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How to Help Teachers Develop Inquiry Teaching: Perspectives from Experienced Science Teachers

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Abstract

This study has two purposes: the first is to explore experienced science teachers’ perspectives on inquiry teaching, and the second is to categorize these perspectives into patterns. Fifteen junior high school science teachers experienced at inquiry teaching were selected, and a semi-structured interview was conducted to collect the teachers’ perspectives on inquiry and inquiry teaching. The findings indicate that these experienced science teachers hold multiple perspectives on inquiry and inquiry teaching. The two patterns generated from these teachers’ perspectives of inquiry and inquiry teaching were systematic-based inquiry instruction and learning-based inquiry instructions. Suggestions for science teacher educators are discussed in this paper.

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Acknowledgment

The study was sponsored by the National Research Council, Taiwan, ROC (NSC 97-2511-S-018-008-MY3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua City, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chung-Hsien Tseng & Hsiao-Lin Tuan

  2. Department of Science Application and Dissemination, National Taichung University of Education, TaiChung, Taiwan, Republic of China

    Chi-Chin Chin

Authors
  1. Chung-Hsien Tseng
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  2. Hsiao-Lin Tuan
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  3. Chi-Chin Chin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hsiao-Lin Tuan.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 2 Themes and categories of teachers’ perspectives on inquiry teaching
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Table 3 Frequency of ideas for inquiry and inquiry teaching
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Table 4 Frequency of skills or strategies developed for inquiry teaching
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Table 5 Frequency of general suggestions for beginners
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Tseng, CH., Tuan, HL. & Chin, CC. How to Help Teachers Develop Inquiry Teaching: Perspectives from Experienced Science Teachers. Res Sci Educ 43, 809–825 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-012-9292-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-012-9292-3

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