Employing the five-factor mentoring instrument : analysing mentoring practices for teaching primary science.

Primary science education is a concern around the world and quality mentoring within schools can develop preservice teachers’ practices. A five-factor model for mentoring has been identified, namely, personal attributes, system requirements, pedagogical knowledge, modelling, and feedback. Final-year preservice teachers (mentees, n=211) from three Turkish universities were administered a previously validated instrument to gather perceptions of their mentoring in primary science teaching. ANOVA indicated that each of these five factors was statistically significant (p<.001) with mean scale scores ranging from 3.36 to 4.12. Although mentees perceived their mentors to provide evaluation feedback (95%), model classroom management (88%), guide their preparation (96%), and outline the science curriculum (92%), the majority of mentors were perceived not to assist their mentees in 10 of the 34 survey items. Professional development programmes that target the specific needs of these mentors may further enhance mentoring practices for advancing primary science teaching.

An in-depth study of a teacher engaged in an innovative primary science trial professional development project

The implementation of effective science programmes in primary schools is of continuing interest and concern for professional developers. As part of the Australian Academy of Science's approach to creating an awareness of Primary Investigations, a project team trialled a series of satellite television broadcasts of lessons related to two units of the curriculum for Year 3 and 4 children in 48 participating schools. The professional development project entitled Simply Science, included a focused component for the respective classroom teachers, which was also conducted by satellite. This paper reports the involvement of a Year 4 teacher in the project and describes her professional growth. Already an experienced and confident teacher, no quantitative changes in science teaching self efficacy were detected. However, her pedagogical content knowledge and confidence to teach science in the concept areas of matter and energy were enhanced. Changes in the teacher's views about the co-operative learning strategies espoused by Primary Investigations were also evident. Implications for the design of professional development programmes for primary science teachers are discussed.

The potentials of student initiated netspeak in a middle primary science-inspired mutliliteracies project

There is no denying that the information technology revolution of the late twentieth century has arrived. Whilst not equitably accessible for many, others hold high expectations for the contributions online activity will make to student learning outcomes. Concurrently, and not necessarily consequentially, the number of science and technology secondary school and university graduates throughout the world has declined substantially, as has their motivation and engagement with school science (OECD, 2006). The aim of this research paper is to explore one aspect of online activity, that of forum-based netspeak (Crystal, 2006), in relation to the possibilities and challenges it provides for forms of scientific learning. This paper reports findings from a study investigating student initiated netspeak in a science inspired multiliteracies (New London Group, 2000) project in one middle primary (aged 7-10 years) multi-age Australian classroom. Drawing on the theoretical description of the Five phases of enquiry proposed by Bybee (1997), an analytic framework is proffered that allows identification of student engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and evaluation of scientific enquiry. The findings provide insight into online forums for advancing learning in and motivation for science in the middle primary years.

School-based experiences : developing primary science preservice teachers' practice

Reviews into teacher education emphasise the need for preservice teachers to have more school-based experiences. In this study, a school-based experience was organised within a nine-week science curriculum university unit that allowed preservice teachers’ repeated experiences in teaching primary science. This research uses a survey, questionnaire with extended written responses, and researcher observations to investigate preservice teachers’ (n=38) learning experiences in two school settings. Survey results indicated that the majority of these preservice teachers either agreed or strongly agreed that school-based experiences developed their: personal-professional skill development (100%); system requirements (range: 81-100%); teaching practices (81-100%); student behaviour management (range: 94-100%); providing student feedback (89-94%); and reflection on practice (92-100%). Qualitative data provided insights into their development particularly for science content knowledge and receiving positive reinforcement on effective teaching behaviours. According to these preservice teachers, the school-based experiences facilitated “teachable moments – having the knowledge or skills to run with students’ questions or ideas” and allowed preservice teachers to “critically reflect between groups to make the task flow better”. Embedding school-based experiences needs to be part of each and every preservice teacher education unit so preservice teachers can develop confidence, knowledge and skills within authentic school contexts.

Inquiry teaching in primary science : a phenomenographic study

In spite of having a long history in education, inquiry teaching (the teaching in ways that foster inquiry based learning in students) in science education is still a highly problematic issue. However, before teacher educators can hope to effectively influence teacher implementation of inquiry teaching in the science classroom, educators need to understand teachers’ current conceptions of inquiry teaching. This study describes the qualitatively different ways in which 20 primary school teachers experienced inquiry teaching in science education. A phenomenographic approach was adopted and data sourced from interviews of these teachers. The three categories of experiences that emerged from this study were; Student Centred Experiences (Category 1), Teacher Generated Problems (Category 2), and Student Generated Questions (Category 3). In Category 1 teachers structure their teaching around students sensory experiences, expecting that students will see, hear, feel and do interesting things that will focus their attention, have them asking science questions, and improve their engagement in learning. In Category 2 teachers structure their teaching around a given problem they have designed and that the students are required to solve. In Category 3 teachers structure their teaching around helping students to ask and answer their own questions about phenomena. These categories describe a hierarchy with the Student Generated Questions Category as the most inclusive. These categories were contrasted with contemporary educational theory, and it was found that when given the chance to voice their own conceptions without such comparison teachers speak of inquiry teaching in only one of the three categories mentioned. These results also help inform our theoretical understanding of teacher conceptions of inquiry teaching. Knowing what teachers actually experience as inquiry teaching, as opposed to understand theoretically, is a valuable contribution to the literature. This knowledge provides a valuable contribution to educational theory, which helps policy, curriculum development, and the practicing primary school teachers to more fully understand and implement the best educative practices in their daily work. Having teachers experience the qualitatively different ways of experiencing inquiry teaching uncovered in this study is expected to help teachers to move towards a more student-centred, authentic inquiry outcome for their students and themselves. Going beyond this to challenge teacher epistemological beliefs regarding the source of knowledge may also assist them in developing more informed notions of the nature of science and of scientific inquiry during professional development opportunities. The development of scientific literacy in students, a high priority for governments worldwide, will only to benefit from these initiatives.

Practical insights into curricula integration for primary science

As indicated in a previous Teaching Science article, effective planning for curricula integration requires using standards from two (or more) subject areas (e.g., science and English, science and art or science and mathematics), which also becomes the assessment foci for teaching and learning. Curricula integration of standards into an activity necessitates pedagogical knowledge for developing students’ learning in both subject areas. For science education, the skills and tools for curricula integration include the use of other key learning areas (KLAs). A balance between teacher and student-centred science education programs that draw on democratic processes (e.g., Beane, 1997) can be used to make real-world links to target students’ individual needs. This article presents practical ways to commence thinking about curricula integration towards using Australian curriculum standards.

Learning to Teach Primary Science

Many primary teachers and preservice teachers experience a fear of science that translates into a fear of teaching science. Consequently, primary students may not receive a full science education curriculum, particularly as the teaching of science is avoided by many primary teachers, as shown in an Australian report by Goodrum, Hackling and Rennie ( 2001 ). Preservice teachers need to develop confi dence to teach primary science, by understanding what science is, knowing how to plan and assess science learning, and teaching science skills and knowledge in ways that engage students in science education.

Preparing pre-service teachers to teach primary science : an integrated approach using the theme of sustainability

An integrated approach to assessment afforded pre-service teachers the opportunity to learn about a local sustainability issue through three learning areas: science and technology,the arts and studies of society and environment (SOSE). Three sustainability issues chosen by the pre-service teachers are presented in this paper highlighting the science concepts explored. Affordances and constraints of the integrated task are discussed in the conclusion.

Understanding preservice teachers’ development of pedagogical knowledge practices when co-teaching primary science to peers

Preservice teachers articulate the need for more teaching experiences for developing their practices, however, extending beyond existing school arrangements may present difficulties. Thus, it is important to understand preservice teachers’ development of pedagogical knowledge practices when in the university setting. This mixed-method study investigated 48 second-year preservice teachers’ development of pedagogical knowledge practices as a result of co-teaching primary science to peers. Data were collected through a survey, video-recorded lessons, extended written responses and researcher observations. The study showed how these preservice teachers demonstrated 9 of 11 pedagogical knowledge practices within the co-teaching arrangement. However, research is needed to determine the level of development on each pedagogical knowledge practice and how these practices can be transferred into authentic primary classroom settings.

Mentors’ personal attributes for enhancing their mentees’ primary science teaching

Problems can occur in mentoring relationships if there is a “lack of mentoring skills on the part of the mentor” (Soutter, Kerr - Roubicek & Smith, 2000, p. 6), which includes the effectiveness of mentor’s personal attributes. There is little Australian research that analyses primary teachers’ personal attributes for mentoring; hence this study aims to examine preservice teachers’ perceptions of their mentors’ personal attributes. Specifically, this study focuses on mentors’ personal attributes in relation to their mentoring of primary science teaching....

Mentors and modelling primary science teaching practices

Introduction There are concerns about the science performance of Australian primary school students (Good rum, Hackling & Rennie, 2001), which requires a “major set of initiatives that focus on teacher beliefs and practices in the teaching and learning of science” (Sharpley, Tytler & Conley, 2000, p. 1). The science education community is calling for a “new approach” to science education in American schools, with an approach where a “mentor models, then coaches, then scaffolds, and then gradually fades scaffolding” (Barab & Hay, 2001, pp. 74, 90). The mentor, as modeller of practice, appears to be a key factor for enhancing science teaching, which may assist towards implementing science education reform

Mentoring preservice teachers of primary science

Perceptions of mentors' practices related to primary science teaching were obtained from final year preservice teachers after a 4-week practicum. Responses to a survey (n=59), constructed through literature-based practices and attributes of effective mentors, identified perceived strengths and weaknesses in the area of mentoring preservice teachers of primary science. Through exploratory factor analysis, this pilot study also tested the unidimensionality of mentoring practices and attributes assigned to categories (factors) that may characterise mentoring in primary science teaching. These suggested factors, namely, personal attributes, system requirements, pedagogical knowledge, modelling, and feedback had Cronbach alpha coefficients of internal consistency reliability of 0.93, 0.78, 0.94, 0.90, and 0.81 respectively. Survey responses indicated that mentors generally do not provide specific mentoring in primary science teaching. It is argued that science education reform requires the identification of factors and associated attributes and practices of mentoring primary science in order to effectively develop preservice teachers in primary science teaching.