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Changing practice: an evaluation of the impact of a nature of science inquiry-based professional development programme on primary teachers

Murphy, Clíona orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-6251-5785, Smith, Greg orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3630-5810, Varley, Janet and Razı, Özge (2015) Changing practice: an evaluation of the impact of a nature of science inquiry-based professional development programme on primary teachers. Cogent Education, 2 (1077692). pp. 1-19. ISSN 2331-186X

Abstract
 This study investigates how a two-year continuing professional development (CPD) programme, with an emphasis on teaching about science through inquiry, impacted the experiences of, approaches to and attitudes towards teaching science of 17 primary teachers in Dublin. Data sources included interview, questionnaire and reflective journal strategies. Data gathering focussed primarily on enabling teachers to reflect on their experiences of teaching about science through inquiry while implementing the Irish primary science curriculum. Teachers were also asked to consider their own changes in teaching science, as change in practice is a key indicator of successful professional intervention. Encouragingly the findings have shown that participation in this CPD programme appears to have been central to empowering these Dublin teachers to break away from rather traditional, didactic, theory-laden views of science teaching and to tackle more child-led, openended modes of learning. The data also revealed a number of aspects of the CPD model which the teachers perceived to be beneficial at translating inquiry into their classrooms, in particular: the active, hands-on approaches; the collaboration and the duration of the CPD itself. Based on the findings of this study, implications for professional development are considered.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:primary science; inquiry-based science education; nature of science; continuing professional development
Subjects:Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Teaching
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Institute of Education > School of STEM Education, Innovation, & Global Studies
Research Institutes and Centres > Research Centre in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education (CASTel)
Publisher:Taylor & Francis
Official URL:https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2015.1077692
Copyright Information:© 2015 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. This is an electronic version of an article published in Cogent Education & is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2015.1077692
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:21640
Deposited On:18 Jan 2017 10:41 by Thomas Murtagh . Last Modified 05 Oct 2022 12:46
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