Role of the Teacher
Bickart
Model Scientific thinking
Use daily experiences to promote the skill of inquiry
Kilmer
Increase awareness and use of sciencing skill listed above
Role models
Facilitates and extends childs thinking and exploration
Create an environment that supports inquiry
Accepts mistakes
Imitate what child is doing, then move beyond
Using questions and comments at appropriate times
Lists types of questions for each sciencing process
Assess childrens sciencing attitudes skills and knowledge
Teacher observations and records of each child
Childrens journals, drawings or reports
Holt
Let science happen
Make science happen
Arrays, centers
Displays containing novelty
Field trips, excursions
Use of questions to stimulate thinking
Protects children from potential dangers
Chille
To be observant, flexible and supportive of children
Provide contexts in which children can engage in experimentation
Facilitate theory building by providing useful materials and experiences
Questions
1. How much education (training) in science do teachers need in order to be effective science teachers? Is training in science an important factor?
2. In a large classroom, if each child during a science activity is asking their own questions and pursuing different investigations, how can the teacher be effective in facilitating and supporting each one of them so that they can make sense of what they are learning.