scholarly journals The key characteristics of project-based learning: how teachers implement projects in K-12 science education

2022 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anette Markula ◽  
Maija Aksela
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
K 12

AbstractThe aim of this multiple-case study was to research the key characteristics of project-based learning (PBL) and how teachers implement them within the context of science education. K-12 science teachers and their students’ videos, learning diaries and online questionnaire answers about their biology related PBL units, within the theme nature and environment, were analysed using deductive and inductive content analysis (n = 12 schools). The studied teachers are actively engaged in PBL as the schools had participated voluntarily in the international StarT programme of LUMA Centre Finland. The results indicate that PBL may specifically promote the use of collaboration, artefacts, technological tools, problem-centredness, and certain scientific practices, such as carrying out research, presenting results, and reflection within science education. However, it appeared that driving questions, learning goals set by students, students’ questions, the integrity of the project activities, and using the projects as a means to learn central content, may be more challenging to implement. Furthermore, although scientific practices had a strong role in the projects, it could not be defined how strongly student-led the inquiries were. The study also indicated that students and teachers may pay attention to different aspects of learning that happen through PBL. The results contribute towards a deeper understanding of the possibilities and challenges related to implementation of PBL and using scientific practices in classrooms. Furthermore, the results and the constructed framework of key characteristics can be useful in promoting research-based implementation and design of PBL science education, and in teacher training related to it.

scholarly journals Project-based learning in integrated science education: Active teachers’ perceptions and practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Outi Haatainen ◽  
Maija Aksela
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Integrated Science ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Content Understanding ◽  
Pedagogical Competence

Project-based learning (PBL) is a promising teaching method for integrated science education that has gained momentum in educational research and curriculum reforms, especially as a method to enhance 21st century skills and connected worldview. How teachers implement PBL greatly affects students’ content understanding and development of skills. The purpose of this qualitative study is to highlight active teachers’ PBL practices and their perceptions of the advantages and challenges of implementing PBL to better promote the implementation of PBL in teacher education programs and in integrated science education. This study consisted of two parts: (1) a qualitative-led survey and (2) a case study. First, the data for the survey was collected from January to March 2017 through an online reporting form of an international StarT programme. This programme supports the implementation of interdisciplinary and collaborative PBL in science, mathematics and technology education. 244 teachers from early childhood education to upper secondary school participated from 28 countries. Second, 12 PBL units reported by the teachers were chosen for a case study. The teachers exploited PBL practices that were theme- and inquiry-based, collaborative and engaging to students. However, closer inspection revealed variation and defects in the practices particularly in relation to assessment, using reflection and student-centred approach. In addition, teachers reported several challenges relating to the implementation of PBL. The results indicate that teachers see PBL as beneficial but need support with the implementation. Science teachers’ pedagogical competence in PBL could be promoted through collaborative learning in which students, teachers and other participants are learning from each other.

scholarly journals A case for examining pre-service teacher preparation for inquiry teaching science with technology

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris T. Shively ◽  
Randy Yerrick
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Inquiry Teaching ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

Inquiry has been the framework for guiding reform-based science instruction. All too often, the role of technology is treated tacitly without contributions to this framework. This case study examines a collection of pre-service teachers enrolling in two educational technology courses and the role these experiences play in promoting inquiry teaching. Interviews, field notes, surveys, reflective digital narratives and student-generated exhibits served as the data informing the analysis of inquiry experiences which shaped the enacted lessons of science teachers. Implications for research and practices are discussed.Keywords: teacher reflection; science education; technologyCitation: Research in Learning Technology 2014, 22: 21691 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v22.21691

scholarly journals TEACHERS’ VIEW OF LANGUAGE(S) IN (CLIL) SCIENCE EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY IN PORTUGAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 636-649
Author(s):  
Valentina Piacentini ◽  
Ana Raquel Simões ◽  
Rui Marques Vieira
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Teacher Interviews ◽  
Verbal Language

The development of meaningful environments at school for the learning of Science as well as of foreign languages is an educational concern. CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), aimed at the students’ acquisition of both the foreign Language and specific subject Content, is an approach that may promote the learning of English in use during subject classes and could result in the improvement of conditions and practices of Science education. Research, actually, reveals that teaching methodologies aware of language – such as CLIL – and other semiotic modes implied in Science are beneficial for the learning of Science. Studying a CLIL programme (“English Plus” project, EP), in which Science is taught/learnt with/in English, is thus relevant. A case study on the EP project and its participants (English and Science teachers, students involved in different school years) in one lower secondary state school in Portugal was carried out. In the present research, qualitative data collected through teacher interviews are presented and discussed, with the goal of understanding the role of Language(s) (verbal language in the mother tongue or English and other representation modalities) in the teaching of Science for EP teachers, both in conventional and project classes. A greater teacher awareness and use of Language(s), when an additional language (English, here) is also present for Science education, results from this work. This contributes to research on CLIL Science studies and teacher reflections on adopting a language-focused approach for Science education, also when the mother tongue is spoken. Keywords: CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), EFL (English as a foreign language), language-focused science education, qualitative design, reflections on teaching.

Bridging the Gap: Bringing Professionals into the Classroom to Effectively Teach Environmental Science Concepts

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 618-624
Author(s):  
Mallory Ware ◽  
Christie Sampson ◽  
Delaney Lann ◽  
Erica Linard ◽  
Lauren Garcia Chance
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
Real World ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Community Science ◽  
K 12

Hands-on learning is a highly effective teaching method for topics in STEM disciplines. Unfortunately, environmental science teachers sometimes lack the tools to engage their students in hands-on experimentation in real-world research outside of the classroom. Partnerships between science professionals and teachers can help address this disparity, and operating within an established community science program is an excellent way for teachers and professionals to provide K–12 students opportunities for involvement in real-world research. We developed a four-stage program that maximizes the benefits of bringing together members of the professional and academic sectors; the stages include Learn, Collect, Report, and Communicate (LCRC). The goal of this program is to bring science professionals into a K–12 classroom to emphasize the importance of conducting research using the scientific method, to promote responsible community science, improve students' data literacy and critical thinking skills, and highlight the relevance of science communication. We demonstrate this program with a case study using water quality research in high school AP classes. Evaluations of the case study indicate this framework, and the engagement with science professionals alters students' perceptions of science and scientists while giving them the skills, knowledge, and confidence to pursue scientific endeavors.

Projects The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education

1995 ◽  
Vol 88 (9) ◽  
pp. 781
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Library Media ◽  
Electronic Catalog ◽  
Exciting Source ◽  
Mathematics And Science Education ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Mathematics And Science Teachers ◽  
Mathematics And Science

Everj’ teacher is pressed for time and plagued by the problem of finding information about new resources quickly and efficiently. K—12 mathematics and science teachers and library media spe�cialists now have a new and exciting source of information about curriculum and professional development materials. The Eisenhower National Clearing-house for Mathematics and Science Education (ENC) allows free access to its comprehensive electronic catalog of K-12 curriculum resources.

scholarly journals "I can't believe I just said that" : discursive filters and beginning mathematics teachers' enactment of ambitious practice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Cara Haines
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Pedagogical Discourses

After being introduced to "ambitious" teaching methods during teacher education, only some beginning teachers attempt to enact those methods, as others gravitate toward the conventional practices that overwhelm K-12 settings. To learn more about why, I conducted a multiple-case study of four beginning secondary mathematics teachers who graduated from three cohorts of one teacher education program and went on to teach in two different schools. Through longitudinal interviews and classroom observations, I examined the teachers' enactment of ambitious practice through the lenses of their discursive teaching identities (critical pedagogical discourses) and perceptions of messages about teaching circulating within their institutional settings (contextual discourses). Findings revealed that the extent to which teachers' critical pedagogical discourses acted as resources for filtering out contextual pressures to teach in conventional ways helped to explain their enactment of ambitious practice. Among other implications, these results suggest that teachers' discourse development should be a more explicit focus of teacher education.

scholarly journals Exploring How Research Experiences For Teachers Changes Their Understandings Of The Nature Of Science And Scientific Inquiry

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanlyn R. Buxner
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Informal Science Education ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Research Experiences For Teachers

<p>The nature of science is a prevalent theme across United States national science education standards and frameworks as well as other documents that guide formal and informal science education reform. To support teachers in engaging their students in authentic scientific practices and reformed teaching strategies, research experiences for teachers offered in national laboratories, university research centers, and national field-sites promise opportunities to help teachers update their current understanding of STEM fields and experience firsthand how scientific research is conducted with the end goal of supporting more inquiry-based teaching approaches in their classrooms. This qualitative interpretive study used an adapted Views of Nature of Science and Views on Scientific Inquiry surveys and protocols to investigate changes in 43 practicing teachers understandings about the nature of science and scientific inquiry as a result of participation in one of three summer science research programs. Each program provided participants with research experiences alongside professional researchers as well as activities intended to increase participants abilities to provide inquiry-based science learning activities for their students. Data were collected using open-ended surveys pre-program, post-program and long-term follow-up surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, along with researchers observations and field-notes. Participation in these programs led to small, measurable enhancements in teachers understandings of scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Teachers prior experience with research was found to have the strongest relationship to their knowledge of the nature of science and scientific inquiry. The data in this study provides evidence that research experiences can provide valuable experiences to support teachers improved knowledge of how science is conducted.</p>

scholarly journals DEFINING TEACHER OWNERSHIP: A SCIENCE EDUCATION CASE STUDY TO DETERMINE CATEGORIES OF TEACHER OWNERSHIP

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 659-674
Author(s):  
Ana Valdmann ◽  
Jack Holbrook ◽  
Miia Rannikmäe
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Teacher ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sense Of Ownership

This study seeks to put forward a justified definition for the concept of Teacher Ownership, and establishes levels of science teacher ownership, based on a hierarchy of categories, using phenomenographic analysis. Such ownership is based on a meaningful science teacher internalisation of a motivational context-based teacher approach, established via a prior CPD programme. In so doing, the study distinguishes between teachers’ self-efficacy levels attained at the end of the CPD and teacher ownership indicating the capability of propagating the desired teaching to students and other teachers. The phenomenographic analysis, based on semi-structured interviews, is carried out with 10 science teachers, 3 academic years after the administered CPD programme. From an analysis of perceptions, 3 distinct categories of sustainable science teacher ownership, based on 5 distinct teaching dimensions, reflect variations in orientation of teacher ownership. The main conclusions are that sustainable teacher ownership differs from terms such as a sense of ownership, towards ownership and self–efficacy and that, in this study, teacher ownership can be described as being exhibited by the science teachers in paradigmatic, experiential and emotional ownership categories. Keywords: phenomenographic analysis, self-efficacy, teacher ownership, teacher ownership categories.

scholarly journals Chair Perceptions of Trust between Mentor and Mentee in Online Doctoral Dissertation Mentoring

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linnea Rademaker
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Doctoral Dissertation ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Personal Connections ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
The Relationship

We explored online dissertation chairs’ perceptions of trust in the mentor—mentee relationship, as trust was identified as a crucial factor in the success of doctoral students. Through the implementation of a multiple-case study, and a qualitative, online questionnaire, and through qualitative data analysis, we discovered 16 chairs’ perceptions of trust and that student vulnerability is an important part of the relationship that chairs consistently work to alleviate. Findings point to the importance for chairs to establish trust through feedback, consistency, and personal connections with students. Second, chairs perceived student vulnerability to include both students’ discussion of their academic skills (or lack thereof) and their willingness to share personal information. Chairs were very resourceful in enacting strategies to alleviate all types of student vulnerability, including recognizing student strengths and pointing to the positives of vulnerability and by offering scholarly resources for students to develop their academic strengths.

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