Jordanian Prospective and Experienced Chemistry Teachers' Beliefs about Teaching and Learning and Their Potential Role for Educational Reform

Y

17

Student Teachers; Chemistry; Educational Change; Foreign Countries; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods; Student Teacher Attitudes; Beliefs; Science Teachers; Freehand Drawing; Questionnaires; Likert Scales; Teaching Conditions; Educational Environment; Check Lists; Conventional Instruction; Classroom Environment

2077-2327

This paper presents an exploratory study of Jordanian chemistry student teachers' and experienced teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning. Different instruments were used, focusing on different aspects of teaching and learning. The first instrument is based on teachers' and students' drawings of teaching situations. It includes open questions evaluated by a grid describing teachers' Beliefs about Classroom Organization, Beliefs about Teaching Objectives and Epistemological Beliefs. A second evaluation using the same data source is made by applying the "Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Teaching"-Checklist (DASTT-C), which shows the teacher- or student-centeredness of teachers' beliefs concerning science teaching. A third approach is composed of a Likert-questionnaire examining teachers' beliefs about what constitutes good education in general. The results indicate that both above-mentioned groups hold quite traditional beliefs, which are teacher- and purely content-centered when it comes to chemistry teaching practices. Student teachers profess ideas which are even more pronouncedly traditional. Nevertheless, the general educational beliefs are more open and promising. Implications for chemistry teacher education and educational reform in Jordan are also addressed. (Contains 4 figures and 5 tables.)

As Provided

58

2011

EJ941687