How relationships between views, understandings, and implementations of inquiry-based teaching in biology contribute to science teacher identity

This study examines the relationships between preservice primary teachers’ (PSTs) views, understandings, and implementations of inquiry-based teaching (IBT) in primary biology education. In earlier studies, these relationships have been researched separately. Exploring them simultaneously allows a greater insight into the process of teacher change and science teacher identity development. Drawing on the narrative method, data included learning diaries, lesson plans, and interviews during a two year research period. Our findings reveal the complex relationships between three aspects of IBT. For example, embracing views of IBT were sometimes accompanied by a significant understanding of IBT and other times by a weak understanding. Whereas, hesitant views of IBT also went together with significant understanding. We discuss these relationships in the light of their impact on science teacher identity and provide suggestions for teacher education.

Kindergarten Teacher Students’ Knowledge Regarding Crucial Environmental Challenges

Global warming and a decline in pollinating insects are among the most crucial challenges today and a sufficient degree of scientific literacy is required for citizens in order to understand these issues and take action for sustainable development in general. Several studies have investigated knowledge associated with the greenhouse effect and the effect of the ozone layer. These have deduced that despite improvement in teaching tools, a high proportion of pupils and students still confuse these two phenomena. Previous research has also shown that plant biology is a neglected subject and students struggle to differentiate between pollination and seed dispersal. This study investigates the understanding regarding the mechanisms underlying global climate change and pollination by conducting a survey with four classes of Norwegian kindergarten teacher students, at the beginning of the academic year (n = 103), and by asking follow-up questions after completed teaching (n = 111). It was observed that approximately 40 percent of the students confused the greenhouse effect with the effect of the hole in the ozone layer. One fifth of the students mentioned photosynthesis while describing the importance of the Sun for life on Earth. About one third of them connected pollen to plant reproduction and two thirds believed that pollen is seeds. A survey at the end of the academic year showed that a substantial proportion of the students displayed teaching resilience. These results can be interpreted in the light of constructivist learning theory and might partly be explained by the role mass media play in influencing scientific literacy. For future citizens to make informed decisions, ecological issues should be prioritised in education.

Naturvitenskapelige praksiser og tenkemåter – på vei mot et tolkningsfellesskap

Scientific practices are introduced in curricula around the world, replacing the more general concept of inquiry. There are many different definitions of scientific practices, and the purpose of this article is to contribute to a common understanding of what scientific practices are and how they can be implemented and assessed in the classroom. We analyzed the Norwegian curriculum LK20 and found that teachers are mainly left on their own in how to interpret, implement and assess scientific practices. To address the lack of support, we selected a set of central scientific practices based on LK20, the research literature and international curricula and described the practices as explicit and close to teaching practice as possible. Implications for use are discussed, together with a call for other researchers to join the discussion.

Students’ use of Justifications in Socioscientific Argumentation

Research focusing on students’ argumentation in socioscientific issues (SSI) shows that students tend to base their arguments on values rather than knowledge. This study explores Swedish upper secondary chemistry students’ written argumentation. The data consists of student texts written at the end of an intervention designed to develop skills related to high quality argumentation. The results show that after being taught about argumentation and the context of SSI, students mainly base their arguments on content knowledge. Value justifications are present in students’ texts, but constitute a smaller proportion. Beside content knowledge- and value justifications, we found a third category – “reasoning” – in which students draw conclusions, or make predictions of future events, to support or refute a claim. The justifications in the argumentative texts include a breadth of subject areas in which chemistry knowledge plays an important role. This study suggests that content knowledge constitutes an important part in student argumentation.

Pre-service science teachers’ and in-service physics teachers’ views on the knowledge and skills of a good teacher

Science teacher knowledge and skills have been thoroughly discussed by researchers; however, less is known about how teachers themselves conceptualise their professional qualities. We asked first and final-year pre-service science teachers and in-service physics teachers to describe the knowledge and skills needed to be a good science/physics teacher. Data was collected through a one-item questionnaire, followed by interviews. Using thematic coding with inductively defined codes as well as codes derived from theoretical perspectives on teacher knowledge and skills (notably the Refined Consensus Model of PCK), we found that all respondent groups emphasised science content knowledge as important. In-service teachers also often described external factors such as working conditions. First-year pre-service teachers put more emphasis on pedagogical skills and personality traits, whereas final-year pre-service teachers expressed a more integrated view of science teacher knowledge and skills. Further, we discuss the need for teacher education to focus on integrating science content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge through articulating aspects of PCK, and on giving pre- and in-service teachers arenas for professional development and for research-based discussions of teaching and learning.

Teaching and learning through scientific practices in the laboratory in biology education

The overall aim of this thesis is to explore challenges and opportunities with teaching and learning through scientific practices in the laboratory in biology education. This thesis is based on three articles that are introduced and discussed in an extended abstract. My focus is on practice in the laboratory, and in the thesis, I have investigated practice in two different ways. First, I have investigated upper secondary biology teachers’ practices as reported in a survey and group interview (Article I). Secondly, I have analyzed undergraduate biology students’ practices through microscale analysis of their reasoning when constructing representations in the laboratory (Article II and III). The findings from Article I show that the biology teachers’ primarily report that they implement teacher-directed laboratory work with the aim of illustrating content knowledge. The findings from Article II and III shows how different representations, such as drawings and gestures, support students’ model-based reasoning. Based on these findings, I argue for the fruitfulness of a focus on modelling through representation construction as a scientific practice in the laboratory.

“I call it frost.” Features of scientific social language during inquiry-based learning on the particulate nature of matter

The particulate nature of matter (PNM) is central to learning science and is a difficult concept for both children and adults. The purpose of this study is to examine how teaching materials from an integrated science and literacy curriculum on the PNM affects communication between pre-service teachers. We were especially interested in examining communication during an activity phase and whether and how participants used PNM models. The interactions between participants were recorded with headcams and analysed using a framework developed by Mortimer and Scott in 2003. The findings revealed that the participants mainly described what they observed directly using scientific words and concepts, but they did not necessarily use PNM models or theoretical knowledge spontaneously. Research indicates that the ability to use knowledge at a theoretical level is key to understanding chemical concepts, so our study underscores the importance of explicitly asking participants to use models and theoretical knowledge.

Students’ understanding of the cell and cellular structures

This study aimed to investigate Norwegian eighth-grade students’ preconceptions of cells, the development of their understanding of cellular structure and function during cell biology instruction, and their understanding of the cell as a system. We conducted pre- and posttests including drawings, images and statements with 28 students. Our findings indicate that most students had a simplified view of cells prior to instruction but developed significant knowledge about cellular structures and different types of cells during instruction. However, several misconceptions arose, and some students seemed to alter their correct preconceptions. This suggests that teachers need to address misconceptions during instruction and support integration of students’ previous and new knowledge. Additionally, we suggest that focusing on numerous structures and cells from different organisms confuses students and complicates the process of achieving a systemic view of the cell.

Hvordan kan et utforskende undervisnings- opplegg i naturfag støtte læring og motivasjon hos elever med stort læringspotensial?

This article presents how an inquiry-based teaching unit designed for the regular classroom can support the motivation and learning of gifted students. Inquiry-based teaching was conducted with such students, and data were gathered via anonymous questionnaires in which the students were asked how they perceived the learning activities. The responses were clustered around five themes: instructive teaching, deep learning, interest, variation and mastering. Our results indicate that these five aspects support students’ learning directly and indirectly through motivation. The inquiry-based teaching unit is distinct in that it allows the learner to immerse him or herself in a topic of interest and in varied and advanced tasks, deepening subject knowledge and enhancing practical and creative ways of working. The relevance and applications of the subject knowledge were found to be additional motivating factors. The teaching unit provides examples of several adaptation strategies recommended for gifted students integrated into the regular classroom.