical changes. The results also showed that the students taught by the revised unit in Year 2 performed significantly better than the students taught by the original commercial curriculum unit in Year 1 for 9 of the 10 conceptual categories. Implications for science teaching and curriculum development are discussed. 相似文献
10.
W. James Bradley 《Computer Science Education》2013,23(2):113-126
In recent years many computer science educators have struggled with the problem of how to include instruction on social and ethical issues in the computing curriculum. This article describes one approach to solving this problem. It outlines a course called Perspectives in Computing that the author has taught for junior and senior computer science majors. One unifying theme of the course is that computers alter human relationships‐‐they create relationships that would not have existed otherwise and they change existing relationships. The course both examines the nature of those relationships and studies the ethical dimensions of the computer's impact. A second unifying theme is that computing as a discipline affirms a set of professional values. The course attempts to help students discern those values and to develop a thoughtful critique of them. 相似文献
11.
This study explores the relationship, if any, between an individual’s culturally based worldviews and conceptions of nature of science. In addition, the implications of this relationship (or lack of relationship) for science teaching and learning are discussed. Participants were 54 Taiwanese prospective science teachers. Their conceptions of nature of science and their worldviews specific to humans’ relationship with the natural world were assessed using two open‐ended questionnaires in conjunction with follow‐up interviews. Their understandings of nature of science were classified into informed and naïve categories based upon contemporary views of these constructs and those stressed in international reform documents. An anthropocentric–naturecentric continuum emerged and is used to explain the participants’ views about humans’ relationship with Nature. Participants who recognized the limitations of scientific knowledge, and accept the idea that science involves subjective and cultural components, were more likely to emphasize harmony with Nature. In contrast, participants who possessed narrow views about the scientific enterprise and described science as close to technology and as of materialistic benefit tended to provide an anthropocentric perspective regarding the human–Nature relationships. The findings illustrate the interplay between participants’ sociocultural beliefs and conceptions of nature of science. Concisely, people with different worldviews may have concurrently different views about nature of science. The study suggests the need for incorporating sociocultural perspectives and nature of science in the science curriculum. 相似文献
12.
Ricardo Trumper 《科学教学研究杂志》2006,43(9):879-906
Bearing in mind students' misconceptions about basic concepts in astronomy, the present study conducted a series of constructivist activities aimed at changing future elementary and junior high school teachers' conceptions about the cause of seasonal changes, and several characteristics of the Sun–Earth–Moon relative movements like Moon phases, Sun and Moon eclipses, and others. The activities and results concerning the cause of seasonal changes are reported. Both the experimental class and the control groups improved their grasp of basic astronomy concepts statistically significantly, although the experimental class made the most impressive progress of all. Regarding subjects relevant to this study (seasonal changes), only the experimental class showed a statistically significant improvement, which justifies the constructivist approach. We conclude that in implementing a reform in the science curriculum, the change has to include the subjects taught and also the way they are taught. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 879–906, 2006 相似文献
13.
JOHN DANVERS 《The International Journal of Art & Design Education》1995,14(3):289-297
Drawing upon research in a number of fields (particularly in ecology, ‘systems’ approaches to perception, the philosophy of science, and the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty and his interpreters) this paper raises issues and questions about the relationships between knowledge, art and science. It suggests a way of thinking about art as an integrative system of knowledge based upon the recognition of three important factors: our fundamental participation in the world as knowing bodies; the perspectival nature of our interpretations of the world; and the particular ways in which we achieve coherence and integration through the making of art. The paper also traces some of the changes in the ways in which knowledge is described and formulated within Modernist and Post-Modernist paradigms, and suggests how these changes support a revision of our views about the cognitive implications of art. 相似文献
14.
William F. McComas 《Science & Education》2008,17(2-3):249-263
Increasingly widespread agreement exists that the nature of science (NOS) must be an integral element of the K-12 science curriculum with emerging consensus on what specific NOS elements should be the focus of such instruction. In this study reported, eight recent trade books written by NOS experts addressing the nature of science for the general public were examined to locate the historical examples included. These historical vignettes were extracted and analyzed to determine the kinds of examples used and the focus of the science discipline from which the example comes. The analysis has revealed that these authors have collectively provided approximately 80 historical vignettes in fields ranging from astronomy to physics, with some cited repeatedly from one book to another. In addition, the entire set of examples was then linked to important NOS notions providing an instructional resource for use by teachers, textbook writers and curriculum developers. 相似文献
15.
The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, science and religious education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject areas. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils held religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training. 相似文献
16.
Nancy W. Brickhouse Harry Shipman William J. Letts 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(6):735-755
This study explores college students' representations about the nature of theories during their enrollment in a large astronomy course with instruction designed to address a number of nature of science issues. We focus our investigation on how nine students represent their understanding of theory, how they distinguish between scientific theories and non‐scientific theories, and how they reason about specific theories. Students' notions of theory were classified under four main categories: (1) hypothesis, (2) idea with evidence, (3) explanation, and (4) explanation based on evidence. Students' condition for deciding whether a given idea is a scientific theory or not were classified under six criteria: content domain, convention, evidence, mathematical content, methodology, and tentativeness. Students expressed slight levels of variation between their reasoning about scientific theories in general and specific theories they learned in the course. Despite increased sophistication in some students' representations, this study affirms the complex dimensions involved in teaching and assessing student understanding about theories. The implications of this study underscore the need to explicitly address the nature of proof in science and issues of tentativeness and certainty students associate with scientific theories, and provide students with more opportunities to utilize the language of science. 相似文献
17.
John Baxter 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(5):502-513
In this paper I describe the notions used by children aged 9‐16 years to account for a number of easily observed astronomical events. General features in the development of the notions are identified and historical parallels are noted. The data presented come from a wider study intended to develop materials and approaches for teaching astronomy as part of the science curriculum of all pupils. An indication is given as to how the findings of the survey are being used in developing appropriate curriculum materials. 相似文献
18.
Miriam Leuchter Henrik Saalbach Ilonca Hardy 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(10):1751-1771
Research on learning and instruction of science has shown that learning environments applied in preschool and primary school rarely makes use of structured learning materials in problem-based environments although these are decisive quality features for promoting conceptual change and scientific reasoning within early science learning. We thus developed and implemented a science learning environment for children in the first years of schooling which contains structured learning materials with the goal of supporting conceptual change concerning the understanding of the floating and sinking of objects and fostering students' scientific reasoning skills. In the present implementation study, we aim to provide a best-practice example of early science learning. The study was conducted with a sample of 15 classes of the first years of schooling and a total of 244 children. Tests were constructed to measure children's conceptual understanding before and after the implementation. Our results reveal a decrease in children's misconceptions from pretest to posttest. After the curriculum, the children were able to produce significantly more correct predictions about the sinking or floating of objects than before the curriculum and also relative to a control group. Moreover, due to the intervention, the explanations given for their predictions implied a more elaborated concept of material kinds. All in all, a well-structured curriculum promoting comparison and scientific reasoning by means of inquiry learning was shown to support children's conceptual change. 相似文献
19.
Julia Torquati Kay Cutler Deanna Gilkerson Susan Sarver 《Early education and development》2013,24(5):721-743
This study examined early childhood educators' perceptions about nature, science, and environmental education. Preservice early childhood teachers (n = 195) and early childhood professionals currently practicing in the field (n = 162) rated the importance of providing specific nature/science experiences for young children, the importance of specific nature/science learning outcomes, and their confidence implementing specific activities. Research Findings: Consistent with our hypotheses, both professionals and students rated the curricular domain of nature/science as the least important for young children in terms of experiences and learning outcomes in comparison to other curricular domains. Similarly, both professionals and students reported that they were least confident implementing nature/science activities compared to activities in other curricular domains. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions yielded themes related to definitions of nature, specific activities in and about nature that can promote children's learning and development, and what educators need to know and be able to do in order to be effective “nature educators.” Practice or Policy: Preservice and in-service teacher professional development would benefit from (a) the inclusion of content on nature, science, and environmental education, including the interrelatedness of human and natural systems; (b) a focus on place-based education and/or emergent curriculum; and (c) the provision of experiences in nature that help teachers to develop confidence implementing activities in nature. [Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Early Education & Development for the following free supplemental resource: Appendix A: Teacher Survey Questions.] 相似文献
20.
Abstract The focus of this article is a comparative review of the science curriculum for England and Wales from the perspective of recent developments in the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and the Canadian province of Ontario. In the comparison of science curriculum documents and the language deployed, questions are raised about differences as well as commonalities among and between documents from various jurisdictions. Issues discussed include: the varying emphases upon science topics and/or intended learning outcomes; integration with other curriculum areas; the content and organization of the science curriculum; and ways of assessing students’ performances and understandings. The article draws attention to the importance of comparative analysis which informs our understanding of the effects of curriculum change, its relation to students’ achievements in science, and the need to support the development of teachers. 相似文献