Development, Validation and Use of the Beleifs About Science and School Science Questionnaire (BASSSQ)

نویسندگان

  • Jill Aldridge
  • Peter Taylor
  • Chung-Chi Chen
چکیده

The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire that would serve to identify teachers' beliefs about the nature of science, in order to provide greater insight into ways in which those views affect teaching practices. This study is part of a larger study that is investigating the influence of teachers’ philosophical perspectives on the constructivist nature of the classroom learning environment. The conceptual development of the Beliefs About Science And School Science Questionnaire (BASSSQ) draws on the philosophy of science to distinguish between objectivist and postmodern views of science. The BASSSQ was trialled in 27 junior high school classes in Western Australia. The validity and viability of the questionnaire were examined using a multiple perspective approach, including statistical reliability tests and interviews. The results suggest that the internal consistency is not entirely satisfactory across all scales. Interviews of teachers who responded to the BASSSQ indicated that teachers' responses are influenced by (1) their philosophical perspectives which, in turn, can cause them to equate ‘science’ with ‘school science’, and (2) the curriculum context that serves as a referent. INTRODUCTION The way in which people interpret events are influenced by their constructs, schema, beliefs and understandings (Nespor, 1987; Pajares, 1992). The beliefs that people hold colour the way in which individuals recall old information and process new information. A variety of educational beliefs have been identified and studied by researchers, including beliefs about: self efficacy; epistemology; the role of a classroom teacher; specific subjects and how they should be taught; how students learn; and discipline and student control (Pajares, 1992). This study recognises the worth of these beliefs but it is concerned primarily with the beliefs teachers hold about the nature of science and science teaching. Past research into teachers' beliefs about the nature of science have included both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Much of the research has concentrated on the use of interviews and classroom observation, such as the work of Bussis, Chittenden and Amerel (1976) who used coded interviews to record constructs that appeared to be operating. A number of studies into teachers' beliefs of the nature of science have focused essentially on the collection of qualitative data (Brickhouse, 1991; Duschl & Wright, 1989; Lantz & Kass, 1987). These studies have focused on individual teachers and students and have provided valuable insights into individual teacher's beliefs and their associated practices. Quantitative methods of data collection have included instruments, designed to measure teachers’ beliefs, such as the Attitude-Toward-Education-Scale, developed by Kerlinger (1967) and the Nature of Science Scale, developed by Kimball (1968). Another valuable tool which provides a quantitative insight into teachers' views of the nature of science is Kelly’s Repertory Grid Technique (Duffy, 1977; Lakin & Wellington, 1994; Munby, 1982). Developed from Kelly's Personal Construct theory, this method provides quantitative data regarding teachers constructs in addition to qualitative descriptions. To examine students' views of topics associated with Science-Technology-Society, Aikenhead (1987; Aikenhead & Ryan, 1992) developed the Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS). This instrument was developed as a result of ambiguities associated with standardised testing. The VOSTS makes use of paragraph type responses from students which are analysed. By eliciting students' ideas as opposed to numerical scores, ambiguities related to the interpretations of statements were revealed. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study in which we developed and examined the viability of the Beliefs About Science and School Science Questionnaire (BASSSQ) and raise issues concerning the influence of teacher beliefs about the nature of science have on constructivist teaching practices. The conceptual framework of the study is discussed in terms of teachers’ beliefs. NARST 1997 The BASSQ 2 Teacher Beliefs The importance of teachers' beliefs in the process of reform cannot be under-estimated. According to Nespor (1987), two teachers may have a similar knowledge of science but teach in very different ways because teachers' beliefs are more powerful than their knowledge in shaping the way in which they teach. Research has shown that difficulties concerning the implementation of innovations in the classroom are related to the resistant nature of teachers' beliefs (Munby, 1982; Nespor, 1987; Nisbett & Ross, 1980). In addition, studies have shown that older beliefs are the most resistant to change because, when they are tested, individuals tend to recall information, however conflicting, in a way that will sustain their own beliefs (Pajares, 1992). It is not surprising, then, that teachers tend to modify new science curricular to make them more compatible with their own established beliefs regarding their role in the classroom (Duschl & Wright, 1989; Olson, 1981, 1982; Tobin & Gallagher, 1987), and, that classroom instruction and teacher practices are consistent with the beliefs that teachers hold (Duschl & Wright, 1989; Gudmundsdottir, 1991; Janesick, 1982; Kagan, 1992; Lantz & Kass, 1987). Past studies have found that resistance to a constructivist perspective can be attributed, in part, to the image that teachers hold about the nature of science as these beliefs influence the way in which science is taught (Brickhouse, 1991; Lakin & Wellington, 1994). Traditional or objectivist views of science have been associated with teacher dominated modes of instruction (Apple, 1979; Giroux, 1981) and, according to Taylor (1990, 1993), when the practices of science teachers are governed by an objectivist image of the nature of science, it is difficult for a constructivist perspective to become reality within the classroom. Teacher beliefs about the nature of science influences the way science is portrayed to students through the interpretation and implementation of the curriculum (Gallagher, 1989; Tobin and Gallagher, 1987). It is likely that those teachers who view the nature of science in a traditional sense (i.e., Baconian terms), will tend to highlight the collecting and analysing of data involved in theory building, whilst teachers who view the nature of science in Kuhnian terms may tend to focus more on the discontinuity and irrational elements within the history of science. The BASSSQ is based on two sets of opposing perceptions related to teachers' beliefs about the nature of science: 'tentative and changing or true and unchanging' (Tobin, Kahle & Fraser, 1990, p 7); and whether the process of scientific inquiry is influenced by human perceptions or is a set method, free of human bias. These sets of perceptions can be thought of as forming a continuum on which teachers' beliefs can be mapped, providing an insight into teachers' views of the nature of science and identifying possible barriers to constructivist reform in school science. THE BASSSQ The BASSSQ forms part of a larger, ongoing cross-national study of determininants of science learning environments in Taiwan and Australia. The BASSSQ was developed to provide a quantifiable large-scale portrayal of teachers' beliefs about the nature of science and school science, which could be used as a springboard from which subsequent teacher interviews, discussions and classroom observations could take place. The qualitative and quantitative data could then be used to determine correlations between the philosophical stance of teachers and constructivist practices present in the classrooms. In addition, the BASSSQ was designed to provide a heuristic device that teacher-researchers can use as a means of reflecting on, and improving, their own teaching practices. Design The BASSSQ is based on a two-dimensional model (one axis representing the teacher's view of science and the other representing the teacher's view of school science) ranging on a continuum from an objectivist to a postmodern view of the nature of science. NARST 1997 The BASSQ 3 s c i e n c e school science objectivist post-modern objectivist

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تاریخ انتشار 1997