Practices and Innovations in Australian Science Teacher Education Programs

Abstract

This paper reports part of a larger study which was designed to investigate current practices in initial teacher education programs in Australia. The main data collection was by telephone interviews, which were carried out with science education specialists and program coordinators at all institutions which offer primary teacher education or secondary science teacher education. The interviews focused on practices in relation to program structures, science content studies, science methods studies and links to science-related school projects or to science business/industry. A large number of innovative practices were described. In addition, several case studies were carried out, which focused on particular innovations. The study identified several aspects of science teacher education which were of concern. This paper reports on part of a study (Lawrance and Palmer 2003) published by the Department of Education, Science and Training. The main purpose of the study was to investigate current practices and innovations in initial teacher education, with a view to informing future program development. The study was influenced by the belief that society of the twenty-first century will need not only people specifically trained for science-based industries, but will need all its members to have a reasonable grasp of scientific literacy to live in a technologically advanced world (Laugksh 2000). Teachers skilled in the sciences, and skilled in engaging students in learning in these fields, will become increasingly important in satisfying the need for a solid, broad-based education inclusive of the sciences. With such a strong reliance placed on teachers, it is necessary that education of those teachers be of the highest standard (Wright 1998). One way to encourage high standards is to describe and disseminate ideas for innovative practices; and another way is to identify aspects of current practice which could be improved upon. These were the two aims of the project.

Pre-service teachers’ science beliefs, attitudes, and self-efficacy: a multi-case study

“…Moore (2008) argues that rich experiences during teacher education programs are essential in allowing PSTs to address and alter their beliefs about science and science teaching. However, PST beliefs remain widely unaddressed in teacher education programs (Palmer, 2008). Although teacher belief has been studied extensively, work that focuses specifically on elementary PSTs and how their beliefs may change in the context of their teacher education programs is rare.…”

Developing Deaf Children's Conceptual Understanding and Scientific Argumentation Skills: A Literature Review

“…This review calls for research to discover whether a role play-based intervention programme can raise conceptual understanding in science and thus equip deaf pupils with the technical vocabulary and understanding needed to formulate arguments. It may also lead to further questions being asked such as why so few deaf students are choosing to study science and why they feel that science is a topic irrelevant to them and their world (Molander et al, 2001;Palmer, 2008).…”

Primary Science Education in Australian Universities: An Overview of Context and Practice

“…The PPSTE subjects investigated in this paper were unified in their focus on providing student-centred and professionally relevant experiences to PPTs yet displayed variance in the specific principles and approaches employed. Many of the “innovative practices” initially identified by Palmer ( 2008 ) could now be considered mainstream “student-centred” approaches. Authenticity was the central pedagogical theme, with the development of scientific literacy, teaching tasks, student-centred investigations and constructivism (e.g.…”

“…During this time, approximately 15 years ago, Australian university educators were beginning to incorporate many innovative, student-centred pedagogies as they moved away from more traditional practices, such as lectures and note-taking. Approaches such as problem-based learning, cross-curricular integration, student-centred investigations and in-school science teaching experiences were noted innovations (Lawrance & Palmer, 2003 ; Palmer, 2008 ). Due to a recent mandate requiring science content be taught prior to science education pedagogy (NESA, 2018 ), this paper will focus on primary science education subjects, offered within ITE degree structures, rather than distinct science content subjects.…”