pursuing answers to questions important in their lives. Engaging students in inquiry-based instruction dates back to Dewey (1938), who believed that students learn from their activities through extended experiences in real world problem-solving and discussion with others. This constructivist view of learning give theoretical support to teachers in facilitating students in developing their own knowledge through a process of interacting with objects in the environment and engaging in higher-level thinking and problem solving (Driver et al., 1994). Inquiry-based science education (hereinafter IBSE) is currently considered an appropriate method that matches the constructivist principles of science education.
There is a danger of IBSE being considered as narrowly as “hands-on science'”, in which students carry out a series of separate hands-on activities that are unconnected to substantive science content and educational objectives. Inquiry-based teaching/learning strategies need to harmonize with theories of how children learn science, which include students revising their understanding through teachers building on students' experiences (Driver et al., 1994). The integration of socio-constructivist perspectives of learning with hands-on instruction enhances the opportunity for knowledge construction of inquiry (Rogoff, 1994; Solomon, 1989).
We tried to find a form of instruction that meets all the principles of IBSE. We developed this teaching/learning form within the frame of the European project PROFILES (2014). We also focused on educating teachers on IBSE.
3. Research questions and methods
We aimed to develop an IBSE special teaching/learning form (method), which meets all the principles of IBSE. Our first research question was:
What educational form of teaching/learning meets school practice and complies with the principles of IBSE?
The second objective of our research is the implementation of this developed teaching/learning method into teacher education. Our second research question was:
Can teacher training in IBSE affect their professional and personal development?
To address the research questions, we used three main research methods: the curricular Delphi study (Osborne et al., 2001; Bolte, 2008), the design-based research (Reeves, 2006) and the case study.
The curricular Delphi was developed within the PROFILES project. The main objective of this curricular Delphi study was to find out the views of different groups of respondents to the contents and objectives of science education in general as well as to engage them to express an opinion on IBSE and motivation. The Czech part of the PROFILES curricular Delphi study on science education was carried out in three rounds between the years 2011-2013. We questioned four groups of participants in the Czech Republic: 56 students (age 14-16), 30 science teachers (secondary schools), 28 science educators (university teachers) and 25 scientists.
Design-based research (hereinafter DBR) can be described as a cycle analysis of a practical problem, development of solutions, testing of solutions, reflection and implementation (Reeves, 2006).
In our case, DBR has the following form:
(1) Analysis of practical problems: We identified the existing educational problems in the implementation of IBSE and teacher training.
(2) Development of solutions with a theoretical framework: We developed a special teaching/learning form based on all IBSE principles – PROFILES-modules and created teacher training courses.
(3) Evaluation and testing of solutions in practice: Science teachers (participants of PROFILES project) used action research for the implementation and evaluation of PROFILES-modules.
(4) Documentation and reflection to produce “Design principles”: The final stage was the documentation and the establishment of new principles for the implementation of PROFILES-modules.
Our case study focused on qualitative research on the relationship between training teachers on IBSE and the development of their creativity. A case study of one chemistry and physics teacher (lower secondary school in the Czech Republic) was implemented in 2013 (Bolte et al., 2014).
4. Research results and discussion
The output of the PROFILES curricular Delphi study is three common concepts of science education:
(a) Awareness of the sciences in current, social, globally relevant and occupational contexts in both educational and out-of-school settings
(b) Intellectual education in interdisciplinary scientific contexts
(c) General science-related education and facilitation of interest in the contexts of nature, everyday life and living environment
More data can be found on the PROFILES (2014). The results in the form of these three concepts and relevant educational contents have been used as an issue in our following design-based research.
The main outcome of our DBR is the PROFILES-module as a core unit of IBSE. The PROFILES-module has been developed on a 3-stage model (Bolte et al., 2012):
(1) Initiation of the learning happens in a familiar and student-relevant situation when students identify with this situation and feel that it is within their sphere of action. Teachers stimulate students through a scenario. This is a narrative (story) based on everyday problems. It is designed to evoke interest and to raise questions in order to find answers.
(2) In the second stage the students’ triggered self-motivation encourages them to be involved in the IBSE learning processes. Students realize their own inquiry-based learning cognitive activities.
(3) In the third stage, the students transfer their inquiry-based learning to the relevant socio-scientific situation encountered in the scenario and develop reasoned justification for decisions.
The PROFILES-module is based on motivation and a problem scenario. The scenario brings science-social issues to teaching/learning. The students create questions and problems which are solved with the use of their own inquiry. Structured and guided inquiry of IBSE is used. Students’
experimentation is usually applied. Finally, the students return to the initial scenario through which they make decisions and recommendations. Formally, the PROFILES-module consists of materials for student activities and teacher guidance.
These PROFILES-modules were used as the core of teacher education as a part of their CPD.
The teacher-trainees in the project were familiarized with the modules and their roles. Teachers implemented these PROFILES-modules into their teaching. In doing so, the teachers modified these modules and in the end they made their own PROFILES-modules. The PROFILES-modules were then verified by the teachers in practice through action research. Emphasis was given to teacher ownership and creativity. We aimed at the role of teacher creativity, where they were members of development teams creating new PROFILES-modules. Our PROFILES-module: “Safety of the human body: swimming and diving” may serve as an example:
Scenario: Death during diving
News from a TV broadcast: Yesterday the famous singer D.N. tragically died when scuba-diving at the seaside resort of H. A local police spokesman said that the exact cause of death would be clarified by means of autopsy ordered by the court. Senior instructor in diving L.T. answered our query as to what can cause a tragedy during diving - it may be a small injury, e.g. a ruptured eardrum. Details will be included in subsequent news.
In our case, students usually ask the following questions:
What properties of water can cause health risks or even the death of a person
Which organs of the human body can be damaged during swimming and diving and why?
What kinds of swimming and diving in the water are risky?
Which rules of safe swimming and diving do we follow?
The next step is students´ activities where students research, seek information leading to a solution, discuss with peers in groups and perform experiments. Example of the experiment:
Experiment: Modelling of ear-drum rupture under high water pressure Instructions for students’ experimenting:
The basic experiment aid is a plastic bottle with a wide neck. The bottle cap is drilled and the valve of a tire is screwed into it. Overpressure in the plastic bottles in all experiments is done by hand- pressing or by a small velocipede tire-pump.
Instruments in plastics bottles are fixed on stands made out of copper wire, a metal stick and wooden small plates (see Figure1).
Cover the mouth of the test tube with the rubber membrane (of an inflatable balloon) and secure with a rubber band. Connect the velocipede tire-pump to the valve and pump - you produce overpressure of air in the bottle. The membrane under the influence of pressure is bent into the test tube. The deflection of the membrane increases with increasing overpressure (Figure 2).
Figures 1 and 2. Plastic bottle with a test tube covered by a rubber membrane
Replace the rubber membrane with a thin plastic membrane. Under the influence of pressure it is also bent into a test tube (Figure 3). If overpressure in the bottle is sufficiently great, the plastic membrane ruptures (see Figure 4).
Figures 3 and 4. Plastic bottle with test tube covered by a plastic membrane
The rubber and plastic membranes simulate the behaviour of the ear-drum during swimming, bathing and diving. Water in the ear (ear canal) pushes on the ear-drum similarly to the air on the membranes in the case of our experiment. The result of this pressure is deformation of the eardrum and in the case of high pressure (overpressure) rupture of the ear-drum.
The third and the final phase is student decision making. In our case, students, using inquiry, came to the following conclusion:
The deformational effect of overpressure force is demonstrated by the rupture of the covering membrane on the test tube made out of a piece of a plastic bag.
The plastic membrane simulates the terminal behaviour of an ear-drum during swimming, bathing and diving. Water in the ear canal pushes on the ear-drum by a heavy force. The result is the rupture of the ear-drum. The implication of this rupture is acute pain and the loss of ability to find direction.
This means a danger of death for the diver.
PROFILES-modules have an important role in the CPD of teachers. The project aims to improve the preparation of teachers in strengthening competencies in IBSE. The aim is also to motivate them and strengthen their ownership, as a prerequisite for the professional and personal development.
Our special research was focused on the development of the creativity of teachers as a significant personal and professional component and an important part of their CPD. According to Sternberg (1996) and Amabile (1996) a creative teacher is necessary to develop students' creativity. Teacher creativity is one of the core teaching factors. Quality development of teacher competences cannot exist without creativity. Our hypothesis is that high quality CPD is needed to develop teacher creativity. As creativity is a crucial factor in the multidimensional development of teacher professional competences, we examine the role of creativity in a number of partial dimensions within this development.
We investigate how the implementation, modification and creation of new modules affected the creativity of teachers. We conducted a case study of teacher-participants of Profiles CPD (Bolte et al., 2014). Creativity plays a decisive role in this development. As our case study documents, all creativity elements mentioned by Guilford (1950) were developed:
Resourcefulness (the ability to create a wide flow of ideas): The teacher herself demonstrated her development from self-efficacy from the CPD to teacher ownership of the PROFILES ideas evidenced by creating a new module.
Readiness, perceptiveness (the ability to modify ideas or jump from one idea to another): The teacher was able to exhibit sufficient ownership of PROFILES ideas changing the form of experiments and worksheets according to changing conditions when testing out the new module.
Originality (unusualness of ideas): The teacher created a completely original PROFILES module, which was still related to the underlying philosophy.
Imagination (production of ideas that are not obvious at first sight): The teacher created a new PROFILES module “Carbon natural of life” with a difficult connection of the topic with daily life.
Endeavour (creativity is not only inspirational, but also hard work): The teacher worked all the time with passion, alone and very hard.
Our research has led us to conclude that the CPD can affect not only the development of professional competencies of teachers, but also the development of major components of their personality, including creativity. The outcomes of our research confirm that using the PROFILES-modules during CPD may cause positive changes in the development of teacher creativity.
5. Conclusions and implications
Based on the presented research outcomes, we have verified that the PROFILES-modules have two important roles:
streamlining of science education students, with an emphasis on their motivation and activity
development of teacher professional competences and personality
We have verified that current science education needs innovation. This suitable innovation is IBSE, which has strong motivational effectiveness because it arouses intrinsic motivation among students and supports them in learning about scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Similarly, we can conclude that the education of teachers for IBSE is a suitable method for their professional and personal development.
The results of our research should be implemented in the theory of science teacher education. In the preparation and implementation of training courses for teachers attention should be paid not only to innovative educational methods for students, but also to teacher professional and personal development.
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