Extraordinary Education from Ordinary Ideals (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Higher Education, 2015
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of an astronomy summer project implemented in different learning activities on elementary school students, pre-service elementary teachers and in-service teachers' astronomy achievement and their attitudes to astronomy field. This study is the result of a five-day, three-stage, science school, "I Learn the Planet I Live on". The first stage involved astronomy science schools with 30 elementary school teachers, the second stage involved 30 pre-service elementary school teachers and the last stage involved 30 primary school pupils (aged 14). Within this scope, 30 elementary school teachers from different cities who are volunteer to participate in project, one seventh grade class of each of these teachers from their own schools and 30 pre-service teachers attending elementary department of education faculties of universities in Turkey are participated in the astronomy summer project in Samsun City in 2015 make up the sample of the study. For this purpose, within the scope of a nine-day long project, the participants were presented with hands on activities, outdoor practices, planetarium and observatory activities to enable them to view astronomy education from different views. The study was designed as one group, pre-test post-test experimental research. Astronomy attitude scale and astronomy achievement test were used as pre-test and post-test. The data obtained were evaluated using the SPSS 20.0 software package program. For the analysis of data, a parametric test, a two-way ANOVA for mixed measures, an experiment model, was used. The results of the study showed that the project was effective in increasing the participants' attitudes towards the astronomy field and their astronomy achievement. A comparison of the data from the teachers and the students produced interesting results, notably that more pupils than teachers answered certain questions correctly.
How students learn: Science in the classroom
Science Education, 2005
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We report on the development of an item test bank and associated instruments based on those K-12 national standards which involve astronomy and space science. Utilizing hundreds of studies in the science education research literature on student misconceptions, we have constructed 211 unique items that measure the degree to which students abandon such ideas for accepted scientific views. Piloted nationally with 7599 students and their 88 teachers spanning grades 5-12, the items reveal a range of interesting results, particularly student difficulties in mastering the NRC Standards and AAAS Benchmarks. Teachers generally perform well on items covering the standards of the grade level at which they teach, exhibiting few misconceptions of their own. Teachers dramatically overestimate their students' performance, perhaps because they are unaware of their students' misconceptions. Examples are given showing how the developed instruments can be used to assess the effectiveness of instruction and to evaluate the impact of professional development activities for teachers. Keywords assessment; tests and quizzes; K-6 (or elementary); 7-9 (or middle school); strength of teacher knowledge for each of the standards could also be determined and related to student performance by classroom.
Becoming explorers of our world: The purpose of science Education
Debra's story When I was young, all I ever wanted to do was to become a teacher. At first, this was about becoming a primary school teacher but over time, as my love of science grew, my focus changed. Suddenly I could think of nothing more exciting than being able to teach others the subject that ruled my life-science. While I could have pursued a career in science and continued with a PhD, I just wanted to teach. Within a few months of teaching, it dawned on me that not all of my Year 8 and 9 students were as enthusiastic about science as I was. How could they not think like I did? How could they possibly find it boring? So there was the challenge-to focus on teaching in such a way that students enjoyed what they were learning. Developing my own way of teaching science actually took many years of experience and much reflection about what worked, what I was comfortable doing, and what the students actually learnt. But underpinning all this was identifying my philosophical stance about what science education was all about and marrying this with my views about teaching and learning. For me it was about students developing a conceptual understanding of their science-not learning things off by heart. I wanted to ask questions and for them to enjoy thinking and be prepared to take a risk even though they might not have the 'correct' answer. Understanding this about myself was fundamental because it impacted the relationships I established with my students, the culture established in my classroom, how I engaged with my students, and my expectations of students. Underpinning my story is the idea of focusing upon knowing (as a verb) in contrast to attaining knowledge (a thing). Knowing involves building relationships and connections by concentrating on the process of understanding. It is not about merely reaching an end point. Appreciating this distinction as teachers is fundamental because it is easy to think about our students as being immersed in learning, but it is equally critical to recognise that as teachers we too must be learners for life. This is especially the case in science, where it is impossible to 'know' every fact and scientific detail but where an understanding of the underlying concepts improves and enhances our quality of life. This story exemplifies the importance of knowing your own values and views about teaching and learning because it is these aspects that impact you as a teacher of science. Importantly, it is not about knowing the subject discipline knowledge or pedagogy but about knowing how to teach science so that students develop an understanding and appreciation of the nature of science. A key component of schooling is to provide individuals with a breadth and depth of knowledge, a range of skills and values, interests and motivation to pursue lifelong learning, which may also be useful in the pursuit of careers. This breadth is necessary because, as alluded to in Debra's story, education is not about preparing our students for one career but to