Relationship between Science Knowledge Levels and Beliefs toward Science Instruction Held by Preservice Elementary Teachers

Relationship between Science Knowledge Levels and Beliefs toward Science Instruction Held byPreservice Elementary TeachersAuthor(s): George WennerSource: Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Sep., 1993), pp. 461-468Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40188554 .

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Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol 2, No. 3, 1993

Relationship between Science Knowledge Levels and Beliefs toward Science Instruction Held by Preservice Elementary Teachers

George Wenner1'2

Aspects of science background knowledge and attitudes toward teaching science were examined among preservice elementary teachers. The results indicated a low level of science knowledge, a negative relationship between science knowledge and attitude toward teaching science, and a marked lack of confidence toward teaching science among the prospective teachers. Some interesting paradoxes were also found. Recommendations concerning preservice preparation, inclusion of academic science coursework, and collaborative efforts between college departments are offered.

KEY WORDS: Elementary science education; preservice teacher preparation; science knowledge; science attitudes.

INTRODUCTION

Over 20 years ago concern was expressed by Victor (1961) and Blosser and Howe (1969) that ele-

mentary teachers possessed a generally low level of

knowledge regarding the concepts, facts, and skills

concerning science. These researchers believed that this low level of background science knowledge sig- nificantly contributed to elementary teachers' hesi-

tancy, and possible inability, to provide effective science instruction in their classrooms.

Feistritzer and Boyer (1983) reported that

among elementary teachers, science concept under-

standing, "Is at an undesirable, seriously low level"

(p. 24) and that weaknesses were uniformly weak across biology, physics, chemistry, and earth science

subtopical areas. Mechling et al (1982) stated that, "Inadequate teacher preparation has often been blamed for the sorry state of science at the elemen-

tary level" (p. 9). They concluded that, "Science for

preservice elementary teachers needs to be im-

proved" (p. 9). These conclusions were based on data collected by the National Science Teachers As- sociation, which reported that half the teachers as-

signed to teach elementary science do not feel

adequately prepared. If such a low-knowledge situation in elementary

schools is to be ameliorated, increasing the level of

knowledge among college students currently prepar- ing to become elementary classroom teachers would be a worthy goal of teacher preparatory institutions.

Other factors beyond content knowledge that affect elementary science instruction are the attitudes and beliefs held by teachers toward science and science teaching. Feistritzer and Boyer (1983) concluded that elementary teachers generally dis- like, fear, [as well as] fail to understand science. One indicator of the attitude a teacher holds toward a

given subject is the time devoted to instruction in that area. Sherwood and Westerback (1983) cite national data that indicate elementary teachers spend less time teaching science than any other subject. Confining their investigation to one state, Bauer and Toms (1990) concluded that, "Science teaching still

department of Elementary Education and Reading, State Uni- versity College at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York. Correspondence should be directed to George Wenner, Assis- tant Professor, Department of Elementary Education & Read- ing, State University College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222.

461

1059-0 145/93/0900-0461 $07.00/0 O 1993 Plenum Publishing Corporation



462 Wenner

remains a low priority subject in the elementary classroom" (p. 9). Their conclusion was based on the fact that of 477 New York State elementary teachers responding to a request to rank subjects in order of importance, 45% ranked science last out of five curricular areas and 38% ranked science fourth. (The rank order was reading, mathematics, language arts, social studies, and science.) Bauer and Toms' results also demonstrate that teachers believed there was, "a need for content expertise" (p. 9) and that such expertise should be fulfilled by a designated science teacher. This deficit regarding time of instruction may partially explain student achievement being lower than desirable. The low priority status of science among elementary teachers reported by Sher- wood and Westerback and Bauer and Toms is supported by the finding of Stake and Easle (1978) and Schoeneberger and Russell (1986), who reported similar results.

It seems that two factors influencing elementary science instruction are critical: The science knowledge level of teachers and the attitudes (includ- ing time commitment) held by teachers toward teaching science. As Stepans and McCormack (1985) state it is, "Critical ... to assess levels of understanding of science, attitudes toward science and confidence in teaching science of elementary teachers-in-training" (p. 3). The first step toward enhancing teacher competency in science instruction is to assess the need for modifications in preservice preparation.

RELATED RESEARCH

Studies by Wolk (1963) and the National Acad- emy (1982) concluded that there exists a low level of science teaching performance in elementary schools. Manning et al (1982) stated, "Highly significant relationships exist between teachers' preparation and their practice and attitude toward science" (p. 41). This conclusion was based on survey responses from elementary teachers in Florida, which indicated most took relatively few undergraduate science content courses; 18%, 26%, 21%, and 22% had taken one, two, three, and four courses, respectively. Similar in- dications were found concerning undergraduate en- rollment in science methods courses. It was reported that 55% of the teachers had either zero or one science methods courses as undergraduates.

Low level of preparation, limited knowledge, negative beliefs regarding personal science teaching

competency, and lack of confidence led Shymanski and Green (1982) to conclude that elementary teachers are simply reluctant to teach science. An expla- nation for this relationship between low science knowledge and a reluctance to teach science was offered by Victor (1961), who found teachers fear a loss of classroom prestige when providing science instruction. This possible diminution of prestige is consistent with Fuller's (1969) finding that self-worth was the highest ranking concern among teachers.

Further, studies by Cunningham and Blaken- ship (1979) and Hone (1976) support the logical conclusion that teachers gravitate toward performing those tasks that they feel competent in performing. "Many elementary teachers may perceive themselves as having little personal instrumentality or control in [a] classroom situation involving science instruction" (Haury, 1984, p. 6).

Haury's thesis is consistent with Rottler's (1966) "locus of control" (LOC) construct. The es- sence of the LOC model is that the power of sub- jective belief held by an individual exerts greater control on his or her behavior than the objective fact of control.

This model posits that high confidence in one's ability enhances internal LOC while one's inability to control events and to proscribe them to fate or outside influences is indicative of external LOC. Haury (1984) found that an internal LOC resulted in positive attitudes toward teaching science. Using his scale, which purportedly measured LOC, Haury found that 47% of the variance of subjects express- ing a positive attitude toward science instruction could be accounted for by internal LOC. He also concluded that formal academic preparation in college and high school was not a significant contribu- tor to control orientation.

It would appear logical, and is supported by previously cited research, that feelings of competency, based on adequate preparation, would be likely to translate into positive attitudes toward teaching science.

Indeed, Lucas and Pooley (1982) reported that completion of introductory science units (astronomy and physical science) by preservice teachers resulted in "[v]ery significant improvement in students teachers' attitudes toward science teaching" (p. 809). Mar- tens, using ethnographic methodology, concluded that science background along with ability to see in- terdisciplinary teaching opportunities had a "[sjtrong influence on instructional practices" (Baker, 1991, p.



Preservice Elementary Teachers: Science, Knowledge, and Beliefs 463

335). Similarly, data collected by Crawley (1991) on intermediate level teachers indicated that attitude and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of intention to teach activities and inves- tigations learned at an inservice institute.

Relative to the previously cited findings, Feis- tritzer and Boyer's (1983) findings that no relationships existed between the number of college level science courses completed and teachers' subsequent attitude toward teaching science was somewhat surprising. Feistritzer also reported an insignificant relationship between the number of college science courses taken and teachers' confidence relating to teaching science.

Similarly puzzling was Stepans and McCor- mack's (1985) finding of a negative correlation between performance by preservice elementary education students on a science concept test and their self-reported confidence levels to teach science. The area of teacher confidence is interesting and important. "Only 19% [of practicing elementary teachers] rate their confidence [to teach science] as above average, while 32% rate their confidence as below average" (Manning et ai, 1982).

The conflicting and sometimes counter-logical findings regarding the relationship between background preparation and ability and proclivity toward teaching science in elementary schools clearly needs additional study.

PURPOSE

As reported earlier, the relationships between level of science preparation and attitude toward science teaching has been shown to be positive in some studies (Crawley, 1991; Manning et ai, 1982; Mech- ling et al., 1982), while other studies (Stepans and McCormack, 1985; Feistritzer and Boyer, 1983) have shown no relationship or even a negative relationship.

Therefore the present investigation was under- taken to update information concerning the relationships between:

• The attitude held by prospective teachers regarding their ability to affect science learning among elementary students and their level of science knowledge: the attitude-knowledge relationship.

• The number of high school science courses taken by the preservice teachers and their

level of science knowledge: the high school preparation-knowledge relationship.

• The number of college science courses taken by the preservice teachers and their level of science knowledge: the college preparation-knowledge relationship.

• The number of high school science courses taken by the preservice teachers and the attitude held by these prospective teachers regarding their ability to affect science learning among elementary students: the high school preparation-attitude relationship.

• The number of college science courses taken by the preservice teachers and the attitude held by these prospective teachers regarding their ability to affect science learning among elementary student: the college preparation-attitude relationship.

Finally, this study attempted to determine if patterns of student responses existed in the attitude section of the instrument that might provide insight into significant beliefs about science and science education within this population.

SUBJECTS

One hundred sixty-seven undergraduate students of a large northeastern state college, who were enrolled in an upper level course that focused on elementary science methodology, served as subjects in the study. Prerequisites for the course in- clude successful completion of several educational foundations courses, acceptance into the either the Department of Elementary Education or the De- partment of Exceptional Education, and a grade point average of 2.5 (highest possible 4.0). Since over 95% of the students were women, there was no attempt to differentiate by gender. While colleges differ in their composition of students, the sample appears to be fairly representative of elementary and exceptional education majors at urban universities. Approximately one fourth of the subjects can be considered "nontraditional" students, meaning that this subgroup is comprised mainly of women returning to college after serving in the work force or contributing as homemakers. There may be some differences in from a population in colleges enrolling primarily students who have come directly from high schools.



464 Wenner

METHOD

Instruments

The measurement was composed of three parts: (1) survey information regarding high school and college science coursework, (2) general science knowledge as measured by the General Science Test, Level II (Australian Council for Educational Research, 1983), and (3) beliefs about science instruction measured by a slightly modified version of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (Riggs and Enochs, 1990).

Assessment of knowledge level was accom- plished by administering to each of the subjects the 30 questions contained in the General Science Test, Level II, which is divided into four areas - earth science, biology, physics, and chemistry. The reliability of the instrument as found in the current study was 0.74 as calculated by Cronback's alpha. The content validity was established by careful curricular sampling conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (1983).

The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instru- ment (STEBI) (Riggs and Enochs, 1990) was se- lected to assess the beliefs toward science held by the preservice teachers. Riggs and Enochs (p. 626) hold that, "teacher efficacy beliefs . . . refer to the extent to which teachers believe they have the capacity to positively affect student achievement." Following pilot and large-scale studies, Riggs and Enochs refined the STEBI. This instrument uses a 25-item Likert scale format. Internal reliability was calculated by coefficient alpha to be 0.92. Construct validity of an earlier version was assessed by Markel (1978) by correlating scale results with the following criteria: elementary teaching experience (0.14), choice of teaching science (0.57), time teaching science (0.41), use of activity-based instruction (0.35), science teaching self-rating (0.66), subject preference inventory (0.57), and principal rating (0.31), all of which were significant beyond the 0.05 level of significance.

The authors concluded that, "The STEBI is a valid and reliable tool for studying elementary teachers' beliefs towards science teaching and learning . . . the STEBI might easily serve as a needs assessment for future inservice or preservice training" (p. 633).

Test Administration

The cooperation of each professor teaching the elementary school science methods course was solicited by the investigator. All agreed to administer the tests to their students early in the semester. Re- sponses were anonymous, and no indication of students, instructors, or course section was requested. Students were informed that the test was part of a research project, urged to do their best, and to be candid.

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the knowledge section of the instrument. The person product-moment coefficients (r) and the index of de- termination if1) were computed to establish the relationships between five variables: Attitude-knowledge, high school preparation-knowledge, college preparation-knowledge, high school preparation-attitude, and college preparation-attitude.

Student responses to the attitude survey section was inspected to determine significant response trends.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Level of Knowledge

The first finding was the relatively low mean score of 14.89 of a possible 30 correct responses on the General Science Test, Level II attained by the 161 students in this study. The standard deviation was 4.64 and the standard error of measurement 2.36. Thus, the average student responded correctly to slightly less than 50% of the questions. This finding is consistent with the findings of Victor (1961) and Blosser and Howe (1969), indicating a relatively low level of science knowledge among preservice elementary teachers. If the Blosser and Howe data and the data from the current study are representative, little improvement in the level of scientific knowledge among preservice elementary education teachers has accrued over the last quarter-century.

The second finding addresses the level of science preparation attained by the subjects in the present study. These data are shown in Table I. As can be seen in Table I most (59%) of the students took




at least three years of high school science. However, only 22% of the students took more than two se- mesters (the equivalent of one year) of college science work. This percentage is considerably lower than the 43% of students taking more than two se- mesters reported by Manning et al. (1982). The conclusion drawn is that while high school science course work appears adequate, college preparation in science content is inadequate for prospective elementary teachers. This conclusion is supported by the low scores on the science knowledge test.

Another important area investigated in this study was the relationships existing among preparatory science course work, science knowledge, and preservice teachers' attitudes toward teaching elementary school science. Table II shows the results of these correlational data.

Attitude and Knowledge

Intuitively one would expect a positive relationship between a higher level of knowledge and positive attitude toward science teaching. Indeed, Haury (1984) arrived at this conclusion when he found lower knowledge levels led to a decrease in locus of control with a subsequent lowering of elementary teacher's confidence to teach science. Victor (1961) arrived at a conclusion similar to Haury's.

This negative relationship of -0.27 between knowledge level and attitude toward teaching science was surprising. Since the direction of the relationship is counter to expectations, and because it is a significant relationship that accounts for 7% of the variance, the finding is practically significant and the ramifications need to be considered. The opin- ion survey indicates the degree to which future teachers feel empowered to affect their students' sci-

Table I. Number of High School and College Science Courses Taken by Preservice Elementary Teacher0

High school College

N_ % N %

<1 course 7 4 14 9 1 course 19 12 54 34 2 courses 36 22 53 33 3 courses 57 35 26 16

>4 courses 39 24 10 6

"One high school course is equivalent to one year. One college course is equivalent to one semester.

Table II. Relationships between Science Knowledge, Science Attitudes, and Science Preparation in High School and College

Variables r r2

Attitude with knowledge -0.27* 0.07 High school preparation with knowledge -0.24a 0.06 College preparation with knowledge 0.33* 0.10 High school preparation with attitude 0.04 0.002 College preparation with attitude -0.06 0.004

"Significant at the 0.01 level.

ence achievement. In the present investigation, the higher their belief that they "make a difference," the lower their knowledge score was. It is speculated that the students taking the test perceived that they were not doing well on the test used and in effect would score low. They attributed their low knowledge level to the fact that they were not taught well. Further, they believed that if they provided more effective instruction than they received, their charges would demonstrate greater levels of science knowledge than they were able to acquire.

A critical point may be that as teachers realize their scientific knowledge limitations, the more mo- tivated they are to obviate such a recurrence among their future students. Such increased motivation, in turn, manifests itself in a more positive attitude toward teaching science. Obviously such speculation needs to be investigated further.

Preparation and Knowledge

A statistically significant inverse correlation (r = -0.24; 6% of the variance) between knowledge and high school coursework was found. A positive relationship of r = 0.33 (10% of the variance) was found between college coursework and knowledge. These data lead to the conclusion that high school coursework in science makes no practical contribution to the knowledge level of college elementary education juniors three to six years later. Further, college coursework seems to exert only a moderate influence on the level of knowledge displayed by the preservice teachers.

Preparation and Attitude

Manning et al. (1982) and Lucas and Pooley (1982) found a significant relationship between the number of college courses taken in science and pro-



466 Wenner

spective teachers' attitudes toward teaching science. Conversely, Stepans and McCormack (1985) found a negative relationship. The data from the present study recorded nonsignificant correlations between attitude toward teaching science and the number of college courses taken (r = -0.06) and attitude toward teaching science and the number of high school courses taken (0.04). Neither of these factors - high school or college coursework - accounts for even 1% of the variance of preservice teachers' attitudes toward providing science instruction to their future students.

Attitude Survey

Within the attitude survey, several areas were judged to be related. The first of these is confidence. The preservice teachers showed a marked lack of confidence in their ability to function effectively in some important aspects of science teaching (it must, however, be noted that the survey was taken before these students completed their science methods course).

Only 15% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt they knew the steps necessary to teach science concepts effectively. Similarly, only 29% agreed or strongly agreed that they could effectively monitor science experiments. These results are consistent with the findings of Mechling et al (1982) that preservice teachers do not feel prepared to teach science.

Somewhat paradoxically, more than half (56%) of the respondents indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed that they could teach science effectively, while slightly less than half (46%) gave the same response to a question regarding their ability to understand science concepts well enough to teach science.

Other indicators of confidence are perceived ability to answer student questions and willingness to be observed while teaching science. These indicators revealed ambivalent results regarding the level of confidence displayed by the respondents. Ninety-one percent indicated they welcomed questions on science topics, but only 2% felt they were able to answer such questions (agree or strongly agree). These two pieces of data stand in stark con- trast to one another! Despite this inconsistency, 51% of the preservice teachers indicated a willingness (agree or strongly agree) to be observed teaching science, and 91% felt they were able to answer stu-

dent questions (agree or strongly agree). These data lead to the conclusion that the students are confi- dent in their general teaching competence and in their ability to impart facts, but harbor doubts regarding their ability to teach science at a conceptual level or to conduct process-oriented hands-on pro- grams. The locus of control model (Haury, 1984; Rottler, 1966) supports this finding. LOC predicts that teachers will teach in a manner that enhances their class prestige and bolsters their confidence. Answering factual questions and providing direct instruction would tend to confirm the responses indicating self-confidence. Avoiding conceptual level presentations and hands-on activities would preserve self-esteem by avoiding such risky undertakings.

Another area examined was the preservice teachers' belief that student achievement was the teacher's responsibility. The majority of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed with several indicators of teacher responsibility. Sixty-three percent believed student achievement in science was due to teachers' effectiveness, and 65% believed student improvement was due to extra teacher effort. About half (48%) of the prospective teachers also were ready to assume responsibility for poor student performance due to inadequate teaching. Eighty-three percent (22% strongly agree and 61% agree) believed good teaching could overcome inadequate student background. The results of the attitude survey data are summarized in Table III.

Discussion. Within the obvious limitation that this study was confined to one college campus and that the respondents had yet to complete their science methods course, several conclusions appear warranted. The level of science knowledge remains at a fairly low level among preservice elementary teachers. Background preparation in high school and college do not appear to have a strong effect on this knowledge level.

The preservice teachers' confidence in their general teaching ability appears strong. They, however, express concern regarding their background preparation, particularly involving science at a conceptual level, as well as reservations about their capacity to prepare, monitor, and respond in laboratory-type settings. This is a less than desirable situation.

Little relationship was found between knowledge level and attitude toward teaching science among preservice elementary teachers, a fact which, when coupled with their previously stated reserva-




Table III. Summary of Prospective Teachers' Beliefs Regarding Elementary Science Instruction

Percent of responses*

SA A U D SD

Knows steps to teach science effectively 1 14 47 29 9 Can effectively monitor science experiments 2 27 46 20 5 Can teach science effectively 9 47 40 4 0 Understands science concepts 3 43 35 16 2 Able to answer students' questions 2 32 53 111 Is willing to be observed teaching science 7 44 28 16 5 Welcomes students' question about science 50 41 7 11 Believes students' achievement is related to teacher's effectiveness 15 48 24 12 1 Believes students' achievement is due to extra effort by teacher 20 45 22 11 1 Believes good teacher can overcome inadequate student background 22 61 15 2 0

flSA, Strongly agree; A, agree; U, undecided; D, disagree; SD, strongly disagree.

tions about concepts and experiential instruction, may indicate an unrealistic level of confidence among these prospective teachers. It does appear these prospective teachers are willing to assume the responsibility for children's science achievement, but the question remains: are they adequately prepared to manage a dynamic classroom leading to student attainment of science knowledge skills and attitudes? The unfortunate possibility emerges from this study that future science instruction at the elementary level may continue to be a teacher-centered, fact-oriented, direct-instruction model.

To ameliorate this situation, it is recommended that preservice methods courses in science stress that knowledge be organized at the conceptual level and that delivery emphasize hands-on laboratory proce- dures. The possibility that such an approach will yield positive results is supported by Crawley 's (1991) study, in which he concluded that inservice education for practicing teachers increased their intention to teach through an activity-oriented method.

It is further recommended that science content and science methods courses be integrated at the preservice level. This may be effectively done through a collaborative effort involving science departments and departments of elementary education. The final suggestion may seem simplistic, yet is argued that is essential that more credit hours be allocated to these combination science and science methods courses for prospective elementary teachers.

REFERENCES

Australian Council for Educational Research (1983). General Sci- ence Test - Level //, Victoria, Australia.

Baker, D. R. (1991). A summary of research in science education - 1989. Science Education 75(3): 1-35..

Bauer, S. M., and Toms, K. (1990). Science in the elementary schools: Teachers' perceptions of test mandated curriculum reform. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the East- ern Educational Research Association, February 1990.

Blosser, P. E., and Howe, R. W. (1969). An analysis of research on elementary teacher education related to teaching of science. Science and Children 6(5): 50-60.

Crawley, N. N. (1991). A summary of research in science education - 1989. Science Education 75(3): 1-35.

Cunningham, C. F., and Blakenship, J. W. (1979). Preservice elementary science teachers' self concerns. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 16: 419-425.

Feistntzer, E. C, and Boyer, E. L. (1983). The Conditions of Teaching: A State by State Analysis, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Princeton, New Jersey.

Fuller, F. F. (1969). Concerns of teachers: A developmental con- ceptualization. American Education Research Journal 6: 207- 226.

Hone, E. (1970). Science scarecrows. School Science and Math 70: 322-326.

Haury, D. L. (1984). The Contribution of Science Locus of Con- trol Orientation to Expression of the Attitude Toward Sci- ence Teaching. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 244 829.

Lucas, K. B., and Pooley, J. H. (1982). Student teachers' attitudes toward science and science teaching. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 19: 805-809.

Manning, P. C, Esler, W. K., and Baird, J. R. (1982). How much elementary science is really being taught? Science and Chil- dren 19(8): 40-41.

Markel, G. C. (1978). Assessing the validity and reliability of the subject preference inventory with preservice elementary teachers. Journal of Research in Science Training 15: 519-522.

Mechling, D. R., Stedman, C, and Donnellan, J. (1982). Prepar- ing and certifying science teachers: An NSTA report. Science and Children 20(2): 9-14.

National Academy (1982). Science and Math in the Schools: Report of a Convocation, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

Riggs, I. M., and Enochs, L. G. (1990). Toward the development of an elementary teachers' science teaching efficacy belief instrument. Science Education 76: 625-637.

Rotller, J. B. (1966). Some problems and misconceptions related to the construct of internal versus external control of rein- forcement. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 74: 243-250.



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Sherwood, R. D., and Westerback, M. E. (1983). A factor analytic study of the state-trait anxiety inventory utilized with preservice elementary teachers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 20: 225-229.

Schoeneberger, M., and Russell, T. (1986). Elementary science as a little added frill: A report of two case studies, Science Education 70: 519-538.

Shymanski, J. A., and Green, D. W. (1982). Valuing science content: Science is a basic we all can do. In Benson, B. W. (Ed.), Teaching Children Science: Changing Adversity into Advocacy, Environmental Education, Columbus, Ohio.

Stake, R. E., and Easley, J. (1978). Case studies in science education. National Science Foundation Report No. SE 78-74, 2 vol. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

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Relationship between Science Knowledge Levels and Beliefs toward Science Instruction Held by Preservice Elementary Teachers