Conference of Asian Science Education Science Education from an Asian Perspective February 20-23, 2008 Kaohsiung, Taiwan

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1 Conference of Asian Science Education Science Education from an Asian Perspective February 20-23, 2008 Kaohsiung, Taiwan USE OF INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH IN THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS Charles CHEW Ming Kheng, Shirley LIM, POON Chew Leng National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Introduction Abstract: This paper reports the findings on the use of an inquiry-based approach in the professional development of primary science teachers in Singapore schools at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. Set in the context of an inquiry-based primary science curriculum in 2008 for Singapore, it explores how in-service teachers are prepared to enact inquiry in the classroom. Five primary thematic science training courses based on the inquiry approach were jointly designed by both content specialists and pedagogy specialists drawn from the same academic group. The aim of each thematic course is to equip teacher participants with the essential pedagogical content knowledge to be leaders of inquiry in the classroom. A repertoire of powerful inquiry-based activities containing the five essential features of science inquiry were conducted. Participants were assessed by means of quiz, science journals and group presentation. A total of 412 primary science teachers (inclusive of 66 repeat participants) from 203 primary schools (inclusive of 123 repeat schools) participated in this series of in-service courses between January 2007 to August By means of an end-of-course evaluation, reflection journals and researcher-designed multiple choice test papers, qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed in this preliminary study. Results of the analysis showed promising gains by the teacher participants in both affective and cognitive domains after undergoing this series of inquiry-based thematic science training courses. Keywords: Professional development, inquiry-based, thematic science, affective, cognitive Since the launch of the vision of Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) by the then Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Goh Chok Tong in 1997, various educational initiatives to promote thinking skills, information technology, national education, life sciences, innovation and enterprise have been rolled out to schools between 1997 to In line with the nation's quest to develop thinking schools for the millennium, the National Institute of Education (NIE) formed in July 1991 by merging the former Institute of Education and the College of Physical Education (Kam & Gopinathan, 1999) implemented the Values, Skills and Knowledge (VSK) framework in the training programmes and the adoption of a pedagogic approach that is increasingly more learner-centred rather than teacher-centred. While inquiry-based teaching and learning has been encouraged in the last few years, the new 2008 primary science syllabus is designed to be more inquiry-centric (MOE, 2007). As part of the continual teacher professional development to prepare primary science teachers for the new inquiry-based primary science curriculum, five customized 1

2 courses were developed by the Natural Sciences and Science Education (NSSE) Academic Group at the NIE and implemented between January 2007 to August Theory of Teacher Professional Development Dunlop s (1990:1) broad definition of professional development as the systematic and formal attempts to advance the knowledge, skills and understanding of teachers in ways that lead to changes in their thinking and classroom behaviour fits in closely to the professional development approach in the Singapore Education System. In the light of the various recent major educational initiatives and the new 2008 syllabus, the Ministry of Education has actively promoted the three functions of the professional development to the teachers; namely, the establishing function which seeks to promote change through new syllabuses, new technologies, etc; the maintenance function which seeks to change teacher practice to ensure conformity with preferred administrative routines; and the enhancement function which is aimed at improving teachers performance. This is because in any educational initiatives involving innovation, reform and improvement, teachers are the key to the success (or failure) of these new initiatives. For the establishing function involving the review and development of the new 2008 science syllabus, a select group of experienced teachers ranging from heads of department for science, master teachers and classroom teachers were invited to sit on the syllabus review committee together with the curriculum specialists from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and teacher educators from the National Institute of Education (NIE). For the enhancement function, as part of the training roadmap of the teachers professional development, teachers are encouraged to attend relevant workshops to equip themselves with the necessary pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1987) to enhance their performance in the use of inquiry-based teaching and learning strategies. 2. The New 2008 Science Syllabus Figure 1 shows the curriculum framework used for the design of the 2008 primary science syllabus (MOE, 2008). Figure 1. MOE s Science Curriculum Framework 2

3 In this curriculum framework, inquiry science drives the curriculum design. The practice of science as an inquiry is founded on three integral domains of (a) Knowledge, Understanding and Application, (b) Skills and Processes and (c) Ethics and Attitudes. To enable the meaningful pursuit of science by students, the activities and processes involved in inquiry are grounded in the knowledge, issues and questions that relate to the roles played by science in daily life, society and the environment. Teachers are expected to play the role of leaders of inquiry, nurturing their students as inquirers to deepen their conceptual understanding and enhance their problem-solving skills which will help to sustain interest in science and prepare them better for the knowledge-based economy in the 21 st century. Besides organizing the core body of concepts in both the life and physical sciences into the five themes of Diversity, Cycles, Systems, Energy and Interactions as in the previous syllabus, one important feature in the revised syllabus is the introduction of white space. This white space refers to the freed up curriculum time to enable teachers to use more engaging teaching and learning approaches (which includes the inquiry approach), and/or to implement customised school-based programmes. 3. Customised Series of In-service Primary Thematic Science Courses at NIE 3.1 Aims and Pedagogical Approach of the five thematic courses Course Aims To prepare the teachers for the implementation of the new 2008 primary science syllabus, five customized courses based on the five themes were designed and developed to achieve the following two aims: To equip teachers in primary schools with the knowledge and understanding of the new primary science (2008) syllabus. To explore inquiry approaches for the teaching and learning of the sciences, and appropriate disciplinary strategies (e.g., active learning methods, teaching for transfer, incorporation of creative and critical thinking skills, problem-based learning, etc.) for teaching the sciences Pedagogical Approach The duration of each course ranged from 18 hours to 24 hours and run from January to August In each of the five courses, the main focus is to equip participants with the essential pedagogical content knowledge to be leaders of inquiry in the teaching and learning of science by means of a wide repertoire of inquiry-based teaching and learning strategies containing the five essential features of science inquiry (question, evidence, explanation, connections and communication). Some examples of teaching and learning strategies used in the five thematic science courses include the BSCS 5E Learning Cycle (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration/Extension and Evaluation), Predict-Observe-Explain [POE] (White & Gunstone, 1992), internet-based on-line learning (Tapscott, 1999) and datalogger-based experiments/science kits (Newton, 2000). 3.2 Implementation and key findings of the five thematic courses Implementation For the period of January 2007 to August 2007, a total of 412 teacher participants (inclusive of 66 repeat participants) from 203 Primary Schools (inclusive of 123 repeat schools) attended the 5 thematic training courses. Table 1 shows the summary of the teacher participants for each course. All participants were assessed by means of (i) an 3

4 MCQ Test (30%); (ii) a science journal (30%); (iii) a group presentation (30%); and (iv) attendance and attitude (10%). Table 1. Summary of Participants in each Thematic Course Course Title Number of Primary Schools Number of Participants Diversity: An Inquiry Approach Cycles: An Inquiry Approach Systems: An Inquiry Approach Interactions: An Inquiry Approach Energy: An Inquiry Approach Key findings Table 2 shows that the percentage of participants for each of the 5 courses obtaining either an A or B grade ranges from 84.5% to 98.5%. The F grade for the 5 participants in two of the courses was due to their inability to meet the minimum of 75% attendance regardless of valid or invalid reasons. Table 2. Grade Distribution of Participants in each Thematic Course Grade Diversity Cycles System Interactions Energy A 17 (26.6%) 42 (62.7%) (59.0%) 57 (73.1%) B 46 (71.9%) 22 (32.8%) 87 (84.5%) 38 (38.0%) 15 (19.2%) C 1 (1.5%) 2 (3.0%) 16 (15.5%) 3 (3.0%) 2 (2.6%) F -- 1 (1.5%) (5.1%) Total number (percentage) To assess the learning of scientific knowledge by the participants, a pretest-posttest MCQ was done. Table 3 shows the healthy gains in scientific knowledge of the participants before and after the attending the courses. Table 3. Descriptive Statistical Analysis of MCQ Tests Course Title N Test Mean SD Pre Diversity 52 Post Pre Cycles 57 Post Pre Systems 98 Post Pre Interactions 91 Post Pre Energy 75 Post From Table 3, it is evident that the improvement in the mean values and the decrease in SD values from Pretest to Posttest are consistent across all the 5 modules. The decrease in SD showing the narrowing of the spread across one standard deviation for 68% of the participants implies that there are less outliers on either side of the normal distribution. This shows that the participants have improved markedly in their conceptual understanding in Science after attending the inquiry-based lessons. Besides the positive quantitative feedback mentioned in Tables 2 and 3 collated by the team of NSSE educators, two other important sources of quantitative and qualitative feedback are the individual science journals and the MOE end of course evaluation reports. 4

5 The science journals and MOE reports showed that in both the cognitive and affective domains, almost 100% of the participants gave high rating values in terms of the usefulness of the courses, satisfaction level, the quality of trainers and course administration. Some typical comments on the strengths of the course include: Trainers are passionate in their work, very knowledgeable and approachable. Thorough and detailed structured examples of an Inquiry-based lesson (IBL). Very hands-on. The 5Es is a very useful strategy. The 5E model was clearly explained and emphasized throughout the workshop. The Science Journal helped us to consolidate our learning, to think through how I can create IBL lessons in my classroom. The final presentations by the course mates are very useful as there are lots of good ideas being shared. An excellent course which should be strongly recommended to be attended by all Science teachers. Conclusion The positive feedback by participants on the use of science journal throughout the course to consolidate learning shows that for a teacher to grow professionally, reflecting from the experiences provided in the training course is important. Our day-to-day experiences as we confront challenges, incidents, and problems in our lives are rich sources of learning if accompanied by reflection on action (Butler, 2001, p.1). The gains in both the cognitive and affective domains reported are indicative of the usefulness of this series of thematic science training courses in preparing teachers for the implementation of an inquiry-centric curriculum. References Butler, J. (2001). Reflection: Images of the Self in Action. Paper presented at the 9 th International Conference on Thinking, Auckland, New Zealand. Dunlop, R. (1990). Professional Development: A Review of Contemporary Literature. Research report, Division of Curriculum Services, Queensland Department of Education. Kam, H.W. & Gopinathan, S. (1999). Recent Developments in Education in Singapore, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, Vol. 10, No. 1: pp Ministry of Education. (2008). Science Syllabus. Singapore: Ministry of Education. Newton, L.R. (2000). Data-logging in practical science: research and reality. International Journal of Science Education, 22 (12), Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57 (1), Tapscott, D. (1999). Educating the Net Generation, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD) Review, 8, White, R., & Gunstone, R. (1992). Probing understanding. London: Falmer Press. Speech by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the opening of the 7 th International Conference on Thinking on Monday, 2 June [Accessed on 26 Dec 2007]. 5