Partnerships of teachers with scientists are thought to be important for many aspects of science education reform, but it is not always clear how to make such partnerships productive. Between 1994 and 1997, high school teachers were partnered with scientists, to design yearlong ecological research projects in which the teachers were learning for their own sake, rather than to create new curriculum. In these partnerships the relationships with the scientists took many forms. We found that negotiations around five dimensions seemed particularly important: (1) Whose question was being investigated? (2) Was the focus primarily on data collection or data analysis? (3) Was the research based on the ecologist's area of expertise, or the teachers' interest? (4) Was the focus primarily on the teachers' learning on their students' classroom learning? (5) Was the research intended for an external audience, or primarily for the teachers' own benefit? Three case studies are presented, showing how these dimensions shaped the negotiations of more successful and less successful collaborations. Implications for inquiry-based pedagogy, and cultural issues arising in scientist-teacher collaborations, are discussed.
The rapid expansion of knowledge in all science domains, and the provisional nature of much new knowledge, present the science curriculum with several important challenges. The inquiry-based classroom approach is designed to struggle with the difficulties of the subject in a way that reflects best current understanding about teaching and learning. This article describes the features that characterize student and teacher roles and tasks in a classroom that is representative of a culture of inquiry. Suggestions for principals are included.
The effect of district strategies for improving high-stakes test scores on science teachers' practice is explored in case studies of six middle schools in six Massachusetts districts. At each school, science teachers, curriculum coordinators, principals, and superintendents shared their strategies for raising scores, their attitudes towards the test, the changes that they were implementing in their curriculum and pedagogical approaches, and the effects that the test was having on staff and on students. Results from these case studies suggest that districts chose markedly different strategies for raising scores on high stakes tests, and that the approaches taken by districts influenced the nature of pedagogical and curriculum changes in the classroom. District strategies for raising scores that were complementary to the district's prior vision of science reform tended to cause less teacher resentment towards the test than strategies that departed from previously adopted goals. Differing effects on teachers in socio-
Abstract-Interactive whiteboard (IWB) use has been associated with increased student motivation, engagement, and achievement, though many studies ignore the role of the teacher in effecting those positive changes. The current study followed the practice of 28 high school science teachers as they integrated the IWB into their regular classroom activities. The extent of teachers' adoption and integration fell along a continuum, from the technologically confident "early adopter" to the low-use "resistant adopter." Patterns of use are explored by extracting data from representative teachers' practice. Science-specific benefits of IWB use, barriers to integration, and lessons learned for professional development are discussed.
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