Aik-Ling Tan

Rethinking Difficulties of Teaching Inquiry‐Based Practical Work: Stories from elementary pre‐service teachers

To alleviate teachers’ reluctance toward practical work, there has been much discussion on teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, teaching materials, and failsafe strategies for practical work. Despite these efforts, practical work is still regarded as a challenging task for many elementary science teachers. To understand the complexity of teachers’ conflicts in practical work, this study examines teachers’ ideas about teaching and learning that influence teachers’ decision‐making and action on teaching practical work. More important than knowing technical–rational aspects of practical work is to understand the internal contradictions that teachers have to resolve within themselves regarding their capabilities and beliefs about science teaching and practical work. Using stories and experiences of 38 third‐year university students in a science method course in Korea, we seek to understand the conflicts and negotiations that they experience as they make decisions regarding practical work throughout their course. Reflective writings and group discussions on their lived experiences and concerns were used to probe participants’ ideas on teaching using practical work. From written and verbal data, themes were saturated in terms of the aspects which could (dis)encourage their practice. Results suggest that there are multifactorial challenges in pre‐service teachers’ understandings and concerns in practical work. Besides time, materials, and curriculum, pedagogical assumptions and values also compositely challenge the minds of teachers. As the pre‐service elementary teachers negotiated within themselves the importance of science in classroom and social levels, the question is raised about their identities as pre‐service elementary teachers to appreciate the balance between science teaching and practical work.

New Vision and Challenges in Inquiry-Based Curriculum Change in Singapore

A new primary science syllabus with strong inquiry focus has been implemented in Singapore since 2008. In this study, we attempted to understand how teachers experience the emphasis of inquiry-based curriculum under the current educational conditions that is routined and highly teacher fronted. We invited 50 pre-service and 41 in-service teachers to participate in survey questionnaires and narratives, reflective writings, and group discussions related to science inquiry which formed our data corpus. Data analysis in the form of thematic coding was carried out using NVivo8, with over 80% inter-rater coding agreement level. Three key aspects of teachers’ perceptions of science inquiry were revealed: (1) teachers’ responsibilities as facilitators, (2) privileging content knowledge rather than process skills, and (3) pressure of assessment systems in current educational contexts. These understandings bring out conflicts of inquiry teaching between teacher- and student-centredness, content and process, and curriculum and assessment. Based on these teachers’ perceptions and dilemmas of inquiry science teaching, the visions and challenges of inquiry science curriculum change against assessment requirements are discussed.

Tensions in the Biology Laboratory: What are they?

The purpose of this paper is to identify tensions in teacher–student interaction in a high school biology laboratory. Using micro‐analytic analysis of classroom talk, the interaction between the students and a teacher working in the biology laboratory session on Reproduction in Plants is studied. The two tensions highlighted here are tension with textbooks as authority and tension with the teacher as authority. Tension with textbooks as authority originates from an over‐reliance on generalizations expressed in textbooks resulting in the inability of learners to appreciate alternatives and exceptions. Tension with the teacher as authority stems from the task design and varying levels of control that a teacher has over the learner and the learning process. The genesis of the two forms of tensions in the laboratory is different and they are tackled differently by the participants to yield different outcomes. While science educators have conducted intensive research over the past two decades on the effects of school science laboratory work on students’ learning of science, more can be done in the specific area of teacher–student interaction. This paper offers some insights into the interaction between a teacher and her students in a laboratory as they learn biology. An increased understanding of the impact of the tensions in a science laboratory might help to bring about realization of the true spirit and intent of school science laboratory experiences.

Conversational Analysis as an Analytical Tool for Face-to-Face and Online Conversations

Some learning scientists are beginning to investigate social and cultural aspects of learning by examining the interactions between a learner and the environment as well as with other people in the learning environment. This article proposes conversational analysis (CA) as a tool to analyze interactions between learners and instructors in face‐to‐face and online environments. It illustrates the potential of CA to enhance our understanding of the social aspect of learning by comparing analyses of transcripts in two distinct situations. Through the analysis, distinct characteristic interactions in face‐to‐face and online environments are uncovered by linking these analyses to the unique affordances of the learning environments. L’analyse conversationnelle, outil analytique pour la conversation en face à face et en ligne Certains spécialistes de l’apprentissage commencent à étudier les aspects sociaux et culturels de cet apprentissage en examinant les interactions entre un apprenant et son environnement ainsi qu’avec les autres personnes qui se trouvent dans l’environnement d’apprentissage. Cet article propose l’analyse conversationnelle (AC) comme outil d’analyse des interactions entre les apprenants et les enseignants dans des environnements en face à face et en ligne. Il illustre le potentiel de l’AC pour renforcer notre compréhension de l’aspect social de l’apprentissage en comparant l’analyse des transcriptions dans deux situations distinctes. Au cours de cette analyse des interactions caractéristiques distinctes dans les environnements présentiels et en ligne sont mises à jour, ceci en associant ces analyses aux possibilités originales que présentent les environnements d’apprentissage. Gesprächsanalyse als ein analytisches Werkzeug für direkte und Online‐Konversationen Einige Lernwissenschaftler beginnen, soziale und kulturelle Aspekte sowohl durch Prüfen der Interaktionen zwischen einem Lerner und seiner Umgebung als auch mit anderen Leuten in der Lernumgebung, zu untersuchen. Dieses Papier schlägt Gesprächsanalyse (CA) als ein Werkzeug vor, um Interaktionen zwischen Anfängern und Ausbildern in direkten und Online‐Umgebungen zu analysieren. Es erläutert das Potential von CA, unser Verständnis des sozialen Aspekts des Lernens durch Vergleichen der Analyse von Protokollen in zwei unterschiedlichen Situationen zu verbessern. Durch die Analyse werden unterschiedliche charakteristische Interaktionen in direkten und Online‐Umgebungen durch Verbinden dieser Analysen zu den besonderen Erfordernissen der Lernumgebungen aufgedeckt.

Spiderman and science: How students’ perceptions of scientists are shaped by popular media

This study addresses the influence of popular media on how young children perceive science and the work of scientists. Using an adapted version of the Draw-A-Scientist Test, 15 classes of fourth graders (9–10 years old) at three different schools in Singapore were sampled (n = 266). The students’ drawings as well as their identification of three sources from which they obtained inspiration for their drawings were analyzed. Our results showed a strong relationship between students’ drawings of scientists and their reported sources of inspiration. The results suggest that popular media play a large role in shaping how young children view scientists.

Mapping Curriculum Innovation in STEM Schools to Assessment Requirements: Tensions and Dilemmas.

Specialized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools create niche areas in an attempt to attract the best students, establish the school status, and justify their privilege to valuable resources. One Singapore STEM school does this in applied science learning to differentiate its curriculum from the national prescribed curriculum. Reflecting on the issues of curriculum innovation from the perspective of a teacher and head of department in this school, the second author discusses the constraints in curriculum innovation in a specialized school context embedded within a larger system of the national curriculum. We reflect on her experiences in designing, planning, writing, and implementing applied science courses and the challenges in having to simultaneously address the standardized assessment guidelines.

From Transmission to Inquiry: Influence of Curriculum Demands on In-Service Teachers’ Perception of Science as Inquiry

A new primary science syllabus with science as inquiry as its foundation and guiding philosophy was implemented in Singapore since 2008. In this study, we present perspectives of science as inquiry as experienced by teachers teaching science under the current educational landscape that is routinised and highly teacher-fronted. We invited 41 in-service teachers to participate in (1) questionnaires and narratives, (2) reflective writings and (3) group discussions related to science inquiry. Data analysis in the form of thematic coding using NVivo8, with over 80 % inter-coder coding agreement level, was carried out. Three key interrelated aspects of in-service teachers’ perceptions of science as inquiry were revealed: (1) pressure of assessment demands, (2) perceived need for strong teacher intervention in inquiry and (3) favouring content knowledge rather than process skills. These considerations surface conflicts of teaching science as inquiry that are driven by assessment demands and resulted in a mode of science as inquiry that has tight teacher control with a strong focus on learning the canonical science content. We also explored the underlying reasons behind the perceptions of inquiry practices held by these in-service teachers.

Educating science teachers in the 21st century: Implications for pre-service teacher education

Abstract This study examines the verbal interactions among a group of pre-service teachers as they engaged in scientific discussions in a medicinal chemistry course. These discussions were part of the course that encompassed an explicit instruction of scientific argumentation structures as well as an applied component, whereby the pre-service teachers learned the content of medicinal chemistry through cases developed using the strategy of competing theories. By adopting a case study approach using sociocultural framework of learning, we examined the interactions between the pre-service teachers using video data. We describe 12 possible forms of interactions during discussions – (1) seeking clarification, (2) figuring out loud, (3) sharing information, (4) agreement, (5) asking questions, (6) providing explanations, (7) raising strategic and procedural issues, (8) stating claims, (9) disagreement, (10) sharing perspectives, (11) offering alternatives, and (12) persuasion. The pre-service teachers engaged in figuring out aloud and seeking clarifications frequently, and used persuasion least in their discussions. To clarify their ideas and thoughts, pre-service teachers commonly rebut their counterparts and used warrants to support their own assertions. A similar pattern was also observed when figuring their thoughts out loud. Our findings suggest that pre-service teachers were able to carry out rebuttals in the argumentation process. However, the quality and function of their rebuttals can be improved by deepening their understanding of the subject matter knowledge and the science argumentation structure. Implications are discussed.

Teachers’ Ideas and Concerns with Assessment Practices in Inquiry Science

Issues with assessment have traditionally been viewed with great importance as it is used (1) for placement of students in different tracks, (2) as a proxy for allocation of funds to educational institutions, and (3) for assessing students’ learning. In Singapore, assessment practices have generally been summative in nature and aimed at evaluating what students have learnt and gained from school. The idea of formative assessment is relatively new for most teachers in science classrooms. Using task probes in a questionnaire format, we examined the factors that 39 grade four science teachers consider as they decide on inquiry tasks for their students. Based on their considerations, we infer their ideas of formative assessment as they engaged in science as inquiry and highlight concerns and dilemma that emerge as they report on their practices of science inquiry and formative assessment. We raised the concerns of the low level of teachers’ understanding of the principles related to formative assessment and the perceived conflicts with summative assessment requirements and their practices of science as inquiry in the classrooms.

Learning to Teach Science as Inquiry: Developing an Evidence-Based Framework for Effective Teacher Professional Development

In this chapter, we provide promising examples of professional development (PD) programmes for teachers targeted at using inquiry-based approaches. This chapter summarises a symposium at the 2011 ESERA involving researchers from Europe, North America, Australia and Asia. Two main questions guided the discussion: (1) What are your views for supporting teachers in carrying out inquiry in the science classroom? (2) What is the evidence for effective strategies of supporting teachers in learning to teach science as inquiry? Taken together, these studies demonstrate that science teachers’ professional learning is effectively supported by providing opportunities to experiment with new teaching approaches in their classroom, sometimes in combination with authentic experiences to learn science (i.e. scientific inquiry) and to reflect on these experiences, both individually and collectively.