Pathways to Teaching Science for Understanding in Diverse Schools: Merging Inquiry-Based Science and Sociocultural Constructivism with Multicultural Education

在过去的二十年里，我们看到越来越多的证据表明，教师教育计划对职前教师最初的教与学观念几乎没有影响。因此，必须为职前教师提供更好的机会，将他们在大学环境中学到的知识与学校环境联系起来。考虑到需要寻找有效的方法来培养中学科学教师，以满足日益多样化的学生群体的需求，这个问题在科学教育中就显得更加紧迫了。因此，本文提出的研究旨在探讨以下研究问题：1。合作教师和职前教师在尝试在不同的中学课堂中实施社会变革建构主义取向（即将研究性科学教学与社会文化建构主义和多元文化教育相结合的取向）时遇到的困难是什么？社会变革的建构主义教学取向在哪些方面提高了教师的合作能力和职前教师在教授多样性和理解科学方面的能力？社会变革的建构主义教学取向在哪些方面提高了学生对科学的态度和学习成绩？为了探讨这些研究问题，将进行为期三年的纵向研究，研究将包括三个部分。第一部分包括对20名中学教师进行为期两周的暑期培训。该研究所提供的实践和思考活动将用于说明如何在课堂上实施社会变革的建构主义取向。首席研究员和两名师（来自当地）将提供指导。项目的第二部分将包括将职前教师与参加暑期工作坊的教师配对。到这个时候，职前教师应该已经完成了一门必修的科学方法课程，该课程基于指导暑期学院的相同理论框架。该项目的第三部分将包括对毕业并获得教学工作的职前教师进行跟踪研究。新毕业生将在头两年的教学中接受跟踪调查。我们将举办两次夏季会议，邀请合作教师和新手教师参加，以加强指导和专业发展的持续努力。研究所有阶段的数据将使用人类学方法进行分析。因此，研究小组将定期访问合作和职前科学教师及其学生的焦点小组，并进行持续的深度访谈和课堂观察。一些课程将被录像，各种各样的教师和学生制作的作品将被收集，以增加更多的背景和机会来对比新兴的主题和类别。本研究的结果应该丰富我们对如何有效地为理解日益多样化的学校而准备科学教师的理解。同样，本研究将为如何提高不同类型中学生的学习成绩和科学态度提供见解。

In the last twenty years, we have seen increasing evidence thatteacher education programs have little or no impact on preservice teachers'original conceptions of teaching and learning. Therefore, it is imperativethat preservice teachers are offered better opportunities to connect whatthey learn in the university context to the school context. This issue iseven more urgent in science education when one considers the calls forfinding effective ways to prepare secondary science teachers to meet theneeds of an increasingly diverse pupil population. Hence, the study proposed here seeks to explore the followingresearch questions:1. What are the difficulties cooperating and preservice teachers encounterwhile trying to implement a sociotransformative constructivist orientationin diverse middle school classrooms (i.e., an orientation that intersectsinquiry-based science teaching with sociocultural constructivism andmulticultural education)?2. In what ways does a sociotransformative constructivist orientation toteaching enhance cooperating and preservice teachers' abilities to teachscience for diversity and for understanding?3. In what ways does a sociotransformative constructivist orientation toteaching enhance pupils' attitudes toward and academic performance inscience? To explore these research questions, a three-year longitudinalstudy will be conducted, and will include three parts. The first partconsists of a two-week summer institute for twenty middle school teachers.The hands-on and minds-on activities offered at the institute will be usedto illustrate how a sociotransformative constructivist orientation can beimplemented in the classroom. The principal investigator and two masterteachers (from the local area) will offer instruction. The second part ofthe project will consist of pairing preservice teachers with the teacherswho participated in the summer workshop. By this time, the preserviceteachers would have completed a required science methods class based on thesame theoretical frameworks that guided the summer institute. The thirdpart of the project will consist of a follow-up study of the preserviceteachers after they graduate and secure teaching jobs. The new graduateswill be followed up for the first two years of teaching. Two summerconferences will be held with cooperating and novice teachers to strengthenthe on-going efforts for mentorship and professional development. Data for all stages of the study will be analyzed using anethnographic approach. Thus, cooperating and preservice science teachersand a focus group of their pupils will be visited regularly by the researchteam, and on-going in-depth interviews and classroom observations will beconducted. Some lessons will be videotaped and a variety of teacher- andstudent-produced work will be gathered to add more context andopportunities to contrast emerging themes and categories. The results of this study should enrich our understanding of how toeffectively prepare science teachers to teach for understanding inincreasingly diverse schools. Similarly, this study will add insights onhow to enhance the academic performance and attitude toward science ofdiverse middle school pupils.