Sonya N. Martin

Using Video in Science Teacher Education: An Analysis of the Utilization of Video-Based Media by Teacher Educators and Researchers

In this chapter, we examine trends involving video usage in science teacher education and science education research. We trace developments in video technologies and explore examples of the ways in which video/multimedia have been utilized in the education of science teachers. We conclude the review by summarizing our findings, and offer implications for research on the utilization of video and multimedia technologies in the preparation and professional development of science teachers. Specifically we raise questions and considerations for future research as it relates to science teacher education and research in science education.

Frameworks for Examining the Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender on English Language Learners in K-12 Science Education in the USA

In this chapter, we argue that intersectionality and cultural sociology can be used as complementary theoretical frameworks to gain multifaceted understandings about the learning needs of language minority (LM) and English language learner (ELL) students in science classrooms. By employing these frameworks, researchers can better understand the complex relationship between globalization and e|im|migration at global levels and the resulting impacts on school environments at local levels. We draw connections between international migration patterns and the impact on individual teachers, students, and communities in local contexts to illustrate some of the challenges facing teachers and students in linguistically and ethnically diverse science classrooms in two urban K-8 schools. We conclude this chapter by raising some questions related to policy, teacher practice, and science teacher education, which we feel are critical for promoting the academic success of LM/ELL students in K-12 science classrooms in the USA.

GLOBALIZATION AND SCIENCE EDUCATION

Processes of globalization have played a major role in economic and cultural change worldwide. More recently, there is a growing literature on rethinking science education research and development from the perspective of globalization. This paper provides a critical overview of the state and future development of science education research from the perspective of globalization. Two facets are given major attention. First, the further development of science education as an international research domain is critically analyzed. It seems that there is a predominance of researchers stemming from countries in which English is the native language or at least a major working language. Second, the significance of rethinking the currently dominant variants of science instruction from the perspectives of economic and cultural globalization is given major attention. On the one hand, it is argued that processes concerning globalization of science education as a research domain need to take into account the richness of the different cultures of science education around the world. At the same time, it is essential to develop ways of science instruction that make students aware of the various advantages, challenges and problems of international economic and cultural globalization.

Coteaching in teacher education: research and practice

The fundamental idea of coteaching is two or more teachers teaching together, sharing responsibility for meeting the learning needs of students and, at the same time, learning from each other. Coteachers plan, teach, and evaluate lessons together. Coteaching (without the hyphen) is distinguished from the hyphenated term “co-teaching” (used primarily in special education), team teaching, cooperative teaching, and collaborative teaching. Coteaching is the only one of these approaches that requires a commitment to coplanning, copractice, and coreflection; it serves as a methodology for preparing teachers and a pedagogy for improving teaching, and is based on a sociocultural theoretical framework. The aim of coteaching is threefold: to reduce the theory– practice gap in teacher education, to improve reflective practice in the classroom, and to develop further teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. Coteaching promotes more equal roles in the classroom, supporting a less hierarchical model of teacher practicum, in which coteachers share different knowledge and qualities, whilst developing more democratic classrooms. It is no small coincidence that research and practice in coteaching have emerged over the last 20 years. It chimes strongly with the ideas of “twenty-first century learning” in which students are facilitated to develop “twenty-first century skills and attributes,” such as critical thinking and problem-solving, collaboration across networks, curiosity and imagination, empathy and global stewardship, and agility and adaptability. Coteaching brings teachers together, and their shared expertise expands opportunities for students to learn. Moreover, coteaching encourages teachers to learn from one another before, during, and after enacting their planned curriculum. It is the sharing of expertise that is critical. For example, a pre-service teacher (PST) might share some of the latest ideas from educational research they bring from the university, which when combined with the pedagogical expertise of the cooperating teacher positions them to interrogate the theory and coreflect critically on the relative impact of putting the theory into practice. Indeed, they could develop new, local theory from doing so. The postmodern conceptualisation of twenty-first century learning suggests that knowledge is no longer characterised as knowing discrete information, but is redefined as something more active, such as a series of networks, or tools, that can “makes things happen.” Consequently, many concepts (scientific and otherwise) previously considered as “entities” are now thought of as “tools,” created by human endeavour and subject to change. Changes to twenty-first century teaching, therefore, include embracing the assessment of how students “use knowledge” as opposed to assessment of students’ mere reverbalisation of concepts. Today, learning is considered more of a social than an individual process; students learn more from dialogue and collective problem-solving than from reacting to material produced by a teacher. The emphasis is on learning about the unknown, as opposed to the known world. Coteaching provides a structure for teachers to enact such learning in coplanning, copractice, and coreflection. By creating and critiquing teaching that approaches “ideal” practice instead of focusing on the resources Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 2015 Vol. 43, No. 4, 277–280, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2015.1060927

How Does She Know? Re-visioning Conceptual Change from Feminist Research Perspectives

A feminist re-visioning of psychological and social perspectives on conceptions and conceptual change raises interesting issues and challenges. A psychological perspective to conceptual change proposes that learners develop a knowledge of the world through their experiences, yet feminist research in science education has shown how gendered those experiences can be. We take gender to be a social construction and other social categories such as race, ethnicity, class, religion and language also influence that construction. Building from the feminist slogan “the personal is political” we articulate in this chapter the research on gender issues in conceptual change and use feminist psychological and sociological theories to propose future directions for conceptual change research in science education.

Using Cogenerative Dialogues to Improve Coteaching for Language Learner (LL) Students in an Inclusion Science Classroom.

This paper presents findings from a study conducted in an urban elementary school in the United States with an English language learner (ELL) student and two teachers engaged in collaborative teaching in an inclusion science classroom. This study examines the efficacy of utilising cogenerative dialogues between an ELL student and his science teacher and English as second language teacher to improve instructional practices enacted during coteaching. Drawing from field notes, teacher and student interviews, and video captured during cotaught science lessons and during cogenerative dialogues between the student and his coteachers, we examined the ways in which cogenerative dialogue expands teachers’ agency to adapt curriculum and implement instructional strategies that can better meet the needs of their students. At the same time, we examined the ways in which participation in cogenerative dialogues with his teachers expanded this student’s agency as a science learner and a language learner.

Improving learning opportunities for special education needs (SEN) students by engaging pre-service science teachers in an informal experiential learning course

ABSTRACT Inclusive education (IE) has the potential to improve special education needs (SEN) students’ learning outcomes, but IE requires teachers receive adequate training to be effective. We introduce an approach to pre-service teacher preparation using experiential learning in an informal learning environment to educate beginning teachers about effective science teaching for SEN students. Using data collected from observations, survey, interviews, and autobiographical reflections, we explored how teachers’ engagement in an informal teaching experience impacted their perceptions about SEN students, their beliefs about the value of teaching science to SEN students, and their beliefs about their future responsibilities to support SEN students in inclusive classrooms. Findings expand our understanding of how to prepare new science teachers to improve science learning for students who are routinely marginalized in formal educational settings. Building from these findings, we discuss the need for transforming pre-service teacher education using university-based experiential learning courses that simultaneously offer SEN students targeted, high quality content learning experiences that could also have a positive impact on SEN students’ attitudes about and achievement in science. We conclude by raising questions about the need for expanded policy, teacher preparation programmes, and additional research focused on improving science teaching and learning for SEN students.

Employing a Sociohistorical Perspective for Understanding the Impact of Ideology and Policy on Educational Achievement in the Republic of Korea

In this chapter, we offer an overview of education in the Republic of Korea, paying particular attention to the sociohistorical contexts that have led to the development of the modern educational system and current practices in K–12 science education. Building from this introduction, we provide an analysis of recent trends in science education achievement on national and international assessments in an effort to highlight some of the challenges faced by science teachers and science education researchers with regard to variations in achievement by different segments of our student population. We draw implications from these findings about the need for innovative policies, research initiatives, and changes in science teacher practices and teacher education to address inequities in achievement at local and international levels. We conclude by raising questions about the impact of research and science teacher education on the success of current science education initiatives which seek to promote Korea’s continued advancement in political, economic, and educational arenas in international contexts.