This article reports on part of a larger study of how 11‐ and 12‐year‐old students construct knowledge about electricity and magnetism by drawing on aspects of their experiences during the course of a school visit to an interactive science museum and subsequent classroom activities linked to the science museum exhibits. The significance of this study is that it focuses on an aspect of school visits to informal learning centers that has been neglected by researchers in the past, namely the influence of post‐visit activities in the classroom on subsequent learning and knowledge construction. This study provides evidence that the integrated series of post‐visit activities resulted in students constructing and reconstructing their personal knowledge of science concepts and principles represented in the science museum exhibits, sometimes toward the accepted scientific understanding and sometimes in different and surprising ways. A descriptive interpretive approach was adopted, with principal data sources comprising student‐generated concept maps and semistructured interviews at three stages of the study. Findings demonstrate the interrelationships between learning that occurs at school, home, and in informal learning settings. The study also underscores for classroom teachers and staff of science museums and similar centers the importance of planning pre‐ and post‐visit activities. The importance of this planning is not only to support the development of scientific conceptions, but also to detect and respond to alternative conceptions that may be produced or strengthened during a visit to an informal learning center. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 84:658–679, 2000.

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Research into learning in informal settings such as museums has been in a formative state during the past decade, and much of that research has been descriptive and lacking a theory base. In this article, it is proposed that the human constructivist view of learning can guide research and assist the interpretation of research data because it recognizes an individual's prior knowledge and active involvement in knowledge construction during a museum visit. This proposal is supported by reference to the findings of a previously reported interpretive case study, which included concept mapping and semistructured interviews, of the knowledge transformations of three Year 7 students who had participated in a class visit to a science museum and associated postvisit activities. The findings from that study are shown in this report to be consistent with the human constructivist view of learning in that for all three students, learning was found to be at times incremental and at other times to involve substantial restructuring of knowledge. Thus, we regard that the human constructivist view of learning has much merit and utility for researchers investigating the development of knowledge and understanding emergent from experiences in informal settings. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for teachers and staff of museums and similar institutions are also discussed. ß

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This paper describes the conduct of, and acquired understandings from, a study designed to promote the professional growth of a group of beginning primary school teachers through participatory action research. The beginning teachers collaborated with university academic staff during the design and conduct of the study. A key component of the study was the formation of action research cells of participating teachers with each group focusing on particular aspects of teaching, for example, assessment, catering for gifted and talented students, and inclusivity in the classroom teaching program. The overall findings from the study, from the view of the university researchers, are presented and reflected upon in this paper. The implications of using action research for the professional growth of beginning teachers are also discussed.1

This article reports an investigation of the intuitive scientific ideas and understandings of 321 preservice elementary teacher education students enrolled in the 2nd year of a 3‐year program. The sample completed a physical science concept challenge instrument by responding, in writing, to open‐ended questions about the concepts of floating/sinking, the nature of matter, air pressure and its effects, and the balance beam. Subjects' responses and explanations were analyzed, and response categories established. The results reveal that the majority of subjects, with the exception of a high proportion of those who had a successful senior high school background in physics and chemistry, have misunderstandings in these basic concept areas. It is argued that teachers should have a sound conceptual knowledge base in order to implement effective problem‐solving strategies in the elementary science classroom. The importance of teaching science in elementary schools is widely acknowledged, therefore, teacher educators must identify and implement more effective strategies for science instruction in preservice teacher education courses that will enable all students to construct scientifically accurate concept knowledge.

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This paper reports progress to date on a longitudinal study of changes in preservice teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching science. The study involved procedures designed to validate, in an Australian context, the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI‐B) comprised of two scales: Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Scale (STE) and Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy Scale (STO). Concomitantly, the instrument was used to monitor changes in teachers' sense of science teaching efficacy employing a pretest and repeated posttest, one group research design. The subjects were students enrolled in a three‐year Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) program. Correlations between pretest scores on STEBI‐B and other measures of personal beliefs and behaviors, namely academic self concept and academic locus of control, supported the validity of STEBI‐B. The results indicate that, over three semesters of the program, there was significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores on the STE scale. Possible explanations of the results obtained are discussed and evaluated and a justification for further long term research into teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching science is provided. Implications of the results for the teaching of elementary school science are discussed.