Ko Chi-Chung Andre. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 257-266). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.v / Table of contents --- p.vii / List of figures --- p.x / List of tables --- p.x / List of abbreviations --- p.xii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- Background of the study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Statement of the problem situation --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Purpose and significance of study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Research questions --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- Delimitation of the study --- p.6 / Chapter 1.6 --- Definition of key concepts --- p.7 / Chapter 1.7 --- Outline of the remainder of the thesis --- p.17 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature review I: Environmental education and science education / Chapter 2.1 --- Overview of the literature review --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2 --- Understanding environmental education --- p.19 / Chapter 2.3 --- Present status of environmental education in Hong Kong schools --- p.28 / Chapter 2.4 --- Environmental education and science education --- p.30 / Chapter 2.5 --- Summary --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Literature review II: Research issues relevant to teaching environmental education / Chapter 3.1 --- Environmental education as a field of study and its paradigm of research --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2 --- The study of teachers' perceptions and practices --- p.42 / Chapter 3.3 --- Framework of analysis --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4 --- Research related to teachers' perceptions and practices --- p.58 / Chapter 3.5 --- Summary --- p.66 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Research design / Chapter 4.1 --- Overview of the research design --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2 --- Research questions and associated research methods --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3 --- Questionnaire survey --- p.71 / Chapter 4.4 --- In-depth interview --- p.79 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Curriculum analysis / Chapter 5.1 --- Overview of curriculum analysis --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2 --- Background the curriculum --- p.86 / Chapter 5.3 --- Characteristics of the curriculum --- p.91 / Chapter 5.4 --- Evaluation of the curriculum --- p.112 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary and conclusion --- p.121 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Questionnaire survey results / Chapter 6.1 --- Overview of the chapter --- p.123 / Chapter 6.2 --- Descriptive analysis of questionnaire survey data --- p.123 / Chapter 6.3 --- Inferential analysis of the questionnaire survey data --- p.142 / Chapter 6.4 --- Summary --- p.1525 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Interview findings / Chapter 7.1 --- Overview of the chapter --- p.155 / Chapter 7.2 --- Interview findings --- p.157 / Chapter 7.3 --- Analysis of interview findings --- p.178 / Chapter 7.4 --- Summary --- p.197 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Discussion / Chapter 8.1 --- Overview of the chapter --- p.200 / Chapter 8.2 --- Self-reported practices of teaching environmental education --- p.200 / Chapter 8.3 --- Teachers' perceptions of EE and their relation to practices of teaching EE --- p.209 / Chapter 8.4 --- Synthesis of research findings --- p.218 / Chapter 8.5 --- Further discussion of research findings --- p.220 / Chapter 8.6 --- Summary --- p.238 / Chapter Chapter 9 --- Conclusion and recommendation / Chapter 9.1 --- Summing up: Hong Kong secondary school science teachers' perception of environmental education --- p.239 / Chapter 9.2 --- Implications of research findings --- p.243 / Chapter 9.3 --- Limitation of the research and recommendation for further study --- p.248 / Appendix A A sample of cover letter and survey questionnaire --- p.251 / Appendix B Relevant EE topics of the IS Syllabus recommended in the CDC Guidelines --- p.256 / References --- p.257

A teacher may say, "I have twenty years of experience," but just what does it mean? This study suggests explanations for the meaning of "Experience," not by looking at the number of years in a classroom, but at what teachers did in those years that could make the teaching experience equivalent to years of personal growth and development. Three Middle Level Science teachers' experiences were observed over two separate units of instruction. Teachers were engaged in conversations before, during and after every observation, such that their talk gave meaning to teaching. The teachers, early in their units, experienced tensions (stresses and anxieties) that affected their planning and implementation of teaching. The study determined that the teachers' learning experiences and personal growth were directly related to how they met the challenge of tensions. One teacher with very little science knowledge met the challenge of tensions in teaching by integrating her new science knowledge with her English and History knowledge and repertoire. She developed new practices that increased her energy and confidence in such a way that became self-sustaining experiences and growth. Two other teachers, despite science backgrounds, were less successful in meeting the challenge of tensions in teaching. Each found that the contents of the selected units required study and preparation, yet the teachers acquired information rather than truly learning the new subject matter. These teachers, in meeting the tensions of teaching, felt their energies wane, which reduced their dedication and effectiveness. As a result, neither teacher experienced personal growth. The negative experiences resulted in each teacher becoming more entrenched in a lecture mode of teaching to escape the tensions that existed. Learning new subject matter can produce tensions leading to experiences which affect teaching and potential for teacher growth. Incremental amounts of growth are possible, but only if a teacher responds positively to and meets the challenge of tensions in teaching, minute by minute, class by class. / Graduation date: 2003

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Many theories on the nature of science and the nature of learning have been proposed. In particular, two theoretical orientations have been identified as having a decisive impact on activities in the school science classroom, namely "Inductivism" and "Constructivism". Inductivism views observations as objective, facts as constants and knowledge as being obtained from a fixed external reality. The constructivist view sees all knowledge as "reality" reconstructed in the mind of the learner. Each view predisposes certain orientations towards the science curriculum and within it particularly to assessment. It is postulated that teachers' views on science will influence how they teach and assess it. An "inductivist" teacher is more likely to reward certain approved responses from learners whereas a "constructivist" teacher is more likely to attend to learners' unique observations as evidence of their thinking. In this study a questionnaire was developed in an attempt classify science teachers according to their views on the nature of science and learning, and during this process encourage them to reflect on these views. It is hoped that the instrument could measure any changes in teacher's views as a result of the teachers becoming more reflective practitioners over time. Research indicates that the majority of teachers have a predominantly inductivist view of science. The study confirmed the results of other researchers by showing that a majority of non-tertiary science educators could be classified as being strongly inductivist. However, the overall proportion of these teachers was not as high as expected. Of possible concern was the indication that the strongly constructivist group showed very strong inductivist tendencies when assessing written tests which involved pupils' responses to laboratory observations.

The purpose of the study was to examine college science professors’ beliefs regarding the use of inquiry in the college science classroom, how these beliefs impacted their instructional choices and how these beliefs were enacted in the classroom. Additional questions were how teachers’ beliefs vary across institution types (community college, private, four year college, and large research institution), and how beliefs vary across disciplines (life sciences and physical sciences). A case study design was required for this study due to the complexity of the topic and different data sources needed to answer the fore stated research questions. These data sources included surveys, interviews, classroom and laboratory observations and written records such as laboratory activities and syllabi. Twelve college professors at three different institutions; large research institution, small, private four year college and community college were interviewed. In addition to interviews, classes and labs were observed, a questionnaire on the five essential features of inquiry was given and samples of labs and syllabi were obtained. A laboratory coordinator was also interviewed as she was responsible for the laboratory section for two of the professors at the research institution. All schools were located in the southeast United States. The perception of inquiry by college science professors has been found to be a barrier to the inclusion of inquiry in college classrooms and was supported in the current study. While the professors described constraints to inquiry such as large class size, lack of time, disinterest of students, and lack of equipment, these limitations were due, in part, to the professors’ incomplete view of inquiry as what researchers do. This view was most pronounced with the professors at the large, research institution. At the research institution, observations in the classroom mirrored the beliefs of inquiry. Lecture was the primary instruction in the science classroom, and the labs were scripted and shown to be “cookbook” with little or no evidence of inquiry noted in the labs iv obtained. There was more evidence of inquiry at the private four-year college and community college than at the large research institution; what was observed in the classroom mirrored what the professors believed about inquiry. There was a difference in the beliefs between institutions with the professors at the research institution holding an incomplete view of inquiry while the professors at the private college and community college included many aspects of the inquiry continuum in their view of inquiry. There were no differences noted between disciplines.

In the last twenty years in US science education, professional development has emphasized the need to change science instruction from a direct instruction model to a more participatory and constructivist learning model. The result of these reform efforts has seen an increase in science education professional development that is focused on providing teaching strategies that promote inquiry learning to learn science content. Given these reform efforts and teacher responses to professional development, research seems to indicate that whether teachers actually change their practice may depend on the teachers' basic epistemological beliefs about the nature of science. The person who builds the bridge between teacher beliefs and teacher practice is the designer and facilitator of science teacher professional development. Even though these designers and facilitators of professional development are critical to science teacher change, few have studied how these professionals approach their work and what influence their beliefs have on their professional development activities. Eight developers and designers of science education professional development participated in this study through interviews and the completion of an online questionnaire. To examine the relationship between professional development providers' science beliefs and their design, development, and implementation of professional development experiences for science teachers, this study used the Views on Science Education Questionnaire (VOSE), and interview transcripts as well as analysis of the documents from teacher professional development experiences. Through a basic interpretive qualitative analysis, the predominant themes that emerged from this study suggest that the nature of science is often equated with the practice of science, personal beliefs about the nature of science have a minimal impact on the design of professional development experiences, current reform efforts in science education have a strong influence on the design of professional development, and those providing science education professional development have diverse views about epistemology and the nature of science. The results and conclusions from this study lead to a discussion of implications and recommendations for the planning and design of professional development for science teachers, including the need to making equity and social justice issues an integral part of inquiry and scientific practice.

In 2010, Oregon Department of Education (ODE) developed a set of rubrics designed to score a state required performance assessment targeting Science Inquiry (SI) and Engineering Design (ED) skills. During the development of the rubrics, ODE invited six panels of teachers to provide feedback on an early draft of the rubrics. This case study analyzed the teachers' feedback and the revisions of the rubrics to identify the types of feedback teachers offered and how ODE used that feedback to develop the rubrics. The results showed the teachers' feedback focused on defining the skills students were asked to demonstrate and distinguishing levels of student performance. There was clear evidence that the teachers' feedback had a substantial impact on the development of the rubrics. These results suggest that teachers can add substantial value during the development of a state issued assessment tool.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigated a single research question, that is: How do teachers experience the implementation of the Further Education and Training (FET) National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for Physical Science? The focus of the study was on searching the inner consciousness of Physical Science teachers as they engaged with the teaching of the subject on a daily basis. It is in the inner consciousness where one finds the truth about people’s perceptions, beliefs, emotions, challenges and convictions about/towards phenomena that the study sought to determine. In so doing, this study searched for phenomenological truth about the daily realities Physical Science teachers are faced with, as they implement the NCS. Phenomenological truth is floatable, precarious in nature, and subject to an individual’s perception of truth. It is important to note that phenomenological truth makes no reference to absolute truth. At the time this study was conducted the NCS was the only policy document with legal status for schools in South Africa. As a result the NCS influences and directs the pedagogical practices of teachers. This is because the NCS has a specific expectation of Physical Science teachers with regards to their understanding of the content, the delivery of the content, the learning environment, and professionalism. Through searching the consciousness of teachers, they revealed how they experienced what they do in the Physical Science classroom. In other words, how they experience what, how, when and who they teach. Probing into the consciousness of teachers and how they experience the implementation of the NCS provides valuable insight into the quality of curriculum delivery. This study did not only focus on the implementation of the NCS, but also examined why it might be difficult for teachers to change their practices. Phenomenology is both a theory and a method. The study was guided by the ideas of Edmund Husserl - who is regarded by many phenomenologists as the father of phenomenology, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and many other phenomenologists. Husserl (cited in Derrida, 1967) believed that we should begin any explanation with experience, which is a scientific description that does not presuppose any significance of the existence of the metaphysical world. By delving into the complexities of experience one can locate the flowing life of an individual’s consciousness as it occurs. Husserl posited the belief returning to the things themselves (cited in, Derrida, 1967; Spanos, 1976; Groenewald, 2004) to describe the purity of experience as data. In this study I sampled three teachers and employed a phenomenological methodological framework to capture their lived experiences. I used one-on-one semi-structured face-to-face interviews to construct the data. In addition, field notes were used to turn the direct experiences and observations of the participants into vivid descriptions. In phenomenology researchers use field notes to make the voice of people heard in the text. I drew on Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical pathways that a person must be understood from his position within a specific time and place to present the findings. The major finding in this study showed that the teachers’ consciousness, with respect to Physical Science teaching was negatively influenced by the legacy of apartheid-education. This negative consciousness through which they framed their thoughts and filtered their ideas became the collective mindset through which they personified their teaching. The study revealed that the delivery of the NCS (by the teachers) was mostly axiomatised by old habits and images in their thoughts engrained in their memory under apartheid education. The findings also showed that their (teachers’) consciousness with regards to the NCS unconsciously oscillated between the present and the past and that they continuously and unconsciously bring the past (old ideas and beliefs) into the present. The teachers constantly have to struggle against the phenomenological self or attitude and ceaselessly suppose and follow thoughts of pre-comprehension or preconception. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doelwit van hierdie studie was om die volgende navorsingvraag te beantwoord: Hoe ervaar onderwysers die implementering van die Verdere Onderwys en Opleiding (VOO) Nasionale Kurrikulum Verklaring (NKV) vir Fisiese Wetenskap? Die hoofdoel was om meer insig te verkry oor wat binne onderwysers se psige plaasvind soos hulle op ‘n daaglikse basis hul uitleef in die Fisiese Wetenskapsklaskamer binne die raamwerk van die NKV. Dit is binne die psige waar hul persepsies, diepgewortelde waardes, emosies, en uitdagings rondom die NKV rus. Om hierdie rede is die studie geïntresseerd om die fenomenologiese waarheid van die alledaagse realiteite waarmee hulle aanhoudend gekonfronteer word, te myn. Fenominologiese waarheid is vloeibaar en verskil van persoon tot persoon en hou geen verwysing met absolute waarheid nie. Toe hierdie studie plaasgevind het, was die VOO NKV die enigste wettige beleidsdokument vir die deelnemers. Die onderwysers was dus verplig om die voorgeskrewe beginsels soos in die NKV saamgevat toe te pas in die voorbereiding en aanbieding van hul lesse. Die NKV beskryf in diepte die inhoud vir elke graad (10-12), hoe die inhoud aangebied moet word, die klaskamer atmosfeer, asook die professionalitiet van die opvoeders. Al die antwoorde soos saamgevat in laasgenoemde, lê bine die psige van die onderwysers. Die ondersoek van die psige van die onderwysers lei tot ‘n begrip van hoe, wat en waarom Fisiese Wetenskaps-onderswysers doen wat hulle doen. Alhoewel die fokus van hierdie studie op die implementering van die NKV is, dra dit ook by tot groeiende kennis aangaande hoekom onderwysers dit moeilik vind om hulle praktyke te verander wanneer dit kom by die hernuwing van ‘n kurrikulum. Fenomenologie is beide ‘n navorsingsmetode en ‘n teorie. Die literatuuroorsig van hierdie studie is geinspireer deur die idees van Edmund Husserl, wat bestempel word as die vader van fenomenolgie, asook Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, en veskeie ander fenomenoloë. Derrida (1967) is oortuig daarvan dat enige verduideliking akkuraat beskryf kan word indien geleefde ervaring in ag geneem word. Geleefde ervaring spreek direk tot die onderliggende psige van ‘n individu, en deur die psige te ondersoek, is dit moontlik om ‘n individu se oortuigings ten opsigte van sy/haar geloof, persepsies en uitdagings, asook hoe die individu reageer op hierdie aspekte te verstaan. Husserl gebruik die uitdrukking ‘returning to the things themselves’ wanneer hy verwys na die belangrikheid en oorspronlikheid van ervaring (vermeld in, Derrida, 1967; Spanos, 1976; Groenewald, 2004). Om hierdie rede is ‘n fenomenologiese metode gevolg om die lewenservaringe van drie swart onderwysers vas te vang. Hierdie fenomenologiese vertolkende ondersoek word deur veelvoudigemetodes van inligtingsinsameling gekenmerk. Inligting in hierdie studie oor die deelnemers se ervaringe is vekry deur middel van individuele onderhoude, en die ontleding van die inhoud daarvan. Addisionele inligting is verkry deur veldnotas. Die doelwit van die veldnotas was om die deelnemers se direkte ervaringe en waarnemings in besonderhede te beskryf. Die ontledingsbenadering van elke deelnemer is gedoen binne die raamwerk van Husserl, Heidegger en Merleau-Ponty wat gegrond is op teorieë wat die belangrikheid van plek en tyd uitbeeld. Die resultate van hierdie studie het getoon dat die onderliggende psige van elke deelnemer deur die nalatenskap van apartheid negatief beïnvloed is. Hierdie negatiewe denkpatrone waardeur die onderwysers se idees formuleer vorm die kollektiewe ingesteldheid waardeur hulle hul onderrigswêreld skep. Verder het die studie onthul dat hul aanbieding van die NKV meestal gedryf word deur ou gewoontes wat binne hul denke gekristalliseer het. Hulle vind dit dus moeilik om deur hierdie ou gewoontes te breek. Hul denke wissel gedurig tussen die verlede en die hede en roep die verlede voortdurend binne die hede. Alhoewel die bevindinge van hierdie studie gekoppel is aan plek en tyd is daar ‘n konstante struweling tussen die fenomenologiese self en hul ou gesette denke.

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