Science Education

M. Ed
• Attitude: how favorable and unfavorable an individual feels about
performing a behavior.

• Belief: Person’s understanding of himself and his environment

• Teachers’ belief: learning environment, classroom behavior

• Teachers’ belief system is a great barrier for teachers’ education system

• Bandura (1997): 2 types of belief system

1. Self efficacy/ capacity belief: 1. Efficacy expectation 2. outcome

expectation
2. Outcome expectancy / content belief
• High efficacy belief: this is known as Epistemological
beliefs.

• More confident
• Open ended
• More qualified
• Inquiry based
• Student centric teaching

• Low efficient teacher mainly use teacher centric

teaching
 Knowledge & belief
• Separately constructs with reciprocal impact

• Beliefs are subsumed/included in the knowledge construct

• Knowledge & belief are inseparable

• Belief is used to identify naïve conceptions, knowledge

implies the presence of scientifically accepted construct

• Inter-changable
 Belief system includes
• School, social, cultural contexts
• Self-efficacy
• Motivation
• Epistemology
• Knowledge of cooperative learning
• Knowledge of constraints
• Attitude
• Expectations
 Sources of teachers’ negative attitudes

•Lack of interest in science

•Lack of content knowledge
•Perceived difficulty of science
•Lack of time
 Socio cultural model of embedded belief systems
Belief system
Efficacy
Social norms
Environmental constraints
Cultural constraints
Religious Beliefs

Attitudes toward instruction

Attitudes toward implementation
Knowledge, skills and motivation

Environmental response, instructional practices, sociocultural context

Epistemologies
Beliefs about- science, science teaching, science learning,
 Teachers’ Beliefs
• High efficacy belief /Epistemological beliefs:
Teacher’s believe about-
• Nature of knowledge
• Learning or knowledge acquisition in science

Teacher with Naive Epistemological beliefs:

Knowledge is- simple, clear, specific, certain, unchanging

Sophisticated Epistemological beliefs:

Knowledge is complex, uncertain, tentative, student centered
How this belief effect science teaching process?

PCK
•Science content knowledge
•Pedagogical knowledge
•Teacher orientation
•How student learn
•Knowledge of learning environment
• PCK: PCK is the knowledge that teachers develop over
time and through experience about how teach particular
content in particular ways in order to lead to enhance
student understanding.
• PCK format is made up of two elements
1. CoRe (Content representation) : offers an overview of
the particular content taught when teaching is a topic
2. PaP- eRs (pedagogical and professional-experience
Repertoires): are succinct but specific accounts of
practice that are intended to offer windows into
aspects of the CoRe
PCK representations------------ CoRe
 Components of PCK: sheet

•PCK is good framework for teacher

development
•PCK is important for Individual teacher and
topic
•Day by day teaching becomes complex
 Teachers’ professional development
• MEd
• Training provided by TTC
• DPEd for Primary
• Program of URC
• Short training by NAPE
• Foundation training
• HSTTI
• BMTTI
• TTTC (Technical Teachers Training College)
• CPD: Continuous professional development
• Subject knowledge+ Pedagogical knowledge= teacher up gradation
• How values and skill change can support the up gradation process??
Ans. Teacher not facilitator, as human resource.
Know-apply-problem/challenge face-then support

Professional Development: Emphasize on career development,

Focused on dissemination and training.
Professional learning: Professional learning for teachers reflects on
their professional practice, as they work together and share ideas and
strive to improve student outcome.
PL takes place in several levels:
- The individual
- The workplace
- The organization
 Difference between PD and PL
•For implement PD, PL is important
•PD and PL interchangeable
•PD program don’t focus on learners individual
needs
•Which is important for Bangladesh perspective?
•PL in some extent low cost program
•PD program is so scattered, overlapped
 Difference between PD and PL
Professional Development (PD) Professional Learning (PL)
Focused on providing educators with PL encourages interactive learning strategies rather than
information/theories regarding pedagogical practice or rote development techniques
updates in subject matter
PD usually brings the form of seminars, lectures, To hold higher standard and encourages to take
workshops that are supposed to help educators continue responsibilities for their own development
to grow in their careers, like formal trainings
Emphasis on career development mainly Career development and development of teaching
strategies
Agenda fixed Not fixed, changeable
Expensive Low expense
Focused on dissemination and training, not on Focused on implementation. Not problem solving
implementation approach. Teachers can minimize problems
A passive way Active participation required
Not focused on learners personal choice & individual Focused on individual needs and directly works with
need can not fulfilled implementation
Continual process of becoming a educator The implementation of the idea of PD is PL
 PLC: Professional Learning Community
• PLC is a good way
• COP- Community of practice
Introduction to PLCs:
Basic: Learning for improvement
Collegiality- equity
PLC helps for Teachers’ professional practice
Peter Senge (1990) - 5 disciplines of learning:
1. Personal mastery: individual has a clear vision of goal, combined with an accurate
perception of reality.
2. Shared vision/ Supportive, shared capacity: interaction with colleagues
3. Team/ Collective learning: Personal mastery and share learning brought together.
Consider colleague as a team member rather than rival.
4. Mental models/personal practice: visualize where to go and how to develop further.
5. Systems thinking: observational process of entire system
•PLC Challenges

- Personal Interaction
- Not in Culture
- Gender issues
- Time
- Space
- Mindset
 PDSI(Plan-Do-See-Improvement)
• Peer Consultation
Lesson Improvement- lesson study PDSI cycle
Plan- prepare and revise a lesson plan collaboratively
Do- Implement and observe the lesson
See- Reflective discussion on
Improvement- make further improvements to the
lesson
 POE
• POE- Gunstone is the Pioneer
• Gunstone (1995) said that “ Collaborative approach is
the easier process of learning.
Teaching Learning
What was taught What student learn
Isolation Collaboration
Focus on input Focus on results
• To help a community there are specialized students
except the teacher

• Hord and Summers (2008),

It ultimately helps to develop the ability to reflect in
or on- action.

- Turn the mirror inward

 Hafiz sir’s thesis
From focus on teaching From focus on results
Privatization of practice Open sharing of practice
Decisions made on the basis of Decisions made collectively by building
individual preferences shared knowledge of best practice
External focus on issues outside of the Internal focus on steps that teacher can
school take to improve the school
Focus on input Focus on results
Independence Interdependence
Depend on external training Depend on job-embedded learning
Expectation that learning occurs Expectation that learning is ongoing and
infrequently occurs as part of routine work practice
Learning individually through courses Learning collectively by working
and workshops together
 Lesson Study
Teachers work collaboratively to-
• Formulate goals for student learning
• Plan a research lesson
• Teach and observe the lesson
• Reflect on the gathered evidence
• Revise the lesson for improvement
• Re-teach the revised lesson(perry & lewis)

• Lesson study/ research lessons have 5 characteristics

1. Observe by other teachers
2. Planned for a long time, usually collaboratively
3. Designed to bring to life in a lesson, a particular goal or vision for education
4. Recorded
5. Discussed
Various stages:

•Step 1: long term goals for student learning

•Step 2: Develop, plan, conduct and observe
•Step 3: observe and record response
•Step 4: team shares lesson effectiveness
•Step 5: discuss and analyze data, refine
classroom teaching and learning
Contribution to improvement:

• Individual professional development

• Learn to see children
• Spread of new content and approach
• Connect individual teacher’s practices to the social
goals and broader goals
• Competing views of teaching bump against each other
• Create demand for improvement
• Shape national policy
• Honor the central role of teachers