The Relationship Between Conceptual

Learning and Teacher Self-Reflection

Joseph L. Zawicki, ESSEKathleen A. Falconer, EER

Daniel L. MacIsaac, Physics

AbstractConstructivism and teacher self-reflection are essential elements of contemporary science teacher preparation programs. The impact of self-reflection upon teacher content knowledge has not been closely examined. This study examined the reflective writings of 29 participants in a summer physics academy course in electricity and magnetism. Course participants completed daily reflective journals, learning commentaries and reflections on physics education research. We find that teacher self-reflection and conceptual understanding are linked and may be mutually supporting.

Subject / ProblemHow does the level of conceptual understanding and the attitudes of teachers relate to their ability to reflect upon their teaching efficacy?

Essential elements of contemporary science teacher preparation programs:– Student understanding is enhanced through the use

of constructivist practices that rely on inquiry and student discourse, facilitated by an instructor.

– Self-reflection calls upon teachers to consider the efficacy of instruction and instructional practices in light of student performances, case studies, novel pedagogical approaches, or other, similar considerations.

Theoretical Background & Literature

Teacher Reflection• Historical and political influences

Fendler (2003) article articulated several points– teacher reflection can be traced at least as far back as

John Dewey (Dewey, 1933)– the consistent use of reflection as a tool applied to

teacher practice and professional growth has only occurred within the last twenty-five years (Schön, 1983, 1987)

– Federal Government now involved with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) well-qualified teacher definition

• National Board Certification (NBC) with portfolio component explicitly focused on teacher reflection

• The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) also include self-reflective components

• Project LINCS– Examined impact of enhanced teacher content and

pedagogical knowledge in an environment supporting collaboration and reflection (Swafford, Jones, Thorton, Stump, & Miller, 1999)

– Concluded a well-organized professional development program, based on teacher change literature can substantially impact classroom practice.

• McGregor & Gunter (2006) – suggests that teacher reflection on the transformation

learning activities into content objectives– student learning processes and outcomes directly impacts

instructional practices.

• Growing theoretical framework – Mezirow identified the transformative dimensions of

learning in adults (Mezirow, 1991, 1992). – Proposed coding categories ranging from habitual action

(habitual, introspective, thoughtful) to reflection (content, process, content and process and premise) (Kember, Jones, Loke, McKay, Sinclair, Tse, Webb, Wong, Wong, & Yueng, 1999).

– Webb and McCotter (2004), based on grounded theory• Categories: Focus, Inquiry, Change• Proposed categories are measured across four levels:

Routine, Technical, Dialogic & Transformative The ratings of the reflective journals and assignments in this study

were loosely followed the grounded theory model of Webb & McCotter.

Content Knowledge Instruments• Conceptual Surveys for Intro Electricity and Magnetism

– Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) (Maloney, O’Kuma, Hieggeklke, & Van Heuvelen, 2001)

– Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concept Test (DIRECT)(Englehardt and Beichner, 2002)

– Path of Electric Current Assessment (PECA) (Jabot & Henry, 2007)

• These assessments address preliminary conceptions in– static electricity (charge distribution, Coulomb’s force law,

fields)– magnetism (forces and fields)– current electricity (current, voltage, resistance, complete

circuits and short circuits, work, electric potential, fields, and forces).

– The wide range of topics incorporated into the CSEM and DIRECT supported their use in this study.

Dispositions Instruments• A variety of instruments exist that measure teacher attitudes

and efficacy.– Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) (Riggs &

Enochs, 1990)– Attitudes and Beliefs About the Nature of and the Teaching of

Mathematics and Science (ABANTMS) (McGinnis, McDuffie, Huntley, King, 1997)

– Views About Science Survey (VASS) (Halloun & Hestenes, 1998)– Maryland Physics Expectations Survey (MPEX) (Redish,

Steinberg & Saul, 1998) • The reliability and validity of the STEBI and ABANTMS supported

their use in this study, even though the STEBI was initially developed for elementary school teachers.

Design/Procedure• Population

– intact group– twenty-nine graduate students– participated in physics course on electricity and magnetism – Certification

• one third of the participants were trained as physics teachers• one fifth were alternative certification candidates• remainder were certified in other subjects

– Over one third of the participants were female

• Course – component of a masters program designed for both currently

practicing teachers and for degree candidates in an alternative certification program (MacIsaac, Zawicki, Henry, Beery, & Falconer, 2004)

– daily (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM) for three weeks– 6 graduate credit hours

• Study– Pre/Post Instructional Design

• Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) (Maloney, O’Kuma, Hieggeklke, & Van Heuvelen, 2001)

• Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concept Test (DIRECT)(Englehardt and Beichner, 2002)

• Path of Electric Current Assessment (PECA)(Jabot & Henry, 2007)

• Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) (Riggs & Enochs, 1990)

• Attitudes and Beliefs About the Nature of and the Teaching of Mathematics and Science (ABANTMS) (McGinnis, McDuffie, Huntley, King, 1997)

Data were analyzed using paired pre-test/post-test gain scores and effect sizes.

– Writing• total of 14 (daily) reflective journal entries consisting of

– instructional highlights of the day– a new physics content or pedagogical idea struggled with – a final open question

• six journal reading reflections– formal reflective essays on how two of the author’s ideas from a

reading might be interpreted in light of the student’s teaching and learning experiences in physics

• three learning commentaries– formal essays describing, at length, the evolution of the student’s

thoughts on the learning of one specific scientific concept– support their thesis with specific data taken from classroom

observations and activities within the course (or from their own classrooms)

• course final exam

Journal entries and learning commentaries were rated (blindly) on a five point scale indicating the relative level of reflection

– no reflection– restatement of concepts addressed in classroom discussions– modest level of new reflection and insight– moderate level of reflection and insight– well-developed level of reflection and insight

• The level of reflection in the written documents was measured throughout the course

• Gain scores and effect sizes were calculated for each student.

• These results were then compared to student performance on the conceptual surveys (CSEM, DIRECT), the affective surveys (STEBI, ABANTMS), and the final exam.

• The three different writing assignments were examined for themes using grounded theory.

• These themes were compared to the themes from Webb and McCotter.

Preliminary Findings and Analysis

• Teacher participants learned significant amounts of physics. Teachers improved their conceptual understanding of electricity and magnetism as measured by both the DIRECT and the CSEM. (Table 1.)

• The participants’ gains were statistically significant (p < 0.01) for both the DIRECT and the CSEM results.

• The gain results are reported as both the Hake gain (Hake, 1998) and effect size. The Hake gains scores were statistically significant (p < 0.01). Effect sizes ranged from 0.46 to 0.76. These are very large effect sizes especially when the length of the course (15d) was considered. (Table 2).

• Attitude and belief gains were encouraging. Teacher participants’ efficacy as measured by STEBI increased a statistically significant (p < 0.05) amount, while the outcome expectancy remained constant. On ABANTMS, attitudes towards math and science increased a statistically significant (p < 0.05) amount, while other beliefs and attitudes scores remained constant. Especially, attitude and beliefs did not regress during this intense, brief course, as is widely reported in physics instruction (Redish, Saul & Steinberg, 1998).

• The scores on the reflective journals ranged from one, with no reflection, to high of five, with well-developed level of reflection and insight. While some of the teacher participants’ scores, on the reflective journals, increased during the course, there many whose scores remained constant. There was a minor correlation between the reflection scores and performance in the course and on conceptual measures. However, more analysis using MANOVA will be required.

• The preliminary analysis of the themes in the reflective journal indicated that the Webb and McCotter categories are valid for the participants’ journals. We are still looking for disconfirmatory data from the participants’ writings.

Table OneMeans, Standard Deviations on DIRECT and CSEM for Summer 2007 Teacher Participants

DIRECT CSEMM SD M SD

Pre 19.1 5.5 19.4 7.3

Post 22.7 3.9 23.8 5.8

Max. Score 29 32

Table TwoHake Gain and Effect Size for DIRECT and CSEM for Summer 2007 Teacher Participants

DIRECT CSEM

Hake Gain 0.31 0.35

Effect Size 0.76 0.47

Preliminary ConclusionsTeacher participants:

– learned significant conceptual content knowledge– initial knowledge state was very low in many cases– unlike previous studies, the attitude and beliefs of the teacher

participants remained constant or increased during the course.However, our preliminary analysis did not show a significant correlation

between conceptual gains, attitude or beliefs. A student commented in one of the final reflective writing assignment, that…I hate to admit, as I might get stoned for this, that the journaling and commentary, while onerous at first, helped me to develop my meta-cognition. Reviewing what we had learned sometimes helped me to make sense of the material, and sometimes pointed out what needed further work. Even the bits that I didn’t grasp seemed more attainable after I analyzed where the gaps in my in my understanding of a concept. For example, I know that I need to specifically concentrate on building a solid model of fields in a wire. I did not have time to do that this week, but I will be able to do this on my own...