Louisa Tomas

Writing Stories to Enhance Scientific Literacy

In response to international concerns about scientific literacy and students’ waning interest in school science, this study investigated the effects of a science‐writing project about the socioscientific issue (SSI) of biosecurity on the development of students’ scientific literacy. Students generated two BioStories each that merged scientific information with the narrative storylines in the project. The study was conducted in two phases. In the exploratory phase, a qualitative case study of a sixth‐grade class involving classroom observations and interviews informed the design of the second, confirmatory phase of the study, which was conducted at a different school. This phase involved a mixed methods approach featuring a quasi‐experimental design with two classes of Australian middle school students (i.e., sixth grade, 11 years of age, n = 55). The results support the argument that writing the sequence of stories helped the students become more familiar with biosecurity issues, develop a deeper understanding of related biological concepts, and improve their interest in science. On the basis of these findings, teachers should be encouraged to engage their students in the practice of writing about SSI in a way that integrates scientific information into narrative storylines. Extending the practice to older students and exploring additional issues related to writing about SSI are recommended for further research.

Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes toward Education for Sustainability and Its Relevance to Their Learning: Implications for Pedagogical Practice.

The education for sustainability (EfS) literature espouses participatory, praxis-orientated, place-based and holistic approaches to teaching and learning. The introduction of a first-year EfS unit for pre-service teachers at James Cook University provided an opportunity to explore their attitudes toward EfS and their perceptions of the relevant aspects of the unit to their learning. In this mixed-methods study, pre-service teachers (N = 100) completed a Likert-style survey at the beginning and end of the unit that examined their attitudes toward EfS. Three pre-service teachers were also interviewed to explore further their perceptions and experiences, one semester after completing the unit. Significant improvements were found in pre-service teachers’ EfS self-efficacy, and familiarity with and interest in sustainability issues. Participants also perceived EfS to be relevant to their learning, particularly the praxis-orientated pedagogies in which they engaged, as they believed it developed their knowledge, skills and confidence to teach sustainability in schools. For one pre-service teacher, her experiences of EfS during her practicum enhanced its relevance, as she was able to link theory and practice. The implications of these findings for both teacher education and pedagogical practice for EfS in higher education are also discussed.

Learning in earth and space science: A review of conceptual change instructional approaches

ABSTRACT In response to calls for research into effective instruction in the Earth and space sciences, and to identify directions for future research, this systematic review of the literature explores research into instructional approaches designed to facilitate conceptual change. In total, 52 studies were identified and analyzed. Analysis focused on the general characteristics of the research, the conceptual change instructional approaches that were used, and the methods employed to evaluate the effectiveness of these approaches. The findings of this review support four assertions about the existing research: (1) astronomical phenomena have received greater attention than geological phenomena; (2) most studies have viewed conceptual change from a cognitive perspective only; (3) data about conceptual change were generated pre- and post-intervention only; and (4) the interventions reviewed presented limited opportunities to involve students in the construction and manipulation of multiple representations of the phenomenon being investigated. Based upon these assertions, the authors recommend that new research in the Earth and space science disciplines challenges traditional notions of conceptual change by exploring the role of affective variables on learning, focuses on the learning of geological phenomena through the construction of multiple representations, and employs qualitative data collection throughout the implementation of an instructional approach.

Junior secondary school students' conceptions about plate tectonics

ABSTRACT There are ongoing calls for research that identifies students’ conceptions about geographical phenomena. In response, this study investigates junior secondary school students’ (N = 95) conceptions about plate tectonics. Student response data was generated from semi-structured interviews-about-instances and a two-tiered multiple-choice test instrument developed and validated by the researchers. There were three main findings: (1) students held many alternative conceptions about plate tectonics, most of which have not been reported in previous research; (2) students’ alternative conceptions most commonly concerned the formation of landforms at tectonic plate boundaries; and (3) students were particularly confused about the cause of subduction at an oceanic-continental convergent plate boundary. The findings of this study can assist geography teachers and researchers to develop innovative pedagogies that consider students’ pre-instructional alternative conceptions and promote conceptual change learning.

Potential of Service-Learning to Promote Sustainability Competencies in Pre-Service Teachers: A Case Study.

This research investigates the potential of service-learning to develop a situated, embodied and critically reflective human agency for sustainability. It employs document analysis to review the intended curriculum and the institutional contexts of national and international cases wherein service-learning is a component of pre-service teacher education. Exploration of intended learning outcomes and project and assessment experiences across three cases reveal the potential of service-learning to develop in pre-service teachers sustainability competencies involving participative action with community partners to achieve agreed-upon outcomes, as well as critically reflective capacities and understanding of how, in their future classrooms, schools and communities, they can serve as adaptive, lifelong learners and agents for social and environmental change. Findings also suggest that explicitly linking service-learning activities, guided by social justice and equity principles, with a (social) sustainability agenda may further validate the utilisation of and investment in service-learning and civic engagement in teacher and higher education settings.

A Case Study of an Australian University Embedding EfS in a Pre-service Teaching Program

As part of a whole-of-program approach to embedding sustainability in a pre-service, 4-year Bachelor of Education program, academic staff at an Australian university engaged in collaborative projects to design dedicated sustainability subjects and embed science and sustainability principles, concepts, and issues across early childhood and primary subjects. This chapter examines aspects of learning, teaching, and assessment in a first-year core sustainability and science education subject, Foundations of Sustainability in Education; an embedded component in a third-year core professional studies subject, Early Childhood Education and Care; and a final-year elective, Environmental and Climate Change Education for the Tropics. The intent of these subjects is for pre-service teachers to develop understanding of the underlying science and complexity of key socio-ecological challenges, as well as the capacity to plan and implement sustainability and climate change learning experiences and actions in diverse school and community contexts. In order to promote pre-service teacher engagement and learning across multiple cohorts—including community-based Indigenous students and early childhood majors in online modes—the focus is on active and collaborative inquiry-based, technology-enabled, and praxis-oriented learning and assessment experiences.

Impact of Sustainability Pedagogies on Pre-Service Teachers' Self-Efficacy.

Education for sustainable development (ESD) espouses student-centred, transformative pedagogies that promote learning through active, participatory and experiential learning. Yet, traditional lectures provide limited opportunities for engaging students in such pedagogies. This article reports on the inclusion of sustainability pedagogies within the constraints of a traditional lecture to investigate the effect on pre-service teachers’ self-reported ESD self-efficacy. A quasi-experimental, pre–post test design with a non-randomized control group was applied whereby lectures in the treatment group adopted sustainability pedagogies, in addition to the more traditional teaching methods employed in both groups. While a significant improvement was observed in pre-service teachers’ ESD self-efficacy in both groups, there is no evidence to suggest that the inclusion of sustainability pedagogies is more effective for enhancing pre-service teachers’ ESD self-efficacy than traditional, teacher-centred pedagogies alone. Participants reported that an increase in their knowledge and understanding of sustainability concepts most strongly influenced their ESD self-efficacy.