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Professional development and in-service training are often used as synonymous terms. However, for the purposes of this study it is useful to stipulate differences. From my experience as science consultant, inservice training has been a short term plan the objective of which is to ask teachers to change their practices after information has been presented to them. Inservice training seems to assume that teachers possess forms of professional knowledge that may lead to changes in their classroom practices. In contrast, professional development maybe defined as a long term support for teachers who seek additional knowledge to guide their classroom practices. If teachers do not possess knowledge that will assist them in classroom practices, and they wish to do so, then the opportunity to acquire this knowledge should be provided. Providing professional development opportunities to teachers in remote schools is a challenge. There are few people offering professional development opportunities and remote schools suffer when in competition with their urban counterparts. Even if experienced personnel were available, the cost of getting teachers to a central site or the presenter to remote schools is more costly than most school divisions can afford. This study explored video technology as a tool to overcome professional development problems of distance, cost and shortage of presenters involved in professional development. Central to understanding how video technology may be used to overcome professional development problems is describing how teachers respond to video technology. Video technology has the capability of presenting actual classroom practices demonstrated in vignettes. The vignettes used in this study demonstrated how teachers engage students in manipulating materials to discover scientific principles. A qualitative design was used to collect data on how teachers responded to these vignettes. The data were collected from four teachers in three phases. These phases were initial interview, classroom observation and follow up interview. During the initial interview each teacher viewed the vignettes and was interviewed. Data were also collected during a classroom visit and follow up interview. Once the data were collected and transcribed they were placed on cards and categorized by topic. The data from one teacher were cross referenced by juxtaposition the data with other data collected from that teacher. Data collected from each teacher were then cross referenced with the other teachers' data using triangulation. The data were then reported using a case study format which allowed this researcher to include his interpretations. Three teachers reported that the vignettes were idealistic, and none of the teachers discussed the main message of the vignettes. Instead the teachers used knowledge suggestive of knowledge categories constructed by Shulman (1987) to interpret the videotaped vignettes. Further, teachers framed problems with their classroom practice after viewing the vignettes. Three teachers framed problems with grouping their students for science and explored aspects of their framed problem. The notion that teachers frame problems and explore different aspects of their problem suggests that teachers engage in a complex mental process called reflection-on-action by Schon (1983, 1987). Since vignettes prompt teachers to critically examine their practices and provide information that is useful to them in solving problems with their practice, vignettes maybe used as a professional development tool in remote schools.

Professional development and in-service training are often used as synonymous terms. However, for the purposes of this study it is useful to stipulate differences. From my experience as science consultant, inservice training has been a short term plan the objective of which is to ask teachers to change their practices after information has been presented to them. Inservice training seems to assume that teachers possess forms of professional knowledge that may lead to changes in their classroom practices. In contrast, professional development maybe defined as a long term support for teachers who seek additional knowledge to guide their classroom practices. If teachers do not possess knowledge that will assist them in classroom practices, and they wish to do so, then the opportunity to acquire this knowledge should be provided. Providing professional development opportunities to teachers in remote schools is a challenge. There are few people offering professional development opportunities and remote schools suffer when in competition with their urban counterparts. Even if experienced personnel were available, the cost of getting teachers to a central site or the presenter to remote schools is more costly than most school divisions can afford. This study explored video technology as a tool to overcome professional development problems of distance, cost and shortage of presenters involved in professional development. Central to understanding how video technology may be used to overcome professional development problems is describing how teachers respond to video technology. Video technology has the capability of presenting actual classroom practices demonstrated in vignettes. The vignettes used in this study demonstrated how teachers engage students in manipulating materials to discover scientific principles. A qualitative design was used to collect data on how teachers responded to these vignettes. The data were collected from four teachers in three phases. These phases were initial interview, classroom observation and follow up interview. During the initial interview each teacher viewed the vignettes and was interviewed. Data were also collected during a classroom visit and follow up interview. Once the data were collected and transcribed they were placed on cards and categorized by topic. The data from one teacher were cross referenced by juxtaposition the data with other data collected from that teacher. Data collected from each teacher were then cross referenced with the other teachers' data using triangulation. The data were then reported using a case study format which allowed this researcher to include his interpretations. Three teachers reported that the vignettes were idealistic, and none of the teachers discussed the main message of the vignettes. Instead the teachers used knowledge suggestive of knowledge categories constructed by Shulman (1987) to interpret the videotaped vignettes. Further, teachers framed problems with their classroom practice after viewing the vignettes. Three teachers framed problems with grouping their students for science and explored aspects of their framed problem. The notion that teachers frame problems and explore different aspects of their problem suggests that teachers engage in a complex mental process called reflection-on-action by Schon (1983, 1987). Since vignettes prompt teachers to critically examine their practices and provide information that is useful to them in solving problems with their practice, vignettes maybe used as a professional development tool in remote schools. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

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published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy

The Scientific Attitude Inventory, TSAI, was developed in an attempt to measure the Scientific Attitude of elementary teachers. Form D, the form used with the study population, was developed through a refinement technique involving three pre-test forms, Forms A, B, and C.From an original pool of items, fifty-three items were selected to constitute Form A. Form A was constructed and administered to a pre-test population for the purpose of refinement of individual items from the item pool. On the basis of an item analysis of the responses by the pre-test population, several of the items were revised.The revised items from Form A, together with newly written items constituted Form B. Form B was administered to a second pre-test population for the purpose of refinement of individual items. Several items of Form B were revised on the basis of an item analysis.The set of items which resulted from the pre-testing of Forms A and B, revised as appropriate, were submitted to a panel of judges in order to establish a response key and content validity of the items for the purpose of measuring the Scientific Attitude.Those items which were judged to have content validity constituted Form C. Form C was administered to a third pretest population in order to identify the set of items to be used in Form D, the form used with the study population.The identification of the set of items from Form C to be used in Form D was accomplished through a series of reductions in the number of items in Form C. On the basis of an item analysis, the items with the lowest item validity indices were removed from the instrument. The resultant version was scored and an item analysis made unisg the new instrument as the criterion measure. This procedure was repeated until diminishing returns were noticed in the split-halves reliability. The 45 items of Form C which produced the highest split-halves reliability were used in Form D and constituted Version 45 C.Inspection of the 45 items of Form C which were used in Form D revealed that with but one exception, the items which produced the highest item validity indices were items keyed "disagree." Therefore, in the construction of Form D, 25 additional items were uted keyed "agree" in order to achieve an apparent balance in the response key.A 70 item instrument, Form d, was administered to the study population of 224 elementary teachers in graduate study at the masters level in the Elementary Education Department of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, during the Summer of 1969. The administration of Form D provided data and Norms of Performance for Form D, Version 45 C. This version of TSAI yielded a split-halves reliability of 0.72 with the study population.The complete 70 item instrument was also scored and analysed. Further, a series of reductions in the number of items, refining the form as an internal criterion measure of validity, was effected in the same manner as was used with Form C. Diminishing returns in split-halves reliability was seen beyond the 45 item set, identified as Form D, Version 45. This version yielded a split-halves reliability of 0.80. Version 65 of Form D, and each subsequent version in the reduction series yielded split-halves reliabilities equal to, or exceeding, 0.70, the minimum level of reliability specified in the design of the study. Norms of performance were compiled from the administration of Form D to the study population for each of the versions which yielded a reliability equal to, or greater than, 0.70.

M.Sc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / Some teachers perceive radioactivity as a difficult topic to teach due to its abstract nature. This topic is included at senior secondary level in the combined science syllabus and is taught for the first time to learners who study physics. This study was carried out to make explicit two teachers‟ PCK (pedagogical content knowledge) on teaching radioactivity and to investigate the role of experience in the PCK of the two physics teachers. Mr Victor had 19 years while Ms Grace had 3 years of teaching experience at the time of this study. I used pre-observation interviews, video recorded classroom observations, field notes, diagnostic test and post observation discussions as data collection methods. The data was processed using Content Representation (CoRe) and Pedagogical and Professional experience Repertoires (PaP-eRs) as methodological tools to document and portray the teachers‟ PCK in teaching radioactivity. The CoRe that helped to give insights into how the two teachers framed the topic of radioactivity was constructed from the pre-observation interview data and video recorded classroom observations transcripts. The PaP-eRs were constructed from video recorded classroom observation transcripts and field notes and they were narratives of the classroom practice of the teachers. I also used the model of Rollnick et al. (2008) to analyse data. This study has not come out clear on total absence of PCK in Ms Grace as a beginning teacher. There are some very good aspects that have been demonstrated by Ms Grace that have not been demonstrated by Mr Victor with reference to the topic specific strategies. Both teachers showed that they had a repertoire of teaching strategies to suit their teaching context. As Mr Victor did, Ms Grace as a beginning teacher employed some effective strategies to suit her learning demands and this indicated that the teachers were able to manifest their well developed PCK when the four knowledge domains that generate teachers‟ PCK were integrated. Pertaining to knowledge of assessment and curricular saliency, there were no observable PCK differences between the two teachers. The study showed that Mr Victor used a variety of representations to teach radioactivity while Ms Grace‟s use of representations was more limited. Through the use of the model of Rollnick et al. (2008), I indicated that Mr Victor had well developed PCK while Ms Grace‟s was less developed with regard to representations used. The manifested knowledge of various representations for Mr Victor was produced from the integrated knowledge of the four knowledge domains in the model. The diagnostic test revealed that Mr Victor had required subject matter knowledge to teach within the syllabus he was teaching. Ms Grace‟s subject matter knowledge seemed fragile. The existence of PCK in Ms Grace implies that both experienced and beginning teachers can learn from each other to improve their teaching.

Many school districts do not require science in the elementary school curriculum or place significantly more emphasis on the performance of students on the ELA and Math tests. With science education shifting to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there is a critical need for high quality science instruction in elementary schools. This study examines the experiences of 28 elementary teachers engaged in a science education professional development program that was comprised of 60 kindergarten through twelve grade teachers. I examine the experiences of the 28 elementary teachers as they work in vertically aligned professional learning communities with middle and high school teachers. Findings in this study indicate that the model provides a supportive environment for elementary teachers to grow and develop both personally and professionally in their science teaching practice. Evidence is presented that shows how a learning community of elementary, middle and high school teachers can provide an opportunity for elementary teachers to socially construct knowledge of how to best support student success in science. Additionally, the findings show that elementary teachers are able to socially construct knowledge about effective teaching practices in science that support core science teaching practices. The findings also indicate that the nature of these learning communities also provided many structures that can support increased efficacy amongst elementary science teachers. Finally, the experiences of elementary teachers engaged in his study were overwhelmingly positive, leading to increased trust and respect amongst peers and improved confidence and motivation to teach science at the elementary level.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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