Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Science teachers--Iowa--Psychology; Critical thinking; Science teachers--Psychology; Iowa; Academic theses;
Abstract
Reflection is synonymous with quality teaching. Though teachers reflect, the domains of reflections vary from teachers in different curriculum areas. Teachers of science have their own interesting characteristics to reflection. The art of reflection contains several unique aspects such as the logistics of reflections, the influence of the reflection, the content, and the perception one has on reflection. These aspects are described through the eyes of a science teacher to better understand their relationship to reflection. Though the research within reflections of teachers is plentiful, there is little on science teacher's reflections. The focus of this study is to determine the nature of reflections of science teachers and answer four research questions that include the following: How and when do science teachers reflect? What do science teachers reflect upon? What influences the quality of reflections? How do science teachers perceive their reflections? A sample of teachers in schools who had characteristic homologous to the investigator's experience were selected and schools were randomly selected to participate. Participants filled out a qualitative questionnaire that focused on their reflections and invited to participate in the document analysis of their reflections and an interview. Of volunteering participants, three were selected. Science teachers reflected on many topics pertinent to teaching in general and several that related to their discipline area. Many used non-formal methods of recording such reflections such as mental thoughts. Teachers built their reflection upon some action that occurred during class, with many of them reporting their results instead of deeper forms of reflection. Factors that keep teachers away from the reflection process included overwhelmingly included time and in-services. Finally, teachers want to improve their reflection skills by increasing the frequency or finding more formal methods of recording. Overall, they were comfortable with the reflection process.
Year of Submission
2008
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
First Advisor
Dawn Del Carlo
Second Advisor
Lyn Countryman
Third Advisor
Robert Boody
Date Original
2008
Object Description
1 PDF file (156 leaves)
Copyright
©2008 Caroline Anne Scheidel
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Scheidel, Caroline Anne, "The Reflective Science Educator" (2008). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2166.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2166
Comments
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