ERIC Number: EJ1216036
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1475-939X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Impact of Multimedia Educative Curriculum Materials (MECMs) on Teachers' Beliefs about Scientific Argumentation
Loper, Suzanna; McNeill, Katherine L.; González-Howard, María; Marco-Bujosa, Lisa M.; O'Dwyer, Laura M.
Technology, Pedagogy and Education, v28 n2 p173-190 2019
Recent reform efforts in science education include a focus on science practices. Teachers require support in integrating these practices into instruction. Multimedia educative curriculum materials (MECMs), digital materials explicitly designed to support teacher learning, offer one potential resource for this critical need. Consequently, the authors investigated how teachers used MECMs and whether that use impacted their beliefs about the practice of scientific argumentation. They conducted a randomised experimental study with 90 middle school science teachers in the USA. Control and experimental groups taught the same curriculum, using a web-based teacher's guide. Additionally, experimental teachers received MECMs including 24 videos and 17 interactive reflective prompts. The authors collected multiple data sources: pre-surveys, backend website curriculum use, self-report curriculum use and post-surveys. Results suggest that enacting a curriculum with a focus on argumentation is associated with positive changes in teachers' beliefs about this practice. Furthermore, the authors observed a wide range in how teachers used the curriculum. In terms of self-efficacy, this differential use was associated with differences in changes to teachers' beliefs about argumentation. Teachers who enacted more lessons became more confident in their ability to teach argumentation. Additionally, experimental teachers had smaller improvements in self-efficacy, perhaps because the MECM videos problematised what teachers thought counted as argumentation.
Descriptors: Multimedia Materials, Instructional Materials, Persuasive Discourse, Video Technology, Science Curriculum, Attitude Change, Middle School Teachers, Teaching Guides, Cues, Self Efficacy, Outcome Measures, Individual Differences, Web Sites, Beliefs, Dialogs (Language), Reflective Teaching, Earth Science, Space Sciences, Educational Objectives, Student Characteristics, Science Instruction, Academic Ability
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A