Avi Hofstein

The Role of the Laboratory in Science Teaching: Neglected Aspects of Research

The laboratory has been given a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that there are rich benefits in learning from using laboratory activities. At this time, however, some educators have begun to question seriously the effectiveness and the role of laboratory work, and the case for laboratory teaching is not as self-evident as it once seemed. This paper provides perspectives on these issues through a review of the history, goals, and research findings regarding the laboratory as a medium of instruction in introductory science teaching. The analysis of research culminates with suggestions for researchers who are working to clarify the role of the laboratory in science education.

The meaning of ‘relevance’ in science education and its implications for the science curriculum

‘Relevance’ is one of the key terms related to reforms in the teaching and learning of science. It is often used by policy-makers, curriculum developers, science education researchers and science teachers. In recent years, many policy documents based on international surveys have claimed that science education is often seen (especially at the secondary school level) as being irrelevant for and by the learners. The literature suggests that making science learning relevant both to the learner personally and to the society in which he or she lives should be one of the key goals of science education. However, what ‘relevant’ means is usually inadequately conceptualised. This review of the literature clearly reveals that the term relevance is used with widely variant meanings. From our analysis of the literature, we will suggest an advanced organisational scheme for the term ‘relevance’ and provide helpful suggestions for its use in the field of the science curriculum.

Industrial Chemistry and School Chemistry: Making chemistry studies more relevant

In this paper, we present the development and implementation over the period of more than 15 years of learning materials focusing on industrial chemistry as the main theme. The work was conducted in the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. The project’s general goal was to teach chemistry concepts in the context of industrial chemistry in order to present chemistry as a relevant topic both to the students personally as well as to the society in which they live. The learning materials that were developed during this period were in alignment with the changes and reforms that were conducted in the Israeli educational system. These developments were accompanied with intensive and comprehensive professional development courses and workshops. In addition, several research and evaluation projects were conducted with the goal to assess students’ achievements and to probe into the students’ perceptions regarding the classroom learning environment and the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the various instructional and learning materials techniques that were implemented in the programme throughout these years. This paper is structured attempting to describe the curricular cycle in alignment with Goodlad’s and Van den Akker’s curriculum representations.

Development and validation of an instrument for assessing the learning environment of outdoor science activities

The SOLEI (Science Outdoor Learning Environment Inventory) was developed and content-validated in high schools in Israel. The instrument consists of seven scales (55 items). Five of the scales are based on the Science Laboratory Learning Environment Instrument (SLEI) developed in Australia. The other two scales are unique to the learning environment existing in outdoor activities. The instrument was found to be a sensitive measure that differentiates between different types of field trips conducted in the context of different subjects (biology, chemistry, and earth science). It is suggested that the instrument could be an important addition to the research tools available for studies conducted in informal settings in science education.

The use of scientific literacy taxonomy for assessing the development of chemical literacy among high-school students

This study investigated the attainment of chemical literacy among 10th-12th grade chemistry students in Israel. Based on existing theoretical frameworks, assessment tools were developed, which measured students’ ability to: a) recognize chemical concepts as such (nominal literacy); b) define some key-concepts (functional literacy); c) use their understanding of chemical concepts to explain phenomena (conceptual literacy); and d) use their knowledge in chemistry to read a short article, or analyze information provided in commercial ads or internet resources (multi-dimensional literacy). It was found that students improve their nominal and functional literacy; however, higher levels of chemical literacy, as defined within these frameworks, are only partly met. The findings can be helpful in the process of designing new curricula, and emphasizing certain instructional strategies in order to foster chemical literacy. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2006, 7 (4), 203-225]

Learning In and From Science Laboratories

This chapter reviews research on practical work in order to demonstrate not only its potential but also its challenges and problems. A main point to be made is that practical work is not a static issue but something that has evolved gradually over the years, and which is still developing. The development relates to changing aims for science education, to developments in understanding about science learning, to changing views and understanding of science inquiry and to more recent developments in educational technologies. To demonstrate this, we start with a review along historical lines, looking back at practical work research over the last 50 years during three periods: (1) 1960s to mid-1980s, (2) mid-1980s to mid-1990s and (3) the last 15 years. Following from this review, the second part of the chapter elaborates four different themes that summarise the state of affairs of practical work at the beginning of the twenty-first century and points towards new possibilities: how is practical work used by teachers, the influence of new technologies, ‘metacognition’ as a factor in laboratory learning and the issue of ‘scientific argumentation’ as a replacement for ‘scientific method’.

The Learning Environment of High School Students in Chemistry and Biology Laboratories

Abstract In this article a comparison of students’ perceptions of laboratory classes in chemistry and biology is presented. By using the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), pronounced and significant differences between chemistry and biology laboratory environments were found on two of the subscales: ‘Integration’ that describes the extent to which its laboratory activities are integrated with non‐laboratory and classroom learning and ‘Open‐endedness’, a subscale that measures the extent to which the laboratory emphasises an open‐ended, divergent, and an individualised approach to experimentation. It is suggested that the SLEI can be considered as a sensitive tool to measure students’ perceptions of their learning environment in different subject matters during the laboratory work. In this study the SLEI was also used to compare students’ actual and preferred learning environments and to explore gender differences regarding this issue.

Evidence-based professional development of science teachers in two countries

The focus of this collaborative research project of King’s College London, and the Weizmann Institute, Israel is on investigating the ways in which teachers can demonstrate accomplished teaching in a specific domain of science and on the teacher learning that is generated through continuing professional development (CPD) programmes that lead towards such practice. The interest lies in what processes and inputs are required to help secondary‐school science teachers develop expertise in a specific aspect of science teaching. It focuses on the design of the CPD programmes and examines the importance of an evidence‐based approach through portfolio‐construction in which professional dialogue paves the way for teacher learning. The set of papers highlights the need to set professional challenges while tailoring CPD to teachers’ needs to create an environment in which teachers can advance and transform their practice. The cross‐culture perspective adds to the richness of the development and enables the researchers to examine which aspects are fundamental to the design by considering similarities and differences between the domains.

Discussions over STS at the Fourth IOSTE Symposium

This paper summarizes the discussions that took place within the STS Working Group of the Fourth IOSTE Symposium. The discussions were organized around published symposium papers, and revolved around the following topics: materials for student use, the role of teachers, the repertoire of teaching strategies, the influence of the school setting and the importance of evaluation.

Motivating strategies in science education: Attempt at an analysis

The question of how science education can be conducted so that it has a motivating effect upon the learner is considered. A distinction is proposed between interest arousal which can be brought about by an appropriate selection and structuring of subject matter included in a curriculum; and motivational enhancement which, it is suggested, is brought about by the choice of pedagogical strategies that are in accord with students’ intrinsic motivational patterns. In relation to the latter, an analysis of the types of motivational pattern is presented. Their implications for the choice of educational strategies in science education are also discussed.