Science practice‐readiness: Novice elementary teachers' developing knowledge of science practices

Abstract

With the shifts in science education emphasizing the integration of science practices with science content, there is a need to know how teachers understand those science practices within their teaching practice. Our primary research question was, What do novice elementary teachers know about the science practices, in terms of what the practices are and how to engage students in the science practices? To answer that question, the current qualitative case study investigated how three novice elementary teachers' knowledge of the science practices is evident in their teaching practice across 4 years: 2 years in a practice‐based teacher education program and 2 years teaching. Data sources included videorecords of the teachers' science instruction, lesson plans, reflections, and interviews. The findings indicate that the novice elementary teachers' knowledge of the science practices and how to teach them varied, with their understanding of how to teach some science practices more evident than their knowledge of the nuances of the practices themselves. Across all of the science practices, they demonstrated a strong understanding that students should be the ones engaging in the intellectual work of the science practices, and not the teacher. As novice elementary teachers learn how to teach science, they may develop their science practice‐readiness, which can serve as a building block for understanding the science practices in greater depth with more teaching experience. The current study has implications for teacher educators when developing opportunities to support novices' understanding of the science practices in ways that can expand with more teaching experience.

Secondary chemistry teacher learning: precursors for and mechanisms of pedagogical conceptual change

“…Reflection is a practice that has been endorsed for teacher PD (Butler et al, 2004;Russell, 2005). Studies have used teacher reflections to document advancements in their science teaching and learning (Danielowich, 2007;Bismack et al, 2021;Chen and Mensah, 2021). Frykholm (2004) notes teachers often experience dissatisfaction with their instructional strategies when reflecting.…”

The Classroom‐Research‐Mentoring Framework: A lens for understanding science practice‐based instruction

“…Previous efforts have shown there can be a disconnection between teacher understanding of science and how they bring science practices into their classroom (Brew, 2010; Malachowski et al, 2020; Varelas et al, 2005). PD strategies have centered on K‐12 teachers participating in short‐term research experiences to deepen their experience with science (Bismack et al, 2022; Davidson & Hughes, 2018; Schwartz et al, 2004; Varelas et al, 2005). These experiences can help to develop an understanding of the NOS but do not necessarily translate into pedagogical performance (Varelas et al, 2005; Bismack et al, 2022).…”

“…The success of teaching science practices relies upon the creation of instruction that makes these epistemological aspects of science apparent and positions students as epistemic agents (Radoff et al, 2019; Stroupe et al, 2018). A teacher's own lack of experience with authentic inquiries may interfere with this goal (Bismack et al, 2022; Crawford, 2007). To address this challenge, there have been significant efforts to develop K‐12 teachers' understanding of the NOS through professional development (PD) opportunities, including participation in short‐term research experiences.…”

“…Outcomes include varied levels of NOS learning among teachers (Davidson & Hughes, 2018; Schwartz et al, 2004; Varelas et al, 2005). Interestingly, even when preservice teachers can provide relatively sophisticated descriptions of the NOS, their level of understanding does not necessarily translate into pedagogical performance (Bismack et al, 2022; Varelas et al, 2005). There is often a disconnect between a teacher's views about science as a practice and teaching science practices (Varelas et al, 2005).…”

Engagement in high‐leverage science teaching practices among novice elementary teachers

“…Here, we zoom in on the teachers' engagement in a set of HLSTPs. Other work from the larger project reports on the teachers' content knowledge for teaching science and knowledge of science practices (Bennion et al, 2022b; Bismack et al, 2022), opportunities to learn (Bismack, 2019), and the role of context in shaping the teachers' instruction (Bennion et al, 2022a).…”