Abstract
Numerous studies on science teachers’ professional development status reported that despite having attended the required centralized courses and in-house trainings, there are those who still struggle to plan for and implement appropriate, well-structured lessons. This study has been carried out to identify aspects relating to instructional practices that science teachers are still lacking in, to investigate the nature of training that they have attended as well as the ones they would like to go for; and to unearth issues surrounding their training for professional growth. Twenty science teachers with less than 5 years of service were involved in this study. Data were obtained through qualitative means via interviews and document analysis. The findings revealed aspects that the science teachers had trouble in are associated with instructional strategies, content knowledge, understanding of learners, assessment and creativity in class. The teachers also raised concerns about the nature of existing and future trainings for the development of effective science teachers; on which recommendations are put forward and a possible professional development framework could be expounded.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aldrich, R. (1990). The evolution of teacher education: Policies and progress. In N. J. Graves (Ed.), Initial teacher education. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Ashton, P. T. (Ed.). (1990). Theme: Pedagogical content knowledge [Special issue]. Journal of Teacher Education 41(3).
Borko, H., & Putnam, R. T. (1996). Learning to teach. In D. C. Berliner & R. C. Calfee (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 673–708). New York: MacMillan.
Borko, H., Livingston, C., McCaleb, J., & Mauro, L. (1988). Student teachers’ planning and post-lesson reflections: Patterns and implications for teacher preparation. In J. Calderhead (Ed.), Teachers’ professional learning (pp. 65–83). Great Britian: The Falmer Press.
Briggs, L. D., & Richardson, W. D. (1992). Causes and sources of student concerns forstudent teaching problems. College Student Journal, 26, 268–272.
Bullough, R. V. (1992). Beginning teacher curriculum decision making, personal teaching metaphors, and teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 8(3), 239–252.
Carlsen, W. S. (1987). Why do you ask? The effects of science teacher subject-matter knowledge on teacher questioning and classroom discourse. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.
Carter, K. (1990). Teachers’ knowledge and learning to teach. In W. R. Houstan, M. Haberman, & J. Sikula (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 291–310). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Chan, K. W., & Leung, M. T. (1998). Hong Kong preservice teachers’ focus of concerns and confidence to teach – a perspective of teacher development. Retrieved from AARE the Association for Active Educational Researcher, website: http://www.aare.edu.au/98pap/cha9836.htm.
Clift, R., & Brady, P. (2005). Research on methods, courses, and field experiences. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education (pp. 309–424). Mahwah: American Educational Research Association and Lawrence Erlbaum.
Cochran, F. K., DeRuiter, J. A., & King, R. A. (1993). Pedagogical content knowing: An integrative model for teacher preparation. Journal of Teacher Education, 44, 261–272.
Collins, A. (1989). In Guile, D., & Young, M. (1998), Apprenticeship as a conceptual basis for a social theory of learning, Journal of Vocational Education and Training 50(2) 173–92.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Powerful teacher education. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.
Dobbins, R. (1996). Student teacher self-esteem in the practicum. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 21(2), 16–28.
Doyle, W. (1986). Content representations in teachers’ definitions ofacademic work. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 18, 365–379. lii.
Greene, B. A., Lubin, I. A., Slater, J. L., & Walden, S. E. (2012). Mapping changes in science Teachers’ content knowledge: Content maps and authentic professional development. Journal Science Education Technology, 22, 287–299.
Grossman, P. L., Wilson, S. M., & Shulman, L. S. (1989). Teachers of substance: Subject matter knowledge for teaching. In M. C. Reynolds (Ed.), Knowledge base for the beginning teacher (pp. 23–36). New York: Pergamon.
Gudmundsdottir, S. (1987a). Learning to teach social studies: Case studies of Chris and Cathy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service NO. ED 290 700).
Gudmundsdottir, S. (1987b). Pedagogical content knowledge: Teachers’ ways of knowing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Washington, D.C. (ERICDocument Reproduction Service NO. ED 290 701).
Halim, L., & Meerah, S. M. (2002). Science trainee teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and its influence on physics teaching. Research in Science & Technological Education, 20, 215–225.
Hanipah, H. (2004). Learning to be reflective: From theory to practices Malaysia experiences. Tanjong Malim: Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Press.
Hauslein, P. L., Good, R. G., & Cummins, C. L. (1992). Biology content cognitive structure: From science student to science teacher. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, 939–964.
Hazri, J., Nordin, A. R., Reena, R., & Abdul Rashid, M. (2011). Teacher professional development in Malaysia: Issues and challenges
Ishihara, N. (2005). Intercultural challenges and cultural scaffolding: The experience of a nonnative english-speaking student teacher in a practicum in second language teaching.
Kamisah Osman, Halim, L., & Meerah, S. M. (2006). What Malaysian science teachers need to improve their science? Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 9–16.
Kennedy, M. M. (1990). Trends and issues in: Teachers’ subject matter knowledge. 75
Kyriacou, C., & Stephen, P. (1999). Student teachers’ concerns during teaching practice. Evaluation and Research in Education, 13(1), 18–31.
Lock, C. R. (1977). Problems of secondary school student teachers. The Teacher Educators, 13(1), 30–40.
Mark, R. (1990). Pedagogical content knowledge: From a mathematical case t a modified conception. Journal of Teacher Education, 41(3), 3–11.
Mehmet, C. (2008). Pre-service Efl teachers’ reported concerns and stress for practicum in Turkey. Education and Science, 33(150), 97–109.
Melor Md. Yunus et al. (2010). Understanding TESL pre-service teachers’ teaching experiences and challenges via post-practicum reflection forms. Procedia Social and Behavioural Sciences, 9, 722–728.
MOE. (2013). Preliminary report Malaysia education blueprint 2013–2015. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.my/userfiles/file/PPP/Preliminary-Blueprint-Eng.pdf
Nabilah Abdullah & Nurshamsida Md Shamsuddin. (2011). Cabaran Dalam Pengajaran dan pembelajaran Sains di sekolah Menengah Harian di Malaysia. Jurnal Penyelidikan Pendidikan, 12, 87–101. Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (ISSN 1511–6530)
Oh, D., Ankers, A., Llamas, J., & Tomyoy, C. (2005). Impact of pre-service student teaching experience on urban school teachers. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32(1), 82–98.
Ong, S. K., Ros Amisha, S., Azlian, A. A., Sharnti, K., & Ho, L. C. (2004). Trainee teachers’ perceptions of the school practicum. Proceedings of the National Seminar on English Language Teaching 2004 (pp. 84–89). Bangi: Faculty of Education, UKM.
Pushkin, D. (2001). Teacher training: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara: ABCCLIO.
Polio, C., & Wilson-Duffy, C. (1998). Teaching ESL in an unfamiliar context: International students in a North American MA TESOL practicum. TESOL Journal, 7(4), 24–29.
Rovegno, I. C. (1992). Learning to teach in a field-based methods course: The development of pedagogical content knowledge. Teaching and Teacher Education, 8(1), 69–82.
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1–22.
Siti Zohara Yassin. (2005). Proses Sosialisasi Organisasi Guru Sandaran Terlatih (GST) dalam Melaksanakan Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Di Sekolah Menengah.
Swennen, A., Jörg, T., & Korthagen, F. (2004). Studying student teachers’ concerns, combining image-based and more traditional research techniques. European Journal of Teacher Education, 27(3), 265–283.
Turner-Bisset, R. (2001). Expert teaching: Knowledge and pedagogy to lead the profession. London: David Fulton.
Veal, W. R. (2004). Beliefs and knowledge in chemistry teacher development. International Journal of Science Education, 26(3), 329–351.
Acknowledgement
This paper is sponsored by Research Acculturation Grant Scheme (RAGS 2013) Ministry of Education, Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ismail, M.H., Abdullah, N., Salleh, M.F.M., Yahya, M.S. (2016). Science Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development: A Preliminary Finding. In: Fook, C., Sidhu, G., Narasuman, S., Fong, L., Abdul Rahman, S. (eds) 7th International Conference on University Learning and Teaching (InCULT 2014) Proceedings. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-664-5_46
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-664-5_46
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-663-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-664-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)