Education Commons^™

Culturally Relevant Science Teaching: A Literature Review, Uma Ganesan

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

This educational research literature review paper aims to discuss the rationale, review eight empirical research studies, and identify knowledge gaps in culturally relevant pedagogy in science education. This paper focuses on synthesis, review, and comparison of the findings of the empirical studies, and categorizes them into thematic heads such as similarities and differences between studies under the broad categories of professional development (PD) programs and case studies. Following these reviews, the author summarizes her reflections and thoughts about the literature to understand the big picture of culturally relevant pedagogy in science education. The basis of this literature review are various …

Critical Factors For Effective And Equitable Ngss Science Teaching Practices, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy Tankersley, Elizabeth Hasseler, Brandon Helding

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Posters and Presentations

With the widespread adoption and adaption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its implicit focus on inquiry-based instruction, reformed science teaching practices are critically important to meeting the U.S. vision of scientific literacy for all students. Thus, the role of teacher learning through both teacher preparation and professional development must be well understood and informed through empirical findings. Accordingly, the theme of this NARST conference paper set is to identify effective science teaching practices using the lens of the NGSS science and engineering practices (SEPs), science subject matter knowledge, and equitable teaching practices. We found that inquiry-based instruction …

Culturally Relevant Science Teaching: A Literature Review, Uma Maheshwari Ganesan

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This educational research literature review paper aims to discuss the rationale, review eight empirical research studies, and identify knowledge gaps in culturally relevant pedagogy in science education. This paper focuses on synthesis, review, and comparison of the findings of the empirical studies, and categorizes them into thematic heads such as similarities and differences between studies under the broad categories of professional development (PD) programs and case studies. Following these reviews, the author summarizes her reflections and thoughts about the literature to understand the big picture of culturally relevant pedagogy in science education. The basis of this literature review are various …

The Changing Roles Of Science Specialists During A Capacity Building Program For Primary School Science, Sandra Herbert, Lihua Xu, Leissa Kelly

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Science education starts at primary school. Yet, recent research shows primary school teachers lack confidence and competence in teaching science (Prinsley & Johnston, 2015). A Victorian state government science specialist initiative responded to this concern by providing professional learning programs to schools across Victoria. Drawing on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), this paper reports the analysis of transcripts of interviews with 17 science specialists from eleven schools. It presents the various perceived and enacted science specialist roles, and how they changed over time. The CHAT analysis of the transcripts revealed seven different stages describing trajectories of the science specialism. The …

Perceptions And Competence Of Turkish Pre-Service Science Teachers With Regard To Entrepreneurship, Isa Deveci

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this study is both to determine the perceptions of pre-service science teachers towards the concepts of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial characteristics and to investigate the perceptions of pre-service science teachers regarding transferring the entrepreneurial characteristics to students. This study is designed as a qualitative study and a phenomenological research approach is used. A total of 12 pre-service science teachers from grades 5 to 8 participated in the study. Data were gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews. The data were evaluated through both descriptive and content analysis. The results show that the perceptions of the 12 …

What I Taught My Stem Instructor About Teaching: What A Deaf Student Hears That Others Cannot, Annemarie Ross, Randy K. Yerrick

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Overall, science teaching at the university level has remained in a relatively static state. There is much research and debate among university faculty regarding the most effective methods of teaching science. But it remains largely rhetoric. The traditional lecture model in STEM higher education is limping along in its march toward inclusion and equity. The NGSS and Common Core reform efforts do little to help university science teachers to change their orientation from largely lecture-driven practice with laboratory supplements. While it is impossible to address all diverse student groups, the need for accommodations tend to be overlooked. As a Deaf …

Facilitating Changes In College Teaching Practices: Instructional Reform, Identity Conflict And Professional Community In A K-20 Partnership, Stacy Olitsky

Stacy Olitsky

In this paper, I explain variation in the adoption of student-centred teaching practices among college faculty members in a program designed to promote K-20 instructional reform. I analyze data from a qualitative study of a Math and Science Partnership in order to understand why some faculty members had undergone extensive changes to their practices whereas others had not, even though both groups had demonstrated changes in their beliefs. Findings show that when collective identities focused on reform become more salient than the role identities associated with their teaching positions, faculty members are able to persist through the loss of self-efficacy …

Science Teaching Reform Through Professional Development: Teachers’ Use Of A Scientific Classroom Discourse Community Model, Elizabeth Lewis, Dale R. Baker, Brandon Helding

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This report outlines a two-year investigation into how secondary science teachers used professional development (PD) to build scientific classroom discourse communities (SCDCs). Observation data, teacher, student and school demographic information were used to build a hierarchical linear model. The length of time that teachers received PD was the exclusive predictor of change over time, while a schools’ percentage of low socioeconomic students predicted of how much PD was initially implemented. Prior to PD teachers expressed a desire to increase opportunities for students to engage in SCDCs, but found some aspects more challenging than others to implement. Generally, there were three …

Students’ Attitude Towards Science In Lower Secondary Classes : Comparison Across Regions, Nahid Parween Anwar, Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Science education is an area of interest for long and has gained a lot of attention from science educators. Keeping this in view, the current study explored the attitude of grade VI-VIII students towards science in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. This research study was conducted as part of a 5-year project titled ‘USAID-LINKS to learning: Education Support to Pakistan’ (USAID-EDLINKS). A 5-point rating scale, Science Attitude Scale (SAS) was adapted from previous research. SAS has 32 items arranged under five constructs: learning science in school, self-concept in science, science outside of school, future participation in science and importance …

The Impact Of Beliefs And Curricular Knowledge On Planning For Science: A Multisite Case Study Of Four Teachers, Jessica L. Horton

Doctoral Dissertations

This descriptive multisite case study details how the beliefs and curricular knowledge of four science teachers in a southeastern school district affected their planning for science instruction.

Through the analysis of interviews, think-aloud planning records for one unit of instruction, and related documentation, categories were identified and connections drawn to how their beliefs and knowledge influenced planning for instruction.

The four teachers in this study jointly expressed certain beliefs about how students best learn science. They expressed beliefs that students best learn science through hands-on activities, through discourse, and by building the student’s knowledge base. The teachers also expressed beliefs …