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Science and Mathematics Education Commons™
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Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education
Nature Of Science: Examining Science Teachers’ Knowledge And Their Instructional Practices, Sharon Bramwell-Lalor
Nature Of Science: Examining Science Teachers’ Knowledge And Their Instructional Practices, Sharon Bramwell-Lalor
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
This case study focused on a university teacher-education course that included NOS content. An adapted questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data on 83 secondary science teachers’ views about three NOS themes before and after completing the course. Qualitative data were collected from eight of the teachers who were observed teaching during their field experience after completing the course. The teachers’ post-course mean NOS scores were statistically significantly higher than their pre-course scores (t (65) =-10.08, p<.001; Cohen’s d = 1.4). Despite the favourable NOS knowledge among the science teachers, low levels of NOS portrayal were observed in their instructional practices. These findings point to some success in explicitly addressing NOS in science education content courses. However, they raise questions about the transferability of teachers’ NOS knowledge into their classrooms. The findings have implications for teacher-preparation programmes regarding durability of NOS knowledge.
Relations Between Australian Primary Teachers’ Reported Professional Development Engagement And Their Science Teaching Practices And Efficacy Beliefs, James Deehan, Amy Macdonald
Relations Between Australian Primary Teachers’ Reported Professional Development Engagement And Their Science Teaching Practices And Efficacy Beliefs, James Deehan, Amy Macdonald
Australian Journal of Teacher Education
: Professional development has long been viewed as crucial to sustained improvement in the quality of primary science education. This paper considers professional development beyond the context of a specific program by examining how the science teaching efficacy beliefs and practices vary between teachers who both have and have not engaged with science professional development. This paper reports on a primarily quantitative study wherein a sample of 206 Australian public primary educators responded to an online survey capturing demographic, science teaching efficacy and science teaching practice data. Quantitative data were analysed via descriptive, ANOVA and Chi Square analyses. The supplementary …