Metaphors Reveal Preservice Elementary Teachers' Views of Mathematics and Science Teaching

Typically, experiences shape one's attitudes toward the “thing” that is being experienced, whether it is a person, pet, movie, etc. Classroom experiences also shape one's attitudes toward a subject, teacher, learning, and so forth. Studies have shown that attitudes become more negative as students move from elementary to secondary schools. Elementary preservice teachers have had many classroom experiences by the time they reach their methods courses. These varied experiences have shaped their attitudes about the learning and teaching of mathematics and science.     

Turkish Preservice Primary School Teachers' Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Science: The Effect of a Primary Teacher Education Program

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a primary teacher education program in improving science teaching efficacy beliefs (personal science teaching efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancy beliefs) of preservice primary school teachers. The study also investigated whether the program has an effect on student teachers' attitudes toward science. Data were collected by administering the “Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument” and “Attitudes toward Science Scale” to 282 preservice primary teachers (147 freshmen, 135 seniors). Statistical techniques such as means and t‐test were used to analyze the data. Results of the study showed that the primary teacher education program has a medium positive effect on science teaching efficacy beliefs of the primary preservice teachers (t = 4.791, p = .000) and that there were no gender differences in terms of efficacy beliefs. Results also indicated that preservice primary teachers' attitudes toward science were moderately positive and differ by class level. Fourth‐year preservice teachers' attitudes toward science were found to be significantly more positive than the first years (t = 5.494, p = .000). There were no gender differences in attitudes toward science.     

Student Reactions to Learning About Probability and Statistics: Evaluating the Quantitative Literacy Project

The NCTM “Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics” (1989) reflect the current movement to introduce probability and statistics in the precollege curriculum. These standards include topics and principles for instruction in probability and statistics which are included in the Quantitative Literacy Project (QLP) curriculum materials. This paper presents results of a survey which explored the successes of the QLP materials in terms of student reactions to instruction in probability and statistics. A student survey of 917 students of teachers trained in QLP workshops assessed how students regarded the instructional materials in general, how well they liked learning topics in probability and statistics, and how well they believed that they had learned the content. Results indicated that students have mostly positive attitudes towards learning statistics. However, fewer students felt it was useful to learn about these topics. An increase in positive attitudes with grade level suggests the topics may be received more favorably and, therefore, may more appropriately be used in higher grades.     

Science-Related Attitudes of High-ability Students

This study compared college-age student attitudes toward junior high/middle school science classes, teachers, and the value of science content. Subjects represented two groups: academically talented college students majoring in the sciences, and equally talented nonscience college students. The data were compared with responses from noncollegiate young adults, reported in an earlier investigation (Yager & Penick, 1986). Results indicated that science students expressed the most favorable impressions of school science instruction, followed by nonscience students, and then by noncollegiate adults. Although science student attitudes were positive overall, many high-ability students indicated that their secondary science classes were neither exciting nor relevant to daily living. Curricular implications for enhancing students' attitudes are discussed.     

Psychometric Re‐evaluation of the Image of Science and Scientists Scale (ISSS)

An enduring concern among science education researchers is the “swing away from science” ( Osborne. 2003 ). One of their central dilemmas is to identify—or construct—a valid outcome measure that could assess curricular effectiveness, and predict students' choices of science courses, university majors, or careers in science. Many instruments have been created and variably evaluated. The primary purpose of this paper was to re‐evaluate the psychometric properties of the Image of Science and Scientists Scale (ISSS) ( Krajkovich 1978 ). In the current study, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the dimensionality of the 29‐item ISSS, which was administered to 531 middle school students in three San Antonio. Texas school districts at the beginning of the 2004–2005 school year. The results failed to confirm the presumed 1‐factor structure of the ISSS. but instead showed a 3‐factor structure with only marginal fit with the data, even after removal of 12 inadequate items. The three dimensions were “Positive Images of Scientists” (5 items). “Negative Images of Scientists” (9 items), and “Science Avocation” (3 items). The results do not support use of the original form of the ISSS for measuring “attitudes toward science,”“images of scientists. “or “scientific attitudes. “Shortening the scale from 29 to 17 items makes it more feasible to use in a classroom setting. Determining whether the three dimensions identified in our analysis. “Positive Images of Scientists. ““Negative Images of Scientists. “and “Science Avocation “contain useful assessments of middle school student impressions and attitudes will require independent investigation in other samples.     

Changes in Student Attitudes Regarding Science When Taught by Teachers Without Experiences With a Model Professional Development Program

This study focuses on two main issues concerning changes in student attitudes toward science study and their perceptions of its usefulness in their lives. Information has been gathered concerning how student attitudes toward science have changed for teachers and schools not involved with any funded professional development project. Pretesting and posttesting were administered with such “control” groups at the same intervals corresponding with the data collected from students with teachers enrolled in five funded Professional Development projects over the 1981–2008 interim. The grade levels used by the National Assessment of Education Progress in their 1977 assessment of science were used; it focused on students in grades 3, 7, and 11. The results indicate a steady decline in student positive attitudes concerning their science study as grade levels increase. Conversely, the student perceptions of the usefulness of their science study as related to daily living, further science study, and for potential careers remained much the same over the 30‐year interim is a second focus. Generally, results indicate that traditional teaching and major use of textbooks cause increasingly negative student attitudes about science while not producing major changes in their perceptions of its usefulness in their lives.     

Exploring the potential role of visual reasoning tasks among inexperienced solvers

The collective case study described herein explores solution approaches to a task requiring visual reasoning by students and teachers unfamiliar with such tasks. The context of this study is the teaching and learning of calculus in the Palestinian educational system. In the Palestinian mathematics curriculum the roles of visual displays rarely go beyond the illustrative and supplementary, while tasks which demand visual reasoning are absent. In the study, ten teachers and twelve secondary and first year university students were presented with a calculus problem, selected in an attempt to explore visual reasoning on the notions of function and its derivative and how it interrelates with conceptual reasoning. A construct named “visual inferential conceptual reasoning” was developed and implemented in order to analyze the responses. In addition, subjects’ reflections on the task, as well as their attitudes about possible uses of visual reasoning tasks in general, were collected and analyzed. Most participants faced initial difficulties of different kinds while solving the problem; however, in their solution processes various approaches were developed. Reflecting on these processes, subjects tended to agree that such tasks can promote and enhance conceptual understanding, and thus their incorporation in the curriculum would be beneficial.     

Student Perceptions of a Summer Ventures in Science and Mathematics Camp Experience

“As the world becomes increasingly technological, the value of (the ideas and skills of its population) will be determined in no small measure by the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States” and “STEM education will determine whether the United States will remain a leader among nations and whether we will be able to solve immense challenges in such areas as energy, health, environmental protection, and national security” (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2010, p. vii). Research on the effectiveness of STEM‐focused school and other learning experiences (e.g., short‐term camps) on student attitudes and performance outcomes is sparse. In this study, we documented the influence of an intensive STEM summer program on high school students’ attitudes toward STEM concepts and interests in STEM careers. Attending the summer program was associated with gains on students’ attitudes toward some aspects of STEM as well as specific career interests. Notably, students reported statistically significant views of important aspects of STEM and their attitudes toward science and mathematics were more positive than their attitudes about engineering and technology.     

Gender,Prior Academic Performance and Beliefs as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Biology Laboratory Experiences

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between gender, prior academic performance, beliefs and student attitudes toward biology laboratory experiences. The sample consisted of 294 students from 10th, 11th and 12th grades enrolled in a Catholic high school in a major metropolitan area in the Southeast. Two 11-item scales were created; one to measure student attitudes toward biology laboratory experiences, and the other to measure student beliefs about the benefits of biology laboratory. A three-way analysis of variance (gender × prior academic performance × beliefs) was conducted with the attitudes toward biology used as the dependent variable. Gender had a significant effect on attitudes, with females reporting more positive attitudes toward biology laboratory than males. Prior academic experience was also a significant predictor of attitudes; students who received lower GPAs in previous science courses reported more positive attitudes toward biology laboratory than students with higher GPAs. Based on previous research this finding was surprising; however, it appears that lower achieving students may perceive that there is a higher benefit from “hands on” laboratory experiences than high achieving students. The data also indicated that beliefs had the strongest correlations with attitudes; students who believed laboratory experiences were beneficial had more positive attitudes. The implications for research, theory and practice are also presented.     

Science as a Learner and as a Teacher: Measuring Science Self‐Efficacy of Elementary Preservice Teachers

Academic science achievement of U.S. students has raised concerns regarding our ability as a nation to compete in a global economy. Additionally, research has shown that many elementary teachers have weak science content backgrounds and had poor/negative experiences as students of science, resulting in a lack of confidence regarding teaching science. However, efforts to increase science self‐efficacy (SE) in preservice teachers can help to combat these issues. This study looked at a sample of preservice elementary teachers engaged in a semester‐long science content course, using Bandura's concept of SE as a conceptual framework. Our quantitative data showed significant increases in science SE on both subscales (personal efficacy and outcome expectancy). Our qualitative data showed that students communicated an increased sense of confidence with regard to the discipline of science. In addition, students reported learning science pedagogy through the instructor's modeling. Combining our findings resulted in several meta‐inferences, one of which showed students growing as both confident learners of science and teachers of science simultaneously. We created a construct new to the literature to describe this phenomenon: “teacher‐learner,” for students are both learning science and learning to teach science simultaneously through the content course experience, resulting in increased science SE.     

From the Written to the Enacted Curricula: The Intermediary Role of Middle School Mathematics Teachers in Shaping Students' Opportunity to Learn

In this paper is reported the extent of textbook use by 39 middle school mathematics teachers in six states, 17 utilizing a textbook series developed with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF‐funded) and 22 using textbooks developed by commercial publishers (publisher‐generated). Results indicate that both sets of teachers placed significantly higher emphasis on Number and Operation, often at the expense of other content strands. Location of topics within a textbook represented an oversimplified explanation of what mathematics gets taught or omitted. Most teachers using an NSF‐funded curriculum taught content intended for students in a different (lower) grade, and both sets of teachers supplemented with skill‐building and “practice” worksheets. Implications for documenting teachers' “fidelity of implementation” ( National Research Council, 2004 ) are offered.     

Examination-Type Preferences of College Science Students and Their Faculty in Israel and USA: A Comparative Study

The science-examination preferences of college science students and their science faculty were surveyed, using the TOPE questionnaire at a teacher training and a community college in Israel and the U.S., respectively. The results obtained in the two countries were “intrally” and “interly” compared, in total and by gender, in terms of significant/no significant differences in the preferences made and the reasons provided by the students and faculty for their ranking. The findings suggest that: (a) college science students prefer mostly, the Israelis more so than the Americans, the nonconventional, written exams in which time is unlimited and any materials are allowed; (b) American college science students prefer the traditional class science examination (G) significantly more than their Israeli counterparts; (c) the preference of higher order cognitive skills (HOCS)-oriented exams (B. I and H) is significantly higher for female science students in Israel compared with no gender difference concerning the preferred examinations in the US, and rejection of oral examinations by all in both countries, significantly more by female students; and (d) there exists a significant gap between the preferred type of examinations of science students and their faculty in both countries. In view of the HOCS-orientation and the goal of conceptual understanding in current reforms of science education worldwide, the consonance between these curriculum objectives and examination practices is advocated. This, in turn, requires that provisions be made to lessen the gap between science teachers and their students' examination type preferences for better science learning to occur.     

Enriching Science and Math Through Engineering

This case study reviewed the collaborative efforts of university engineers, teacher educators, and middle school teachers to advance sixth‐ and seventh‐grade students' learning through a series of project‐based engineering activities. This two‐year project enriched regular school curricula by introducing real‐world applications of science and mathematics concepts that expanded opportunities for creativity and problem‐solving, introduced problem‐based learning, and provided after‐school programming (for girls only) led by engineering students from the local university. This engineering education initiative showed significant impact on students' (1) confidence in science and mathematics; (2) effort toward science and mathematics; (3) awareness of engineering; and (4) interest in engineering as a potential career. With regard to gender, there were no significant differences between boys' and girls' responses. The girls' confidence in their own skills and potential, however, was significantly more positive than the boys' confidence in the girls. These results gave rise to new questions regarding mentor/mentee relationships and the overall effect of “girls only” mentoring.     

Students' Attitudes Toward Science as Predictors of Gains on Student Content Knowledge: Benefits of an After‐School Program

High‐quality after‐school programs devoted to science have the potential to enhance students' science knowledge and attitudes, which may impact their decisions about pursuing science‐related careers. Because of the unique nature of these informal learning environments, an understanding of the relationships among aspects of students' content knowledge acquisition and attitudes toward science may aid in the development of effective science‐related interventions. We investigated the impact of a semester‐long after‐school intervention utilizing an inquiry‐based infectious diseases curriculum (designed for use after‐school) on 63 urban students' content knowledge and aspects of their attitudes toward science. Content knowledge increased 24.6% from pretest to posttest. Multiple regression analyses indicated suggested that the “self‐directed effort” subscale of the Simpson–Troost Attitude Questionnaire—Revised best predicted increases in students' science content knowledge. The construct “science is fun for me” served as a suppressor effect. These findings suggest that future after‐school programs focusing on aspects of attitudes toward science most closely associated with gains in content knowledge might improve students' enthusiasm and academic preparedness for additional science coursework by improving student attitudes toward their perceptions of their self‐directed effort.     

The Winds Are Variable: Student Intuitions About Variation

This study uses the context of the weather to explore the development of students' intuitive ideas of variation from pre‐Grade 1 to Grade 9. Three aspects of understanding these intuitions associated with variation are explored in individual videotaped interviews with 73 students: explanations, suggestions of data, and graphing. The development of these three aspects across grades is explored, as well as the associations among them. Fifty‐eight of the students also answered a general question on the definitions of “variation” and “variable,” and these responses are discussed and compared with responses to the weather task. The interview protocol may prove useful for teachers, particularly with younger children, to appreciate students' developing understanding of variation and provide starting points for classroom work of a more specific nature, either with respect to weather or other contextual topics.     

Evaluating efficacy of environmental education programming

The Clark Fork Watershed Education Program (CFWEP) goals are: (a) increasing students’ understanding of the nature of ecological impacts within their watershed as related to historic mining damage; and (b) increasing students’ sense of stewardship of newly restored landscapes. Data from 2012 to 2016 were evaluated for student knowledge gains (46 trials representing 2,395 student pre‐surveys; 2,409 student post‐surveys). Data from 2013 to 2016 were evaluated for students’ attitudes toward science and disposition toward caring for the environment (38 trials representing 1,479 pre‐surveys; 1,460 post‐surveys). The results of this study support that the program’s goals are being achieved. Students achieved statistically significant gains on knowledge surveys with a 33.4% overall gain pre‐ to posttest (p < 0.0001). Students also moved toward greater positive responses in both attitudes toward science and disposition toward caring for the environment with Cohen’s d effect sizes of “medium effect” for caring toward the environment (d = 0.52) and “small effect” of positive disposition toward science (d = 0.24).     

Successful Students’ Perceptions of Secondary School Science

The attitudinal perceptions of successful college science students regarding their junior high and high school science experiences were compared with those of successful nonscience students. Particular attention was paid to recollections of teacher personality attributes and instructional methodology. Results indicate that science students were especially motivated by knowledgeable, enthusiastic, communicative, committed, friendly, competent, and creative science teachers, whereas the nonscience group preferred patient, knowledgeable, congenial, friendly, supportive, and enthusiastic instructors. Both groups agreed that, although traditional methods (textbooks, lectures, quizzes/tests) dominated their science experiences, their preferred instructional strategies included more dynamic methods, including laboratory activities, teacher demonstrations, and discussions. Both groups also agreed that high school science courses provided a closer match than did junior high/middle school courses in providing their preferred teacher attributes and instructional methods. Results supported the observation that, even for these academically gifted students, interest in science is relatively depressed during the junior high/middle school years. It was concluded that, although endogenous variables act in concert, the quality of the student-teacher interaction exerts the greatest influence on student attitudes, particularly if those students are not already “science-friendly.” Instructional implications are discussed.     

Student Attitudes and Calculus Reform

This paper compares the attitudes about mathematics of students from traditionally taught calculus classes and those from a “reformed” calculus course. The paper is based on three studies, which together present a consistent picture of student attitudes about calculus reform. The reformed course appeared to violate students' deeply held beliefs about the nature of mathematics and how it should be learned. Although during their first months in the reformed course most students disliked it, their attitudes gradually changed. One and 2 years after, reform students felt significantly more than the traditionally taught students that they better understood how math was used and that they had been required to understand math rather than memorize formulas.     

Attitudes Toward Inquiry-Based Teaching: Differences Between Preservice and In-service Teachers

This paper describes differences between preservice and in-service middle school science teachers in their attitudes toward the learning and teaching of science through inquiry. Seventy-three preservice and 90 in-service teachers were surveyed. Separate factor analyses indicated that different factor structures were generated by preservice and in-service teachers. In the preservice group, the factors included Nature of Science, Image of Scientists, and Characteristics of Science Teachers. Factors from in-service teachers' responses, on the other hand, included Contemporary View of Science Teaching, Image of Scientists, and Traditional View of Science and Science Teaching. Results of the t-tests indicated that preservice and in-service teachers differed in their responses to 6 (out of 25) items. The pattern of those differences is best described as differences in teacher views about contemporary science and science teaching. In-service teachers held more positive views regarding the process of inquiry and inquiry teaching than did preservice teachers.     

Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Conceptualizations of Equity: Access and Power as Seen Through Vignette Responses

Attention to equity in the mathematics education field has been growing in recent years. We have evidence that many novice secondary mathematics teachers do not feel prepared to teach in regards to diverse populations. We need to know more about how secondary preservice mathematics teachers (PSMTs) conceptualize equitable environments. This study investigates 30 secondary PSMTs' proposed responses to two hypothetical vignettes from mathematics department conversations regarding calculator usage and mathematical discourse, respectively, utilizing two of Gutiérrez's four dimensions of equity: Access and Power. Results suggest these PSMTs considered equity, equality, and creating a classroom that invites participation among other factors when thinking of an equitable approach with respect to calculator usage. When considering mathematical discourse, PSMTs cited the need to “model” proper use of mathematical language as well as to allow students to themselves verbalize it. Implications mathematics education and teacher education more broadly are to integrate equity and equality discussions in methods courses and to include strategies to facilitate productive discourse.