Science Teachers’ Uptake of Heuristic Educative Curriculum Materials to Develop Students’ Habit of Questioning and Posing Problem

Abstract

Science teachers lack the pedagogical knowledge and skills to develop students’ habit of questioning and posing problems (HQP), which is vital for scientific inquiry. Prescriptive curriculum materials do not promote professional growth and development in teachers. In contrast, heuristic educative curriculum materials allow teachers to choose and learn as and when is more feasible. Heuristic design curriculum materials contain educative features that provide suggestions and rationales for instructional activities, empowering teachers to enact more flexibly. In a larger study, a heuristic curriculum material called Skilful Thinking Educative Pedagogical Support (STEPS) was prepared and encompassed three components – specific thinking strategies, habits of mind, and metacognition. STEPS was prepared using findings from needs analysis, a review of additional curriculum materials and the Malaysian Year 4 science syllabus. This paper focuses HQP which is one of the sixteen components of habits of mind. The research objective was to investigate how three Year 4 science teachers up-took educative features in STEPS to develop students’ HQP. The study utilised a qualitative exploratory research design. Classroom observations, open-ended interviews, and document analysis were the data sources. We used tracers in the educative features, such as teachers’ uttered phrases, cues, and suggested tools to indicate HQP implementation. The findings showed fidelity between STEPS and teacher implementation as teachers had used the suggested tools, encouraged students’ HQP skills by using cues, and gave justifications on why HQP is important. The teachers also gave space and scaffolded their students’ question generation and problem-posing. Moreover, teachers adapted the educative features most relevant to their teaching context. Implications for teachers, school leaders, researchers and teacher educators were discussed.