Making use of IT: web page

The use of the Web has become an essential part of teaching and learning in Australian schools. Nevertheless, many students lack knowledge of how to properly evaluate and cite Web-sourced information. This paper presents criteria, by which students can judge the reliability of Web resources, and guidelines on the citation of Web information. These strategies have been implemented successfully by the authors in their classes.

How do teachers investigate scientific concepts in an Early Childhood Environment?

Early Childhood Educators have an important role to fulfil in aiding children's development and understandings in the science curriculum. There are many different views and opinions on how science can be taught in an Early Childhood environment, it is therefore our aim to investigate how teachers feel about teaching science concepts and promoting science in the early childhood centre. We aim to discover how everyday activities relate to the nature of science within our everyday lives. The science curriculum is important in Early Childhood settings as it provides children with various opportunities to explore the natural world. We are hoping to gain a deeper understanding of how teachers are guiding and encouraging children to make sense of their experiences. It is also important that we explore how Early Childhood Educators understand their own practice in teaching science concepts in their curriculum.

Description of project: We will be completing a small inquiry based task which will require us to compile data collected from interviews, recordings from teachers in long day and kindergarten settings around the Geelong region.

Methodology: ln order to undertake this research we will be using a socio cultural framework, focusing on language in the social environment and play (basing our ideas on the theories of Vygotsky). We will be undertaking narrative accounts to obtain data which will be collated from three different sources.

Ethical implications of projects: We do not foresee any significant risks to any participant in this study. The topic of the research is uncontroversial, and we will be taking measures to ensure anonymity or confidentiality where appropriate.

Schools and teachers supporting student open investigations

This paper draws on a study of the BHP Billiton Science Awards to explore the ways in which open investigation work occurs in schools. The research used interviews with teachers and students and state organisers to develop a picture of what happens on the ground in running student open investigations, and to trace how schools have built a culture of investigation. The paper explores how schools develop and maintain practices that effectively support students' engagement in open investigation work in Science.

Australian pre-service secondary teacher education courses : challenges and Dilemmas

Effectiveness of patient feedback as an educational intervention to improve medical student consultation (PTA Feedback Study): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Oral feedback from clinical educators is the traditional teaching method for improving clinical consultation skills in medical students. New approaches are needed to enhance this teaching model. Multisource feedback is a commonly used assessment method for learning among practising clinicians, but this assessment has not been explored rigorously in medical student education. This study seeks to evaluate if additional feedback on patient satisfaction improves medical student performance.

O que e o método científico: uma reflexão crítica sobre o método científico como subsídio para o ensino das ciências naturais

Ensinar ciência e, acima de tudo, ensinar o método científico e desenvolver a atitude crítica do estudante. Isto significa substituir a visão da ciência como uma coleção de fatos e teorias definitivamente estabelecidos, pela visão da ciência como um conhecimento racional - Porque crítico -, conjectural, provisório, sempre capaz de ser questionado e corrigido. Significa também opor à visão da ciência como uma representação completa e perfeita de fenômenos diretamente observáveis, a visão da ciência como uma reconstrução idealizada e parcial da realidade, que explica o visível pelo invisível. Nessa linha de raciocínio, devemos opor à idéia de uma observação pura e imparcial dos fatos, a ideia da observação guiada por hipóteses e teorias. Ensinar o meto do cientifico é questionar a ideia de que descobrimos e verificamos hipóteses através de procedimentos indutivos, substituindo-a pela ideia de que inventamos conjecturas ousadas, surgidas de nossa imaginação. Essas conjecturas, contudo, deverão ser testadas o mais severamente possível, através de tentativas de refutação que façam uso de experimentos controlados. No lugar da ilusória busca de teorias verificáveis, verdadeiras -ou pelo menos cada vez mais prováveis devemos buscar teorias de maior refutabilidade, cada vez mais amplas, precisas, profundas, de maior grau de corroboração e, talvez, mais próximas da verdade. Finalmente, ensinar o método científico significa também criticar cada uma das visões alternativas de ciência, propondo novos critérios para avaliar hipóteses e teorias científicas. É desnecessário dizer que estes critérios, por sua vez, devem também ser criticados, visto que a ausência de discussão crítica e a aceitação passiva e dogmática de um conjunto de ideias ou teorias e a não ciência, a pseudociência, enfim, a negação do espírito crítico e da racionalidade do homem.

Quadrinhos nas aulas de ciências: narrando uma história de formação continuada

Located at the intersection of Science Education, Teacher Training and use of didactic Comics (HQ), the text aims to discuss the problem which thus sets: - What is the contribution of the incorporation of comics in the continuing education of teachers Natural Sciences of the early years of elementary school? - May be the comics for enabling science teaching? - How to contribute to a reflexive training of teachers of the early years? - In order to answer these questions, there was a collaborative action research in a school located in the city of Natal / RN, with three teachers who teach natural science in the early years of elementary school. The study involved the conduct of 13 meetings of in-service, under the focus on reflective practice, with the purpose of discussing topics underlying the teaching of science and the use of comics as a methodological strategy. All meetings were recorded on audio and transcripts. The teachers finally recorded the meetings by writing a portfolio. The teachers made use of 10 sessions with reading comics in science classes, which were video recorded and later watched by the educators in autoscopy sessions followed by individual interviews. From the collected data, several aspects that have emerged can be grouped into three categories: The difficult concept of science, teachers' work and the obstacles and possibilities of comics as a teaching strategy. In this sense, are woven assessments taking as its founding, look for the reflective and dialogic practices exercised in the classroom. In the analysis of the data, we can see the conceptual difficulties, methodological and pistemological questions of teachers for teaching science, but also the limitations of comic books for teaching. Learning more relevant appointed by the teachers is related to the importance of collective work to mitigate the training needs of teaching. Finally, signals that the HQ has a great potential for use in science classes, provided that the teacher conduct a careful planning for this, but that the meetings of continuing education promote moments of reflection on teaching practices that are capable of giving rise to new attitudes before the difficulties they depict

Literatura de monteiro lobato no ensino de ciências

Advocating education as a humanizing task, the humanizing function of literature and the importance of scientific education, this paper proposes linking Science and Literature in Science Teaching using two specific books of Monteiro Lobato in the final series of elementary school level. Adopting the action research methodology, an interdisciplinary approach, we used the books A Reforma da Natureza and Serões de Dona Benta in two classes (8th and 9th) at Escola Estadual Professor José Mamede, located in the town of Tibau do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte. The readings were performed in Portuguese Language s course and the scientific content were discussed in Science´s classrooms. The book A Reforma da Natureza permitted to approach issues related to the environment, while the use of Serões de Dona Benta showed particularly its effectiveness in questioning the concepts of matter, mass, weight and some questions about the Nature of Science (NOS). In general, the analysis of results shows that the readings of these two books permitted interaction and dialogicity in the classroom, as well as indicates the potential of these books in contextualing and questioning the scientific content contained in it. We advise, however, the need for the science teacher be aware of the conceptual mistakes present in literary works, avoiding erroneous learning and reinforcement of alternative conceptions

Formação continuada de professores de ciências para o ensino de astronomia nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental

Situated at the intersection of Continuing Formation, Science Teaching and content of astronomy, the research aims to discuss this problematic : What are the challenges encountered in a continuous formation in service of science teachers of the early years of elementary school with contents of astronomy? Aiming to answer this question, we carried out a collaborative action research in a school of Natal / RN, with 6 teachers who teach or lectured Natural Sciences in the early years of elementary school. The study involved 14 encounters of continuos formation in service, to enable a better understanding criticism and propositive concerning the teaching science, especially some content of astronomy for the initial years, through a shared discussion. To this end, we consider that more profound understanding of astronomical knowledge allows the establishment of relationships and connections between theoretical knowledge and the daily teaching practice. All discussions were recorded on audio and transcripts. This research was realized using questionnaires and diary, however, the audio recording was its principal working instrument. About the data collected, several issues emerged as the little field of conceptual content, several misconceptions among teachers about the content of astronomy, lack of adequate space in the school environment to study and the need for collective reflection on the practice. Finally, is indicated that the contents of astronomy should be used in classrooms of Sciences, provided that teaching plan of action consider the existence of diverse alternative conceptions about the subject, among both teachers and students, and the need of permanente continuing education in the teaching

Atividades de campo no ensino das ciências: investigando concepções e práticas de um grupo de professores

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Analogias e metáforas no ensino de física: o discurso do professor e o discurso do aluno

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Conhecimento básico de genética: concluintes do ensino e graduandos de ciências biológicas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Concepções de ciência nas obras de Monteiro Lobato: mapeamento e análise de termos científicos no livro Serões de Dona Benta

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

O uso de textos alternativos para o ensino de Ciências e a formação inicial de professores de Ciências

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Aproximações entre a obra de Júlio Verne e o ensino de física

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)