Improving teachers in-service professional development in mathematics and science: The role of postsecondary institutions. ), Constructivism in education. A series of studies conducted over the past several decades has shown that teachers are one of the most important factors influencing students. How should student learning in laboratory experiences be assessed? The changing nature of work: Implications for occupational analysis. (2004). CrossRef Google Scholar Johnstone, A. H., & Al-Shuaili, A. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27, 761-776. Register for a free account to start saving and receiving special member only perks. Cobus van Breda was born and schooled in Windhoek, Namibia. Schwartz, R., and Lederman, N. (2002). Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, 51-61. (2004). Available at: http://www.educationnext.org/20021/50.html [accessed Feb. 2005]. surveys defined poor administrative support as including a lack of recognition and support from administration and a lack of resources and material and equipment for the classroom. The web-based inquiry science environment (WISE): Scaffolding knowledge integration in the science classroom. (2004). Lunetta, V.N. Undergraduate science students, including preservice teachers, engage. The role of the laboratory in science learning. Associations of science teachers have taken differing positions on how administrators can best support teachers in preparing for and cleaning up after laboratory experiences. (1997). Laboratory experiences and their role in science education. Prospective and practicing secondary school science teachers knowledge and beliefs about the philosophy of science. You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Laboratory Instructors are responsible for maintaining the routine preventative maintenance of all laboratory equipment. to the content of textbooks, to visual aids, or to laboratory equipment. As is known, it is suggested that closedended - experiments cannot contribute much to meaningful the learning of students [13]. Available at: http://www.nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section4/indicator24.asp [accessed Feb. 2005]. Respecting childrens own ideas. The available evidence indicates that the current science teaching workforce lacks the knowledge and skills required to lead a range of effective laboratory experiences. School administrators can take several approaches to providing time for this type of ongoing discussion and reflection that supports student learning during laboratory experiences. For example, among high school teachers who had participated in professional development aimed at learning to use inquiry-oriented teaching strategies, 25 percent indicated that this professional development had little or no impact, and 48 percent reported that the professional development merely confirmed what they were already doing. Designing a community of young learners: Theoretical and practical lessons. ), International handbook of science education (pp. A study of Ohios Statewide Systemic Initiative in science and mathematics also confirmed that sustained professional development, over many hours, is required to change laboratory teaching practices (Supovitz, Mayer, and Kahle, 2000, cited in Windschitl, 2004, p. 20): A highly intensive (160 hours) inquiry-based professional development effort changed teachers attitudes towards reform, their preparation to use reform-based practices, and their use of inquiry-based teaching practices. 1 Introduction, History, and Definition of Laboratories, 3 Laboratory Experiences and Student Learning, 5 Teacher and School Readiness for Laboratory Experiences, 7 Laboratory Experiences for the 21st Century, APPENDIX A Agendas of Fact-Finding Meetings, APPENDIX B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Clearly, their preservice experiences do not provide the skills and knowledge needed to select and effectively carry out laboratory experiences that are appropriate for reaching specific science learning goals for a given group of students. The laboratory has been given a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that there are rich benefits in learning from using laboratory activities. (2001). of habitual errors aids pupil in understanding nature of satisfactory performance Managing Practice Effectively laboratory and clinical experiences not merely repeating same exercise essential to goal attainment in psycho-motor and cognitive areas a teacher can manipulate whole-part approaches Helping Students . Organizational conditions that support inquiry in high school science instruction. The teachers ability to use sophisticated questioning techniques to bring about productive student-student and student-teacher discussions in all phases of the laboratory activity is a key factor in the extent to which the activity attains its goals (Minstrell and Van Zee, 2003). Catley, K. (2004). Davis, and P. Bell (Eds. In developing an investigation for students to pursue, teachers must consider their current level of knowledge and skills, the range of possible laboratory experiences available, and how a given experience will advance their learning. Data from the 2000 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. School administrators play a critical role in supporting the successful integration of laboratory experiences in high school science by providing improved approaches to professional development and adequate time for teacher planning and implementation of laboratory experiences. Generally, the body of research is weak, and the effects of teacher quality on student outcomes are small and specific to certain contexts. In addition, they found that commercially available laboratory manuals failed to provide cognitively challenging activities that might help to bridge the gap between teachers lack of knowledge and improved laboratory experiences (McComas and Colburn, 1995, p. 120). A teachers academic science preparation appears to affect student science achievement generally. 357-382). Educating teachers of science, mathematics, and technology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum. Properly designed laboratory investigations should: have a definite purpose that is communicated clearly to students; focus on the processes of science as a way to convey content; incorporate ongoing student reflection and discussion; and enable students to develop safe and conscientious lab habits and procedures (NRC 2006, p. 101-102). It may be useful, however, to begin . The paraprofessional would help with setup, cleanup, community contacts, searching for resources, and other types of support (National Science Teachers Association, 1990). A study of a much smaller sample of teachers yielded similar findings (Catley, 2004). Linn, M.C. Bayer facts of science education 2004: Are the nations colleges adequately preparing elementary schoolteachers of tomorrow to teach science? Strong academic preparation is also essential in helping teachers develop the deep knowledge of science content and science processes needed to lead effective laboratory experiences. The National Science Teachers Association takes a slightly different position, suggesting that administrators provide teachers with a competent paraprofessional. Finally, an . Journal of Science Teacher Education, 6(2), 120-124. Undergraduate science departments rarely provide future science teachers with laboratory experiences that follow the design principles derived from recent researchintegrated into the flow of instruction, focused on clear learning goals, aimed at the learning of science content and science process, with ongoing opportunities for reflection and discussion. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Physics Department. Teachers do not have sole responsibility for carrying out laboratory experiences that are designed with clear learning outcomes in mind, thoughtfully sequenced into the flow of classroom science instruction, integrating the learning of science content and process, and incorporating ongoing student reflection and discussion, as suggested by the research. The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. light, such as reflection, transmission, and absorption. Supporting classroom discussions may be particularly challenging for teachers who work with a very diverse student population in a single classroom, or those who have a different cultural background from their students (see Tobin, 2004). Science Teacher Responsibilities: Designing, developing, and delivering quality lesson plans and curricula that adhere to national and school guidelines. International Journal of Science Education 22(7), 665-701. McComas and Colburn (1995) established an inservice program called Laboratory Learning: An Inservice Institute, which incorporated some of the design elements that support student learning in laboratory experiences. (ED 409-634.) Chapel Hill, NC: Horizon Research. The following 10 roles are a sampling of the many ways teachers can contribute to their schools' success. Rather, learning is an active process which goes on within the students by guiding the learning . On the basis of a review of the available research, Lunetta (1998, p. 253) suggests that, for students, time should be provided for engaging students in driving questions, for team planning, for feedback about the nature and meaning of data, and for discussion of the implications of findings, and laboratory journals should provide opportunities for individual students to reflect upon and clarify their own observations, hypotheses, conceptions.. (2004). Wright, S.P., Horn, S., and Sanders, W. (1997). Goldhaber, D.D., and Brewer, D.J. However, formulating such questions can be difficult (National Research Council, 2001a, 2001b). Because efforts to improve teachers ability to lead improved laboratory experiences are strongly influenced by the organization and administration of their schools, the following section addresses this larger context. Shulman, L.S. (1990). In a year-long study of prospective biology teachers (Gess-Newsome and Lederman, 1993), the participants reported never having thought about the central ideas of biology or the interrelationships among the topics. Loucks-Horsley, S., Love, N., Stiles, K.E., Mundry, S., and Hewson, P.W. 7082.) However, experts do not agree on which aspects of teacher qualitysuch as having an academic major in the subject taught, holding a state teaching certificate, having a certain number of years of teaching experience, or other unknown factorscontribute to their students academic achievement (Darling-Hammond, Berry, and Thoreson, 2001; Goldhaber and Brewer, 2001). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum. They must address the challenge of helping students to simultaneously develop scientific reasoning, master science subject matter and progress toward the other goals of laboratory experiences. The proper performance of these duties requires the undivided attention of the teaching assistant during each laboratory period. They also face uncertainty about how many variables students should struggle with and how much to narrow the context and procedures of the investigation. Reporting on a post-institute survey, McComas and Colburn note that a surprising number of teachers felt that the safety sessions were most important (p. 121) (no numbers were reported). The program was designed in part to address weakness in science teachers understanding of the nature of science, which was documented in earlier research (Khalic and Lederman, 2000; Schwartz and Lederman, 2002). There are promising examples of teacher professional development focused on laboratory experiences. (1998). Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching meeting, March 23, Chicago, IL. Teachers need to use data drawn from conversations, observations, and previous student work to make informed decisions about how to help them move toward desired goals. Revisiting what states are doing to improve the quality of teaching: An update on patterns and trends. Does teacher certification matter? (2004). Learning in the laboratory: Some thoughts from the literature. With the support of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), several medical colleges and research institutions provide laboratory-based science experiences for science teachers and their students. More than 90 percent of the class indicated that the experiment was highly effective in demonstrating the difficulty of scientific investigations and the possibility of failure in science (Glagovich and Swierczynski, 2004). At Vanderbilt University, Catley conducts a summer-long course on research in organismal biology. (2002). As we have discussed, teachers face an ongoing tension between allowing students greater autonomy in the laboratory and guiding them toward accepted scientific knowledge. Zahopoulos, C. (2003). Teachers also need to know how to judge the quality of students oral presentations. Do all student have access to laboratory experiences? Erroneous ideas about respiration: The teacher factor. Responsibilities of Teachers Clinical Supervision of Medical Students Resident, Fellow and Graduate Teaching Assistant as Teacher Policy Responsibilities of Learners Course Directors' Expectations of Students The teacher-learner relationship confers rights and responsibilities on both parties. laboratory notebooks, essays, and portfolios (Hein and Price, 1994; Gitomer and Duschl, 1998; Harlen, 2000, 2001). (2003). Washington, DC: Author. Specifically, it challenges the assumption that having a college degree in science, by itself, is sufficient to teach high school science. Smith, P.S., Banilower, E.R., McMahon, K.C., and Weiss, I.R. (2004). The distinction between key ideas in teaching school physics and key ideas in the discipline of physics. ), Proceedings of the Conference on K-12 Outreach from University Science Departments. The elementary level science methods course: Breeding ground of an apprehension toward science? Teachers College Record, 105(3), 465-489. laboratory as well as for the laboratory use in science teaching. Pedagogical content knowledge may include knowing what theories of natural phenomena students may hold and how their ideas may differ from scientific explanations, knowledge of the ideas appropriate for children to explore at different ages, and knowledge of ideas that are prerequisites for their understanding of target concepts. However, many high school teachers currently lack strong academic preparation in a science discipline. It was also clear that teachers enhanced their understanding of science subject matter specific to the lab they experienced. Guiding students through the complexity and ambiguity of empirical. Olsen, T.P., Hewson, P.W., and Lyons, L. (1996). The poor quality of laboratory experiences of most high school students today results partly from the challenges that laboratory teaching and learning pose to school administrators. Periodic checks indicated that the science internship helped teachers improve their understanding of [the nature of science] and [science inquiry].