Premium
Enacting classroom inquiry: Theorizing teachers' conceptions of science teaching
Author(s) -
McDonald Scott,
Songer Nancy Butler
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.209
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1098-237X
pISSN - 0036-8326
DOI - 10.1002/sce.20293
Subject(s) - conflation , science education , nature of science , context (archaeology) , curriculum , pedagogy , mathematics education , sociology , teacher education , philosophy of science , curriculum studies , psychology , epistemology , geography , archaeology , philosophy
Translating written curricular materials into rich, complex, learning environments is an undertheorized area in science education. This study examines two critical cases of teachers enacting a technology‐rich curriculum focused on the development of complex reasoning around biodiversity for fifth graders. Two elements emerged that significantly impact teacher enactment—their conceptions of authenticity (authentic learning/authentic science) and their view of science (descriptive/inferential). The results suggest that disentangling the common conflation of these two elements supports a broader definition of inquiry science teaching that is more sensitive to context and individual teacher enactment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 92: 973–993, 2008