Influence of training in inquiry-based methods on in-service science teachers’ reasoning skills

Abstract

Reasoning skills can be described as abilities to use scientific knowledge to identify and solve problems, and to formulate conclusions based on empirical observations. The European Union promotes the development of reasoning skills as a way to grow knowledgeable and responsible citizens. In a school classroom, the development of reasoning skills can be stimulated by the use of inquiry-based methods. Students’ reasoning skills are frequently measured and compared by many national and international programmes (e.g. PISA). It is obvious that teachers who help students to develop reasoning skills should also have a high level of those skills, however, the teachers who currently work in Central/Eastern European schools have had no opportunity to learn through or even experience inquiry, neither to participate in programmes measuring the level of reasoning skills. In this research, Lawson’s tests were used to measure the level of reasoning skills among science teachers (n = 71) before and after training in using inquiry-based methods. The results showed that reasoning skills are the best developed by physics teachers. Training in using inquiry helps biology and chemistry teachers improve and close the gap between them and physics teachers.

Promoción de competencias científicas en textos escolares de Ciencia y Tecnología del segundo grado de educación secundaria de Perú

“…Estos resultados son preocupantes en el marco del desarrollo de competencias científicas, ya que es importante para identificar problemas del contexto (Avila et al, 2020) y también en el proceso de interacción directa con el objeto de estudio (Mulyana et al 2018;Avila et al 2020). Cabe recordar que la observación, desde una mirada científica, se la conceptúa como la capacidad para describir y explicar comportamientos después de haber registrado datos confiables respecto a situaciones en un determinado contexto (Bernard y Dudek, 2019). Por ello, esta escasa promoción llama la atención de las personas autoras, pues la observación hace que enfrenten de mejor manera lo que están investigando, por lo que al exigirle al personal docente la utilización de estos textos, este grupo debería promover más la observación y la experimentación (García et al, 2021) para estar acorde con las demandas que exige el desarrollo de competencias científicas.…”

Research on Bibliometric Analysis of Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning in the Past Ten Years

“…Another dimension of LCTSR's significance is revealed through its application to assessing pedagogical strategies. By comparing the effects of different teaching methods, such as active learning (Marušić & Gujinović, 2023;Marušić & Dragojević, 2020); inquiry and experiment (Bako et al, 2022;Orosz et al, 2022;Bernard & Dudek-Róycki, 2019), in developing students' scientific reasoning, LCTSR displays its prowess in perfecting the educational paradigm. In addition, the important role of LCTSR in evaluating tertiary-level learning and its relation to scientific reasoning underscores its role as a yardstick for assessing the transformative impact of higher education on cognitive processes.…”