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ERIC Number: EJ1200867
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Dec
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0157-244X
EISSN: N/A
Teaching Explicitly and Reflecting on Elements of Nature of Science: A Discourse-Focused Professional Development Program with Four Fifth-Grade Teachers
Piliouras, Panagiotis; Plakitsi, Katerina; Seroglou, Fanny; Papantoniou, Georgia
Research in Science Education, v48 n6 p1221-1246 Dec 2018
The nature of science (NOS) has become a central goal of science education in many countries. This study refers to a "developmental work research" program, in which four fifth-grade elementary in-service teachers participated. It aimed to improve their understandings of NOS and their abilities to teach it effectively to their students. The 1-year-long, 2012-2013, program consisted of a series of activities to support teachers to develop their pedagogical content knowledge of NOS. In order to accomplish our goal, we enabled teacher-researchers to analyze their own discourse practices and to trace evidence of effective NOS teaching. Many studies indicate the importance of examining teachers' discussions about science in the classroom, since it is teachers' understanding of NOS reflected in these discussions that will have a vital impact on students' learning. Our proposal is based on the assumption that reflecting on the ways people form meanings enables us to examine and seek alternative ways to communicate aspects of NOS during science lessons. The analysis of discourse data, which has been carried out with the teacher-researchers' active participation, indicated that initially only a few aspects of NOS were implicitly incorporated in teacher-researchers' instruction. As the program evolved, all teacher-researchers presented more informed views on targeted NOS aspects. On the whole, our "discourse-focused professional development" program with its participatory, explicit, and reflective character indicated the importance of involving teacher-researchers in analyzing their own talk. It is this involvement that results in obtaining a valuable awareness of aspects concerning pedagogical content knowledge of NOS teaching.
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Grade 5; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A