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The scientific literacy of four students in Year 8 was the main focus of one year of participant observer research. An interpretive research methodology was employed to generate tales about each student, in order to provide rich descriptions of the participation of these students in Science classes and in non-Science classes.A major theme was the complementarity of epistemological referents for scientific literacy. Objectivism, personal constructivism and social constructivism were identified as major referents for scientific literacy, and therefore as underpinning factors for the diversity of definitions of scientific literacy. Some authors have called for these referents to complement one another. In this study, I used the conceptual tool of metaphor to facilitate the holding together, in dialectical tension, of these often competing ideas.No a-priori notion of scientific literacy was adopted for the research, but an emergent theoretical framework for scientific literacy evolved. This metaphorical framework was shown to be a viable way of organising a diversity of literature-based definitions of scientific literacy. It was subsequently utilised to interpret the tales about the four students, and helped reveal significant themes.Foremost amongst the emerging research themes was equity of access into scientific literacy. Ten major assertions from the research provide different considerations of the ways that students access, or are denied access to, scientific literacy. Finally, implications of the three-metaphor framework for research, and speculations about its place in informing classroom practice are presented.

The principal contribution of the study is a conceptual account of classroom activities in school science, which incorporates both ethical and conventional science understandings within a single conceptual framework. In order to illustrate and explore the strengths and limitations of the conceptual framework developed, an exploratory case study involving 7 science classes was conducted at 2 schools. The 'classroom practices and understandings' conceptual framework presents a novel approach for understanding activities of students and teachers in the science classroom. According to this framework 'understanding' is a grasp of inferential connections as part of either practical or cognitive types of activity, whereas a 'practice' is a set of activities organized by understandings, rules and characteristic aims, emotions, and projects. On this basis the grounds for a given understanding are described in terms of a unifying structure for both ethical and science understandings. In both cases 'authority in understanding' refers to the specific sources of authority for a given understanding, which may include authoritative individuals in addition to more conventional grounds such as reasons or evidence. Finally, 'richness' of understanding refers to the quality of such connections to sources of authority in understanding, and is thus is a measure of the strength of understanding generally. Classroom lessons developed for the exploratory case study focused on ethical questions of sustainability. These were implemented in the science classroom at two research sites, with the researcher acting as guest teacher. One site focused on study of ecology in grade 11; the other site focused on study of genetics in grade 10. At both sites student interviews were conducted to supplement the findings of the classroom-teaching component. The findings support the integrity of the conceptual framework, while highlighting significant challenges for seeking to make explicit the sources of authority in science students' ethical understandings. Building from the conceptual framework and cases studies, a number of further directions for empirical and theoretical research are suggested.

The principal contribution of the study is a conceptual account of classroom activities in school science, which incorporates both ethical and conventional science understandings within a single conceptual framework. In order to illustrate and explore the strengths and limitations of the conceptual framework developed, an exploratory case study involving 7 science classes was conducted at 2 schools. The 'classroom practices and understandings' conceptual framework presents a novel approach for understanding activities of students and teachers in the science classroom. According to this framework 'understanding' is a grasp of inferential connections as part of either practical or cognitive types of activity, whereas a 'practice' is a set of activities organized by understandings, rules and characteristic aims, emotions, and projects. On this basis the grounds for a given understanding are described in terms of a unifying structure for both ethical and science understandings. In both cases 'authority in understanding' refers to the specific sources of authority for a given understanding, which may include authoritative individuals in addition to more conventional grounds such as reasons or evidence. Finally, 'richness' of understanding refers to the quality of such connections to sources of authority in understanding, and is thus is a measure of the strength of understanding generally. Classroom lessons developed for the exploratory case study focused on ethical questions of sustainability. These were implemented in the science classroom at two research sites, with the researcher acting as guest teacher. One site focused on study of ecology in grade 11; the other site focused on study of genetics in grade 10. At both sites student interviews were conducted to supplement the findings of the classroom-teaching component. The findings support the integrity of the conceptual framework, while highlighting significant challenges for seeking to make explicit the sources of authority in science students' ethical understandings. Building from the conceptual framework and cases studies, a number of further directions for empirical and theoretical research are suggested.

The principal contribution of the study is a conceptual account of classroom activities in school science, which incorporates both ethical and conventional science understandings within a single conceptual framework. In order to illustrate and explore the strengths and limitations of the conceptual framework developed, an exploratory case study involving 7 science classes was conducted at 2 schools. The 'classroom practices and understandings' conceptual framework presents a novel approach for understanding activities of students and teachers in the science classroom. According to this framework 'understanding' is a grasp of inferential connections as part of either practical or cognitive types of activity, whereas a 'practice' is a set of activities organized by understandings, rules and characteristic aims, emotions, and projects. On this basis the grounds for a given understanding are described in terms of a unifying structure for both ethical and science understandings. In both cases 'authority in understanding' refers to the specific sources of authority for a given understanding, which may include authoritative individuals in addition to more conventional grounds such as reasons or evidence. Finally, 'richness' of understanding refers to the quality of such connections to sources of authority in understanding, and is thus is a measure of the strength of understanding generally. Classroom lessons developed for the exploratory case study focused on ethical questions of sustainability. These were implemented in the science classroom at two research sites, with the researcher acting as guest teacher. One site focused on study of ecology in grade 11; the other site focused on study of genetics in grade 10. At both sites student interviews were conducted to supplement the findings of the classroom-teaching component. The findings support the integrity of the conceptual framework, while highlighting significant challenges for seeking to make explicit the sources of authority in science students' ethical understandings. Building from the conceptual framework and cases studies, a number of further directions for empirical and theoretical research are suggested. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This naturalistic study focused on the perceptions of leadership and student performance in science from campus leaders in three purposefully selected secondary campuses of ninth through twelfth grades. Each school had experienced an improvement in student passing rates on the science TAKS test that exceeded the state?s percent improvement in passing rates for the past three years and had a record of improving science TAKS scores for the period of 2003 to 2008 exceeding fifteen percentage points. The qualitative research technique of multi-case studies design was used. Data was collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with four campus leaders from each of the selected schools. These campus leaders included campus administrators, science department chairs, and grade-level team leaders. A framework of transformational leadership was utilized in the analysis of the data generated from the interviews. The perception from the campus leaders was that leadership has a positive impact on student success in science. The findings indicated perceptions of leadership from the campus leaders had certain leadership practices in common. These included (a) clear vision and goals from the campus principal, (b) high performance expectations for teachers and students from administrators and science department leaders, (c) encouragement and support from campus administrators and science department leaders to develop new programs to address problem areas, (d) emphasis on collaborative teams, and (e) open door policy from administrators.

In this dissertation, I used survey response data from 385 science teachers situated in 50 randomly selected Texas high schools to describe the prevalence of high school science teacher participation in professional activities and levels of job satisfaction. Using relative risk statistics, I determined the direction and significance of multiple associative relationships involving teachers’ participation in professional activities, satisfaction with working conditions, and retention state. Finally, I used these results to make specific policy recommendations. Teachers participate in diverse professional activities. Descriptive analyses of responses from teachers revealed higher rates of participation in development activities than in maintenance or management activities. Relative risk statistics exposed several positive and significant associative relationships between participation in specific professional activities (i.e., observation of other science teachers, involvement in a science education study group) and teacher retention. Additionally, results of risk analyses suggest teacher participation in maintenance activities, more than development or management, is associated with teacher retention. Researchers consider job satisfaction an important factor in teacher retention. Descriptive analyses revealed high rates of satisfaction with occupational choice and the interpersonal relationships shared with professional colleagues and administrators. Conversely, teachers expressed low rates of satisfaction with their school’s science laboratory facilities and equipment or support for student involvement in informal science activities. Results of risk analyses exposed no positive associations between job satisfaction and retention for teachers. The interaction between teacher participation in professional activities and satisfaction with occupational choice was also examined. Descriptive analyses of responses from retained teachers (n=291) revealed high rates of participation in development activities in comparison to maintenance or management activities. Results of risk analyses exposed both positive and negative associations between teacher participation in professional activities and satisfaction with occupational choice, suggesting an interactive effect exists between participation in activities and satisfaction with occupational choice on retention. I used results from analyses to make state and school level policy recommendations, which included: (a) development of state standards for classroom equipment and facilities; (b) greater state involvement in defining teacher professional activities; and, (c) increasing school support for teacher participation in maintenance activities.

In this thesis the students' experiences of science classroom discussions are examined as well as the nature of their discussions and their ability to take different perspectives while working with socio-scientific issues (SSI). Student questionnaires concerning their attitudes towards school science and science in society, a paper-and-pencil test and focus group discussions have been analysed. The results show that students get to discuss during science lessons, and that they learn a lot from doing so. They also show that the SSI work has brought about a lot of discussions, to which students have a positive attitude. When investigating students' written and oral demonstrationsfewexamplesof argument-based discussions or ofperspective-taking ability were found. Based on these results I argue that in-service teacher training should be carried out, focusing how to organise SSI discussions so that they support students' development of concepts and of generic skills.

In this study I investigated the interactions of 25 Grade 8 science students as they learned how to construct oral arguments using the Toulmin Argumentation Pattern framework. I collected the data during three recorded small group discussion sessions during a five week Earth Science unit between February and March of 2011. The first session recorded the students’ discussions prior to receiving either argumentation instruction or the science concept instruction. The second session recorded their discussions after receiving an introduction to argumentation and a scaffold, but not concept instruction. During the three weeks preceding the third session, the students received additional argumentation instruction and completed one-third of the Earth Science unit. The results showed the students collectively made more arguments during each subsequent session. The students’ individual arguments showed a correspondence between their purportedly most familiar topics and the most discussed topics. I also found that when students made counter arguments and/or invited or challenged group members to participate, their discussions contained comparatively more argument elements (claims, data and warrants) than discussions containing predominantly collaborative assertions. The key outcome of this study for developing students’ use of the elements of argumentation during classroom discussions was to recognize and incorporate opportunities for the students to tap into their prior-knowledge. To engage students in this process, the results indicate the importance of creating time for discussions relevant to the curriculum and to the students. / Graduate / 0727 / 0279 / 0714 / brianu@uvic.ca

This study focuses on the identification of the broad and complex factors influencing primary science program delivery within the New Zealand context. The study is divided into two phases. In the first phase, the factors influencing science program delivery are identified through (1) a questionnaire survey of 122 teachers in the Central Districts of New Zealand; (2) a questionnaire survey of 155 pre-service teachers at a New Zealand College of Education; (3) a case study of a large intermediate school in the Central Districts; and (4) a review of the research literature pertaining to curriculum, in particular primary science, delivery. Factors influencing science program delivery are identified as being both personal (intrinsic) and environmental (extrinsic). Intrinsic factors identified include teacher professional self-efficacy; interest and motivation; and multidimensional aspects of knowledge. Extrinsic factors influencing science program delivery include multidimensional aspects of time availability and resource adequacy; the availability and adequacy of professional support and leadership; and the priority placed on science as a curriculum area by the school, especially by the administration. The second phase of the study built on this initial phase by focusing on the development of an instrument, the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire, which assists schools in identifying factors influencing science program delivery. The development of the SC1Q initially involved the use of a Focus Group to identify and prioritise items to include in the instrument. Statistical validation involved trialling of the SCIQ amongst 293 teachers representing 43 schools in the Central Districts of New Zealand. Using statistical procedures involving ANOVA, alpha reliability and discriminant validity, a seven-scale, 49-item instrument was developed. On the basis of the ++ / strong overlap amongst the intrinsic factors influencing science delivery, a further, shorter five scale, 35-item instrument was developed. The seven-scale SCIQ was further applied at the case study school. Quantitative data collected from the application of the instrument confirmed that several psychosocial and physical aspects of Intermediate School identified in the case study are influencing science program delivery. Implications of this study and the practical applications of the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire are also presented in the context of primary science delivery both within New Zealand and internationally.