Faculty Publications

Measuring Teacher Beliefs About Inquiry: A Blended Qualitative/Quantitative Instrument

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Blended measurement, Inquiry teaching, Teacher beliefs

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Science Education and Technology

Volume

15

Issue

1

First Page

69

Last Page

79

Abstract

A major trend in science education reform is an emphasis toward inquiry-based learning over transmission-based instruction. The effort to reform science teaching is not a simple effort however. Teacher beliefs have been demonstrated to have a strong influence on teacher practice. Current methods to describe teacher beliefs are often interpretative. We describe the development of an instrument that captures qualitative and quantitative information regarding teachers' beliefs inquiry teaching. The instrument provides data that can be tracked over time to measure changing beliefs, a necessary precondition for changing practice. Change in belief can be monitored for individuals or for groups of subjects. We discuss several types of studies that can be accomplished using the Inquiry Teaching Belief (ITB) instrument. We also discuss several ways to analyze the data from this instrument. The instrument may be combined with observation protocols to elucidate barriers to changing practice. © 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.

Department

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Original Publication Date

3-1-2006

DOI of published version

10.1007/s10956-006-0357-4

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