Students' conceptions of solubility : a teacher-researcher collaborative study

For the last fifteen years, research on students' conceptions of physical phenomena has been directing our attention to the value of knowing and considering children's prior ideas in science teaching. Although many who are concerned with science education are aware of and see wisdom in this perspective of teaching, there are many realities, including the content of the discipline, that pose great challenges in translating it into practice in science classes. Currently, in collaboration with teachers, science educators are actively conducting classroom studies. In this process, teachers as researchers are making reflective inquiries into their own students' learning. This study followed a similar framework of research at a microcosmic level. It entailed elicitation of thirteen Grade 11 students' individual prior conceptions of solubility and a teacher-researcher collaboration to incorporate these conceptions in the instruction of a unit on solution chemistry. Consequently, the study presents a phenomenography of solubility, narrates a story about classroom instruction which took students' conceptions into consideration, reports four case studies on students' conceptual growth and changes, and outlines some of the factors that facilitate or constrain collaborative teaching that focuses on student understanding of subject matter. The students' prior conceptions of solubility were categorized into six categories of description: 1. physical transformation from solid to liquid 2. chemical transformation of solute 3. density of solute 4. amount of space available in solution 5. properties of solute 6. size of solute particles With regard to learning chemistry, these conceptualizations made clear four issues: (1) students' explanations were bounded by their perceptions, (2) students extended macroscopic explanations to a microscopic level, (3) students made inappropriate links to previous chemistry learning, and (4) students used the language of chemistry non-discriminately. After studying a unit on solution chemistry, two more categories of description were added to the pre-instructional categories: 1. chemical structure of components 2. solution equilibrium After instruction, the students attributing to the initial six categories of description' diminished in number. The newly acquired conceptions of solubility reflected insufficient explanatory power and were merely overlaid with the chemical language. Learning the language of solution chemistry and acquiring some theoretical understanding of it were reflected in the change between pre- and post-instructional conceptions. This conceptual change can be considered as evolutionary. It was inferred that the abstract and ambiguous nature of chemical theories and principles sets limits to conceptual change teaching. The influences that facilitated the collaborative efforts include: (1) the teacher's attempts to incorporate students' conceptions, (2) the teacher's openness and willingness to assess her own methods of teaching chemistry, (3) the teacher's reflections about the researcher's constructivist teaching, and (4) the researcher's active participation in the classroom interactions. The four most important influences that seriously constrained the collaborative efforts to link students' conceptions with formal chemistry were: (1) the lack of time to devote to the topic of solution chemistry, (2) the lack of teacher time to plan lessons together in order to incorporate students' conceptions, (3) the lack of practical experience on the part of both the researcher and the teacher in developing specific teaching strategies which acknowledged students' prior belief in this content area, and (4) the lack of time to develop common perspectives and a shared language. This study has implications for both teachers and researchers. Specifically, it implies that students' conceptions form an integral component of chemistry instruction—as points of origin for lesson planning and development of curricular materials It also implies that through science educators' modelling and practising in their "teaching and learning" courses, pre- and in-service teachers be challenged to seek answers for epistemological questions such as: What is chemical knowledge? and, How is it acquired? A general implication is that both teachers and researchers, rather than being fence-makers, must strive to be bridge-builders so that they can be learners of each other's theoretical and practical experiences.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat

Community Building Through Electronic Discussion Boards: Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflective Dialogueson Science Teaching

This research study focuses on an electronic forum for building a community of pre-service teachers to reflect upon new directions in science teaching. The thesis of this paper is to model the notion of community building for teacher reflective practice. Through pre-service teachers\u27 WebCT postings on students\u27 theories in science, we provide evidence of how WebCT discussion board served as a forum for community building to carry out reflective practice. We conclude that WebCT discussion board can serve as a viable tool for building a community of reflective teachers. This study implies that WebCT and similar Internet electronic discussion tools may be effectively used for community building to carry out reflective dialogues in teacher education

Knowledge of student learning difficulties as a plausible conceptual change pathway between content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge

WOS:000605151000002There is a collective agreement about the necessity of content knowledge (CK) as a prerequisite for pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). However, most PCK models lack explanatory power because of the missing link between CK and PCK. Thus, the study firstly attempts to develop a theoretical model that consists of knowledge of students' learning difficulty (KSLD) as a plausible pathway between CK and PCK with the conceptual change research entry. Secondly, it tests the causative relationship between CK and KSLD of PCK. The CK for this study constitutes acid rain, as well as the concepts of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Seventy-three preservice science teachers (PSTs) participated in this study. The study used open-ended surveys and vignette-based individual interviews to measure PSTs' CK and KSLD, respectively. The results indicate that (1) PSTs' CK and KSLD are low. (2) There is a significant correlation (p < 0.01) between PSTs' CK and KSLD. (3) Compared with a low or moderate level, the high level of PSTs' CK is a significant predictor (p < 0.01) of their KSLD. Qualitative evidence supports preliminary quantitative results of the study. The study provides a PCK model that indicates KSLD as a plausible pathway to connect CK and PCK, using a conceptual change inquiry as a point of entry. The study implies the proposed PCK model based on conceptual change learning is useful for future teachers in responding to student learning difficulties. Besides, the PCK model is a fertile ground for robust research

Analyzing senior science student teachers' environmental research projects of scientific inquiry: a preliminary study

4th World Conference on Educational Sciences (WCES) -- FEB 02-05, 2012 -- Univ Barcelona, Barcelona, SPAINCALIK, MUAMMER/0000-0001-8323-8783; Costu, Bayram/0000-0003-1429-8031WOS: 000314465900068The aim of this study is to assess a group of senior science students teachers' (SSSTs) environmental research project reports as an indicator of their ability to do scientific inquiry. The SSSTs conducted their own environmental research projects with innovative technologies after they were taught the Technology-embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model. A total of 29 environmental research project reports were assessed using Scientific Inquiry Ability rubrics. The SSSTs' environmental research projects generally reflected attainment of various levels of scientific inquiry abilities. The study implies that the science education classes that integrate innovative technologies focus on developing the sophisticated attributes of scientific inquiry so that SSSTs put forth a conscious effort in attaining higher levels of proficiency when they engage in environmental research projects. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Huseyin UzunboyluAcad World Educ & Res Ctr, Near E Univ, Bahcesehir Univ, Ankara Univ, Hacettepe Univ, Cyprus Educ Sci AssocScientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [110k109]This study was granted by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) (Project Number: 110k109)

WebCT Dialogues on Particle Theory of Matter: Presumptive Reasoning Schemes

Analysis of how science discourse takes place among students can provide us with in-depth information on the effectiveness of a chosen instructional approach and how well students understand scientific ideas. In our study, the unit on the particle theory of matter was taught with a construcdvist conceptual change inquiry approach to a group of middle years\u27 students. The students\u27 dialogues on the particle theory of matter, which took place on a web discussion board, were analyzed and then classified into types of dialogues. By studying the fi-equency of the types of dialogues based on the nature and circumstance of teaching and learning, we were able to develop 3 general categories (experiential, referential, provisional) of dialogues that can occur in science learning