TY - JOUR

T1 - Models and Modelling

T2 - Science Teachers' Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum

AU - Nielsen, Sanne Schnell

AU - Nielsen, Jan Alexis

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 the authors; licensee Modestum. All Rights Reserved.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - As part of curriculum reforms, models and modelling (MoMo) are playing an increasingly prominent role in science education. Through a questionnaire study, this paper investigates lower secondary school teachers' (n = 246) perceived practices of, rationales behind, and possibilities for working with MoMo in the context of the revised science curriculum. Our findings suggest that: (1) teachers prioritize the subject-specific knowledge embedded in models over and above the modelling process and meta-knowledge; (2) teachers prioritize engaging students in MoMo activities for descriptive rather than predictive purposes; (3) the process of designing, evaluating and revising models based on students' own inquiry only plays a minor role in teachers' practice and; (4) a content-heavy curriculum and multiple-choice exam are counterproductive to teachers' efforts to implement a more competence-oriented approach to MoMo. Our study also sheds light on, and discusses implications for, how to enhance teachers' possibilities of teaching for modelling-competence.

AB - As part of curriculum reforms, models and modelling (MoMo) are playing an increasingly prominent role in science education. Through a questionnaire study, this paper investigates lower secondary school teachers' (n = 246) perceived practices of, rationales behind, and possibilities for working with MoMo in the context of the revised science curriculum. Our findings suggest that: (1) teachers prioritize the subject-specific knowledge embedded in models over and above the modelling process and meta-knowledge; (2) teachers prioritize engaging students in MoMo activities for descriptive rather than predictive purposes; (3) the process of designing, evaluating and revising models based on students' own inquiry only plays a minor role in teachers' practice and; (4) a content-heavy curriculum and multiple-choice exam are counterproductive to teachers' efforts to implement a more competence-oriented approach to MoMo. Our study also sheds light on, and discusses implications for, how to enhance teachers' possibilities of teaching for modelling-competence.

KW - modelling

KW - modelling competence

KW - models

KW - science curriculum reform

KW - science teachers' practices and rationales

KW - scientific practices

U2 - 10.29333/ejmste/10790

DO - 10.29333/ejmste/10790

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85104738370

VL - 17

JO - Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education

JF - Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education

SN - 1305-8215

IS - 4

ER -