Improving Subject Teaching: Lessons from Research in Science Education

ISBN-13: 9780415362092 / Angielski / Twarda / 2006 / 210 str.

Robin Millar; John Leach; Jonathan Osborne

Opis

In many countries, questions are being raised about the quality and value of educational research, and whether educational practice can ever draw upon research evidence as productively as in fields such as medicine. This book explores the relationship between research and practice in education, using the case of science education as an example. It looks at the extent to which current practice could be said to be informed by knowledge or ideas generated by research - and at the extent to which the use of current practices or the adoption of new ones are, or could be, supported by research evidence - and so be said to be evidence-based. The issues considered are not specific to science, but apply to the teaching and learning of any curriculum subject.
The book draws on the findings of four inter-related research studies, carried out by the Evidence-based Practice in Science Education (EPSE) Research Network. It considers:
· how research might be used to establish greater consensus about curriculum
· how research can inform the design of assessment tools and teaching interventions
· teachers' and other science educators' perceptions of the influence of research on their teaching practices and their students' learning
· the extent to which evidence can show that an educational practice "works."
The book is unique in exploring the issues raised by the current debate about educational research within the context of the teaching and learning of a specific curriculum subject. Rather than looking at how research might inform educational practices in the abstract, it looks at how research can lead to improvement in the teaching of specific pieces ofknowledge, or specific skills, that we value. The issues it explores are therefore of direct interest and relevance to educational practitioners and policy-makers.

Spis treści

Part 1: What is the Issue?  1. Research and Practice in Science Education  Part 2: What Does Research Tell Us?  2. Using Research to Clarify Curriculum Objectives  3. Issues in Designing Evidence-Informed Teaching  4. Drawing on Research to Focus Teaching and Monitor Progress  5. Issues in Implementing and Evaluating Evidence-Informed Teaching  6. Teaching 'Ideas-About-Science'  7. Outcome Measures - A Necessary Precondition for Evidence-Based Practice  Part 3: Research into Practice  8. Practitioners' Views of Research and its Impact on Practice  9. Evidence-Based Science Education: Is it Possible, Desirable, Essential?

O autorze

Robin Millar is Professor of Science Education, University of York, UK. John Leach is Professor of Science Education, University of Leeds, UK. Jonathan Osborne is Professor of Science Education, King’s College London, UK. Mary Ratcliffe is Professor of Science Education, University of Southampton, UK.