Promoting the Understanding of Photosynthesis among Elementary School Student Teachers through Text Design

Autor/inn/en	Södervik, Ilona; Mikkilä-Erdmann, Mirjamaija; Vilppu, Henna
Titel	Promoting the Understanding of Photosynthesis among Elementary School Student Teachers through Text Design
Quelle	In: Journal of Science Teacher Education, 25 (2014) 5, S.581-600 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1046-560X
DOI	10.1007/s10972-013-9373-9
Schlagwörter	Elementary School Science; Preservice Teachers; Preservice Teacher Education; Student Teachers; Botany; Scientific Concepts; Content Area Reading; Reading Comprehension; Learning Processes; Learning Strategies; Prior Learning; Concept Teaching; Teaching Methods; Instructional Effectiveness; Science Achievement; Scientific Literacy; Knowledge Base for Teaching + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Lehramtsstudiengang; Lehrerausbildung; Lehramtsstudent; Lehramtsstudentin; Referendar; Referendarin; Botanik; Sinnerfassendes Lesen; Leseverstehen; Learning process; Lernprozess; Learning methode; Learning techniques; Lernmethode; Lernstrategie; Vorkenntnisse; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Unterrichtserfolg; Teaching theory; Theory of teaching; Unterrichtstheorie
Abstract	The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary school pre-service teachers' understanding of photosynthesis and to examine if a refutational text can support understanding of photosynthesis better than a non-refutational text. A total of 91 elementary school pre-service teachers read either a refutational or a non-refutational text concerning photosynthesis and then answered open-ended questions. Our results indicate that there are critical problems associated with student teachers learning about the process of photosynthesis, even after it has been systematically taught in teacher education. However, the results positively indicate that refutational science texts seem to foster effective conceptual change among student teachers. The results interestingly showed that students who read a refutational text improved their systemic and factual understanding of photosynthesis more than did those who read a non-refutational text. Especially students who had naïve prior understanding regarding photosynthesis benefitted more from a refutational text. Thus, a refutational text may act as an effective facilitator of conceptual change. These results have implications for teacher education, where conceptual mastery of the most important science phenomena, such as photosynthesis, should be achieved. A refutational text is an easy and effective way to support conceptual change in higher education. Thus, this study highlights the importance of domain-specific science education in teacher programmes. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10