Worried about teaching natural selection, submicroscopic particle models or circuits? Keith S. Taber explores a range of issues faced in secondary science teaching and discusses strategies for teaching the nature of scientific knowledge, making practical work effective and challenging gifted young scientists.MasterClass in Science Education shows how to become a master science teacher by developing and adopting the habits and mind-set of a teacher-as-scientist. The author introduces the three pillars of this approach: subject knowledge, pedagogic knowledge, and classroom research. The body of subject knowledge in the sciences is both vast and constantly evolving as it is challenged, updated and developed, and this text supports you to understand the dynamic nature of knowledge and the implications this has for your teaching. Taber shows how to use a knowledge-in-action approach, enacting knowledge in the complex and dynamic classroom environment. He supports you to critically examine classroom experiences, drawing on a wide-range of research-informed perspectives that offer insights into facilitating effective student learning. He also guides you to understand how to use recommendations from published research studies as components of a toolkit to improve your teaching and learning.
Keith S. Taber is Professor of Science Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK.
List of FiguresList of TablesPrefacePart I: Introduction1. Enquiring Into Science TeachingPart II: Perspectives on Science Teaching2. Critiquing the Science Curriculum: Perspectives on Why We Should Teach the Sciences3. Reflecting the Nature of Scientific Knowledge in Science Education 4. Teacher Subject Knowledge: A Key Focus for Continuing Professional Development 5. Identifying and Sequencing Learning Quanta6. The Nature of Students’ Scientific Knowledge: What Does Research Suggest? 7. Recognising Productive Lesson Activities 8. Seeking Evidence of Significant LearningPart III: Issues in Teaching Science Subjects9. A 21st-Century Notion of Scientific Knowledge10. The Value of Not Believing In Science11. A Challenge in Teaching Biology: Natural Selection12. A Challenge in Teaching Chemistry: Submicroscopic Particle Models13. A Challenge in Teaching Physics: Electrical Circuits in the Lower Secondary School14. Teaching Science as Enquiry and Supporting ‘Minds-On' Practical Work15. Challenging the Gifted Young Scientist (and Other Young Scientists)References Index
I like this book ... The content gives the reader something to sink your teeth into. I feel quite reassured that if I am suddenly asked to deliver a Physics scheme of work to GCSE students, then using the knowledge-in-action approach, enacting knowledge in the complex and dynamic classroom will ensure that students are working towards positive outcomes.