Ken Appleton

Student teachers’ confidence to teach science: is more science knowledge necessary to improve self‐confidence?

In recent years there has been renewed concern expressed about the state of science teaching in many primary and preschool (elementary and kindergarten) classrooms, and the poor science background knowledge of many teachers. The teachers’ lack of confidence to teach science has been largely attributed to their poor background knowledge. A reaction from teacher educators, such as recommended by the Australian Discipline Review of Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science Report, has been to provide more explicit science discipline units in preservice teacher education courses. However, a few studies have cast some doubt on the notion that more science discipline studies help preservice teachers become more positive about teaching science. This paper reports on preservice students’ perceptions of their confidence to teach science before and after a science education unit which included only a small amount of physical science, and took an explicit gender approach emphasizing the students as learners. That...

Developing science pedagogical content knowledge through mentoring elementary teachers

Elementary teachers are typically hesitant to teach science. While a limited knowledge of science content is a reason for this, limited science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has emerged as another reason in recent research. This study constitutes two case studies of a professional development program for elementary teachers involving mentoring by a university professor. The mentor took the role of a critical friend in joint planning and teaching of science. The study examines the nature of the mentoring relationship and reports the type of teacher learning that occurred, with a particular focus on the teachers’ development of science PCK.

Science Activities That Work: Perceptions of Primary School Teachers

Many primary school teachers in Australia tend to be reluctant to teach science, partly because they are not confident in science and have limited science background knowledge. However, quite a number of primary school teachers still manage to teach some science. When they plan to teach science, many of them use the term “science activities that work.” Such activities seem to be related to science pedagogical content knowledge for some primary teachers. In order to better understand what the term “activities that work” means, twenty teachers from several schools were interviewed and asked what they understood by this expression. Themes that emerged suggest that activities that work are hands on, are interesting and motivating for the children, have a clear outcome or result, are manageable in the classroom, use equipment that is readily available, and are preferably used in a context where science is integrated into themes. Implications for curriculum and for preservice teacher education are considered.

A Case Study of a Teacher's Progress toward Using a Constructivist View of Learning to Inform Teaching in Elementary Science.

For some years, there have been in-service efforts to help teachers become familiar with constructivist ideas about learning, and to apply them in their science teaching. This study is a vignette of one teachers science teaching some time after such an in-service activity. It explores the ways in which the teacher implemented his perceptions of constructivist ideas about learning in his teaching of a topic. The extent to which the teacher used teaching principles based on constructivism was influenced by his views of science and of learning, how he usually planned his teaching, and his confidence in his own understanding of the topic. Features of the teaching which reflect a constructivist view of learning are discussed and some problems are identified. We conclude with some reflections about in-service programs within a constructivist framework.

The Effect of a Mentoring Model for Elementary Science Professional Development

This study describes an elementary science model of professional development through mentoring by university science education professors working with teachers at a private elementary school in a regional city in Queensland, Australia. A cross-cultural collaboration involving professors from the United States and Australia resulted in the socially constructed image of the science education mentor. While there is no generic model for elementary science mentoring, results of data collection reveal that (a) one-to-one mentoring has short-term implications for implementing constructivist science teaching practices; (b) successful mentoring models include facilitating the understanding of science content, exploring elementary science pedagogical content knowledge through modeling, and off-site professional development workshops; and (c) understanding and working from the predispositions of the teachers is an essential component of effective professional development.

A learning model for science education: Deriving teaching strategies

A learning model for science education was proposed by Appleton (1989), based on Osborne and Wittrock’s generative learning theory (1983) and the Piagetian notions of disequilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation. The model incorporated many aspects of difficulties in learning science experienced by students, as revealed in the LISP projects and similar research. This paper examines how the model may be used to derive teaching strategies: components of the model are analysed in terms of specific types of teacher interventions which could facilitate students’ progress to accommodation. Some established teaching strategies are analysed in terms of these interventions.

A learning model for science education

ConclusionIt was thought that the evaluation substantiated the various steps in the learning model as a reasonable description of cognitive learning in this activity. Each of the postulated exits and problem areas associated with them as noted. Informal observations of children working with other topics suggest that the model may be generalisable beyond this activity and the teaching steps used in it. However this needs to be substantiated.

Changes in Primary Science Over the Past Decade: Implications for the Research Community.

During the early 1980s in Australia there was a new wave of expectancy about primary science as new curricula were being considered or introduced and research findings were beginning to identify new directions for both teaching and research. In an expression of this, six authors were invited to present papers to a symposium on primary science held in 1984 to address the question: “What do you believe should be the state of primary science (in Australia) in 1995 and what are the steps which need to be taken to achieve the desired state?” This study set out to identify what had been said at that time, to compare that with actual developments, and to identify possible future directions for research. Relevant publications includingResearch in Science Education were analysed as a means of comparing what had happened since 1984 with the hopes of those authors. It was only in the latter half of the decade that some of the scenarios painted by the authors in 1984 began to emerge. A key implication for the research community drawn from the analysis shows that science education researchers have tended to neglect working in collaboration with education departments and authorities for the improvement of primary science education.

Using Learning Theory to Guide Reflection during School Experience

Abstract Reflection has been considered a key aspect that should be included in teacher‐education programmes. There have also been recent calls to base teacher education on constructivist principles of learning. In this study, a reflective‐school‐experience component was integrated into a curriculum subject, using constructivist learning theory as a guide. It shows how these two constructs may be brought together in practice. The learning theory used is explained, and relationships to teaching are explored. Teacher interventions derived from the learning theory provided guidelines for the placement and operation of the school experience, and for encouraging reflection about both the school experience and classwork. An evaluation of the subject was conducted using a variety of data. Selected findings are discussed, and the success of the subject in influencing cognitive and affective outcomes are explored. The role of the school experience and indications of the occurrence of reflection by students are als...

The Development of Preservice Elementary Science Teacher Education in Australia

This paper describes the emergence of the contemporary structure of preservice primary and elementary science education in Australia. We present an historical account of the development of current programs and an analysis that reveals the major trends and influences that have molded the current situation. Major changes have occurred since the late 1970s but the last decade has seen revolutionary restructuring. We discuss the relevant literature, drawing on research reports, reports of national and state governments and other reviews. We analyze how these trends and influences have shaped education policy and preservice programs in universities. We explore as well, emerging trends and implications for future developments.