Perspectives on Science

Teacher Learning
EED 101. TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE PRIMARY GRADES. 5-
MAR 2021.
Outline
 Views about Learning and Teaching
 Ideas about knowledge
 Schema Theory
 Overall classroom context
Views about Learning and Teaching
 whendesigning and implementing a science method course, one needs
to draw upon their own pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
 orientation to teaching and learning will influence the development of
your PCK for teaching teachers and also influences the types of
instructional strategies that you use.

Two facets:
1. an orientation to teaching and learning science
2. an orientation to teaching and learning in science teacher education
Ideas about knowledge: Schema Theory
Knowledge
◦ facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or
education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
Schema Theory
◦ describes how knowledge is acquired, processed and organized.
◦ the starting assumption of this theory is that “very act of comprehension
involves one’s knowledge of the world”.
◦ knowledge is a network of mental frames or cognitive constructs called
schema (pl. schemata). Schemata organize knowledge stored in the long-term
memory.
Ideas about knowledge: Schema Theory
Examples:
1. water birds – ducks, swan and goose; neck length and body size.
2. four-legged animals – dog versus cat
Overall Classroom context

Fig 1. A view of learning (source: Appleton, 1997).

Overall Classroom context
 Thekey elements of the model emphasize what is happening within
the individual learner, but each of these is influenced and shaped by
the social context.
 The classroom social context has considerable bearing on the
individual learner’s response, but other contexts such as the overall
school social context, peer group contexts, and the home/family
context all play a role.
Overall Classroom context
 Existing ideas
 Learners coming to a learner situation bring with them their preexisting ideas, skills,
and feelings that are organized in the mind as sets or clusters of ideas and experiences.
 New Encounter
 Further experience that occurs in a particular social and cultural context.
 In formal learning, this is the pre=planned set of experiences and teaching strategies
presented by the teacher.
 Sorting through recall
 Memories being triggered, including feelings, recognized as relevant to the first context
 The learner takes cues from the context of the encounter, such as unit and lesson
structures, and teacher comments to aid in this search.
 Overall Classroom context
 Filter
 Learner may select to attend to particular aspects of the experience and ignore others
 this selection may be by chance, by what is spectacular and attention getting, or by the
learner’s expectations of the lesson.
 Processing information
 Constructing meaning for the encounter, by processing the sensory information, selecting
aspects considered important and relevant, and making sense of this using the selected
recalled memories.
 Learners actively try to reach understanding and make sense of the encounter by relating
it to remembered schemata, using though experiments, or generating analogies.
 To change or adjust ideas to fit with the new encounter, and therefore reach a deep level
of understanding [accommodation = Piagetian term]
 Overall Classroom context
 Degree of fit
 Three possible outcomes:
a. Identical fit of the encounter
- all noticed aspects of the new encounter are perceived by the learner as being an identical fit with an
explanatory idea drawn from memory: from the learner’s point of view, the encounter is fully explained
by what is recalled.
b. approximate fit of the encounter to an existing idea
- the new encounter may be perceived as being approximately explained by the remembered idea,
even though the learner is aware that aspects are unclear and unexplained.
- “good enough”; learner exits from the learning experience with little if any learning gain, and potential
future learning difficulties.
c. incomplete fit or cognitive conflict
- learner may recognize that no remembered ideas adequately explain the encounter, resulting in an
incomplete fit and cognitive conflict
- learner is in a state of cognitive conflict experiences, some degree of frustrations
Overall Classroom context
 Reexamining the idea
 A learner who has effectively exited from the learning experience
because of a perceived identical fit or because a vague idea is
considered adequate, may reengage with the learning situation if the
classroom social context encourages this to happen.
Overall Classroom context
 Seeking information
 solution-seeking behavior arising from cognitive conflict
 Possible ways of seeking information:
a. Exploring the materials vicariously, such as through a teacher demonstration;
b. Exploring the materials directly using hands-on
c. Using the ideas of others who are external to the classroom, such as books,
audiovisual and multimedia resources and community experts;
d. Using ideas from teachers;
e. Using ideas from peers, obtained one-to-one, in small groups, or in the whole
class.
f. Waiting for an answer to be revealed
g. Using unit, lesson and teacher structuring cues
Other Implications for Elementary
Science Teacher Education
 bring
with them (pre-service teachers) the existing schemata about
the nature of learning and the nature of teaching formed from their
own schooling experiences.
Thank you.