Keith B. Lucas

Development of knowledge about electricity and magnetism during a visit to a science museum and related post‐visit activities

This article reports on part of a larger study of how 11- and 12-year-old students construct knowledge about electricity and magnetism by drawing on aspects of their experiences during the course of a school visit to an interactive science museum and subsequent classroom activities linked to the science museum exhibits. The significance of this study is that it focuses on an aspect of school visits to informal learning centers that has been neglected by researchers in the past, namely the influence of post-visit activities in the classroom on subsequent learning and knowledge construction. This study provides evidence that the integrated series of post-visit activities resulted in students constructing and reconstructing their personal knowledge of science concepts and principles represented in the science museum exhibits, sometimes toward the accepted scientific understanding and sometimes in different and surprising ways. A descriptive interpretive approach was adopted, with principal data sources comprising student-generated concept maps and semistructured interviews at three stages of the study. Findings demonstrate the interrelationships between learning that occurs at school, home, and in informal learning settings. The study also underscores for classroom teachers and staff of science museums and similar centers the importance of planning pre- and post-visit activities. The importance of this planning is not only to support the development of scientific conceptions, but also to detect and respond to alternative conceptions that may be produced or strengthened during a visit to an informal learning center.

The effectiveness of orienting students to the physical features of a science museum prior to visitation

This paper reports on a study in the area of informal science education in the contexts of science museums. The research focused upon two areas: first, perceived novelty and its effect on cognitive learning in year eight students visiting an interactive science museum; second, the links between exhibits which were most frequently recalled and exhibits which students later recalled as being interesting and puzzling. Results on a post-test of cognitive learning of concepts and principles associated with the exhibits suggested that students who underwent novelty reducing pre-orientation to the physical environment and had prior visitation experience learned more than their counterparts. Gender did not influence learning when perceived novelty level and prior exposure were considered. Furthermore, the most frequently recalled exhibits shared a combination of characteristics such as large physical size, prominence in the exhibit galleries, and the diversity of sensory modes that they employed. Finally, it appears that cognitive learning is likely to occur for exhibits which are most memorable.

One Teacher's Agenda for a Class Visit to an Interactive Science Center.

This article reports on the agenda of an exemplary teacher as she planned for and implemented a visit to an interactive science center by her class of 12-year-old boys. Pre-visit preparation involved the students in the creation of a mini-science center in their classroom, and spanned almost a full term. The students appropriated their teachers agenda, which was that they exploit the unique facilities of the center to learn about science and technology, and to have fun in so doing. Post-visit activities and reflections on the visit by the teacher and six of the students are discussed, and suggest that the outcomes were largely in accord with the teachers agenda. During the visit, a critical episode involving the teacher, several of the students, and two of the center explainers occurred, and this episode serves to illustrate some consequences for outcomes when there is a lack of congruence between the agendas of key stakeholders involved in such a visit.

Religious Beliefs in Science Classrooms.

The question of the relationship between science and religion assumes importance for many secondary school students of science, especially but not exclusively for those in Christian schools. Science as presented in many school classrooms is not as objective and value free as it might seem on first examination, nor does it represent adequately the range of beliefs about science held by students and teachers. This paper reports part of a larger research study into beliefs about science and religion held by students, teachers and clergy in a Lutheran secondary school. Results indicate that participants in the study was the relationship between science and religious belief in ways unforeseen and unappreciated by traditional school science programs. The stories of selected participants are told and they frame a discussion of implications of the study for science teaching.

The Trial of an Innovative Science Programme for Preservice Primary Teachers in Fiji

Abstract Science teaching in Fiji is often very formalistic and didactic. This is in part due to an extremely competitive examination system, but work by Muralidhar (1989, An exploratory study of a science curriculum in action: basic science in Fiji, Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Monash University) has also indicated that at the primary‐ and lower‐secondary‐levels teachers’ content knowledge of physical science was often lacking. This in turn impacted on the teachers’ confidence, and often resulted in a teacher‐centred approach in which there was little deviation from the set text. This article outlines an innovative science programme which was developed and trialled with Fijian preservice primary teachers in an attempt to improve their content knowledge of physical science. It also reports some of the student teachers’ views on the various teaching strategies employed during the programme.

Persistence and withdrawal by students in a preservice science and mathematics teacher education course

At a time when recruitment into preservice teacher education courses in mathematics and science is difficult, one strategy to increase the number of graduates is to minimise the number of students who fail to complete their university courses. This study sought to determine factors which distinguish withdrawers from persisters in the first semester of a B.Ed course. Discriminant analysis was employed; a discriminant function employing seven factors resulted in correct classification in 81% of cases. Further analysis distinguishing between dropouts and transferees resulted in two discriminant functions with some common variables.

Addressing Factors Affecting Ongoing Professional Development in Community Teachers’ Colleges in Papua New Guinea

Abstract The concept of sustainable professional development in the context of community teachers’ colleges in Papua New Guinea is reviewed, with particular reference to the Papua New Guinea Community Teachers’ College Lecturers’ Professional Development Project. Seven obstacles to sustaining professional development are described, and strategies are suggested for building on the achievements of the Project in relation to personal professional development of lecturers and the review of institutional programmes and procedures.

Science Concept Learning by English as Second Language Junior Secondary Students.

Recent Chinese migrant students from Taiwan studying science in two Australian secondary schools were found to explain the meanings of selected science concept labels in English by translating from Chinese. The research strategy involved interviewing the students concerning their recognition and comprehension of the science concept labels firstly in Chinese and then in English. Mean recognition and comprehension scores were higher in Chinese than in English, with indications that Chinese language and science knowledge learnt in Chinese deteriorated with increasing time of residence in Australia. Rudimentary signs of the students being able to switch between Chinese and English knowledge bases in science were also found. Implications for teaching science to ESL students and suggestions for further research are discussed.