Interactive pedagogy and subsequent effects on learning in science classrooms

Abstract

Observations of pupils-in-action whilst carrying out investigations indicated that there was plenty of social and cooperative exchange. There was, however, infrequent discussion regarding the planning of experimental approaches, predicting outcomes, consideration of the meaning of evidence and evaluation of task solutions. These observations informed the nature of interactive in-service programmes developed in Keele University Education Department. Professional development was designed to purposely illustrate a wide repertoire of pedagogic strategies that focused around these issues to support cognitive development of pupils. The interactive nature of the in-service training was shown to affect widespread change in teachers' practice. These teachers, involved in experiential in-service, reflected that they intervened more regularly in children's learning. Their engagement in in-service training as learners in problem-solving situations resulted in conceptual shifts in understanding the learning processes their pedagogical transformations could affect. The impact of this changed praxis on pupils' learning in investigational situations was studied after in-service intervention. These findings were compared with the performance of pupils of the same year group carrying out the same investigations before in-service intervention. The more interactive nature of the teachers' changed pedagogy appeared to affect change in the way pupils themselves interacted and learnt from and with each other. Explicitly sharing subjective views through exploratory talk was found to be important to affect learning through social interaction.

What's changed? Issues of impact and evaluation in primary science professional development

“…Such difficulties in attributing real shifts in attitude or gains in learning appear to have left many schools to regard the evaluation of inservice training as unimportant, since it is deemed too hard to judge effectiveness (ERO 2000). Rather than giving up in despair, this should lead us to an approach to evaluation which collects comparable data over a longer period, such as the study by McGregor (2004) of primary teachers' adoption of a more interactive pedagogy, in which pupils' learning in investigational situations was compared with the performance of pupils of the same year group carrying out the same investigations.…”