| There is a strong consensus among scholars that teachers' beliefs about the nature of science are important in science education today. This notion is rooted in the belief that concepts about the nature of a body of knowledge underlie decisions as to how it should be taught, how it can be understood, and how it can be used. While most work has been theoretical, several studies, mostly at the secondary level, have begun to explore the relationship between teachers' beliefs about science and their practices of teaching science. These studies are just beginning to develop research methods to probe different aspects of this very complex component of teacher thinking and practice.;This research examines the belief-practice linkage by: (a) laying the theoretical foundation on which it is built, (b) detailing the research design and its theoretical foundations, (c) describing the setting in which the research was done, (d) presenting three case studies of elementary teachers, (e) presenting a cross-case analysis, and (f) summarizing the findings and exploring their ramifications.;The research methods included structured and unstructured interviews, process tracking, the teachers' development of constructs, and classroom observations including videotaping. The data were analyzed using principles of grounded theory coupled with a matrix in which to examine the consistency between teachers' articulations about learning and teaching in general, their articulations about science, and their practices of teaching science.;All three teachers are committed to a discovery approach to science based on hands-on activities, as opposed to textbooks. The findings indicate that the teachers' beliefs about learning and teaching in general are more significant in their instructional planning and practices than their beliefs about science. As a result of staff development and school programs, however, there are significant areas where these two sets of beliefs are coming together in the teachers' thinking. An interesting finding was the teachers' inability to describe how they think children develop concepts from their experiences. The implications of these and other findings relating to hands-on science are discussed in terms of teacher preparation, staff development, and the need for further research in science education. |
