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Does Teaching Experience Matter? The Beliefs and Practices of Beginning and Experienced Physics Teachers

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Abstract

This study utilized multiple data sources to examine the beliefs about learning and teaching physics and the instructional practices of five beginning teachers and seven experienced teachers from Singapore. Our study was implemented in the unique context of teachers teaching the topic of electricity to students grouped according to academic abilities. The topic of electricity is one of the most difficult physics topics for students to understand and for teachers to teach. It was found that the experienced teachers, compared to the beginning teachers, tended to have beliefs about teaching and learning physics that are closer to constructivist views. The majority of the teachers, particularly the beginning teachers, espoused beliefs about learning physics that were incongruent with their beliefs about teaching physics. Although transmission-oriented and teacher-directed practices dominated the classroom lessons of both groups of teachers, more elements of constructivist instruction were found in the classroom lessons of the experienced teachers. It was also found that the classroom practices of the teachers, especially those in their inductive years of teaching, were more aligned with their beliefs about learning physics than their beliefs about teaching physics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore, 637616, Singapore

    Imelda S. Caleon

  2. Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, The University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Yuen Sze Michelle Tan

  3. Department of Education, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Young Hoan Cho

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  1. Imelda S. Caleon
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  2. Yuen Sze Michelle Tan
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Correspondence to Imelda S. Caleon.

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Table 7 Classroom observation protocol (adapted and modified from Lawrenz et al. 2002)
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Caleon, I.S., Tan, Y.S.M. & Cho, Y.H. Does Teaching Experience Matter? The Beliefs and Practices of Beginning and Experienced Physics Teachers. Res Sci Educ 48, 117–149 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9562-6

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