Teaching Science: Contributions of Research for Planning, Practice and Professional Development

$275.00

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Series: University Teaching and Faculty Development
BISAC: EDU029030

This book is written with two main audiences in mind: science education researchers and science teachers (or other educational professionals in technology and engineering). The authors think that this format is also ideal to disseminate more widely among professionals in science and technology education the research contributions and guidelines most relevant for their practice.

This book is the result of a collective work of research in science and technology education developed by the authors’ team, composed of 13 researchers from three different countries (Portugal, Brazil and Angola) for over nearly 20 years. The research, developed in a scholarly context, has focused on science teaching practices, including inside the classroom and on how to become more effective in promoting students’ learning quality. The authors looked at science teaching practices in different contexts: general education (from K-12 to higher education), initial teacher training and teacher professional development.

With this book, the authors aim to further disseminate their research, which is already published for a scholarly audience (mainly through several peer-reviewed journal and conference papers), by compiling the main research results in a concise and perhaps more accessible format. However, each chapter presents new aspects of the research already developed or puts it in the perspective of current research knowledge.

The book is organized into four parts:
Part I – Contributions of Research to Planning Science Teaching;
Part II – Contributions of Research to Science Teaching Practices;
Part III – Contributions of Long-Term Research to Improving Science Teaching Practices;
Part IV – Contributions of Research to Professional Development.
Part I focuses on a dimension of teaching practices that is central to their quality and effectiveness as well as their design and planning. That is where it all begins. Although it is the subject of research attention, it tends to be reduced to its operational aspects in the daily practice of teachers.
Part II presents several specific research contributions that result from the study of science teaching practices in the context of the classroom.

There are aspects of teaching practices that hardly change or change slowly. It takes long-term research to study them. Part III highlights these lesser-known aspects of teaching practices and the very processes that take place to increase the quality of teaching practices in a progressive and consistent way.

Another aspect that needs to be ensured in order to improve teaching practices is giving attention to professional development, with the emphasis on increasing the quality of teaching practices. Part IV presents contributions from our research in this context.

Each chapter was written independently, and the book structure is designed so that they complement each other, even though they can be read independently. Each chapter was reviewed in a double-blind peer review process. The editors thank the kind and helpful contribution of the advisers to the book’s structure and coherence, and the reviewers for their work and the useful suggestions for each chapter.
(Imprint: Nova)

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 

Preface

Chapter 1. Researching Science Teaching Practices in the Classroom over Two Decades: What Matters?
J. Bernardino Lopes (School of Sciences and Technology, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 2. Formative Situation as a Tool to Plan Teaching
Cristina Marques (Department of Chemistry, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro,Vila Real, Portugal)

Chapter 3. Planning Teacher Mediation in Science and Technology Lessons
José Paulo Cravino (Department of Physics, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes, Vila Real, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 4. Training Teachers How to Plan for Teaching Science and Technology
Alexandre Pinto and Domingos Kimpolo Nzau (Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology – School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 5. Articulating Research and Teaching Practices in a Postgraduate Course
Eliane de Souza Cruz (Department of Exact and Earth Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)

Chapter 6. Teacher Mediation for Productive Engagement of Students in Experimental Activities</a></p>
Ana Edite Cunha (Escola Secundária S. Pedro, Vila Real, Portugal)

Chapter 7. The Role of Teacher Decisions in the Classroom to Develop Students’ Epistemic Activity
Carla Aguiar Santos (Universidade de Trás-os-montes e alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 8. Semiotic Registers in Chemistry Lessons
Carolina José Maria (Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism, Methodist University of Piracicaba, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil)

Chapter 9. Students’ Conceptual Development Based on a Didactic Approach Used by Teachers under a Professional Development Program
Domingos Kimpolo Nzau (Department of Teaching and Research of Exact Sciences, Institute of Education Sciences (ISCED), Uíge, Angola)

Chapter 10. Integrating the Transversal Theme of Water- Energy in Initial Teacher Training
António Barbot (Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology – School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 11. The Development of Competences in Engineering Students
Clara Viegas (Physics Department, Polytechnic of Porto – School of Engineering, Porto, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 12. The Role of Tasks in Science and Technology Lessons
Ana Edite Cunha (Escola Secundária S. Pedro, Vila Real, Portugal)

Chapter 13. Visual Representations in the Classroom When Teaching Physical Sciences
Elisa Saraiva (School of Sciences and Technology, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal)

Chapter 14. Self-Directed Professional Development to Improve Effective Science Teaching
J. Bernardino Lopes (School of Sciences and Technology, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 15. How to Design and Implement Experimental Work
Cristina Marques (School of Sciences and Technology, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal)

Chapter 16. Students’ Assessment in Teaching Science and Technology
Clara Viegas (Physics Department, Polytechnic of Porto – School of Engineering, Porto, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 17. Teacher Reflection in the Postgraduate Training of Science Teachers
Eliane de Souza Cruz (Department of Exact and Earth Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)

Chapter 18. Problems and Questions: Elucidation and Relevance for Research and Teaching
António Barbot (Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology – School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 19. From the Lived Experiences of an Initial Teacher Training Program to Professional Practice: The Possibilities and Limitations in View of Scientific Literacy Development
Alexandre Pinto (Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology – School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal, and others)

Chapter 20. The Role of Tools to Aid Teacher Mediation in Teacher Professional Development
M. Júlia Branco (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal)

Chapter 21. What Drives University Physics Teachers to Try to Improve Their Teaching
José Paulo Cravino (Department of Physics, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes, Vila Real, Portugal, and others)

Glossary

About the Editors

Index

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