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Full-Text Articles in Education
Investigative Primary Science: A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Matthew B. Etherington
Investigative Primary Science: A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Matthew B. Etherington
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This study reports on the success of using a problem-based learning approach (PBL) as a pedagogical mode of learning open inquiry science within a traditional four-year undergraduate elementary teacher education program. In 2010, a problem-based learning approach to teaching primary science replaced the traditional content driven syllabus. During the 13 week semester, a cohort of 150 elementary pre-service teachers embarked on a Design and Make project to solve an individually chosen real world problem. Over one week, the pre-service teachers used a problem based mode of learning in conjunction with an open scientific inquiry to showcase individual working models (prototypes) …
Constructivism Deconstructed In Science Teacher Education, Dawn Garbett
Constructivism Deconstructed In Science Teacher Education, Dawn Garbett
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Constructivism posits that the teacher’s role is to help their students to actively construct new understanding for themselves. Diagnosis of students’ prior understanding followed by carefully planned teaching sequences enables learners to grasp hitherto unknown concepts. Assessing whether they can then apply their new knowledge in new contexts verifies whether or not they have learnt what the teacher has taught. Using these three steps (diagnose, engage, evaluate) to structure a self-study highlighted the gap between rhetoric and reality in a science education methods course. This self-study research - which draws on journal entries; students’ and colleagues’ perspectives generated through questionnaires …