The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of two pedagogical models used in general education science on non-majors' science teaching self-efficacy. Science teaching self-efficacy can be influenced by inquiry and cooperative learning, through cognitive mechanisms described by Bandura (1997). The Student Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) model of inquiry and cooperative learning incorporates cooperative learning and inquiry-guided learning in large enrollment combined lecture-laboratory classes (Oliver-Hoyo & Beichner, 2004). SCALE-UP was adopted by a small but rapidly growing public university in the southeastern United States in three undergraduate, general education science courses for non-science majors in the Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 semesters. Students in these courses were compared with students in three other general education science courses for non-science majors taught with the standard teaching model at the host university. The standard model combines lecture and laboratory in the same course, with smaller enrollments and utilizes cooperative learning. Science teaching self-efficacy was measured using the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument - B (STEBI-B; Bleicher, 2004). A science teaching self-efficacy score was computed from the Personal Science Teaching Efficacy (PTSE) factor of the instrument. Using non-parametric statistics, no significant difference was found between teaching models, between genders, within models, among instructors, or among courses. The number of previous science courses was significantly correlated with PTSE score. Student responses to open-ended questions indicated that students felt the larger enrollment in the SCALE-UP room reduced individual teacher attention but that the large round SCALE-UP tables promoted group interaction. Students responded positively to cooperative and hands-on activities, and would encourage inclusion of more such activities in all of the courses. The large enrollment SCALE-UP model as implemented at the host university did not increase science teaching self-efficacy of non-science majors, as hypothesized. This was likely due to limited modification of standard cooperative activities according to the inquiry-guided SCALE-UP model. It was also found that larger SCALE-UP enrollments did not decrease science teaching self-efficacy when standard cooperative activities were used in the larger class.

Bakgrund: När barn i tidig ålder får en positiv upplevelse av naturvetenskap kan det utveckla deras intresse för miljön och hur världen fungerar. Därför tycker vi att det är intressant att ta reda på hur förskollärarna ser på naturvetenskap och vilka möjligheter de anser sig erbjuda barnen. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka förskollärares attityder till arbetet med naturvetenskap i förskolan och hur naturvetenskap realiseras i undervisningen. Metod: Studien är kvalitativ med sju explorativa intervjuer, vilket innebär att de genomförts med öppna frågor som gav informanterna möjlighet att fritt uttrycka sig. Den tematiska analysen gjordes utifrån aktivitetsfokuserat perspektiv och begreppsutvecklingsperspektiv. Resultat: I resultatet framkom fyra teman på hur naturvetenskap blev synligt i förskolan. Förskollärarna ansåg att barnen skulle få upptäcka på egen hand och att det var viktigt med sensomotoriska erfarenheter för att barnen skulle kunna ta till sig kunskapen. Studien visade även att det fanns en osäkerhet bland förskollärarna, samtidigt som de ansåg att barnen ska få en positiv upplevelse av naturen. Deras beskrivningar antydde på att naturvetenskap var inget de arbetade med skilt från övriga ämnen utan var integrerat.

The purpose of this study was to observe the science teaching practices of six primary school teachers in Standards 5 through 7, to learn about their perceptions of teaching science and to examine whether or not their teaching practices were in keeping with what they were taught during teacher preparation as well as Malawi's educational expectations for primary school science based upon MIITEP (Malawi Integrated In-service Teacher Education Program) handbooks. Three research questions were posited: (a) What is the teacher preparation program for primary teachers in Malawi? (b) What were the instructional practices of the six beginning primary school science teachers who were prepared in the teacher training college programs? (c) What connections were evident between what beginning primary school science teachers were expected to learn and what they demonstrated in the classroom? All of the six participants (5 males and 1 female) had completed MIITEP in the past three to five years. The data sources for these science teachers included a self-assessment form, pre-observation interviews, post-observation interviews, and lesson observations. Data were also gathered from MIITEP handbooks and three science teacher educators who were interviewed. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The study revealed that there were matches, partial matches, and mismatches between what the six primary school teachers demonstrated in their classroom as compared with the Malawi Ministry of Education science teacher preparation expectations. Of particular interest were that science teachers did not fully engage pupils in most of the process skills for science teaching, nor did they utilize a variety of appropriate teaching and learning strategies and materials for teaching science. In addition, allotted time for teaching science lessons was not fully utilized due to, among other factors, time conflicts with other official and community welfare duties, and mixing English with vernacular during teaching. Implications for practice and for further research have also been suggested. / Ph. D.

This qualitative study was designed to investigate the influences on nontraditional pre-service teachers as they negotiated the teaching of science in elementary school. Based upon a sociocultural theoretical framework with an identity-in-practice lens, these influences included beliefs about science teaching, life experiences, and the impact of the teacher preparation program. The study sample consisted of two nontraditional pre-service teachers who were student teaching in an elementary classroom. Data, collected over a five-month period, included in-depth individual interviews, classroom observations, audio recordings, and reviews of documentations. Interviews focused on the participants' beliefs relating to the teaching of science, prior experiences, and their teacher preparation program experiences relating to the teaching of science. Classroom observations provided additional insights into the classroom setting, participants' teaching strategies, and participants' interactions with the students and cooperating teacher. A whole-text analysis of the interview transcripts, observational field notes, audio recordings, and documents generated eight major categories: beliefs about science teaching, role of family, teaching science int he classroom, teacher identity, non-teacher identity, relationships with others, discourse of classroom teaching, and discourses of teachers. The following significant findings emerged from the data: (a) the identity of nontraditional student teachers as science teachers related to early life experiences in science classes; (b) the identity of nontraditional student teachers as science teachers was influenced by their role as parents; (c) nontraditional student teachers learned strategies that supported their beliefs about inquiry learning; and (d) nontraditional student teachers valued the teach preparation program support system. The results from this qualitative study suggest that sociocultural theory with an identity-in-practice lens provides a theoretical frame work for understanding the influences that affect why nontraditional pre-service teachers select strategies to teach science in the elementary classroom. / Ph. D.

Notre travail porte sur le thème des connaissances professionnelles mobilisées par les enseignants pendant la préparation et lors de la mise en œuvre de leur enseignement. Notre étude se déroule dans le contexte de l’enseignement des sciences expérimentales. Nous y étudions les connaissances des enseignants et leurs évolutions. Notre approche théorique articule la didactique des sciences et la didactique professionnelle avec comme cadre d’analyse des connaissances des enseignants, le concept de PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge), les connaissances pédagogiques liées au contenu. Nous avons élaboré une méthodologie spécifique, associant le chercheur et des binômes de professeurs, afin notamment de saisir l’écart entre la préparation des enseignements et leur mise en œuvre. A partir de cet écart nous définissons des incidents critiques qui sont la base du corpus que nous analysons. Nous identifions les connaissances en jeu, et indiquons comment le concept de PCK s’articule avec celui de schème. Lorsque les enseignants traitent d’un sujet au moyen des démarches d’investigation, ils mobilisent des types de connaissances spécifiques, et mettent en place des pratiques différentes, selon qu'ils travaillent au premier ou second degré. Nous montrons qu’il y a une relation entre ces connaissances et la régulation rétroactive de l’activité qui permet à l’enseignant d’ajuster sa préparation. Nous modélisons une forme d’acquisition d’expérience. / Our work focuses on the theme of professional knowledge mobilized by teachers in their lesson preparations and implementation in class. Our study takes place in the context of the teaching of experimental sciences. We study the knowledge of teachers and the evolutions of this knowledge. Our theoretical approach articulates science education and professional didactics; it also retains, for the analysis of teachers' knowledge, the concept of PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge). We have developed a specific methodology, involving the researcher and teachers organized in pairs, to observe the gap between the preparation of lessons and their implementation. From this gap, we define critical incidents: they are the basis of the corpus that we analyzed. We identify the knowledge involved, and we indicate how the concept of PCK articulates with the concept of scheme. When teachers use inquiry-based science teaching (IBST), they mobilize specific knowledge and they implement different practices, depending on their work at primary or secondary school. We show that there is a relationship between knowledge and retroactive control that allows the teacher to adjust his/her preparation. We propose a theoretical model, for a form of acquisition of professional experience.

This report presents the results from a survey study on Swedish upper secondary school physics andchemistry teachers’ use of models and representations in teaching the atom. The study builds upon an earlier systematic international literature review on the role of models and representations in the teaching, learning and understanding of the atom. The overall aim of the study is to explore what models and representations are used by Swedish upper secondary school physics and chemistry teachers in their teaching about the atom, what informs teachers’ selection of the atomic models and representation forms and how they specifically use them in their teaching of the atom. The method for collecting the data for this study was an electronic questionnaire containing six introductory questions followed by nine open and four closed items, which were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Thirty-one responses were received and analysed in this study. The results of the study indicate that Swedish teachers’ selection and use of atomic models and representation forms in their practice correspond with findings in the previously conducted literature review. For example, the Bohr atomic model was shown to be the most popular for teaching about the atom amongst the Swedish teachers in this study, since it is deemed intuitive and easy to visualize. A further result revealed that the de Broglie atomic model was only used by physics teachers, and that physics teachers overall used more atomic models in their teaching than chemistry teachers, a finding that might be related to the different teaching content in physics and chemistry. The study also shows that Swedish teachers are very comfortable with, and advocate, using different representation forms in their teaching. One interesting finding in this regard was that the use of physical models is predominantly more popular among chemistry than physics teachers. In line with the findings in the previous literature review study, students’ prior knowledge and individual learning styles were found tobe important influencing factors in teachers’ selection of representation forms to use in the classroom.The majority of the teachers also agreed on that it is important to explain to students how models should be interpreted and used, but one interesting finding, that differs from the previous research, is that some teachers were of the opinion that students have an already well-developed modelling ability when encountering different models of the atom.

[pt] A qualidade da educação é tema atual e muito discutido no cenário das políticas públicas que visam garanti-la. No entanto a qualidade do ensino de ciências medida através de avaliações ainda é novidade entre os municípios brasileiros, por isso esse estudo trata da iniciativa tomada pela Secretaria Municipal de Educação do Rio de Janeiro (SME). Inicialmente, o estudo apresenta a história do ensino de ciências no Brasil a partir da década de 1940 e, em seguida, aborda os aspectos ligados à história do ensino de ciências na rede municipal do Rio de Janeiro, enfatizando os contextos políticos e pedagógicos. De forma complementar, discute-se a temática da qualidade da educação e sua busca pela Rede Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, relatando-se as ações políticas e seus referenciais teóricos. Examinam-se os materiais disponibilizados na rede em 2010 e 2011, e também o perfil das provas aplicadas, avaliando-se as modificações ocorridas nesse período, bem como as perspectivas da Rede para o ensino de ciências. Complementarmente, apresentam-se os resultados alcançados nas escolas, tanto no IDERio 2010 quanto nas Provas da Rede de ciências, percebendo os possíveis impactos dos recursos de infraestrutura da escola, das atividades complementares, da formação do corpo docente e do IDS no desempenho das escolas. Conclui-se que a qualidade do ensino de ciências, tendo como foco o desempenho nas avaliações, ainda deixa a desejar. Mas, é perceptível o esforço da SME em estruturar didaticamente o ensino de ciências, com vistas a alcançar a melhoria na qualidade do mesmo. / [en] The quality of education is a current topic and much discussed in the scenario of the public policies that aim to guarantee it. However, the quality of the science education being measured through assessments is still novelty among the Brazilian municipalities, so this study is about the initiative taken by the Municipal Education Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro (SME). At first, the study presents the history of the science education in Brazil from the1940s and then explores the aspects related to the history of the science education in the city of Rio de Janeiro, emphasizing the political contexts and teaching. In a supplementary way, it discusses the issue of the quality in education and the search of it by the Municipal Network of Rio de Janeiro, reporting the political actions and their theoretical frameworks. The materials available on the network in 2010 and 2011 are examined, and also the profile of the tests applied, evaluating the changes that occurred during this period, as well as the prospects of the Network for the science education. In addition, the results achieved in the schools are presented, both in the IDERio 2010 as in the science tests of the Network, perceiving the possible impacts of the infrastructure resources of the school, of the complementary activities, of the training of the teaching staff and of the IDS in the performance of schools. The conclusion is that the quality of the science education, focusing the performance on the evaluations, still leaves much to be desired. But it is noticeable the effort of SME in structuring didactically the science education, expecting the improvement in its quality.

Diversos são os problemas ambientais presentes na sociedade, sendo que o ambiente escolar se torna um local de grande importância para levar as discussões referentes a eles e ajudar na busca por possíveis respostas a esses desafios. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo discutir a construção de Indicadores de Desenvolvimento Sustentável a partir da análise do entorno escolar, se utilizando de diferentes recursos didáticos e do Modelo PEIR. Além disso, teve como foco a produção de uma cartilha contendo um guia sobre como construir indicadores, podendo ser utilizada por professores e alunos em suas aulas. A metodologia a ser aplicada é a de Pesquisa Ação e apresenta inicialmente um estudo bibliográfico sobre quatro temas que são estruturantes na pesquisa, sendo eles: os recursos didáticos, as Ciências Ambientais, o Modelo PEIR e os Indicadores de Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Foram utilizadas durante o desenvolvimento da pesquisa aulas de campo, mapas e imagens de satélite para construir junto aos alunos os indicadores. Como resultados obtidos pode-se dizer que a utilização do Modelo PEIR e dos Indicadores de Desenvolvimento Sustentável para o desenvolvimento de aprendizagens relativas às questões ambientais presentes no entorno escolar são de grande importância para que o aluno consiga associar elementos presentes nas diferentes dimensões, integrando questões sociais, históricas, econômicas, culturais e ambientais. Esse uso do Modelo PEIR e dos Indicadores deve ser acompanhado de práticas pedagógicas que se utilizem de diferentes recursos didáticos para seu desenvolvimento, sendo principalmente as aulas de campo um dos recursos de maior impacto para sua compreensão por parte dos alunos, levando a uma educação ambiental crítica e reflexiva, desenvolvendo alunos engajados na análise e transformação dos espaços ambientais locais. / There are several environmental problems present in our society, and the school environment becomes a place of great importance to carry out discussions about them and help in the search for possible answers to these challenges. The objective of the present work is to discuss the construction of Sustainable Development Indicators from the analysis of the school environment, using different didactic resources and the PEIR Model. In addition, it focused on the production of a booklet containing a guide on how to construct indicators, which can be used by teachers and students in their classes. The methodology to be applied is Action Research and initially presents a bibliographic study on four themes that are structuring in the research, being: didactic resources, Environmental Sciences, the PEIR Model and the Indicators of Sustainable Development. Field lessons, maps and satellite images were used during the development of the research to build the indicators together with the students. As results we can say that the use of the Model PEIR and the Indicators of Sustainable Development for the development of learning related to the environmental issues present in the school environment are of great importance for the student to be able to associate elements present in the different dimensions, integrating social, historical, economic, cultural and environmental. This use of the PEIR Model and the Indicators must be accompanied by pedagogical practices that use different didactic resources for its development, being mainly the field lessons one of the resources of greater impact for its understanding on the part of the students, leading to an environmental education critical and reflexive, developing students engaged in the analysis and transformation of local environmental spaces.

Orientador: Sueli Terezinha Ferreira Martins / Banca: Wanda Maria Junqueira de Aguiar / Banca: José Roberto Boettger Giardinetto / Resumo: Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar uma das apropriações da teoria vigotskiana no âmbito do Ensino de Ciências na atualidade e avaliar inadequações conceituais e metodológicas decorrentes da vertente do pluralismo metodológico. Neste caso, a produção escolhida para ser analisada foi proposta por Eduardo Fleury Mortimer e colaboradores, na qual utilizam os pressupostos da teoria de L. S. Vigostski como aporte para o desenvolvimento de conceitos e metodologias de análise da realidade escolar. Para proceder tal análise foi realizada uma pesquisa teórica que resgatou os pressupostos epistemológicos e conceituais da teoria vigotskiana, ou seja, o materialismo histórico dialético e o desenvolvimento do pensamento e da linguagem, respectivamente. E, através de uma revisão da obra de Mortimer a partir dos postulados encontrados na teoria vigotskiana foi possível constatar que há apropriações pouco fidedignas às concepções e conceitos originais de Vigotski, bem como a formulação de uma aproximação equivocada com a corrente construtivista. Tais modos de apropriação do escopo teórico de Vigotski se respaldaram no pluralismo metodológico, que propõe a intersecção de diferentes e até divergentes teorias com a finalidade de apresentar alternativas para a resolução prática de problemáticas no âmbito do processo ensino-aprendizagem. / Abstract: This work aimed to analyze one of the appropriations of Vigotskian theory for Science teaching nowadays, and to evaluate conceptual and methodological inadequacies arisen from Methodological Pluralism. For this study we chose to analyze the production of E. F. Mortimer et ali., in which they use Vigotskian theory as support for the development of concepts and methodologies of analysis of school reality. In order to carry out our study we investigated the epistemological and conceptual bases of Vigotskian theory, i.e., Dialectic Historical Materialism and the development of both thought and language. Through a revision of Mortimer's work using the bases of Vigotskian theory we were able to detect the existence of appropriations that are not very truthful to Vigotski's original ideas and concepts as well as the formulation of a wrong approach to constructivist theory. Such modes of approach to Vigotskian theory were based upon Methodological Pluralism, which purposes the intersection of different, and even divergent, theories in order to present alternatives for the practical resolution of problems within the context of the teaching/learning process. / Mestre

Orientador: José Carlos Miguel / Resumo: A presente pesquisa teve por objetivo identificar a percepção que os professores responsáveis pela disciplina de Metodologia Para o Ensino de Ciências têm ao ministrar suas aulas no Curso de Pedagogia e a concepção dos alunos de 3.º e 4.º anos desse curso, quanto ao oferecimento de tal disciplina para a formação do professor de Ciências nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental. A metodologia escolhida foi o estudo de caso, tendo como abordagem a pesquisa quanti-qualitativa. Os dados foram coletados em três etapas: na primeira, aplicaram-se os questionários aos grupos de graduandos de cinco universidades, três públicas e duas particulares; na segunda etapa, um aluno de cada instituição foi entrevistado, tendo em vista que esses alunos já ministram ou ministraram aulas de Ciências no Ensino Fundamental; na terceira etapa, os entrevistados foram os professores universitários, um de cada instituição pesquisada, e responsáveis por disciplinas correspondentes à de Metodologia Para o Ensino de Ciências. Em seguida, os dados foram analisados e sintetizados em quadros de classe e subclasse de conteúdos para, assim, fornecer um eixo facilitador de análise, de resultados e discussões chegando à conclusão de que a pesquisa pedagógica oferece um norte para se pensar mais efetivamente na formação inicial do professor, principalmente no que tange às práticas diferenciadas em sua formação, bem como ao interesse pelo ensino e grau de importância a ele dado. / Abstract: The present research has aimed to identify the subject "Methodology for Science Teaching", responsible teachers' perception have on teaching their classes in the Course of Pedagogy and the 3rd and 4th graders conception in these courses, as for the offer of such subject for the Science teacher graduation in the very beginning of the Elementary course (grades) levels. The Methodology chosen here was a subject study having the qualitative research as an approach, without excluding the quantitative research, though. The data were collected in three steps: at first it was made some questionaries to the graduating groups of five universities, in which three of then are public and two are private focusing: the satisfaction with the preparation to teach Science, the Pedagogic Practice and the Science teaching; in the second step, one student from each Institution was interviewed, being aware that those students had taught or were teaching Elementary Science classes, the semi-structured interview focus is aiming the existence or lack of articulation between theory and practice, as for the importance and preparation for the subject teaching; in the third step, the interviewed ones were university professors, also one from each researched Institution and who were the responsible ones for the subject of methodology for Science teaching or similar ones as a subject with the same objective. Then, the data were analyzed and summarized into classes and sub-classes of contents made easier through analysis so to furnish a connection of results and discussions coming to a conclusion that the Pedagogic research offers an orientation to think more effectively in the very first teacher's education, mainly about the different practices in their education as for the teaching interest and how much importance was given to it. / Mestre