scholarly journals Open-minded Environmental Education in the Science Classroom

Paideusis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-43
Author(s):  
David P. Burns ◽  
Stephen P. Norris

In this paper we will discuss the issue of environmental advocacy in science education in light of William Hare’s concept of open-mindedness. Although we shall assume that science teaching and learning must go beyond the scientific facts and theories and deal with the implications of science for society, we shall argue that science education should also demand an open-mindedness about environmental concerns such that all proposals for sustainability and the like are weighed against the alternatives using the best scientific knowledge available. Our approach will be to describe two examples of environmental education that recommend insufficiently open-minded forms of teaching and a third example that avoids this shortcoming yet provides a sound basis in environmental education.

1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-133
Author(s):  
Rodney L. Doran ◽  
J. Richard Sentman

This paper is organized into two major parts: a review of current activities in science education, and a review of the articles within this special issue. Project 2061 (aaas) and the scope, sequence, and coordination project (nsta) are ongoing efforts to develop new approaches for school science programs. Other reports and journals in the science education field are described briefly. “Constructivism” and “alternative assessment” are two of the ideas science educators are currently exploring as ways to improve science teaching and learning. The last section includes brief reviews of each of the other papers in this issue with special focus on the science education dimension. There is much we can learn from each other.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Fakhriyah ◽  
S. Masfuah ◽  
M. Roysa ◽  
A. Rusilowati ◽  
E. S. Rahayu

<p>The fundamental issue is the growing use of scientific information possessed by students to solve problems in daily life and produce useful scientific source from scientific literacy. The purpose of the research was to analyze and describe the ability of a student science concepts from the aspect of scientific literacy that includes aspects of scientific knowledge, scientific competence, scientific context as well as the factors that influence the students’ science literacy skills. This research was quantitative descriptive analysis. The instrument used was a matter of objective 40 along with the reasons of the physics concept and biology concepts that are used to measure aspects of scientific knowledge, scientific competence, and scientific context, while the students’ attitudes towards science and science teaching and learning strategies measured by questionnaire instrument. Instruments used included multiple-choice test questions reasoned and questionnaires (the attitude of science and science teaching and learning strategies). Based on data analysis it was known that the ability of science literacy PGSD UMK students varied, 66.2% of students were at the level of nominal and 33.8% of the students were at the functional level. It showed that 66.2% of students already had a concept for connecting science with other disciplines, could write a scientific term, but students still had misconceptions, while 33.8% of students considered the theory and explained concepts correctly, but they had a limited understanding and were difficult to connect to the concept of his own opinion.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burhan Ozfidan ◽  
Baki Cavlazoglu ◽  
Lynn Burlbaw ◽  
Hasan Aydin

Achievements of educational reform advantage constructivist understandings of teaching and learning, and therefore highlight a shift in beliefs of teachers and apply these perceptions to the real world. Science teachers’ beliefs have been crucial in understanding and reforming science education as beliefs of teachers regarding learning and teaching science impact their practice. The purpose of this study was to compare US and Turkish science teachers’ beliefs about reformed learning and teaching science. As an instrument, we used Beliefs about Reformed Science Teaching and Learning (BARSTL) to collect and measure the teachers’ beliefs regarding teaching and learning science education. We used an independent-sample t-test to analyze Turkish and American science teachers’ beliefs about reformed learning and teaching science. In total, 38 science teachers from the US and 27 science teachers from Turkey participated in this study. Results showed that US science teachers’ beliefs about reformed learning and teaching science are statistically higher than Turkish science teachers. The results of this study also indicated that although American and Turkish science education aim similar constructivist views on learning and teaching science, American science teachers hold more reformed beliefs in science teaching and learning than their Turkish colleagues.


Paideusis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-13
Author(s):  
Blair Niblett

This paper responds to David Burns and Stephen Norris whose article, “Open-minded Environmental Education in the Science Classroom”, appeared in Volume 18(1) of Paideusis. Burns and Norris (2009) suggest an incompatibility between environmental advocacy and science education because they feel that environmental advocacy necessarily promotes particular political agendas that are extra-scientific, and that such agendas subvert the development of open-mindedness (Hare, 1979; 2000; 2003). In this paper, I offer an alternative reading of Hare’s concept of open-mindedness that is more accepting of careful and thoughtful integrations of science education and social advocacy. I offer an epistemological justification that suggests that advocacy in education (in science and elsewhere) is not only compatible with the concept of open-mindedness, but may also serve as a vehicle for its flourishing.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jari Lavonen ◽  
Heidi Krzwacki ◽  
Laura Koistinen ◽  
Manuela Welzel-Breuer ◽  
Roger Erb

Teachers face challenges in adopting ICT applications for science teaching and learning. An in-service teacher education course module addressing the needs of science teachers particularly was developed through a design-based research (DBR) project. The course module is designed to improve the readiness of teachers in choosing ICT applications for science education and taking the technical and pedagogical usability of the application into account. An international survey showed that clarifyingthe needs and constraints of using ICT applications in science education as well as introducing and discussing both technical and pedagogical usability with the teachers was important. Moreover, a theoretical analysis of the usability of ICT applications offers various views on meaningful learning and motivational aspects of science teaching and learning. In this paper, we report what we learned from the experience of designing the course module, which is described and discussed in terms of theoutcomes of both the theoretical and empirical problem analysis.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Jennifer D. Adams

Abstract In order to advance authentic equity in science education, it is salient to have frameworks that allow educators and researchers to design learning environments, activities, and research agendas that centers students’ strengths in order for them to achieve full participation in science. As such it is important to consider the social identities of science education stakeholders—teachers and students—in teacher education. However, as identity is complex, it requires research approaches that elucidate not only the nuances of teacher identity but also the complexities of science teaching and learning environments. This article describes a collaborative research project that aimed to unpack the relationship between teacher identity and learning to teach. It outlines the collaborative process of theory building that includes teacher participants and the research team and how the framework for teacher education emerged that considers the various aspects of designing equitable and liberatory science learning.


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