| This research focused on identifying the observable classroom behaviors of five chemistry teachers who are considered to be effective teachers by widely accepted criteria, including nomination for the President's Award for Excellence in Science Teaching or recommendation from the State and/or district science supervisor. A naturalistic methodology using emergent design was used to: (1) collect qualitative data to generate categories and data-based theoretical conceptions that described the teachers' classroom behaviors in detail, and (2) focus on each chemistry teacher within the context of his or her specific setting. Fieldnotes, audiotapes, formal and informal interviews, and teacher generated documents were used to generate the data base. Data analysis was ongoing, iterative, and inductive.;Analysis of the data indicates that these chemistry teachers' classroom behaviors appear to be influenced by their: (1) professional interests in science, chemistry, education, teaching, and students; (2) perception of the current measurement-driven curricular goals, teacher accountability, and the increasing volume of information produced by modern chemistry; and (3) administrative support and recognition via students' achievement on standardized chemistry tests. When chemistry content became the focus of these chemistry teachers, they adopted teacher-centered classroom behaviors to impart the already discovered knowledge of chemistry to their students. When these chemistry teachers appeared to strive toward student-centered goals, they attempted to empower students to make them autonomous. The most important reinforcement for the chemistry teachers in this sample, however, appears to be student achievement on standardized tests. If the current goals for science education include teaching less science so it can be taught more in depth and teaching students how to learn, not what to learn, then critical examination of teaching in the areas of control and responsibility are in order. |
