Science education and teachers’ training. Research in partnership

Taking into account the results of international researches concerning science knowledge of young people (TIMMS and PISA) and the worrying decrease in science disciplines’ roll in many countries, especially in European Community, our research group, cooperating within an international context, has designed materials in order to: - improve motivation, learning and pupils' attitudes in science education - develop a critical thinking, stimulate intuition and creativity - increase scientific literacy in the community. According to our experience, the most important school-related factor in raising student achievement is the quality of the teacher. Today, in the era of high standards and increased accountability, boosting teacher quality is more crucial than ever before. So we designed models of courses for pre-service and in-service science teachers as well offering the opportunity to cope with open problems, reflect about teaching models, discuss examples of good practices. Kindergarten initial teachers had to reflect about some basic science concepts (space, time, forces, geometrical shapes), analyze their own mind representations, make simple experiments and design a short item. Mathematics and Physics teachers were trained in laboratory with innovative and flexible devices which stimulated their motivation and creativity. We investigated : - variables affecting teaching models/styles and related students' learning - students' assessment. We present some results concerning kindergarten- primary - high school teachers' training. Method We interacted with initial and in-service science teachers mainly according with a critical social constructivist perspective, stimulating reflection and collaborative learning. We submitted pre-school initial teachers to questionnaires to explore their ideas concerning both their teaching models and basic scientific concepts. Expected Outcomes Outcomes. We have observed in teachers: - increased awareness about conceptual knots concerning scientific concepts - more sensitiveness and attention to students' involvement - reflection about the effectiveness of their daily school work - increased awareness about cooperative learning. References M. De Paz, M. Pilo, C. Pastorino – Constructivist evaluation of learning. A research through partnership – Proceedings of EERA Conference, Ecer 1999, Lahti (Finland), September 1999 M. De Paz, M. Pilo – Examples of constructivist teaching/learning – Ibidem M. Pilo, M. De Paz, C. Pastorino - ‘Wrong experiments’: case studies of a constructivist approach to effective learning for science- Contribution to International Conference at University College Worcester on “Effective Learning through Reflective practice”, January 11-14, 2001 M. Pilo - A collaborative Approach in teachers’ training- ECER 2007, Ghent (Belgium), September 19-22 P. Masson, M. Pilo (eds) – Partnership in Education- Theoretical Approach and case studies (2009) – The BookEdition – ISBN 978-2-9533881-0-7 M. Pilo, B. Gavio – Scientific education: issues of researches in partnership – Ibidem- p. 153-165