Changing children's views of science and scientists through school-based teaching

Research questions and study design

The study investigated the following research questions.

What do children's drawings and comments reveal about their views of science and scientists?
How does school-based small group teaching influence these views?

The context of the study

The study took place in the context of a one semester, second-year Education unit entitled 'Curriculum Studies Primary Science', which was organised as school-based in three primary schools on the Mornington Peninsula, 65 kilometres south east of Melbourne, Australia. Pre-service teachers enrolled in the unit attended the schools for eight weeks and taught one-hour lessons to a small group of children.

Every time they visited the schools, the pre-service teachers participated in the Curriculum Studies program that consisted of a one-hour tutorial involving hands-on activities, half an hour for preparation (and coffee), an hour teaching the children and a half-hour debriefing session. Initially tutorials started as hands-on activities that could be implemented in the classroom. As the semester progressed, the tutorials focussed on the different teaching approaches and their theoretical underpinnings. Beverley (the first author) was the lecturer in charge of the unit and taught two tutorial groups at one school, while the science specialists at two schools taught one tutorial each. The science content taught varied from school to school, but most tutors included sessions on 'What is a science?, magnetism and electricity, animals and plants, floating and sinking, and chemical change. The pre-service teachers generated PowerPoint presentations consisting of descriptions of what occurred in the classroom, observations of the children's involvement, and reflections on what they and the children had learnt. These presentations included digital photographs and short video clips that were taken with written permission from the children's parents or guardians. Children whose parents or guardians refused permission were not photographed.

John (the third author) helped the pre-service teachers with the science content, organised equipment and materials, and administered WebCT that was widely used for communication between the pre-service teachers during the week. John also took photographs of them interacting with their small group of children and recorded verbatim comments during the follow up debriefing sessions. Triangulation of data was achieved by having two researchers collect data in multiple ways. Marilyn (the second author) documented the reciprocal interactions between the pre-service teachers and children in the form of field notes, digital photographs and video-clips.

The participants

Timetable considerations and the class teachers who wanted to be associated with the program, meant that children in Preps/Year 1 or Years 5/6 participated in the school-based program. The topics covered were the same for each level, although the pre-service teachers soon found out that different grade levels called for particular materials and teaching strategies.

Prior to this unit most of the 120 Primary and Early Childhood pre-service teachers had experienced very little contact with science since middle secondary school, and some had quite a negative view of science as a subject. In the first week in the primary school they were uncertain, and concerned that the children would see them as having little knowledge of the subject matter. For their first couple of lessons, most repeated the hands-on activities they had carried out in the tutorials, but gradually they diverged following their own and the children's interests. Initially, we supplied all the materials and equipment, but as the semester progressed the pre-service teachers gathered the materials they needed for their small group. Some pre-service teachers planned and brought everything they required, while others allowed the children's questions to be the sole determinant of how things progressed. While each pre-service teacher was allocated four or five children and could operate individually, most decided to work in pairs and some organised activities on a whole-class basis.

The pre-service teachers were teaching science by doing it, and asking the children questions, such as 'What do you want to know about?', 'What would happen if ...?', 'This happened - why?' and 'How can we test that idea?' A range of activities including practical experiments, making things, worksheets, book research, reading stories, discussions, games, excursions to the playground were all used. The preparation time following the tutorial included discussion and exchange of ideas. In this way a community of learners naturally developed. WebCT facilitated frequent communication between the pre-service teachers when they were not at the school, and also between those at different schools who may not see each other during the week. 'I intend to do ..., what do you think?' 'Why not try ...?' 'I tried ..., it was OK but next time I would ...' 'If I bring these items, will you bring the rest?' 'Does anyone know of any good references on ...?' 'I found this great website on ....'

Data collection and method of analysis

In their first science lesson teaching their small group, most pre-service teachers encouraged the children to 'draw a scientist or a group of scientists' and then to talk about their drawings. The children's drawings and comments about science and scientists became the data for analysis. Data were also collected in the form of the pre-service teachers' reflections about their group's thinking in science. Ethical considerations were taken into account concerning the pre-service teachers' involvement in data collection. One aim of the Education course is to produce initial teachers who are capable of carrying out research on their own practice. To achieve this aim, where possible, units provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to participate in data gathering techniques first hand. The pre-service teachers willingly took on the role of co-researchers in this study. Moreover, as collaborators in the research process, they became more aware of the need to listen closely to what the children had to say, and to recognise the value of pedagogical documentation.

As mentioned above, constructivism has been the view of learning that to date has dominated how research is framed, how data are analysed, and how findings are used to inform curriculum, policy and pedagogy in the science education community. A cultural-historical perspective offers a new theoretical orientation, new ways of thinking about research, and new possibilities in science education. As researchers we found Rogoff's (1998) work useful for determining the unit of analysis in this study and for framing the theoretical drivers that shaped that analysis. Rogoff's three planes of participation - the personal, interpersonal and cultural/institutional - were applied to the teaching and learning that occurred in the small groups.

In the present study, the personal plane of participation indicated how the individual child changed through involvement in the small group science activities. The individual child's role was highlighted, while at the same time the interpersonal and community involvement faded into the background. The interpersonal lens focused attention on the shared understandings that developed as the children engaged with the pre-service teachers and other members of their small group. The interpersonal plane of participation highlighted how the children communicated with their peers. Engagement and shared endeavours were central in this plane. The cultural/institutional lens focused on specific community constructions of science, and the cultural tools that were used. By changing the focus to another plane the interactions were analysed without prioritising or isolating any particular plane. When taken together, these inseparable planes of cultural participation reveal an individual child's participation in the particular cultural context of the science classroom.