Investigating teachers' and students' conceptions of good science teaching through a video-based survey instrument

Abstract

The way a teacher thinks about teaching infl uences the way they teach, hence the way their students learn, and ultimately their learning utcomes. Learning outcomes can be improved if there is a closer match between teachers’ and students’ conceptions of good’ science teaching (CoGST). This paper reports on the development of a video- based survey instrument and its use in investigating the CoGST held by 110 teachers and 4024 students. Factor analysis reveals a CoGST model comprising 11 dimensions including: Establishing a clear learning purpose, Encouraging active experimentation, and Modelling data interpretation. Signifi cant gaps between teachers and students on some of the dimensions are identifi ed. This raises important questions of how these gaps can be addressed. This study is a timely response in the light of recent education reforms which demand new types of teaching and learning. Changes are clearly required in teachers’ and students’ conceptions of teaching and learning. By engaging teachers and students in commenting and talking about good’ teaching, this study will contribute to the process of change. The innovation of using video-based survey instrument also opens up new possibilities in the field of conception studies/learning environment studies.