SSM Table of Contents & Abstracts

Volume 103 (5), May 2003

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Confronting and Changing Middle School Teachersâ Perceptions of Scientific Methodology

Molly Weinburgh

Texas Christian University

The reform documents of the 1990s stressed that science is not practiced by a rigid scientific method, but science texts continue to describe the process as if it were rigid and linear. The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (a) to explore middle school in-service teachersâ perceptions of scientific methodology and (b) to explore ways in which their perceptions change as they engage in reflective activities. Thirty-two masters-level students participated in an 8-week summer course, entitled Concepts and Issues in Middle School Science. One ongoing assignment woven throughout the term involved a series of activities designed to help students reflect on their own understanding of science and the scientific enterprise. Data from the initial activity suggested that all students began the course believing that science is done in a simplistic, linear way, as depicted by many textbooks in the review of the scientific methods. However. by the end of the course, many students held a less rigid and more realistic view of the scientific enterprise. This research documents change in teachersâ views over time and discusses the implications for science teacher education.  

Middle Grades Studentsâ Algebraic Understanding in a Reform Curriculum

Angela S. Krebs

University of Michigan - Dearborn

 The National Council of Teachers of Mathematicsâ Curriculum and Evaluation Standards in 1989 was pivotal in mathematics reform. The National Science Foundation funded several curriculum projects to address the vision described in the Standards. This study investigates studentsâ learning in one of these Standards-based curricula, the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP). The authors of CMP believe that the teaching and learning of algebra is an ongoing activity woven through the entire curriculum, rather than being parceled into a single grade level. The content of the study investigates studentsâ ability to symbolically generalize functions. The data regards the solutions of four performance tasks dealing with three different types of relationships÷linear, quadratic, and exponential situations÷completed by five pairs of eighth-grade students. The major finding claims that middle to high achieving students who had 3 years in the CMP curriculum demonstrated achievement in five strands of mathematical proficiency of a significant piece of algebra.

An Extended Examination of Preservice Elementary Teachersâ Science Teaching Self-Efficacy

Patricia D. Morrell and James B. Carroll

The University of Portland

            The purpose of this study was to examine programmatic factors that positively impact changes in elementary preservice teachersâ teaching self-efficacy beliefs.  Specifically, it examined the impact of science methods courses, student teaching, and science content courses on elementary preservice teachersâ science teaching self-efficacy.  The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument Form B was administered, using a pre/post design, to undergraduate elementary education majors in specific education and science content courses.  A total of 399 responses were collected, of which 172 had matching pre/post surveys suitable for analysis.  Students in the science content courses and student teaching seminar showed no significant change in either the Personal Science Teaching Efficacy (PSTE) or the Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy scales during the time they were enrolled in the classes. Significant gains in PSTE were found for students enrolled in the science methods course. The specific design of the education program and methods course may be responsible for these changes.

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