Applying a Project-Based Learning Strategy to Facilitate the Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry among Pre-Service Primary School Teachers

Author: Lynn Farh, Shyan-Jer Lee(Department of Natural Science Education, National Pingtung Teachers College)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 47, No.2
Date：October 2002
Pages：105-126
DOI：10.6300/JNTNU.2002.47(2).03

Abstract：

During this period of continuous primary school curriculum reform, students' basic learning skills and/or capabilities have been two key issues, especially in the science curriculum. Teachers' ability to teach the new inquiry-based science program clearly plays a vital role here. In this study, a science- project-based training course was used to strengthen the pre-service primary teachers' (PSPTs') ability to understand the process of science. During the training period each PSPT group worked on a science project, and the PSPTs' performances were recorded for further analysis. At the end of the program, the PSPTs were invited to fill out open-ended questionnaires to assess the effect of their training. The results show that the PSPTs' ability to handle science-related materials, understand scientific topics, understand the basic experimental process (or method of scientific inquiry), and choose teaching models for primary school science courses was significantly enhanced. These capacities are crucial if the PSPTs are to fulfill their mission in this time of science education reform.

Keywords：project research, science learning, teacher education, curriculum design

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