Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Bridge the Gap Between Research and Practice

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the two related links of research to teaching practice and teaching practice to research that pre-service elementary teachers made during an action research project focusing on a conceptual-change teaching experience with elementary school students. Data were collected from the final written reports from 144 groups of students. Analysis of the data by the process of grounded theory showed that the majority of students (96%) were able to link current educational research successfully to their teaching practice while fewer students (16%) were able to link their teaching practice back to the research base. Many students (30%), however, found new knowledge in the form of identifying new misconceptions or finding previously reported misconceptions with new populations or confirming prior research. Preliminary results (n=17) based on the changes to the course showed significant improvement.

Investigation of Mathematics Teachers’ Level of Following, Understanding, and Applying Educational Research

“…In the preparation of the form, the studies in the literature have been examined (Beycioğlu, Özer and Uğurlu, 2010;Costa, Marques and Kempa, 2000;De Jong, 2004;Everett, Luera, and Otto, 2007;Everton, Galton and Pell, 2000;Everton, Galton and Pell, 2002) and "Questionnaire on Following, Understanding and Applying Science Educational Research Outcomes into Practice" developed by İlhan et. al., (2015) for science teachers was revised to adapt it to math teachers.…”

“…One of the leading problems is to establish a relation between research and practice (Everett, Luera and Otto, 2007). Hallinan (1996) state that there is a lack of communication resulting from the difference between the agendas and interests of researchers and practitioners.…”

“…The reason for the gap between educational research and practice is the incredibility of the research findings for the practitioners (Everett, Luera and Otto, 2007). Some teachers state that studies do not appeal to their needs (Weiss, 1995), some state that studies are far from real teacher, student and classroom settings and in the clouds (Kerlinger, 1991).…”

“…Yet another reason for the disparity between educational research and application is the low level of access practitioners have to the research studies (Everett, Luera and Otto, 2007). This can be mostly attributed to the scarce physical facilities for teachers to put research findings into practice and their low access to research.…”

“…and theses, and in secondary sources like compilations, field specific books, encyclopedias and handbooks (Yıldırım et al, 2014). Besides, teachers are also encouraged by National Research Council (NRC, 1996) and National Science Teachers Association (NSTA, 1996) to follow research but there are a few studies related to in-class applications (Everett, Luera and Otto, 2007). Similarly, when the beliefs of teachers with regard to the applicability of studies are examined, it is seen that teachers think that it is difficult to apply the results of the studies (Pajares, 1992;Richardson-Koehler, 1987).…”