K-12 TEACHER PROFESSIONAL GROWTH FOR NATURE OF SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC ...

313 Pages·2017·5.92 MB·English

by  Jennifer Parrish

K-12 TEACHER PROFESSIONAL GROWTH FOR NATURE OF SCIENCE AND
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY: PROMOTING REFLECTION THROUGH EXEMPLARS

by

Jennifer C. Parrish

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Mathematics and Science Education

Middle Tennessee State University
August, 2017

Dissertation Committee:
Dr. Grant Gardner, Chair
Dr. Sarah Bleiler-Baxter
Dr. Katherine Mangione
Dr. Renee’ Schwartz
Dr. Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann
This work is dedicated to my daughter Shannon. Do what you love.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and
encouragement from my family. Eric, thank you for holding our lives together while I
pursued this dream, and for your love, support, and editorial finesse. To my sweet
Shannon, you have shown patience well beyond your young years waiting for me to
finish this dissertation. Your notes of encouragement made difficult days much easier
and I love you more than you can ever know. To my dad, Ed, thank you for instilling in
me the work ethic necessary to accomplish anything I set my mind to. To my mom,
Virginia, thank you for your unconditional love and support. Now both your daughters
are doctors. To my sister Amy, you’ve always pushed me to do my very best and never
settle for mediocrity. Our conversations and collaborations over the past four years have
shaped who I am as a researcher and scholar. I hope our family dinner conversations will
continue to annoy our spouses and children, especially Sam and Alyssa.
I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Grant Gardner for his assistance in
preparing this dissertation and the many opportunities he gave me to grow as a scholar
during my time at MTSU, as well as my committee members, Dr. Katherine Mangione
and Dr. Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann, for their feedback and support of this work. I would
also like to thank Dr. Sarah Bleiler-Baxter and Dr. Renee’ Schwartz, as this work was
greatly enhanced by their careful thought and insight. I especially want to thank Dr. Steve
Bartos for introducing me to NOS and continuing to mentor me from afar. I will always
be grateful our paths crossed.

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This work was greatly improved by many conversations with peers and teachers I
have worked with, especially Chris Willingham, Summer Talbert, Josh Reid, Amy
Graefe, and Jeff Pair. I will always remember the white board conversations, heated (but
mostly civil) arguments, and all that I learned from working with you.
Lastly, I want to thank Dr. Cindi Smith-Walters and Dr. Angela Barlow for their
Wonder Woman-like encouragement, and Dr. Gerry Saunders for almost two decades of
guidance and mentorship. I have been fortunate to have been mentored by such
extraordinary people.

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ABSTRACT
Developing K-12 science teachers’ understandings of nature of science (NOS)
and scientific inquiry (SI) continues to be a major goal of science education reform.
There is consensus among science teacher educators that developing students’ NOS and
SI understandings is vital to the development of a scientifically literate citizenry.
However, two decades of research have shown that science teachers continue to hold
views of NOS and SI incongruent with reform recommendations.
The research presented here consists of two studies which examined the
effectiveness of explicit and reflective (ER) interventions designed to promote teacher
professional growth for NOS and SI. Following a brief introduction to the problem
(Chapter 1), the dissertation begins with a comprehensive review of the results of ER
interventions to promote K-12 teacher professional growth (Chapter 2). Next, a mixed-
methods, quasi-experimental study design was used to compare the influence of ER NOS
interventions on preservice elementary teachers’ conceptions of NOS and SI and their
intentions to integrate NOS in their future classroom practice (Chapter 3). One course
section received an ER NOS intervention using NOS standards documents (NOSSE ER
Strategy) while the other group received an ER NOS intervention that incorporated
ostensive exemplars (NOS Example Strategy). Participant reflection was assessed as they
engaged in the interventions, and NOS and SI conceptions and intentions were compared
pre and post intervention. Both interventions promoted teacher reflection on NOS and SI,
but participants in the strategy group that incorporated ostensive exemplars exhibited
more (d = 1.07) reflection, though these were not statistically significantly different.
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Both interventions promoted positive changes in preservice teachers’ conceptions for
NOS and SI. Participants in the NOS Example Strategy group perceived themselves as
more ready to integrate NOS in their future classroom practice than participants in the
NOSSE ER Strategy group.
Study two (Chapter 4) examined how and to what extent using ostensive
exemplars promoted teacher professional growth for NOS and SI for two high school
biology teachers. Results indicated that the use of students’ exemplar responses promoted
teacher reflection, resulting in positive changes for NOS and SI conceptions and
intentions to integrate NOS in classroom instruction. The dissertation concludes with a
short summary of the relevant results and their impact for future ER NOS interventions to
target teacher professional growth (Chapter 5).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xvii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1
Problem Statement .............................................................................................. 1
What are NOS and SI for Science Education?................................................ 1
Scientific Inquiry: Generating Scientific Knowledge ..................................... 2
Nature of Science: Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge .......................... 3
Professional Development of Teachers for Teaching NOS and SI ................. 3
Structure of Dissertation ..................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER TWO: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF EXPLICIT-REFLECTIVE
INTERVENTIONS USED TO PROMOTE TEACHER PROFFESIONAL
GROWTH FOR NOS AND SI .................................................................................. 9
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 9
A Brief History of Teacher Professional Growth for NOS and SI ............... 10
Goal of the Current Synthesis ....................................................................... 13
Literature Search Process .................................................................................. 14
Inclusion Criteria .......................................................................................... 15
Teacher Professional Growth for NOS and SI .................................................. 16
Explicit and Reflective NOS Interventions................................................... 16
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Discussion ......................................................................................................... 54
Personal Domain ........................................................................................... 55
Domain of Practice ....................................................................................... 56
Domain of Consequence ............................................................................... 57
Change Environment .................................................................................... 58
Future Research ............................................................................................ 58
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 61
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 63
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 75
APPENDIX 2.A: IMTPG Domain Variables ................................................... 76
CHAPTER THREE: USING EXPLICIT AND REFLECTIVE STRATEGIES IN A
BIOLOGY COURSE TO DEVELOP PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY
TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDINGS OF NATURE OF SCIENCE AND
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY .......................................................................................... 77
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 77
A Framework for Teacher Professional Growth for NOS and SI ..................... 80
Personal Domain Factors .................................................................................. 83
Changing NOS & SI Conceptions ................................................................ 83
Changing Intentions to Implement NOS and SI Instruction ............................. 84
ER NOS Interventions ...................................................................................... 85
Intervention 1: NOS for Science Education (NOSSE) Guide ER Strategy .. 85
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Intervention 2: NOS Example Strategy ........................................................ 87
Implementation and Use of Interventions ......................................................... 91
Purpose & Research Questions ......................................................................... 93
Methods............................................................................................................. 94
Participants .................................................................................................... 95
Context of the Study ..................................................................................... 95
Data Collection and Analysis............................................................................ 98
Reflection ...................................................................................................... 98
Results ............................................................................................................. 107
Reflection on NOS & SI ............................................................................. 107
Extent of PSET Reflection .......................................................................... 108
Types of Reflection ..................................................................................... 112
NOS & SI Conceptions ................................................................................... 120
Professional Growth for NOS and SI: Changes in PSET Knowledge ............ 121
Intentions to Integrate NOS ............................................................................ 131
Discussion ....................................................................................................... 140
Reflection on NOS and SI........................................................................... 141
NOS and SI Conceptions ............................................................................ 143
Intentions for Integrating NOS into Classroom Instruction ........................ 146
Limitations ...................................................................................................... 146
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 147
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 149
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APPENDICES ................................................................................................................ 159
APPENDIX 3.A: Intent to Integrate NOS Questionnaire ............................... 160
APPENDIX 3.B: Abridged VNOS, VOSI, & Vasi Survey Questions ........... 168
APPENDIX 3.C: NOSSE Guides & Prompts ................................................ 172
APPENDIX 3.D: Institutional Review Board Approval Letter ...................... 183
CHAPTER FOUR: USING STUDENTS’ EXEMPLAR RESPONSES FROM NOS
SURVEY INSTRUMENTS TO PROMOTE IN-SERVICE BIOLOGY
TEACHERS’ REFLECTION ON NATURE OF SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC
INQUIRY ............................................................................................................... 184
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 184
Teacher’s NOS and SI Understandings ...................................................... 185
Assessing NOS and SI Understandings .......................................................... 186
Teacher Professional Growth for NOS and SI ................................................ 188
Change Mechanisms ................................................................................... 189
Study Goals and Rationale .............................................................................. 190
Research Question ...................................................................................... 190
NOSSE Exemplar Intervention ................................................................... 192
Learning by Ostention................................................................................. 193
Reflective Exemplars .................................................................................. 194
Development of Explicit NOSSE Guides ................................................... 196
An Explicit Reflective Strategy .................................................................. 200
Methods........................................................................................................... 202
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