In the USA, science teachers are challenged by the National Science Education Standards (NSES) to "select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners" (NRC, 1996, p. 30). While standards do not explicitly refer to constructivist learning theory, they are entirely consistent with the view that knowledge is a human construction, learning is based on prior knowledge, and students respond to their environment to build new understandings. Paralleling the NSES reforms, with their constructivist underpinnings, there is also a strong and often contradictory pressure on teachers to prepare students for national and state standardised tests. The need for teachers to balance these competing demands while trying to teach for understanding sets the context for this research.The purpose of this research has been to focus on "how" teachers determine students' understanding and "why" they employ the instructional and assessment strategies that they do. Interpretive case studies of five teacher participants from one school district are used to describe how these teachers teach for understanding in the face of the competing pressures of conforming to the NSES and preparing students for success on standardised multiple-choice achievement tests. These case studies are analysed to identify common themes and propositions about teaching for understanding.The teachers in this study used a variety of instructional and assessment strategies. Their choices of strategies made a difference in the degree of understanding that their students achieved. Frequently, the teachers' decisions were affected by their grasp of science concepts and ideas about how students learned. When teaching for understanding, these teachers preferred informal knowledge of student understanding to that obtained from standardised ++ / tests Although subjected to conflicting pressures regarding how teachers were able to disregard assessments that did not provide evidence of student understanding. This research has implications for the five teacher participants, myself as a researcher, the district as a whole and educators with an interest in implementing assessment strategies that foster student achievement for understanding.

I denna avhandling visar jag hur elever och lärare genomför NO-verksamhet i grundskolan. Avhandlingen illustrerar hur elevers frågor och uttryckta erfarenheter blir en del av ett etablerat ämnesinnehåll. Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur två agendor – varav den ena baseras på elevers deltagande och den andra baseras på ett etablerat ämnesinnehåll – orkestreras så att båda agendorna tillgodoses vid genomförandet av NO-verksamheten. Studien bygger på videoobservationer under NOlektioner i skolår 5-9. Analysen visar hur olika aktiviteter i genomförandet av ett NOprojekt orkestrerar elevers frågor och uttryckta erfarenheter med ett naturvetenskapligt innehåll. Analysen visar också hur naturvetenskapens karaktär, the Nature of Science (NOS), kommuniceras som följemening till instruktioner. Vidare illustrerar avhandlingen olika sätt att använda frågor för att överbrygga vetenskapliga och vardagliga sätt att kommunicera. Resultaten visar också olika roller som elevers erfarenheter antar i en NOverksamhet. Resultaten utgör en konkretisering av skolans naturvetenskap, the Nature of School Science (NOSS). Skolans naturvetenskapliga aktiviteter begripliggörs lämpligen om de betraktas utifrån sina egna syften och förutsättningar. I avhandlingen utvecklas begreppet NOSS för att lyfta fram sådana syften och förutsättningar såsom dessa framträder i aktiviteten. / This thesis investigates and considers how students and teachers realize school science activities. Students’ questions and accounts of their experiences as they become part of an established science content form the focus of this work. Its purpose is to provide an understanding of how two agendas –one, based on students’ participation and the other, based on the already established science content –are orchestrated so that both are accounted for. The empirical work is based on video-recorded observations in science classrooms. The findings show how different activities in the accomplishment of a school science project orchestrate students’ questions and accounts of experiences with the science content. The findings also show how the nature of science (NOS) is communicated as a by-product of instruction. In addition, different uses of questions for bridging science and everyday ways of communicating are shown in the results. The findings also indicate the different roles that students’ experiences acquire in a school science activity. These results should be seen as a step towards a definition of the nature of school science (NOSS). School science activities become intelligible if we consider them from a basis of their own purposes and prerequisites. The concept of NOSS is described to elicit such purposes and prerequisites as they become apparent in the activity.

Constructivist learning theory is based upon the tenets that students come to learning experiences with prior knowledge and experiences that the learner will choose from to make sense of the present situation. This leads to a mixture of understandings among students. This study proposed to reveal students‟ understanding of atomic structure and cell structure as well as the relationships between atoms and cells. High school students from one private school participated in a paper-and-pencil test to uncover conceptual understanding and content knowledge of atoms and cells. The 120 participants were from grades: 9 (13m, 15f), 10 (9m, 20f), 11 (21m, 17f), and 12 (17m, 8f). All 120 students took the paper-and-pencil test and 16 students (4 per grade) participated in a follow-up interview. Drawings were analyzed by individual characteristics then using groups of characteristics models classes were formed. Openended questions were scored holistically by rubric scores and then deconstructed into individual content statements. A limited number of findings follow. Students were more likely to draw a Bohr model. Freshmen were less likely to indicate living materials contained atoms and more likely to indicate forms of energy contained atoms. As students progressed through high school, details included in cells decreased. Students failed to recognize that the sum of the products from cell division will be larger than the original cell due to the two growth periods included in the division cycle. Students were often able to provide the correct yes or no answer to are atoms and cells similar, different, or related but the follow-up answers often included non-scientific conceptions. Recommendations include implementing instructional strategies that promote long-term retention of conceptual understanding and the underlying content knowledge. Design evaluation methods to monitor student understanding throughout a unit of study that go beyond traditional closed-ended questions. Many limitations related to this study suggest that results should not be generalized beyond the targeted population.

The first purpose of this case study was to understand the course development experiences of Grade 10 French Immersion (FI) Science teachers in Manitoba. The second purpose was to develop an online instructional resources database model based on an understanding of these teachers’ course development experiences that holds promise in supporting Grade 10 FI Science teachers in Manitoba. Results of this study revealed that teachers’ experiences are negatively impacted by equity issues, such as a lack of resources in French designed to address the Manitoba curriculum. These equity issues negatively impact teachers’ well-being. In turn, these equity issues for teachers, as well as the impacts of these issues on teachers’ well-being, have negative impacts on the quality of FI education in Manitoba. An online instructional resources database model, entitled the Living Curriculum model, was developed. / May 2017

Student Number : 0107553H - MSc research report - School of Science Education - Faculty of Science / One of the most important challenges of the secondary school science teacher is to help learners to obtain, analyze and evaluate evidence using experimental and investigative methods. The understanding and application of concepts of evidence play a central role in setting up valid experiment and is usually ignored in the secondary school science curriculum. Recognizing the significance and value of an understanding of evidence in developing learners’ ability to carry out appropriate experimental work in science, the question arises of learners’ understanding of ‘concepts of evidence’ in experimental design. In this study the researcher endeavored to answer some of the questions concerning learners’ understanding of evidence: What understanding do learners entering the Further Education and Training (FET) band have of the concepts of validity in experimental design? What is the effect of an intervention on their understanding of concepts of validity? How well do learners show their ability to apply concepts of evidence to an assessment task? The study investigated the ability of a sample of grade 10 Physical Science learners, in one Gauteng Province secondary school to use and understand the concepts of evidence before and after an intervention, and their ability apply these ideas about evidence in an assessment sheet task. First, a survey of learners’ understanding of the concepts of validity was conducted using a written diagnostic test, consisting of three probes that had been previously used to diagnose learners’ understanding of validity in experimental design. Second, an evaluation of changes in such understanding due to a specific teaching intervention was completed using the same diagnostic test. Finally, the 2004 Grade 9 Common Tasks for Assessment (CTA) investigation task was administered to the same subjects in order to investigate whether or not their understanding of concepts of evidence would be apparent in this CTA investigation task. Several key findings emerged from the data. The major findings of this study were that the sample investigated began the study with a level of understanding equal to a group of Foundation University students tested in a previous study and that their understanding did not change much during the intervention. In fact, analysis of the results from the probes in the diagnostic test revealed that learners had little problem choosing the independent variable and controlling variables. However, the findings from the probes indicated that the intervention did not seem to have had a major effect since the difference in the number of responses between the pre-test and post- test was relatively small. Moreover, the results also revealed that it was possible to analyze learners’ responses using the existing model of learners’ understanding of validity, and that the majority of learners fell into Level C in the model which refers to the application of previous understanding in a new situation. The results from the CTA investigation task revealed that learners’ understanding of concepts of evidence could be demonstrated in new science context. In fact, the results revealed that learners showed ability to apply their understanding of concepts of evidence in experimental design to the assessment task. Moreover, the CTA results indicated that the understanding of identifying variables, constructing graphs; describing the relationship between variables in a graph; formulating the investigative questions were the most applied concepts of evidence by learners. Finally, the results of this study highlight the need for providing secondary science learners with opportunities to practice and develop concepts of evidence. In the light of these findings it is recommended that children need to be explicitly taught about the purpose of science investigations and introduced to important ideas about evidence if their ability to perform investigation tasks is to be improved.

This thesis describes a study of the attitudes towards science and learning environments among junior secondary school science students in New Zealand, focussing particularly on Maori and Pacific Island students. The rationale for the research was that ethnic minority group students often experience difficulties in adapting to modern science education. The study was restricted to forms three, four and five of the New Zealand education system in order to focus attention primarily on the development of recommendations for enhancement of science education outcomes which relate to the early years of science education.The study aimed to investigate student attitudes towards science and their perceptions of their learning environments by using questionnaire surveys and interviews in order to produce complementary information about students' attitudes and perceptions. The study produced some unexpected findings. For example, Maori and Pacific Island students displayed more positive attitudes towards science than others, and female students displayed more positive attitudes than males. These findings contradict those of many previous studies.The findings of the study are used to provide input to the development of recommendations for the enhancement of educational outcomes for all students, but especially for ethnic minority students in science.

In some classrooms, teaching methods have evolved little over the years. Enrolments in subjects like science have progressively declined and the persistent use of traditional teaching methods has often been held responsible for this. In less than a decade, the Internet has emerged as a potential tool to vary classroom routines, however, its use in high school science classrooms is still in its infancy. In this study, Getsmart, a website was developed and implemented in junior science and senior physics classrooms in a blended learning environment in a Queensland State High School. The study had three main objectives amongst others. The first aim was to study the impact of such an environment on students' perceptions. Secondly, the impact of such an environment on students' attitudes towards physics and junior science was studied. Finally, the research sought to investigate the effect of such an environment on their learning outcomes. Getsmart was developed on the principles of cognitive apprenticeship teaching model (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989). During the research phase, the website was accessed by students once a week during class time. They also had the option to login in their own time at school (e.g., morning tea, lunchtime, before and after school) and at home. The research was conducted as a case study over two years and during this time, 406 students in junior science and physics participated. Students' perceptions of their learning environment were ascertained through quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were collected by using a modified version of the Web-based Learning Environment Instrument (WEBLEI) (Chang & Fisher, 2003). / Qualitative data on student's attitudes were gathered through emails and Written surveys. An Attitude to Science survey was developed to determine students' attitudes towards their subjects. Qualitative data were also gathered through written surveys. The impact of such an environment on students' learning outcomes was determined through the analysis of their exam results achieved before and after experiencing web-based learning. Their results were also compared with the results of similar cohorts in previous years. Amongst other findings, it was found that the modified version of the WEBLEI was a valid and reliable instrument for use in junior science and physics classes. The study also established that students had positive perceptions of a blended web-based learning environment and that such an approach had a positive influence on students' attitudes towards their subjects. The study also found that web-based learning improved their performance across various performance domains of junior science and senior physics assessments.

In this dissertation I used the anthropological and sociocultural perspectives to examine the culture of school science and science communities. I conducted three independent studies. The first study is a meta-ethnography of three well-known case studies published in the literature. I analyzed these studies in order to identify the distinct characteristics of scientific communities and portray a picture of how science is practiced. The meta-ethnographic analysis reveals aspects of scientific practice that are insightful for the science educators and curriculum developers because these aspects are often neglected in school science even though they explain how science is done and accomplished in science communities. In the second study, I conducted an ethnographic research to explore the distinct characteristics of a scientific-engineering community. How the community members worked in collaboration as they conducted their research, how they negotiated and mutually agreed upon as they interacted and communicated with one and another and what they have learned through the process of these interactions were the units of the analyses. Findings reveal that the lead scientists' different working styles in the research center orchestrated learning and research. Ongoing communication and interdisciplinarity initiated collaborative partnerships with other communities and allowed the research groups to generate a shared repertoire to pursue the novelty in the process of knowledge generation. Mentorship was a catalyst for enculturation process, and it was on the trajectory of becoming an engineering university faculty. In the third study, I observed a science classroom over a period of time to explore the socio-cultural aspects of learning. I examined the social practices and the participants' interactions that establish and maintain participation, community, and meaning. In my analysis I investigated the extent to which students' participation and interaction formed a community of practice and fostered learning science. The three studies highlight the distinct characteristics of school science communities and science communities that are of importance for the efforts to better design learning environments. Translating the everyday activities of scientists and engineering researchers into school science communities can help enhance students' science learning experiences and cultivate a more informed understanding of science and engineering.

Professional development for educators has been defined as the process or processes by which teachers achieve higher levels of professional competence and expand their understanding of self, role, context and career (Duke and Stiggins, 1990). Currently, there is limited research literature that examines the effect a professional development course, which uses David Kolb’s experiential learning model, has on the professional growth and teaching practice of middle school science teachers. The purpose of this interpretive case study is to investigate how three science teachers who participated in the Rivers to Reef professional development course interpreted the learning experience and integrated the experience into their teaching practice. The questions guiding this research are 1. What is the relationship between a professional development course that uses an experiential learning model and science teaching practice? 2. How do the Rivers to Reef participants reflect on and describe the course as a professional growth experience? The creation of the professional development course and the framework for the study were established using David Kolb’s (1975) experiential learning theory and the reflection process model designed by David Boud (1985). The participants in the study are three middle school science teachers from schools representing varied settings and socioeconomic levels in the southeastern United States. Data collected used the three-interview series interview format designed by Dolbere and Schuman (Seidman, 1998). Data was analyzed for the identification of common categories related to impact on science teaching practice and professional growth. The major finding of this study indicates the years of teaching experience of middle school science teachers significantly influences how they approach professional development, what and how they learn from the experience, and the ways in which the experience influences their teaching practices.

Professional development (PD) is used as the primary means for ensuring the continued learning of teachers. PD opportunities and support vary in type and quality. Little is known about the participation in and support of PD for high school science teachers. The establishment of supportive professional cultures provides a means to support teachers' PD in addition to providing meaningful interactions between teachers to improve practices related to teaching, learning, and assessment. Even less is known about patterns of relationships between professional culture with high school science teachers and students. PD and professional culture have been reported to increase teacher retention and student achievement. The studies presented in this dissertation use mixed methods approaches to explore data collected by the Policy Research Initiative in Science Education Research Group during the 2007-2008 academic year. The first study assessed PD of high school science teachers from two perspectives: (1) teachers' participation in PD, and (2) schools' practices to support teachers' participation. Teachers' participation was determined using self-reported survey data. Schools' PD support was operationalized using data collected from administrative interviews. Descriptive statistics revealed little relationship between teachers' participation in PD, schools' PD support, and teacher retention. Descriptive statistics of schools' PD support indicated associations with student achievement. The second study operationalized school science professional culture with a rubric developed for the study. Elements within the rubric addressed many components mentioned in the literature as indicative of positive professional culture. School science professional culture had little relationship with either teacher retention or student achievement. Strong associations were found among the elements associated with school science professional culture. These results provide support for the inclusion of these elements in future studies of school science professional culture. The final chapter provides a summary of both studies. Recommendations are made for improving policies in place to support PD and professional cultures experienced by high school science teachers. Specific attention should be directed at the development of cohesive PD programs that address both schools' and teachers' needs. Additionally, more opportunities for in-depth communication regarding school practices for teaching, learning, and assessment need to be provided.