Brendan Callahan

Two common reasons elementary preservice teachers have low self-efficacy with science teaching is their lack of content knowledge and past negative experiences with science teaching or learning. Holding low self-efficacy beliefs has negative impacts on both the method of science instruction and amount of science instruction delivered in the elementary classroom. Many researchers have successfully explored methods for improving elementary preservice teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy by providing positive, inquiry-based learning experiences during a science methods course, but the present study explores how to improve elementary preservice teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy beliefs by engaging them in socioscientific issues (SSI) during their elementary methods course. Using a mixed methods approach, we collected quantitative with the science teaching efficacy beliefs instrument part B (STEBI-B) and qualitative data through short answer responses focused on understanding their perceptions and confidence with science instruction. Our analysis of the qualitative data focused on identifying the influences for any change that resulted from the STEBI results. Our findings illustrate SSI as a commonly identified reason for positive changes in general science teaching self-efficacy. Implications for utilizing SSI as an approach to combat low science teaching self-efficacy are discussed.

In 2010, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) called for colleges and universities to “turn teacher education upside down” (pg. 2) and focus on clinical experiences, rather than coursework. This charge resulted in major shifts in teacher education programs in the USA as colleges and universities forged new partnerships to create yearlong clinical experiences that included co-teaching (Bacharach, Heck, & Dahlberg, 2010) and coaching (Strieker, Lim, Hubbard, Crovitz, Gray, Holbein, & Steffen, 2017). Early in 2018, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Commission on Clinical Experiences recognized and described the mutual benefits of expanding these partnerships between schools and universities to include various forms of collaboration, co-teaching and coaching. While these partnerships are increasing in number, little is known about the efficacy of the specific practices employed in the co-taught classroom. This self-study ex...

Reading the interesting article Discerning selective traditions in science education by Per Sund, which is published in this issue of CSSE, allows us to open the discussion on procedures for teaching science today. Clearly there is overlap between the teaching of science and other areas of knowledge. However, we must constantly develop new methods to teach and differentiate between science education and teaching science in response to the changing needs of our students, and we must analyze what role teachers and teacher educators play in both. We must continually examine the methods and concepts involved in developing pedagogical content knowledge in science teachers. Otherwise, the possibility that these routines, based on subjective traditions, prevent emerging processes of educational innovation. Modern science is an enormous field of knowledge in its own right, which is made more expansive when examined within the context of its place in society. We propose the need to design educative interactions around situations that involve science and society. Science education must provide students with all four dimensions of the cognitive process: factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge. We can observe in classrooms at all levels of education that students understand the concepts better when they have the opportunity to apply the scientific knowledge in a personally relevant way. When students find value in practical exercises and they are provided opportunities to reinterpret their experiences, greater learning gains are achieved. In this sense, a key aspect of educational innovation is the change in teaching methodology. We need new tools to respond to new problems. A shift in teacher education is needed to realize the rewards of situating science questions in a societal context and opening classroom doors to active methodologies in science education to promote meaningful learning through meaningful teaching.

There is an uneasy relationship between many college students and science. In some cases, this uneasiness is a result of perceived conflict between science and their personal views. The field of epistemology studies the nature of human knowledge, which has the potential to impact students’ views on science. We conducted a pilot study in order to quantify the relationship between college students’ epistemological views and their socio-cultural views of science. 37 undergraduate students (both science majors and non-majors) completed both the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory (EBI) and the Thinking about Science survey Instrument (TSSI). The EBI is designed to measure students’ views on five factors of knowledge, while the TSSI measures nine dimensions of scientific beliefs. We found a positive correlation between belief in an omniscient authority and certain knowledge. We also found these same students had a generally negative attitude towards science in general. This paper provides eviden...

This study describes a personal science story podcasting assignment that was developed to help preservice teachers reflect on their use of everyday and academic vocabulary in the context of science, as well as how to communicate effectively with their students. Podcasting assignments were collected from 16 elementary education candidates and nine Master of Arts in Teaching candidates. The kinds of personal science stories they wrote were categorized, along with the extent to which they used the podcasts to demonstrate their understandings of the contexts of their students and the relationship between academic and everyday vocabulary.

There is an uneasy relationship between many college students and science.  In some cases, this uneasiness is a result of perceived conflict between science and their personal views.  The field of epistemology studies the nature of human knowledge, which has the potential to impact students’ views on science.  We conducted a pilot study in order to quantify the relationship between college students’ epistemological views and their socio-cultural views of science.  37 undergraduate students (both science majors and non-majors) completed both the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory (EBI) and the Thinking about Science survey Instrument (TSSI).  The EBI is designed to measure students’ views on five factors of knowledge, while the TSSI measures nine dimensions of scientific beliefs.  We found a significant positive correlation between an innate ability to learn and a belief in quick learning. We also found a positive correlation between a belief in an omniscient authority and certain knowledge, however this correlation was not significant.  We also found these same students had a generally negative attitude towards science in general.  This paper provides evidence that there is a relationship between students’ epistemological views and how they perceive the scientific enterprise.

The concept of blended learning has become popular in secondary and tertiary education over the last decade.  A majority of students are expected to take classes either in the blended or fully online format in the next decade.  One framework for blended teaching that has become popular recently is the idea of the "flipped classroom," in which lecture materials are delivered online, while traditional homework assignments are completed in class. A second framework for effective online learning, the Community of Inquiry (CoI), was developed.  Three dimensions of CoI are cognitive presence, teacher presence, and social presence.  The dimensions of CoI also provide a framework for effective face to face teaching, particularly within the socioscientific issues framework.    This presentation will describe the CoI framework within the context of science education in general, and within the context of socioscientific issues in particular.

The purpose of this study was to explore students‟ development of reflective judgment due to a Socioscientific Issues based instruction. The Reflective Judgment Model is an ideal tool for assessing SSI instruction due to the parallels between them. The reflective judgment model and socioscientific issues movement are in many ways analogous as both utilize ill-structured problems, focus on evidence and the analysis of positions, and examine problems with moral or ethical components. Reflective thinkers are able to synthesize multiple lines of evidence to arrive at a “best” resolution. Results demonstrated qualitative and quantitative evidence revealing more sophisticated and nuanced epistemological stances toward higher stages of reflective judgment. Although statistical significance was not determined in this study, reflective judgment gains were higher than the literature suggests for high school students. Theoretical implications for utilizing SSI to advance students‟ reflective judgment are discussed.

There is a distinct divide between theory and practice in American science education.  Research indicates that a constructivist philosophy, while in many cases teachers continue to present science in a more traditional manner.  This study sought to explore possible relationships between socioscientific issues (SSI), a student-centered curriculum, and nature of science understanding.  The SSI movement focuses on the incorporation of social issues involving a moral or ethical component with scientific relevance.  Three main characteristics of the SSI movement are their open-endedness, their controversial nature, and the inclusion of moral or ethical reasoning (Zeidler & Sadler, 2008; Zeidler, Sadler, Simmons & Howes, 2005).  These components allow students to think critically on assigned issues, and discuss the topics with others who believe differently.  Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine both whole class differences as well as individual differences between the beginning and end of a semester in high school Biology I classes.  Six intact classes from the Tampa Bay area in Florida were used in the study.  Three of the classes were given a semester-long SSI based curriculum, while the comparison classes were taught in their teacher’s traditional manner.  Results indicated that a semester long treatment that did not incorporate explicit instruction enhanced some students’ nature of science understanding, however, the small sample size did not allow for statistical significance to take place with this developmental model.  Theoretical implications regarding the use of explicit use of socioscientific issues in the classroom are presented.