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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
A Response to Reform: Teachers' Attitudes and Practice of Inquiry-Oriented Instruction.

A Response to Reform: Teachers' Attitudes and Practice of Inquiry-Oriented Instruction.

Thomas, Jeffrey D.

Paperback

General Education

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1243546670
ISBN13: 9781243546678
Publisher: Proquest Umi Dissertation Pub
Pages: 218
Weight: 0.88
Height: 0.46 Width: 7.44 Depth: 9.69
Language: English
The intention of the current reform effort in Connecticut is to influence the way science is taught to improve student achievement. To meet this goal, the State aligned curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices with the most recent versions of the Core Science Curriculum Framework, CAPT Handbook for Science, and the Connecticut Aptitude Performance Test (CAPT). The lack of widespread and sustainable implementation of instructional reforms, such as implementing inquiry-oriented standards-based curriculum, is an issue that has evolved out of reform efforts similar to the one in Connecticut. A possible explanation for this problem might be traced back to teacher attitudes towards the proposed instructional changes. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the attitudes of six high school earth science teachers toward reform in one Connecticut suburban school district and the impact these attitudes may have had on the implementation of inquiry-oriented instructional reforms. Initially, semi-structured interviews were conducted to assess teacher attitudes toward the reform and the expected impact on the way they would enact inquiry-oriented instruction. This was followed by classroom observations of each teacher's implementation of one of the State released inquiry-oriented labs found in the CAPT Handbook for Science, so as to determine whether the labs were carried out as the teachers had intended and as was expected by the State. At the end of year, semi-structured interviews were also conducted to verify whether their attitudes changed over the course of the year. Originally, it was thought that teacher attitudes would impact the way they would carry out the State recommended labs. However, teacher attitudes in this study were only one predictor of the way the inquiry-oriented labs were implemented. Teacher experience, familiarity with the content, and knowledge of inquiry-based pedagogy also were found to be possible influences on how they described and implemented the State reforms. The results of this work highlight the need for large-scale reforms to consider the multiple factors that influence teachers' understanding and implementation in order for such instructional changes to be successful.

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