Abstract
Many primary school teachers in Australia tend to be reluctant to teach science, partly because they are not confident in science and have limited science background knowledge. However, quite a number of primary school teachers still manage to teach some science. When they plan to teach science, many of them use the term “science activities that work.” Such activities seem to be related to science pedagogical content knowledge for some primary teachers. In order to better understand what the term “activities that work” means, twenty teachers from several schools were interviewed and asked what they understood by this expression. Themes that emerged suggest that activities that work are hands on, are interesting and motivating for the children, have a clear outcome or result, are manageable in the classroom, use equipment that is readily available, and are preferably used in a context where science is integrated into themes. Implications for curriculum and for preservice teacher education are considered.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abell, S. K., & Roth, M. (1992). Constraints to teaching primary science: A case study of a science enthusiast student. Science Education, 76, 581-595.
Appleton, K. (1995). Student teachers' confidence to teach science: Is more science knowledge necessary to improve self-confidence? International Journal of Science Education, 19, 357-369.
Appleton, K., & Asoko, H. (1996). A case study of a teacher's progress toward using a constructivist view of learning to inform teaching in primary science. Science Education, 80(2), 165-180.
Appleton, K., & Kindt, I. (1997). Research monograph: Beginning teachers' practices in primary science in rural areas. Rockhampton, Queensland: Faculty of Education, Central Queensland University.
Appleton, K., & Kindt, I. (1998, April). Teaching primary science: Practices of beginning teachers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, San Diego, CA.
Appleton, K., & Kindt, I. (1999a, March). How do beginning primary teachers cope with science: Development of pedagogical content knowledge in science. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Education, Boston, MA.
Appleton, K., & Kindt, I. (1999b). Why teach primary science? Influences on beginning teachers' practices. International Journal of Science Education, 21, 155-168.
Appleton, K., & Kindt, I. (2002). Beginning elementary teachers' development as teachers of science. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 13(1), 43-61.
Australian Academy of Science. (1994). Primary Investigations. Canberra, Australia: Australian Academy of Science.
Baird, J. (Ed.). (1992). Shared adventure: A view of quality teaching and learning (second report of the Teaching and Learning Science in Schools Report). Melbourne, Australia: Monash University.
Department of Education, Queensland. (1984). Primary science sourcebook, grades 1-7. Brisbane, Queensland: Author.
Department of Employment, Education and Training. (1989). Discipline review of teacher education in mathematics and science. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Goodrum, D., Hackling, M., & Rennie, L. (2001). The status and quality of teaching and learning of science in Australian schools. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.
Grossman, P. L. (1990). The making of a teacher: teacher knowledge and teacher education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Gustafson, B. J., & Rowell, P. M. (1995). Primary preservice teacher: Constructing conceptions about learning, teaching science and the nature of science. International Journal of Science Education, 17(5), 585-605.
Harlen, W. (1997). Primary teachers' understanding in science and its impact in the classroom. Research in Science Education, 27, 323-337.
McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (1998). Educational psychology: Constructing learning (2nd ed.). Sydney: Prentice Hall.
Mellado, V., Blanco, L. J., & Ruiz, C. (1998). A framework for learning to teach science in initial primary teacher education. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 9, 195-219.
Miles, E. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Morine-Dershimer, G., & Kent, T. (1999). The complex nature and sources of teachers' pedagogical knowledge. In J. Gess-Newsome & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Examining pedagogical content knowledge (pp. 21-50). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
Osborne, J., & Simon, S. (1996). Primary science: Past and future directions. Studies in Science Education, 26, 99-147.
Schwandt, T. A. (1994). Constructivist, interpretivist approaches to human inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15, 4-14.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22.
Skamp, K. (1989). General science knowledge and attitudes towards science and science teaching of preservice primary teachers: implications for preservice units. Research in Science Education, 19, 257-267.
Smith, D. C., & Neale, D. C. (1991). The construction of subject matter knowledge in primary science teaching. Advances in Research on Teaching, 2, 187-243.
Tobin, K., Tippins, D. J., & Gallard, A. J. (1994). Research on instructional strategies for teaching science. In D. L. Gabel (Ed.), Handbook of research on science teaching and learning (pp. 45-93). New York: Macmillan.
van Driel, J. H., Verloop, N., & de Vos, W. (1998). Developing science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 673-695.
Varley, P. (1975). Science in the primary school. Brisbane, Australia: Research Branch, Department of Education, Queensland.
Veal, W. R., & Makinster, J. G. (1999). Pedagogical content knowledge taxonomies. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 3(4). Located at http://unr.edu/homepage/crowther/ejse/vealmak.html.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Appleton, K. Science Activities That Work: Perceptions of Primary School Teachers. Research in Science Education 32, 393–410 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020878121184
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020878121184