ERIC Number: EJ822595
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Feb
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1571-0068
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Student-Teachers' Dialectically Developed Motivation for Promoting Student-Led Science Projects
Bencze, J. Lawrence; Bowen, G. Michael
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, v7 n1 p133-159 Feb 2009
School science systems tend to emphasize teaching and learning about achievements of science (such as laws and theories) at the expense of providing students with opportunities to develop realistic conceptions about science and science inquiry and expertise they could use to conduct their own science inquiry projects. Among reasons for such an emphasis, teachers' lack of experiences with realistic science inquiry appears to be particularly problematic. Accordingly, we engaged student-teachers in a university-based course that attempted to balance instruction about science and science inquiry with student-teachers' own theorization about science and science inquiry. Qualitative data collected mainly from nine student-teachers in four focus groups indicate that these student-teachers' motivation for promoting student-led science inquiry projects in schools significantly increased by the end of the course. Analyses suggest that this outcome was influenced by changes in their conceptions about the nature of science, changes in how they associated science inquiry with student learning, and the inductive-deductive dialectic immersion that was built into their pre-service methods course. Implications of these findings for science teacher education are explored in this paper.
Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Methods Courses, Science Projects, Teacher Education Curriculum, Scientific Principles, Focus Groups, Science Teachers, Science Instruction, Student Motivation, Student Projects, Inquiry, Scientific Concepts, Concept Formation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Author Affiliations: N/A