Learning to Teach About Ideas and Evidence in Science : The Student Teacher as Change Agent

A collaborative curriculum development project was set up to address the lack of good examples of teaching about ideas and evidence and the nature of science encountered by student teachers training to teach in the age range 11-16 in schools in England. Student and teacher-mentor pairs devised, taught and evaluated novel lessons and approaches. The project design required increasing levels of critique through cycles of teaching, evaluation and revision of lessons. Data were gathered from interviews and students' reports to assess the impact of the project on student teachers and to what extent any influences survived when they gained their first teaching posts. A significant outcome was the perception of teaching shifting from the delivery of standard lessons in prescribed ways to endeavours demanding creativity and decision-making. Although school-based factors limited newly qualified teachers' chances to use new lessons and approaches and therefore act as change-agents in schools, the ability to critique curriculum materials and the recognition of the need to create space for professional dialogue were durable gains

A história da ciência na formação do professor de física: subsídios para um curso sobre o tema atração gravitacional visando às mudanças de postura na ação docente History of Science in teaching education: suggestions for a course plan on gravitational attraction aiming to change teachers' attitudes

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi estudar como a evolução histórica dos modelos de atração entre corpos, tendo como pano de fundo a evolução dos modelos de mundo, pode auxiliar na formação inicial do docente de Física. Para tanto, sugerimos um planejamento de curso sobre o tema atração gravitacional, destinado principalmente a docentes de Física que atuam no ensino médio. O planejamento do curso foi baseado: em dados sobre a evolução dos modelos de mundo, buscando evidenciar como o conceito de atração gravitacional desenvolveu-se historicamente; nas concepções alternativas mais comuns encontradas na literatura, incluindo um breve esboço de noções diagnosticadas em uma amostra de docentes de Física de ensino médio; e em sugestões de leituras de resultados de pesquisas recentes sobre os processos de ensino e aprendizagem de ciências. Pretende-se fornecer aos docentes elementos de reflexão que lhes proporcionem mudanças de postura, através do questionamento da visão de ciência enquanto processo de construção e sobre sua própria prática de ensino. Partindo de resultados recentes da pesquisa em Ensino de Ciências, a metodologia sugerida privilegia o trabalho coletivo, com a realização de debates e sínteses. As atividades mencionadas são acompanhadas de justificativas sobre a escolha do tema e objetivos.<br>The main purpose of this research was to study how the attraction among bodies, having as background the evolution of models of the world, can help prospective teachers' education. To reach this goal, we suggest a course plan on gravitational attraction, addressed mainly to High School Physics teachers. This course was based: on data about world models' evolution, searching to make clear how the concept of gravitational attraction was historically developed; on the most common alternative conceptions found in the literature, including a brief outline of notions found among in-service High School Physics teachers, and on suggestions from recent research about Science teaching and learning processes.. The sequence of activities aims to provide teachers with some reflections in order to change their attitudes, through an inquiry into their view of science as a constructive process, and their own teaching practice. The methodology proposed considers the collective work through f debates and synthesis