Publication Date
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Committee Members
Suzanne Franco (Committee Chair), Yoko Miura (Committee Member), Nimisha Patel (Committee Member), James Tomlin (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Abstract
The publication of the National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) marked a turning point in science education characterized by a shift away from the idea that students should learn about a set of science facts and toward the idea that students should figure out core science ideas by solving problems and making sense of phenomena. To successfully realize the vision for science education that was articulated in the reform documents, teachers' science classroom practices will need to change, particularly at the elementary level. Science education research has suggested that teachers' science subject matter knowledge, topic specific professional knowledge, and beliefs about effective science instruction may impact teachers' implementation of classroom practices consistent with the reforms. The goal of this causal structural analysis using an ex post facto research design was to empirically test a proposed conceptual model for teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and practices and to examine the direct and indirect effects of science subject matter knowledge, topic specific professional knowledge, and beliefs about effective science instruction on teachers' implementation of science classroom practices consistent with the reforms. The sample for this study consisted of 731 elementary teachers who were surveyed as part of the 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. Structural equation modeling was used to test the overall model structure, the amount of variance in science classroom practices that could be explained by the model, and the direct and indirect effects of science subject matter knowledge, topic specific professional knowledge, and beliefs about effective science instruction on science classroom practices. Results from analyses supported the conclusion that science subject matter knowledge, topic specific professional knowledge, and beliefs about effective science instruction work together to impact science classroom practices. Furthermore, science subject matter knowledge and topic specific professional knowledge emerged as particularly important variables in the model. To support elementary teachers in implementing classroom practices consistent with the reforms, pre-service and in-service professional learning experiences need to focus attention on developing elementary teachers' science subject matter knowledge in combination with topic specific professional knowledge. Recommendations for future research include creating and utilizing instruments to measure teachers' three dimensional beliefs about effective science instruction, further testing and revising the conceptual model for teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and practices, and investigating strategies to improve elementary teachers' science subject matter knowledge and topic specific professional knowledge.
Page Count
201
Department or Program
Department of Leadership Studies in Education & Organizations
Year Degree Awarded
2016
Copyright
Copyright 2016, some rights reserved. My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may not be modified. All use must give me credit as the original author.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
