Barriers inhibiting inquiry-based science teaching and potential solutions: Perceptions of positively inclined early adopters

In recent years, calls for the adoption of inquiry-based pedagogies in the science classroom have formed a part of the recommendations for large-scale high school science reforms. However, these pedagogies have been problematic to implement at scale. This research explores the perceptions of 34 positively inclined early-adopter teachers in relation to their implementation of inquiry-based pedagogies. The teachers were part of a large-scale Australian high school intervention project based around astronomy. In a series of semi-structured interviews, the teachers identified a number of common barriers that prevented them from implementing inquiry-based approaches. The most important barriers identified include the extreme time restrictions on all scales, the poverty of their common professional development experiences, their lack of good models and definitions for what inquiry-based teaching actually is, and the lack of good resources enabling the capacity for change. Implications for expectations of teachers and their professional learning during educational reform and curriculum change are discussed

A Review of High School Level Astronomy Student Research Projects over the last two decades

Since the early 1990s with the arrival of a variety of new technologies, the capacity for authentic astronomical research at the high school level has skyrocketed. This potential, however, has not realized the bright-eyed hopes and dreams of the early pioneers who expected to revolutionise science education through the use of telescopes and other astronomical instrumentation in the classroom. In this paper, a general history and analysis of these attempts is presented. We define what we classify as an Astronomy Research in the Classroom (ARiC) project and note the major dimensions on which these projects differ before describing the 22 major student research projects active since the early 1990s. This is followed by a discussion of the major issues identified that affected the success of these projects and provide suggestions for similar attempts in the future.Comment: Accepted for Publication in PASA. 26 page

Differences in Perception Between Students and Teachers of High School Science: Implications for Evaluations of Teaching and Classroom Evaluation.

The science teacher in the modern high school acts as the designer and driver of the in-class practice. In this role, the teacher must broadly assess the effect of the practice on the student. This would rely on accurate self-knowledge of how they act in class and impact their students. In this study we explore these issues by comparing the difference in responses of 86 teachers and 2512 Year 9 and 10 students to an instrument probing their perceptions of their in-class practice. We report two significant findings. First, not only do teachers constantly positively overrate their in-class practice but secondly, these perceptions are completely unrelated to how their students see their classrooms. This implies that using teachers as the sole source of evaluation about their own classroom practice is problematic and that evaluation should always be endeavoured to be undertaken at the level of both teachers and students

Our Solar Siblings: A high school focused robotic telescope-based astronomy education project

In this paper, a robotic telescope-centric high-school level astronomy education project, Our Solar Siblings (OSS) is outlined. The project, an LCO official education partner, was formed as an institution-independent non-profit collaboration of volunteers officially in 2014, although the first version of the curriculum materials and approach was initially first designed in 2010. We outline the five goals of the project and the three approaches (formal classroom, independent student research and providing support to similar endeavours) we implement to try and achieve these goals. The curriculum materials, a central part of the project, are outlined as are their connections to various curriculum. The independent research project aspect and recent activity is presented. The article concludes with a brief update on the OSS evaluation which drives the educational design and the project’s future directions as of 2017

Apropiación conceptual de la astronomía en el contexto de la educación primaria

Spa: Esta investigación surge desde el reconocimiento de la astronomía como una ciencia que posibilita la interdisciplinariedad, genera interés ycuriosidad en personas de todas las edades y ha sido pionera en el desarrollo del pensamiento científico. La astronomía permite la consolidación de algunos conceptos propios de las ciencias naturales, y propicia los avances e innovación tecnológica que han aportado en el desarrollo social de las civilizaciones. A partir de estas potencialidades, se reconoce el estado actual de los procesos didácticos en la enseñanza de esta ciencia y sus perspectivas en Colombia. Esta investigación se sustenta en una revisión sistemática del desarrollo de la investigación y la producción académica generada entre 2010 y 2020, así como en el contraste de estas tendencias con los avances que otros países han estado desarrollando en este campo. Estas tendencias plantearon la necesidad de ahondar esfuerzos en la culturización científica en astronomía del país desde aspectos como la divulgación científica, hasta la apropiación de espacios curriculares. Luego de evidenciar la escasez de proyectos investigativos que vinculen la población primaria y el enfoque CTS, se plantea una secuencia didáctica que propone una inmersión en el quehacer científico de un astronauta a partir del desarrollo de 6 misiones, en las que se presentan procesos dialógicos, formulación de hipótesis, cuestionamientos e interpretación de resultados de experimentaciones caseras. Por otro lado, esta secuencia didáctica tiene una adaptación a la situación pandémica y se desarrolla virtualmente con niños de 4º de educación básica primaria. Para la interpretación de las potencialidades de apropiación conceptual se plantea el análisis de discursos orales y escritos de los niños, donde se encontró una amplia apropiación conceptual, así como el desarrollo de algunas habilidades, que se constituyen como un aporte en la innovación didáctica de la astronomía para básica primaria.Eng: This research arises from the recognition of astronomy as a science that enables interdisciplinarity, generates interest and curiosity in people of all ages and it has been a pioneer in the development of scientific thought. Astronomy allows the consolidation of some typical concepts of natural sciences and propitiates advances and technological innovation that have contributed in the social development of civilizations. Based on these potentialities, the current state of the didactic processes in the teaching of this science and its prospects in Colombia is recognized. This research is substantiated on a systematic review of research development and academic production generated between 2010 and 2020, as well as the contrast of these trends with the advances that other countries have been developing in this field. These tendencies raised the need to deepen efforts in the scientific acculturation in astronomy of the country from aspects such as scientific dissemination to the appropriation of curricular spaces. After recognizing the shortage of research projects that link the primary population and the STS approach, a didactic sequence is proposed, which presents an immersion in the scientific work of an astronaut through the development of 6 missions. It has dialogic processes, hypothesis formulation, questioning and interpretation of results of home experiments. On the other hand, this didactic sequence has an adaptation to the pandemic situation and it is developed virtually with children in the 4th grade of primary education. The analysis of oral and written discourses of children is proposed for the interpretation of the potentialities of conceptual appropriation, where a wide conceptual appropriation was found, as well as the development of some skills, which are constituted as a contribution in the didactic innovation of astronomy for basic primary.Bibliografía y webgrafía: páginas 124-137Trabajo de grado de pregrado laureado.PregradoLicenciado en Ciencias Naturales y Educación Ambienta

Robotic telescopes and student research in the school curriculum around the OECD countries

The aim of this paper is to explore the presence and possible incorporation of inquiry-based learning approaches using Robotic Telescopes and Student Research in the regular science curriculum. This study uses preliminary findings from an extensive ongoing study, which is currently reviewing the extent of astronomy content in the school curriculum of the 35 member countries from the OECD in addition to two emerging nations in modern astronomy – China and South Africa, which are not part of the OECD. Analysis of curriculum documents from 28 OECD countries, including China and South Africa, reveals that although there is a prevalence of astronomy related content in most grades, incorporating Robotic Telescopes and Student Research into the regular science curriculum is limited by two interdependent factors. Firstly, the majority of curricula introduce astronomy-related concepts through a descriptive lens, with a focus on the “what?”, rather than the “how?” or “why?”. Secondly, astronomy in comparison to other topics gets very little time allocation. Robotic Telescopes provide teachers with enormous potential to teach students not only topics related to science, but also to afford students the opportunity to engage in “authentic science”. Thus, it is vital for the members of the astronomy community to play a greater role in the development of curricula

K 1-6: an asymmetric planetary nebula with a binary central star

We present new imaging data and archival multiwavelength observations of the little studied emission nebula K 1-6 and its central star. Narrow-band images in H-alpha (+ [NII]) and [OIII] taken with the Faulkes Telescope North reveal a stratified, asymmetric, elliptical nebula surrounding a central star which has the colours of a late G- or early K-type subgiant or giant. GALEX ultraviolet images reveal a very hot subdwarf or white dwarf coincident in position with this star. The cooler, optically dominant star is strongly variable with a period of 21.312 +/- 0.008 days, and is possibly a high amplitude member of the RS CVn class, although an FK Com classification is also possible. Archival ROSAT data provide good evidence that the cool star has an active corona. We conclude that K 1-6 is most likely an old bona fide planetary nebula at a distance of ~1.0 kpc, interacting with the interstellar medium, and containing a binary or ternary central star. The observations and data analyses reported in this paper were conducted in conjunction with Year 11 high school students as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant science education project, denoted Space To Grow, conducted jointly by professional astronomers, educational researchers, teachers, and high-school students.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA

Students’ experiences, perceptions and performance in junior secondary school science: An intervention study involving astronomy and a remote telescope.

Both national and international research raise concerns about science education in primary and secondary schools where a declining interest in, and less positive attitude towards, science are reported (e.g., Goodrum, Hackling & Rennie, 2000; Osborne & Collins, 2000; American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1990). An Australian national report (Goodrum et al. 2000) notes the difference between the intended (ideal) and the implemented (actual) science curriculum. The report contrasts the two pictures of science education and recommends transforming pedagogy, learning experiences and curriculum to reflect more the ideal picture. The clear implication is that the ideal will enhance the teaching and learning of science in schools. The research reported here investigates the impact of an educational program, based on astronomy that involves using a remotely controlled telescope over the Internet and which employs five aspects of the ideal picture of science education (Goodrum et al. 2000), on students’ perceptions of science at school and the knowledge outcomes generated. The program was introduced into 101 junior secondary science classes drawn from 30 schools located in four Australian educational jurisdictions. This thesis examines the impact of the educational program on: students’ perceptions of the science they encounter at school; their knowledge of certain astronomical phenomena; and the relationship between the perceptions of students and their teachers concerning the science they experience or teach in junior secondary school. A concurrent nested mixed-method approach involving a quasi-experimental nonrandomised pre-test/post-test design complemented by qualitative techniques is used to gain insights into participants’ thoughts concerning their experiences in science before, during and after the program. Specifically, data were collected using: student and teacher questionnaires; an astronomy diagnostic test; and student and teacher interviews. Results show that on the pre-diagnostic test students displayed extremely low levels of astronomical knowledge and knew little of the content that was supposed to be covered in primary school or in the first year of secondary school. The post-diagnostic test data revealed a highly significant increase in students’ knowledge of astronomical phenomena. Different trends were observed, however, across year levels in relation to students’ ability to explain their answers and in the quality of their responses. In addition, the results indicated that students exhibited negative perceptions of science at school prior to the commencement of the program, demonstrating that little has changed since the 1999 data collection period conducted by Goodrum et al. (2000). Comparisons of the pre- and post-occasion responses showed that there were highly significant differences in students’ perceptions of science and in the use of technology. There was considerable variation across groups of teachers and students, in their respective classes, in relation to their perceptions of science at school. To illuminate this variation, interview data were collected from participants in six schools. These data highlighted commonalities across groups of students and teachers in their experiences of junior secondary science, for example, the selection of the content to be covered, access to computing facilities and the excitement generated in preparing to use the remote telescope. Yet, the data also portrayed distinct features unique to each school associated with the implementation of the program, including the method of introducing the program, relationships between teachers, and the approaches adopted to incorporate technology. This study found that exposure to a science program incorporating five aspects of the ideal picture (Goodrum et al. 2000) had a highly significant impact on students’ perceptions of, and knowledge in, science at school. The research recognises, however, that the way in which science is implemented is crucial to the success of teaching and learning experiences in science education. The findings appear to have significant implications for both practice and future research. Additional support for science teachers to employ appropriate pedagogies and assessment procedures in the implementation of secondary science curricula, coupled with access to high quality equipment that can be used for student-initiated investigations are essential if positive dispositions and knowledge outcomes are to be engendered. Further research on the impact of such approaches on the perceptions and knowledge outcomes of pupils in junior secondary school science is required. Specific attention needs to be devoted to the pedagogies employed in implementing secondary science programs that are characterised by the relevant features of the ideal picture and the extent to which these are effective in catering for the diverse learning needs and interests of the students whom teachers are required to teach

Students' perceptions of high school science : what has changed over the last decade?

This paper presents comparative questionnaire data from three different samples of Australian high school students in an attempt to see if anything has changed in relation to how they perceive the science they experience in the compulsory years of secondary school (grades 7-10). Questionnaire data were obtained from 1,585 high school students in 2011 and 2,016 students in 2005 and findings are compared with those reported in a national report (Goodrum et al. 2001). Results show significant increases in the frequency with which students report that their science teacher takes notice of their ideas and in the use of computers and the Internet. There have also been changes regarding the rapid provision of feedback, the use of understandable language by teachers and the contextualisation of the new work in terms of work already covered. Little appears to have changed, however, in relation to the teacher-directed pedagogies employed to teach science where there appears to be a higher incidence of copying notes and fewer opportunities for students to investigate topics in which they are interested. The findings suggest that while there have been some positive changes, there are still many students who indicate that the science they experience in secondary school is irrelevant to their everyday life and to their future. It seems that the curiosity and wonder one would hope is associated with studying science is missing for a large proportion of students. It is clear that further actions need to be undertaken to transform this continuing situation.15 page(s

The design of preservice primary teacher education science subjects: The emergence of an interactive educational design model

Over the past 20 years there have been numerous calls in Australia and beyond for extensive educational reforms to preservice teacher education in the sciences. Recommendations for science teacher education programs to integrate curriculum, instruction and assessment are at the forefront of such reforms. In this paper, we describe our scholarly action–research approach to the teaching of science and science–method subjects to Australian preservice primary-school teachers in the state of New South Wales. We present an interactive educational design model founded on a solid theoretical literature base that incorporates Pedagogical Content Knowledge as an integrative mediating framework and which drives students’ interactions with the elements of the design model. The results from our mixed-methods study suggest that the approaches adopted through two extended vignettes show significant increases in preservice teachers’ competence and confidence. Together, the qualitative and extensive quantitative data suggest participants obtain a newly developed sense of enthusiasm for science and an understanding of the role that it can play in the primary-school curriculum. The data provide strong evidence that the approaches being called for in some of the earlier reforms and most recently by Bybee (2014) are effective