Scientific Argumentation In Pre-service Biology Teacher Education

This work aimed to analyze the poem “A Folha”, by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, seeking to identify the ideas of nature that can be enunciated in a Biology teacher training environment. For this, we resorted to Discourse Analysis, using the Bakhtin Circle as a theoretical-methodological framework. From the analysis, it was possible to see that the poem raises dialogues that permeate different ideas of a historically constructed nature, based on the ideas of Plato, Kant, Hegel and Marx and Engels. Furthermore, the analysis of the poem reminds us of the importance of such discussions for teacher education.

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Biologilæreres kryssing av kulturgrenser – fra en naturvitenskapelig kultur til en skolekultur

Nordic Studies in Science Education ◽

10.5617/nordina.6518 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 52-66

Author(s):

Mari Sjøberg ◽

Tone Fredsvik Gregers ◽

Marianne Ødegaard ◽

Kristin Glørstad Tsigaridas

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Nature Of Science ◽

Teaching Methods ◽

Biology Education ◽

Scientific Discourse ◽

Group Interview ◽

Laboratory Work ◽

Biology Teacher ◽

Biology Teachers ◽

Different Cultures

The aim of this article is to understand biology teachers’ challenges with laboratory work in the light of tensions between the different cultures, or discourses, in biology teacher education. The data material in this study consists of a survey with 314 responses from biology teachers as well as a group interview. Our findings suggest that teachers struggle to transform the knowledge and experience from their pure biology education into their practice in the laboratory. Concepts from a scientific discourse, such as ‘hypothesis’ and ‘report’, are therefore integrated into traditional teacher-directed laboratory tasks where the results are given in advance. We argue that this contributes to a misleading image of science. One of the major challenges for teachers, we argue, is to design appropriate contexts for addressing aspects of nature of science in the laboratory. However, many biology teachers report that they lack knowledge about teaching methods in the laboratory.

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Learning Opportunities in Biology Teacher Education Contribute to Understanding of Nature of Science

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci8030103 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 103 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Till Bruckermann ◽

Fridtjof Ochsen ◽

Daniela Mahler

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Nature Of Science ◽

Classroom Practice ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Education Programme ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Biology Teacher ◽

Biology Teachers ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Institutional Determinants

In order to educate scientifically literate children, teachers are required to include nature of science (NOS) in their classroom practice. However, as biology teachers’ own understanding of NOS is limited, promoting an initial understanding of NOS in teacher education is crucial. The aim of this study is to elucidate the importance of the first phase of teacher education for biology teachers’ understanding of NOS. More precisely, the study aims to examine the relationship between institutional determinants (e.g., the type of teacher education programme) and learning opportunities for pre-service biology teachers’ understanding of NOS. Pre-service biology teachers (N = 232) participated in a cross-sectional testing. The corresponding descriptions of N = 649 modules of biology teacher education from 20 German universities were analysed. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to relate the institutional determinants and the individual amount of learning opportunities to pre-service biology teachers’ understanding of NOS. Results reveal that both institutional determinants as well as the amount of learning opportunities are related to pre-service biology teachers’ understanding of NOS. This indicates that teacher education at university represents an important phase for biology teachers’ understanding of NOS. The results are discussed in terms of consequences for further research and teacher education.

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