Towards a functional literacy approach to teach the language of science in the Singapore classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-148
Author(s):  
Jonathon Adams ◽  
Fei Victor Lim
Keyword(s):  
Science Teaching ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
School Science ◽  
Functional Literacy ◽  
Joint Construction ◽  
Language Of Science ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Support Students

Abstract This paper describes a pilot study exploring how an approach drawing on systemic functional linguistics can inform science teaching. This study is an exploratory effort between researchers from a linguistics background and secondary school science teachers in the Singapore science classroom. The teachers designed activities in the joint construction of texts to support students’ negotiation of meanings and clarification of conceptual understandings. With this, the teachers applied strategies to draw attention to the language of science in their lessons. The study points to the value of the functional literacy approach in science teaching and presents implications on teacher professional learning as well as the role of linguistics in developing disciplinary literacy in students.

scholarly journals Science Teaching Excites Medical Interest: A Qualitative Inquiry of Science Education during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Xiaoshan Z. Gordy ◽  
Wesley Sparkmon ◽  
Hyllore Imeri ◽  
Andrew Notebaert ◽  
Marie Barnard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
School Science ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
High School Science ◽  
Technology In Teaching ◽  
Medical Interest

The national or local lockdowns in response to COVID-19 forced education systems to rapidly shift from in-person to distance learning. The hasty transition undoubtedly imposed tremendous challenges on teachers, students and distance learning infrastructure. The purpose of this study was to investigate how high school science teachers who had previously been trained in flipped-learning and advanced educational technology through the Science Teaching Excites Medical Interest (STEMI) program perceived their transition to distance learning during this pandemic. In this study eleven teachers were interviewed with a semi-structured interview guide. Data were analyzed using the deductive-inductive content analytic approach. Our results indicated that teachers reported having more confidence in using technology for teaching online due in part to their participation in the STEMI program. They also reported internet access as one of the most significant barriers, both for students and teachers. While some teachers thought that students may feel more in control of learning due to absence of time and place limits with distance learning, others may struggle to stay engaged without the classroom support they would normally have received. Teachers generally experienced increased workloads and harder work–life balance with online teaching. In spite of the unforeseen challenges, the pandemic situation afforded teachers with opportunities to adopt different technology in teaching and foresee the need for technology integration in order to better prepare for the unexpected in the future.

Bolstering Content by Promoting Language and Literacy in the Urban Science Classroom

2019 ◽  
pp. 121-160
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Renn ◽  
Annie Laurie Duguay
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
School Science ◽  
Middle School Science ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Program Participant ◽  
Language Of Science

This chapter focuses on the creation and implementation of lesson modules related to developing language skills in the middle school science classroom. These modules, which focus on academic language development for students who are English learners or speakers of non-standard dialects, are part of the curriculum in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program for middle school science educators at a large urban U.S. university. Drawing on the literature surrounding the academic language of science and language development, the content of these modules is appropriate for teacher educators and science teachers at all levels. The module content was designed around three components, linguistic understandings, critical language awareness, and pedagogical modeling, and exemplifies the Standards of Professional Development Excellence established by the Center for Applied Linguistics. This chapter describes the module creation, observations from the module delivery, and program participant responses to the materials and content.

scholarly journals Interest in Dialogic and Non-Dialogic Teacher Talk Situations in Middle School Science Classroom

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1531-1546
Author(s):  
Kalle Juuti ◽  
Anni Loukomies ◽  
Jari Lavonen
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
School Science ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
School Students

AbstractPrevious research has shown that dialogic teacher talk not only supports students’ understanding but also raises their interest. However, there is little, if any, research on the connection between dialogic talk and student interest in classroom situations. To investigate this connection, we collected video observations and experience sampling data. In total, 87 middle school students aged 14 to 16 participated in the study. Data were collected from the classes of six science teachers, and three lessons were video recorded in each teacher’s classroom. During the lessons, students were asked several times to express their interest in the situation through the experience sampling method (ESM). The measurements took place in situations where the teacher either talked with the students or talked to the whole group of students. The talk situations were categorised as dialogic or non-dialogic, based on the video recording. On a five-point scale of interest, the median value was 3.3 in non-dialogic talk situations and 3.5 in dialogic talk situations. We hypothesised that students’ interest would be higher in dialogic talk situations than in non-dialogic talk situations. The hypothesis was tested with a related samples Wilcoxon signed rank test, and the results supported the hypothesis (Z  =  −  2.62; p  <  0.05). The results suggest that dialogic talk may trigger students’ interest in science learning.

scholarly journals Factors That Influence Curricular Adoption in a Sustainability Focused Marine Science Professional Development for In-Service Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Goodale
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Science ◽  
Marine Science ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

The focus of this article is on the evaluation and outcomes of a professional learning opportunity that focused on 13 current K–12 public school science educators in the United States. This teacher training concentrated on sustainability education that utilized marine sciences as a unifying concept. Findings from this training helped to identify models within teacher professional development in marine science that lead to comprehensive adoption of presented curricula. Four established models/frameworks of professional development were identified and their subsequent classroom implementation was evaluated. Results include adoption rates of the various session materials, the impact and effect size of differing variables (such as deliverables or standards alignment) among the four models and their frameworks and changes in perceptions towards sustainability initiatives. These outcomes underscore several methods and strategies for successful science teacher professional development implementation in regard to marine sciences.

scholarly journals KOREAN SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND ACTUAL USAGE OF EDUCATIONAL THEORIES/TEACHING STRATEGIES IN THEIR TEACHING

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-423
Author(s):  
Jongwon Park ◽  
Youngmin Kim ◽  
Jongseok Park ◽  
Jin-Su Jeong ◽  
Young-Shin Park
Keyword(s):  
Science Teacher ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
Science Teacher Education ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Educational Theories ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Theory Practice Gap

Many researchers have reported that there is a significant gap between theory and practice in education. This research sought to contribute to this work by examining the theory/practice gap in secondary school science teaching in South Korea. To do this, a questionnaire was developed to investigate the gap between Korean science teachers’ knowledge about Educational Theories and Teaching Strategies (ETTS) and the usage of it in their science classroom. The questionnaire was administered to 87 science teachers and results showed that even though participants were knowledgeable about many ETTS, only 26% of the teachers reported using it in their teaching. Major reasons reported for this gap in theory and practice were restrictive educational environments that did not support the use of ETTS, irrelevancy and difficulties of ETTS, and students' low interest in learning science. However, teachers’ perception of the importance of ETTS positively affected their usage of ETTS. Implications of the results are discussed, and alternative in-service training program is suggested to activate science teachers’ ETTS what they already know and to guide them to use ETTS in their actual science teaching. Key words: theory-practice gap, science teacher education, secondary science teacher, teaching strategy.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Format and Cognitive Depth of Science Teacher-Generated Questions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Talbot ◽  
Ruth Wylie ◽  
Erik Dutilly ◽  
Rodney Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
School Science ◽  
Middle School Science ◽  
Free Response ◽  
Question Classification ◽  
Science Teaching Practices ◽  
Asking Questions ◽  
Middle School Science Teachers ◽  
The Relationship

Asking questions is an important component of promoting inquiry and argumentation in the science classroom. We investigated the relationship between the cognitive depth and format of teacher-generated questions to be used with classroom response technologies. Twelve middle school science teachers were randomly assigned to write constrained or free-response questions on four different topics and to rate the cognitive depth of those questions. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to guide question classification, we found that the teacher-generated free-response questions were 5.58 times more likely to be at the understanding level than the remembering level and 2.05 time more likely to be at the applying level than the understanding level. Our findings provide evidence of a potential barrier to adopting inquiry-based science teaching practices.

The Society’s Scientific Research in Schools Committee

1963 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-184
Keyword(s):  
Science Teaching ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
School Science ◽  
Teaching Science ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
British Isles ◽  
Thomas Merton

In 1957 Council appointed an ad hoc committee under the Chairmanship of Sir Thomas Merton to consider whether the Royal Society might take any useful action to improve and extend the teaching of science in schools. One of its conclusions indicated that a difficulty in the recruitment of science teaching staff was the lack of facilities for research. A joint committee was therefore established in July 1957 with representatives of the Royal Society and the (then) Science Masters’ Association, to consider the problems of science masters who wished to pursue research and to arrange provision of advice in response to particular requests. The terms of reference were deliberately framed to give the widest scope and can be summed up as ‘To assist school science teachers who wish to pursue research’. In setting up this committee the Council of the Royal Society was of the opinion that the teaching of science in schools may be improved if those teaching science were enabled to carry out some kind of research at school in such a way that senior pupils may be able to take an interest in any research being pursued at their schools. On the inception of the scheme some 1383 schools in the British Isles were advised and publicity given in various appropriate journals; many replies were received warmly welcoming the formation of this new committee.

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