Student Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching and Learning Science before and after a Science Methods Course (original) (raw)
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Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education
This paper presents a pilot case study on developing a qualitative tool to evaluate science student teachers’ beliefs concerning science teaching and learning. The study is based on student teachers’ drawings of themselves in a typical classroom situation and four open questions. Data was collected from 104 freshman science student teachers, and evaluated based on the basic tenets of Grounded Theory. Applying Grounded Theory led to a framework of categorising the student teachers’ beliefs in three categories: (I) Beliefs about Classroom Organisation, (II) Beliefs about Teaching Objectives, and (III) Epistemological Beliefs. All three categories were expanded to a dimension between more traditional beliefs and beliefs in line with modern educational theory. The participants in the study were from different groups of student teachers in one of four domains of science teaching: secondary school Biology, Chemistry or Physics or Primary Science. The tool proved to be interesting for gain...
Freshman student teachers’ beliefs about science teaching – A mixed methods study
This paper describes a study attempting to evaluate different aspects of freshman science student teachers' beliefs on science teaching. Data was collected from 180 science student teachers from four different German universities at the very beginning of their university science teacher education program. The study gathered both qualitative and quantitative data. Student teachers were asked to draw pictures of themselves as science teachers in a typical classroom situation and to answer four open questions. Also, the participants filled out two Likert-type questionnaires evaluating their beliefs about the curriculum emphasis and the nature of school science. The present paper provides an account of the study and reports on differences among groups of student teachers following different programs of study (secondary school chemistry, physics, or biology, or primary school science). Evidence from the study indicates that a high diversity of beliefs and specific tendencies exists among the different groups of students. At least the qualitative data suggest that chemistry and physics student teachers seem to hold more traditional beliefs, whereas biology and primary science student teachers have more progressive beliefs. The final section of the paper suggests initial ideas of how to integrate the data from qualitative and quantitative sources.
Pre-service Science Teachers’ Beliefs about Science Teaching and Perception of the Nature of Science
The Electronic Journal of Science Education, 2017
For the successful implementation of educational reforms that aims to get students to be active learners, it has to be realized that teachers are the actual determiners of the classroom curriculum. Therefore, teachers who are in the position of the administrators of these reforms should be supported and should develop positive beliefs about the implementation of these reforms. The aim of current research was to determine relationship between pre-service science teachers’ beliefs about science teaching and perception of the nature of science. Sample of the research was comprised of 37 senior students in the department of elementary science education. “Teacher Belief Interview”, (Luft & Roehrig, 2007) and Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire (Lederman et al., 2002) were used. Results from the questionnaires and the interview were used to construct individual teacher’s profiles which were used to identify relationships between their beliefs and perception of nature of science. Addi...
2018
The Draw-A-Science –Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C) is an useful instrument to show how our science teaching environment and science teacher behaviors have been going on. This study is a cross cultural and comparative study to contribute to literature of problems of science teacher behaviors and of science learning environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate Turkish, Scottish, Dutch and German elementary students’ images of science teachers and science teaching environment and to compare Turkish science teaching environment with other three countries. 128 elementary students from four different countries have joined this study in order to collect data. The results from the study have showed that Turkish elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 4.5% student-centered, 36.4% between student- teacher-centered, and 59.1% teacher-centered. The Scottish elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 38.6% student-centered, 52.3% between student- teacher-centered, and 9.1% teacher-centered. The Dutch elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 25% student-centered, 50% between student- teacher-centered, and 25% teacher-centered. The German elementary students’ perspectives of science teaching style is 24% student-centered, 55% between student- teacher-centered, and 21% teacher-centered. Keywords Science Education, DASTT-C
Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Mental Models about Science Teaching
The main purpose of this study is to explore preservice science teachers’ mental models of science teaching. Additionally it is investigated whether there is a significant correlation between their gender and grade levels in terms of mental models. The sample of this study composed of 300 (111 males and 189 females) pre-service science teachers from Turkey. As a data collection instrument “Draw a Science Teacher Test-Checklist (DASTT-C)” was used. The test was made up two sections. In the first section of the DASTT-C, the pre-service science teachers were asked to “Draw a picture of yourself as a science teacher”. In the second section, they were asked to give answers to the questions “What is the science teacher doing? and what are the students doing?” regarding their drawings. The data was the coded according to the rubric and analyzed with SPSS. The results of study showed that pre-service science teachers’ mental models of science teaching were in the categories of conceptual teaching (61%), exploratory or inquiry/constructivist teaching (22%), and explicit/didactic teaching (17%). There was no significant difference between male and female but there was significant difference between the grade levels in favour of senior levels with regard to their mental models of science teaching. In the light of the results, some suggestions were made for further studies.
Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs About the Image of a Science Teacher and Science Teaching
Journal of Baltic Science Education, 2015
This study examines pre-service teachers’ beliefs about the images of a science teacher and the science teaching. Besides, how their beliefs are affected from inquiry-based teaching is investigated. Case study method was used. Pre-service teachers had learned science with inquiry and how they teach science with inquiry in the science laboratory. Data were collected through the drawings and semi-structured interviews. Results indicate that most participants had teacher-centered and conceptual belief about the images of a science teacher and the science teaching at the beginning of the study. However, they had student-centered belief at the end of the study. It was remarked that three pre-service teachers who held different beliefs about student/teacher roles and the teaching of science before the study, had some common beliefs after the inquiry-based science laboratory. Based on the results, it can be said that inquiry-based science teaching positively affects pre-service teachers’ b...
Comparing Science Teaching Styles to Students' Perceptions of Scientists
School Science and Mathematics, 2006
Many educational researchers seem to concur with the idea that, among other factors, the teacher's teaching style has some impact on student learning and the perceptions students develop about science learning and the work of scientists. In this study, nine middle grades teachers' teaching styles were assessed using the Draw-a-Science-Teacher-Teaching Test Checklist (DASTT-C) and categorized along a continuum from didactic to inquiry/constructivist in orientation. Students' (n = 339) perceptions of scientists were determined using the Draw-a-Scientist-Test Checklist (DAST-C). Teachers' teaching styles and their students'perceptions of scientists were then compared using nonparametric correlational methods. Results showed that no significant correlation existed between the two measures for the population studied. Although the study provides no understanding about when or how relationships developed between teachers' teaching styles and students' perceptions of scientists, trends in the results give rise to some concerns regarding the preparation of future science teachers and the in-service development of practicing teachers.