Abstract
The role and rationale of practical work in teaching school science are receiving renewed
scrutiny (Abrahams and Saglam, 2010). This paper is a case study which reports part of a
larger longitudinal study which used semi-structured interviews to explore the approaches of
beginning teachers of physics to teaching electricity during Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
and beyond. The interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. One of the
emergent themes was the use of practical work in secondary school science. All of the
beginning teachers had embedded the use of practical work in their teaching. This paper
discusses their reasons for doing so and compares their responses with the rationales
suggested by Hodson (1993), Lunetta, Hofstein, Clough, Abell, & Leerman (2007) and
Abrahams (2011). The implications for ITE and continuing professional development (CPD)
are discussed.
scrutiny (Abrahams and Saglam, 2010). This paper is a case study which reports part of a
larger longitudinal study which used semi-structured interviews to explore the approaches of
beginning teachers of physics to teaching electricity during Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
and beyond. The interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. One of the
emergent themes was the use of practical work in secondary school science. All of the
beginning teachers had embedded the use of practical work in their teaching. This paper
discusses their reasons for doing so and compares their responses with the rationales
suggested by Hodson (1993), Lunetta, Hofstein, Clough, Abell, & Leerman (2007) and
Abrahams (2011). The implications for ITE and continuing professional development (CPD)
are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 20 |
Publication status | Published - 3 Sept 2011 |
Event | ESERA 2011 - Lyon, France Duration: 5 Sept 2011 → 9 Sept 2011 |
Conference
Conference | ESERA 2011 |
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Country/Territory | France |
City | Lyon |
Period | 5/09/11 → 9/09/11 |
Keywords
- in-service science teacher education
- practical work