Models and Modelling: Science Teachers’ Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum

Sanne Schnell Nielsen; Jan Alexis Nielsen

doi:10.29333/ejmste/10790

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Sanne Schnell Nielsen ¹ ^* , Jan Alexis Nielsen ²

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¹ University College Copenhagen, DENMARK² Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen, DENMARK^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

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.

Keywords

modelling
modelling competence
models
science curriculum reform
science teachers’ practices and rationales
scientific practices

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2021, Volume 17, Issue 4, Article No: em1954

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10790

Publication date: 19 Mar 2021

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Article Downloads: 1234

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Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest is declared by author(s).

Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings and conclusions are available upon request from the corresponding author(s).

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How to cite this article

APA

Nielsen, S. S., & Nielsen, J. A. (2021). Models and Modelling: Science Teachers’ Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(4), em1954. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10790

Vancouver

Nielsen SS, Nielsen JA. Models and Modelling: Science Teachers’ Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(4):em1954. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10790

AMA

Nielsen SS, Nielsen JA. Models and Modelling: Science Teachers’ Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2021;17(4), em1954. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10790

Chicago

Nielsen, Sanne Schnell, and Jan Alexis Nielsen. "Models and Modelling: Science Teachers’ Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2021 17 no. 4 (2021): em1954. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10790

Harvard

Nielsen, S. S., and Nielsen, J. A. (2021). Models and Modelling: Science Teachers’ Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(4), em1954. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10790

MLA

Nielsen, Sanne Schnell et al. "Models and Modelling: Science Teachers’ Perceived Practice and Rationales in Lower Secondary School in the Context of a Revised Competence-Oriented Curriculum". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 17, no. 4, 2021, em1954. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/10790