Identity development in career-changing beginning teachers : a qualitative study of professional scientists becoming school teachers

This qualitative study provides a critical case to analyse the identity development of professionals who already have a strong sense of identity as scientists and have decided to relinquish their professional careers to become teachers. The study followed a group of professionals who undertook a one-year teacher education course and were assigned to secondary and middle-years schools on graduation. Their experiences were examined through the lens of self-determination theory, which posits that autonomy, confidence and relationships are important in achieving job satisfaction. The findings indicated that those teachers who were able to achieve this sense of autonomy and confidence, and had established strong relationships with colleagues generated a positive professional identity as a teacher. The failure to establish supportive relationships was a decisive event that challenged their capacity to develop a strong sense of identity as a teacher

From Scientist to Science Teacher: A Career Change Teacher in Transition

One method of addressing the shortage of science and mathematics teachers is to train scientists and other science-related professionals to become teachers. Advocates argue that these career changers as discipline experts can relate the subject matter knowledge to various contexts and applications. In this paper, through interviews with a former scientist and her students, we examine how one career changer used her expertise in microbiology to teach microscopy. These interviews provided the basis for a description of the teacher’s instruction which was then analysed for components of domain knowledge for teaching. Consistent with the literature, the findings revealed that this career changer needed to develop her pedagogical knowledge. However, an interesting finding was that the teacher’s subject matter as a science teacher differed substantively from her knowledge as a scientist. This finding challenges the assumption that subject matter is transferable across professions and provides insight into how to better support career changers to transition from scientist to science teacher

Supervision and Scholarly Writing: Writing to Learn - Learning to Write

This paper describes an action research project on postgraduate students’ scholarly writing in which I employed reflective approaches to examine and enhance my postgraduate supervisory practice. My reflections on three distinct cycles of supervision illustrate a shift in thinking about scholarly writing and an evolving understanding of how to support postgraduate students’ writing. These understandings provide the foundation for a future-oriented fourth cycle of supervisory practice, which is characterised by three principles, namely the empowerment of students as writers, the technological context of contemporary writing, and ethical issues in writing

Beyond Description: Using Case Study to Test and Refine an Instructional Theory

"Case study" has many descriptive functions (e.g., case record, discussion stimulus, research report, research tool) and can be used to generate theory. However, case study also has a critical role in testing theory. Here, I discuss a case study that was used to test an instructional theory in mathematics derived from the literature. Theory testing involved operationalising the theory as an intervention and determining support for assertions related to the instructional goals. The case study supported some theoretical components and provided explanations that led to the revision of other components. Hence, case study - beyond description - has analytic generalisability

Evaluating the effectiveness of the strategy 'Draw a diagram' as a cognitive tool for problem solving

Traditionally the effectiveness of the strategy draw a diagram as a problem solving tool has been assessed by using end product measures such as frequency and spontaneity of diagram use, performance scores, solution times, and the appropriateness of the diagram drawn. This paper argues that these measures can be unreliable and proposes that the dynamic use of the diagram should be monitored to ensure the validity of the assessment

Exceptional creators to the world of children: Investigating children's authors

Exceptional creators develop existing domains or create new domains through their contribution of products that are highly valued by society in a particular domain. Typically, adults make these value judgments. This study explored whether Gardner’s (1997) model of an Exceptional Creator [EC], which was developed from a cross-domain analysis and adult judgments of quality, would also hold true in a domain in which children made value judgments. The analyses confirmed that outstanding children’s authors also demonstrated the key traits of an EC, namely, their use of childhood experiences and their tendencies to question assumptions and strike out on their own, and to explore their domains exhaustively. Additionally, four unique traits of outstanding children’s authors were identified. These were extended links to childhood; the creation of "new worlds" for children that differed from their everyday world; a reliance on pictures and conversation; and demonstrations of strong visual-spatial intelligence through illustrations and descriptions

Making sense with diagrams: Students' difficulties with feature-similar problems

Students experience a range of difficulties in generating effective diagrams. Hence, it is important to explore these difficulties so they can be addressed during instruction on diagram generation. A cross-study comparison of the results of two network tasks revealed that students experience similar difficulties on feature-similar but non-isomorphic tasks. Students’ difficulties on these tasks appeared to be due to a lack of sense-making in mathematics rather than a difficulty with the problem structure or the generation of a particular type of diagram

The difficulties of a young gifted child: Lessons from history

From a very young age Aaron has displayed exceptional ability and interest in board games, reading and mathematics, and a concern for social justice. He was noted for his ability to read house plans and use street directories and maps to guide drivers to their destinations. His drawings are exceptionally detailed and display a strong sense of spatial awareness and geometry. However, although Aaron becomes absorbed in science and mathematical activities he is frustrated with normal classroom tasks which he often leaves unfinished preferring to focus on real world problems and issues. Indeed, in the classroom he is often difficult to manage and is at risk of becoming an underachiever. His behaviours are reminiscent of those displayed by non-conforming gifted children, including Einstein, Newton, Pascal and Russell all of whom had difficult experiences in formal education. The challenge facing teachers and parents is to recognise and cater for children like Aaron to ensure that their unusual talents are realised

Reforming Education: The pursuit of learning through authentic inquiry in mathematics, science and technology

Contemporary learning theories acknowledge that learning has to occur in context where students engage actively in negotiating meaning around new experiences. Learning theorists argue that the most important source from which we gain understanding is first-hand experience in a social context. However, traditional schooling is dominated by models of teaching, which assume learning occurs through transmission of information. Students are forced to learn from secondary experience, in which information is selected, modified, packaged and presented to them by “expert‿ teachers. Second-hand transmissive models dominate schooling. The outcome for the sciences is a decline in interest and participation by students especially the most talented. Reform processes need to achieve a better balance between first-hand and second-hand experience, because without opportunities to learn directly students are less likely to develop autonomy and think and feel for themselves. The research we report in this paper draws upon a number of our studies in which students are engaged in original inquiry problems. We report here on two studies that exemplify the application and outcomes for learning science in the middle years of schooling. Study 1 is a structured inquiry in which the teacher leads students through a series of learning experiences supporting their learning of content and developing capability to undertake inquiry. In Study 2, an open-ended inquiry is examined. Emerging from this analysis are seven principles that provide broad conditions for successful implementation of inquiry approaches