Abstracts - Earli

H830 August 2007 11:00 - 12:20Room: PP8Poster SessionPoster sessionChair:Marcel V. J. Veenman, Leiden University, NetherlandsGeneral instructional beliefs and situational beliefs of mathematics teachersMiriam Leuchter, Teacher Training University of Central Switzerland, SwitzerlandChristine Pauli, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandKurt Reusser, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandFrank Lipowsky, University of Kassel, GermanyMathematics instruction is required to support the acquisition of routines not only in a teachercentredand small-stepped manner that emphasises the associationist aspect of learning, but also tostimulate the fostering of a deeper understanding of learning contents in the sense of aconstructivist understanding of teaching and learning. The video-based study presented herecompares 20 German and 18 Swiss mathematics teachers regarding their belief-system and relatedinstructional actions, and examines links between general pedagogical content beliefs andsituational beliefs (based on concrete instructional action). The general pedagogical beliefs focuson the constructivist and the associationist understanding of teaching and learning of the teachers,the situational beliefs on the concrete teaching actions in an instructional unit on the introductionto Pythagorean theorem, also measured by video. In the current study, the German teachersexamined rate themselves on the one hand as more constructivist than the Swiss teachers, but bycontrast, it was observed that Swiss teachers stimulate the linking of mathematical principlessignificantly more frequently in their instruction. Based on this finding, the current investigationlooks for links between general and situational beliefs. The results indicate that for both theGerman and Swiss teachers, their general beliefs concerning a constructivist understanding ofteaching and learning is hardly reflected in the situational beliefs. Possible explanations for thislow correspondence include burdensome general conditions and a low self-efficacy of the teachers.Therefore, in a further step, the links between general instructional beliefs and situational beliefswere examined controlling for these two factors. In line with expectation, several systematic linksbetween constructivist beliefs and situational beliefs were apparent, albeit primarily only in theSwiss teachers.Teaching practices in science classroomsKirsti Klette, University of Oslo, NorwayMarianne Odegaard, University of Oslo, NorwayThe aim of this paper is to illuminate how teachers offer meaningful learning in science. Teachingpractices in 6 ninth grade Norwegian science classrooms is videotaped and discussed. As a firststep of analyses we have coded video observations of teachers’ activities and instructionalrepertoires. This revealed that in science education whole class instruction is the single mostfrequent activity. Practical scientific work occurred less than expected. Further analyses focusedon how whole class instruction is used in science with special emphasis on the use of scientificlanguage. This disclosed that there is not much emphasis on scientific language and scientificmodes of speaking; like seeking explanations with the help of models and theory. The findings are– 465 –