Showing papers by "Ingo Eilks published in 2013"

The meaning of ‘relevance’ in science education and its implications for the science curriculum

Abstract: ‘Relevance’ is one of the key terms related to reforms in the teaching and learning of science. It is often used by policy-makers, curriculum developers, science education researchers and science teachers. In recent years, many policy documents based on international surveys have claimed that science education is often seen (especially at the secondary school level) as being irrelevant for and by the learners. The literature suggests that making science learning relevant both to the learner personally and to the society in which he or she lives should be one of the key goals of science education. However, what ‘relevant’ means is usually inadequately conceptualised. This review of the literature clearly reveals that the term relevance is used with widely variant meanings. From our analysis of the literature, we will suggest an advanced organisational scheme for the term ‘relevance’ and provide helpful suggestions for its use in the field of the science curriculum.

German chemistry teachers’ understanding of sustainability and education for sustainable development—An interview case study

Abstract: Sustainability became a regulatory idea of national and international policies worldwide with the advent of the Agenda 21. One part of these policies includes promoting sustainability through educational reform. With the United Nations World Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), spanning the years 2005 to 2014, all school subjects are requested to contribute to this reform, including secondary chemistry education. Furthermore, educational reform can only be successful if it takes teachers’ prior knowledge and attitudes into account. Unfortunately in the case of German secondary chemistry education, information about teachers’ knowledge and attitudes is very rare. In order to close this gap, a study using semi-structured interviews with a random sample of 16 experienced chemistry teachers was conducted and the results qualitatively analyzed. These results show that teachers hold positive attitudes when it comes to implementing issues of sustainability and ESD in their teaching. However, the findings also document that teachers are only vaguely informed about the theoretical concepts behind sustainability and ESD. For the most part, the teachers possess almost no theoretically-informed ideas about pedagogies which could be used to implement ESD in chemistry teaching. Reforms in teacher education (pre- and in-service) and the development of appropriate curriculum materials are highly recommended.

Reflecting Socio-Scientific Issuesfor Science Education Coming fromthe Case of CurriculumDevelopment on Doping inChemistry Education

Abstract: Socio-scientific issue-based science education has been suggested for promoting general educational skills development in science classes. However, there is a lack of operationalized criteria, which can be used to reflect upon societal issues to whether turning them into issues for science classroom instruction. This paper describes a case study based on Participatory Action Research in science education. A lesson plan based on the socio-scientific issue of doping in professional sports and in fitness studios was designed and cyclically refined by a group of teachers and science education researchers. Along this case, together with previous studies of SSI-oriented curriculum development, the action research group started reflecting on the question of operational criteria for reflecting and carrying out socio-scientific issues in science classroom situations. This paper discusses the structure of the above-mentioned lesson plan. Experience gained during lesson plan development and testing will be reported upon. Suggestions stemming from teacher group discussions about the criteria chosen for reflecting socio-scientific issues for classroom use will also be presented.

How to Allocate the Chemistry Curriculum Between Science and Society

Abstract: Chemistry curricula as a whole, or single lesson plans can use different approaches towards the learning of chemistry. Some are arranged parallel to academic chemistry; others provide meaningful contexts to motivate the learning of chemistry. Chemistry curriculum approaches can stem from the structure of the discipline, or history of chemistry, via everyday life contexts, industrial applications, or environmental issues, towards socio-scientific issues. This chapter suggests that every chemistry curriculum and even every single lesson plan uses one of these approaches. Each approach has a different justification, each one has different potential for promoting a certain set of objectives. One has to be aware, that by selecting one of the approaches the curriculum also gives the learner a certain emphasis towards chemistry. An overview about the different objectives and justifications is given to provide a range of possibilities for structuring chemistry curricula.

An Understanding of Sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development among German Student Teachers and Trainee Teachers of Chemistry.

Abstract: Sustainable development is a central concern of today's politics across the world. Different political agendas have been developed to promote sustainability and make it a political goal worldwide. As stated in Agenda 21, the political debate seems to agree that education has to play a key role in achieving sustainability. But practices focusing on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) are rarely implemented in many educational domains, including chemistry teaching. A more thorough focus on ESD in chemistry teaching demands, among other things, a positive teacher attitude towards ESD, specific subject matter knowledge, and knowledge of suitable pedagogies. Such knowledge concerning ESD in these three areas is generally rare in the literature, particularly in the German context. This is why the current paper elaborates German student teach- ers' and trainee teachers understanding of sustainability and ESD, including their viewpoints on chemistry education. In this study, 87 student teachers and 97 trainee teachers answered a set of closed, Likert-type and open survey-questions that were analyzed both, qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of the study indicate that these groups show principally positive attitudes towards ESD in chemistry education. However, their knowledge is only vaguely informed in the theoretical sense. Few participants in this study possessed any clear, theory- supported concepts when it came to either sustainability, or ESD.

Using participatory action research to develop a course module on Education for Sustainable Development in pre-service chemistry teacher education

Abstract: This paper describes the development of a course module on sustainability issues and Education for Sustainable Development in German pre-service chemistry teacher education. The module was inspired by empirical research findings about the knowledge base of student teachers. It was created and cyclically refined using Participatory Action Research. Experience gained during its three-year application will be reflected upon here, including feedback collected from student evaluation sheets. In the end, the participants responded extremely positively to the course. The student teachers stated that the module was interesting, relevant and valuable for their later profession as high school chemistry teachers. They also emphasised that they now felt more competent in the area of sustainability and ESD.

Potential changes in prospective chemistry teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning—a cross-level study

Abstract: This paper presents a cross-level study of German student teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning chemistry. It covers different stages of their teacher training program. The study is based upon drawings of teaching situations, which were analyzed using an evaluation pattern developed using grounded theory. The qualitative scales analyze beliefs about classroom organization, teaching objectives, and epistemological beliefs. Data were collected from university freshmen, student teachers midway through their university teacher education program, and recently graduated teachers who had just finished their university program and are gaining experience as full-time teachers. The initial results reveal that the freshmen in our study profess very traditional beliefs about teaching and learning (characterized by teacher-centeredness and an understanding of learning as receptive consumption). The other two groups of trainees hold more modern beliefs about teaching and learning, which are in line with modern educational theory. Comparing the latter two groups shows that the student teachers midway through training appear to have the most modern teaching beliefs. Implications for teacher education will be addressed.

Pre-service and in-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning chemistry in Turkey

Abstract: This paper describes beliefs held about teaching and learning chemistry by Turkish teachers and student-teachers. The study investigated different aspects of pre-service and in-service teachers’ belief structures. Part of the study examined teachers’ overall beliefs, based on participants’ drawings of classroom situations. A qualitative evaluation was employed to offer information on (student-)teachers’ beliefs about classroom organisation, their beliefs about teaching objectives, and their stance on epistemological beliefs. Beliefs ranged from very traditional, teacher-centred ideas to modern, student-centred ones. Data evaluation was triangulated using a quantitative approach, which focused on whether beliefs were characterised by either teacher-centredness or learner-centredness. Additionally, a Likert questionnaire was used to evaluate the educators` beliefs about the nature of good education. The results for the group of participants are presented and compared. Implications for chemistry teacher educ...

Teacher Pathways Through the Particulate Nature of Matter in Lower Secondary School Chemistry: Continuous Switching Between Different Models or a Coherent Conceptual Structure?

Abstract: This chapter begins with an interview case study about 28 experienced chemistry teachers. The interviews covered teachers’ personal practices on how to deal with submicroscopic concepts in lower secondary chemistry education. The study revealed several predominant teacher beliefs and showed that teachers’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter and related concepts is not reflected upon in many cases, and that their teaching approaches often represent inconsistencies in both teachers’ content knowledge base and pedagogical content knowledge. Relatively few of the teachers offered alternate approaches to these topics. The discussion then contrasts the results with insights into a 10-year Participatory Action Research project. In this project, a group of teachers accompanied by university educators developed an alternate approach covering submicroscopic concepts. This approach is characterized by developing an internally coherent curricular structure for dealing with the particulate nature of matter, atomic structure, and bonding theory during the course of lower secondary chemistry classes. Implications for chemistry education are also derived.

How to Organise the Chemistry Classroom in a Student-Active Mode

Abstract: Everyday, chemistry teachers all over the world are challenged by the question: Should I explain the chemistry content in a frontal mode using the blackboard, or am I able to apply methods to activate the students learning on their own terms? This chapter is based on the premise that learning processes should be based as much as possible on student-centred activities (hands-on and minds-on). A justification for more thorough student-active learning in the chemistry classroom is derived from the theory of social constructivism. Evidence for the positive effects of more student-active classrooms and cooperative learning will be discussed. This discussion will be illustrated by examples from chemistry education regarding how to activate students ' thinking, to engage them into a cooperative mode of learning, or to use e.g. drama and role-play in the chemistry classroom.

On the development and assessment of a computer-based learning and assessment environment for the transition from lower to upper secondary chemistry education

Abstract: This paper describes the development and assessment of a learning environment to support the transition of students from lower to upper secondary chemistry education in Germany. The learning environment centers on reviewing and expanding learners’ prior chemistry knowledge in heterogeneous learning groups upon entering upper secondary education. The different learning materials are integrated in a computer-based learning environment, which offers a set of different learning stages which sequentially build upon each other. Another central element of the learning environment is an integrated test platform, which provides assessment and instant feedback to the students after completing each of the learning stages. This paper reports on the development of the learning environment by a group of teachers following the model of Participatory Action Research. Four schools and 81 students were involved in the implementation of the learning environment. Data sources used to reflect the learning environment were classroom observations, analysis of teacher feedback during monthly discussions, and a student survey. The study describes potential uses and reflects the benefits of using computer-based assessment within this learning environment from the viewpoint of the teachers and the students.

Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung (BnE) in der Chemielehrerbildung

Abstract: Dieser Aufsatz beschreibt die Entwicklung eines Teilmoduls uber Bildung fur eine nachhaltige Entwicklung (BnE) fur die universitare Ausbildung von Chemielehrkraften. Das Teilmodul wurde durch Partizipative Aktionsforschung, ausgehend von theoretischen Konzepten der BnE und empirischen Untersuchungen zum Kenntnisstand von Lehramtsstudierenden und Referendaren, gestaltet und zyklisch entwickelt. Dieser Aufsatz diskutiert diese Entwicklung, stellt die Struktur des Teilmoduls vor und berichtet uber Erfahrungen bei der Umsetzung. This paper presents the development of a university chemistry teacher education module on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The module was cyclically developed and refined by Participatory Action Research on the base of a theoretical analysis of the literature and empirical investigation on the existing knowledge base of student teachers and teacher trainees. The paper discusses the process of development, presents the structure of the module, and reports experiences from its implementation.