Effects of Modeling Instruction Professional Development on Biology Teachers’ Scientific Reasoning Skills
1
Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
2
Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Astana 01000, Kazakhstan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Educ. Sci. 2018, 8(3), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030119
Received: 1 July 2018
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Revised: 20 July 2018
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Accepted: 6 August 2018
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Published: 8 August 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biology Education)
International assessments have revealed that students in numerous nations lack scientific reasoning skills. Science teachers who support students’ scientific skill development through the use of authentic practices provide students with tools needed for success in future science courses. Teachers training focused on pedagogy that supports student scientific reasoning development is particularly important as some studies have also suggested that pre-service teachers have a tendency to display a lack of scientific reasoning skills. Additionally, few studies exist that assess teachers’ scientific reasoning skills, including the effectiveness of professional development to strengthen teacher scientific reasoning abilities over time. To help fill this gap, this study examines the effects of a Modeling Instruction in a biology workshop on teachers’ scientific reasoning skills. In addition to teacher interviews, focus groups, and writing samples, data from Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) were collected from teachers before and after the workshop. The results suggest that the three-week Modeling Instruction in the biology workshop contributed to gains in in-service teachers’ scientific reasoning, and thus provides evidence that the teachers in this study are more prepared to help develop similar skills with their own students as they engage in the Modeling Instruction curriculum.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Stammen, A.N.; Malone, K.L.; Irving, K.E. Effects of Modeling Instruction Professional Development on Biology Teachers’ Scientific Reasoning Skills. Educ. Sci. 2018, 8, 119. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030119
AMA Style
Stammen AN, Malone KL, Irving KE. Effects of Modeling Instruction Professional Development on Biology Teachers’ Scientific Reasoning Skills. Education Sciences. 2018; 8(3):119. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030119
Chicago/Turabian StyleStammen, Andria N., Kathy L. Malone, and Karen E. Irving. 2018. "Effects of Modeling Instruction Professional Development on Biology Teachers’ Scientific Reasoning Skills" Education Sciences 8, no. 3: 119. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030119
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