Sustaining Reform-Based Science Teaching of Preservice and Inservice Elementary School Teachers

Published: 
Aug. 01, 2013

Source: Journal of Science Teacher Education, Volume 24, Issue 5, pp 879-905, August 2013. 

The present research examined the influence of a professional development program based around commercially available inquiry science curricula on the teaching practices of 27 beginning elementary school teachers and their teacher mentors over a 2 year period.

Data were collected through inquiry elements and videotaped lessons.

Data indicated that education students assigned to inquiry-based classrooms during their methods course or student teaching year outperformed students without this experience.
There was also a significant positive effect of multi-year access to the kit-based program on mentor teaching practice.
Recent inclusion of a “writing in science” program in both preservice and inservice training has been used to address the lesson element that received lowest scores—evaluation of data and its use in scientific explanation.

Updated: Dec. 27, 2015
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