Teachers' salient beliefs about a problem-solving demonstration classroom in-service program
✍ Scribed by Julie A. Luft
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 47 KB
- Volume
- 36
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-4308
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Each year science teachers have the opportunity to participate in a variety of in-service programs, with the most traditional yearlong in-service agendas consisting of a preprogram, program, and follow-up program. One alternative to the traditional program is the inclusion of demonstration classrooms within the follow-up segment. This study specifically explored the beliefs of in-service teachers about one such program; the Problem-Solving Demonstration Classroom in-service program. To capture participants' beliefs, open-ended interviews, focus groups, and observations were conducted throughout a yearlong Problem-Solving Demonstration Classroom in-service program. The collected data were inductively analyzed to identify the salient beliefs of participants. The results of this study suggest that the Problem-Solving Demonstration Classroom in-service program provided participating teachers an opportunity to address their instructional needs pertaining to problem solving, develop a view of the student in the context of problem solving, redefine their understanding of problem solving, reflect upon their own instructional practice, and engage in a collegial and mentoring dialogue with peers. This preliminary investigation suggests that the demonstration classroom program may be one variation to the traditional yearlong in-service program that is worthy of further exploration.