Kalle Juuti

A Professional Development Project for Improving the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Science Teaching

This article describes a professional development project aiming to develop practical approaches for the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into science education. Altogether, 13 two‐day face‐to‐face seminars and numerous computer network conferences were held during a three‐year period. The goals for the project were based on the general goals of the Finnish national framework curriculum and ICT strategy. Self‐evaluation data showed that participating teachers had used ICT extensively and integrated it into their science education programmes during the project. The ICT competence of the participating teachers increased substantially. Based on the results of the project, it can be suggested that professional development projects for science teachers in the use of ICT should emphasise the following: (i) empowerment (co‐planning of the project and its activities, and dissemination, allocation of resources, and authentic evaluation); (ii) communication (ensuring a flow of ideas and creativity, allowing communication and reflection in small groups and in optimal locations); and (iii) context (integration of ICT into teaching methods and cumulative development of competencies in the teachers who use it).

Questions asked by primary student teachers about observations of a science demonstration

Teacher questioning has a central role in guiding pupils to learn to make scientific observations and inferences. We asked 110 primary student teachers to write down what kind of questions they would ask their pupils about a demonstration. Almost half of the student teachers posed questions that were either inappropriate or presupposed that the pupils would know the answer. For example, they directly asked for an explanation of the phenomenon instead of asking what inferences the pupils could make on the basis of their observations. There was a lack of questions that would draw the pupils’ attention to the variables that may cause the phenomenon to happen. Only about 15% of the student teachers formed questions such as ‘What is happening?’ or ‘How is it happening?’. All in all, primary student teachers seem to need extra practice in forming questions based on scientific observation.

The Innovative School as an Environment for the Design of Educational Innovations

Teachers’ engagement in Design Based Research (DBR) is analyzed in the context of the Innovative School (ISC) model. The ISC model emphasizes the development of students’ learning and learning environments, teachers’ professionalism, leadership and partnerships. The model engages teachers, students, school principals, parents, and actors of the local community in the design and adoption of educational innovations.

Integrating geography with physics and visual arts: Analysis of student essays

The article investigates the potential and challenges of integrating geography with other school subjects. The analysis is based on the outcomes of a course that introduced the principles of discipline-based integration. The course was included in multicultural-class teacher education programme at the University of Helsinki. For a project within the course, the students worked in small groups and made short films that integrated three subjects – geography, physics, and visual arts – in order to evoke questions of space in childrens minds. The students were asked to write essays in which they analysed their understanding of space from the three subjects’ viewpoints, describe the aims and contents of their short films, and lastly reflect on their experiences of the potential and possible problems in discipline integration. In this article, the authors analyse the students’ experience of the integration between the geography, physics, and visual arts. In general, the students experienced discipline-based integration as an interesting way of working. Moreover, the project seemed to deepen their understanding of different grounds for integrative pedagogy. Although the students reported some difficulties regarding the subject knowledge required for fruitful integration, the process enabled them to construct a better understanding of the identity of each discipline.

Science at Finnish Compulsory School

In order to ensure the reader understands the reasons for Finnish students’ high achievements in the PISA Scientific Literacy Assessment, this chapter describes the implementation of the national level science education policy through national and local level curriculum and teacher education. We highlight: (1) the science curriculum for compulsory schools and the Finnish approach to implement it through local level curriculum (2) the science teacher education programme, and (3) science teaching and learning at the school level and assessment.

Investigating Situational Interest in Primary Science Lessons.

Pupils’ interest has been one of the major concerns in science education research because it can be seen as a gateway to more personalised forms of interest and motivation. However, methods to investigate situational interest in science teaching and learning are not broadly examined. This study compares the pupils’ observed situational interest and their expressed situational interest. One class of Finnish fourth-graders (N = 22, age 9–10 years) participated in a heat transfer lesson. The lesson encompassed an interactive demonstration with a thermal camera, teacher-led discussions and the conduct and presentation of a collaborative inquiry task. Pupils expressed their interest levels (scale: 1 = very boring, 5 = very interesting) by using an electronic response system called a ‘clicker’. The measurement took place 15 times during the lesson, with 1 measurement being just a rehearsal. The lesson was video recorded, and visible aspects of interest at the measurement time points were analysed. Reported and observational data were compared. In most cases, the observations did not yield data compatible with the pupils’ own evaluations, indicating that most pupils’ expressed interest is not easily interpreted through observation of their facial expressions and behaviour. In general, the interest of the group as a whole seems to diminish during the lesson. We argue that in order to maintain and increase pupils’ interest, their evaluations should be taken into account in lesson planning. Video-based research might also be further enriched and validated by employing the participants’ own expressions. The clicker is a suitable means of collecting primary pupils’ experiences concerning their interest levels.

How teaching practices are connected to student intention to enrol in upper secondary school physics courses

Abstract Background: In developed countries, it is challenging for teachers to select pedagogical practices that encourage students to enrol in science and technology courses in upper secondary school. Purpose: Aiming to understand the enrolment dynamics, this study analyses sample-based data from Finland’s National Assessment in Science to determine whether pedagogical approaches influence student intention to enrol in upper secondary school physics courses. Sample: This study examined a clustered sample of 2949 Finnish students in the final year of comprehensive school (15–16 years old). Methods: Through explorative factor analysis, we extracted several variables that were expected to influence student intention to enrol in physics courses. We applied partial correlation to determine the underlying interdependencies of the variables. Results: The analysis revealed that the main predictor of enrolment in upper secondary school physics courses is whether students feel that physics is important. Although statistically significant, partial correlations between variables were rather small. However, the analysis of partial correlations revealed that pedagogical practices influence inquiry and attitudinal factors. Pedagogical practices that emphasise science experimentation and the social construction of knowledge had the strongest influence. Conclusions: The research implies that to increase student enrolment in physics courses, the way students interpret the subject’s importance needs to be addressed, which can be done by the pedagogical practices of discussion, teacher demonstrations, and practical work.

Learning to apply models of materials while explaining their properties

Background: Applying structural models is important to chemistry education at the upper secondary level, but it is considered one of the most difficult topics to learn. Purpose: This study analyses to what extent in designed lessons students learned to apply structural models in explaining the properties and behaviours of various materials. Sample: An experimental group is 27 Finnish upper secondary school students and control group included 18 students from the same school. Design and methods: In quasi-experimental setting, students were guided through predict, observe, explain activities in four practical work situations. It was intended that the structural models would encourage students to learn how to identify and apply appropriate models when predicting and explaining situations. The lessons, organised over a one-week period, began with a teacher’s demonstration and continued with student experiments in which they described the properties and behaviours of six household products representing three different materials. Results: Most students in the experimental group learned to apply the models correctly, as demonstrated by post-test scores that were significantly higher than pre-test scores. The control group showed no significant difference between pre- and post-test scores. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the intervention where students engage in predict, observe, explain activities while several materials and models are confronted at the same time, had a positive effect on learning outcomes.

Pragmatic Design-Based Research – Designing as a Shared Activity of Teachers and Researches

Answering the problems arising from the school context, science education research engages in diminishing the gap between educational theory and practice. Design-based research aims to develop an educational innovation, i.e. a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) that helps teachers and students in science classes to reach the objectives indicated in a curriculum. A pragmatic design-based research project starts in a situation where neither teachers nor researchers know how to act in certain settings. Design-based research constructs novel situations in order to research these situations and better understand teaching and learning. We emphasise the importance of engaging ordinary teachers in collaborative designing and validation of teaching-learning sequences. This collaborative design and validation of TLS is a way to seriously take into consideration the requirements of the school site. Therefore, we argue here that engaging teachers in shared design and validation activities would make it plausible that designed teaching-learning sequences would be widely adoptable.

Phenomenographical Approach to Design for a Hypertext Teacher’s Guide to MBL

We have researched teachers’ needs for a MBL guide through Web-based MBL guide design and development process. In-service teachers (N=23) were asked to write their ideas about MBL, three student teachers were interviewed and five student teachers and a training school teacher were asked to evaluate a designed prototype. We used a phenomenographical approach on data analysis. Teachers need an MBL guide that offers guidance for different pedagogical approaches. They wish for sample experiments that are not only recipes, but well stated chemically, physically and, especially, pedagogically. Furthermore, a guide has to introduce novel — computer aided — ways to do practical work.