Abstracts - Earli

discussed in light of trends in the international science education research community where thereis an emphasis on inquiry based learning and learning to talk scienceDevelopment of Web-based Class Observation System for University Teacher TrainingYasuhiro Oyama, Center for the Promotion of Excellence in H. E., JapanIn this poster presentation, we report the principal concepts and the interim results of Web-basedClass Observation System (W-COS) which is developed to organize online learning community ofuniversity teachers. This system enables authorized members to upload videos of their classes sothat they can discuss on them with other members utilizing BBS (Bulletin Board System). Thissystem also provides teachers an experience of CSCL (Computer Supported Learning) whichcannot be dismissed in the wide spread of ICT (Information Communication Technology) inHigher Education. W-COS is designed to make the best use of proper characters of online toconstruct a quite new circumstance for Faculty Development. One of the major findings is that thissystem is very effective for helping teachers to be more reflective on their perspectives, as they cancompare and discuss on their cognition and interpretation of shared video clips of class.Conceptual change beliefs – That is the question. Preservice teachers’ beliefs about learning,reading, and writingTeresa Lewin, Kaye College of Education, IsraelJoan Mallart Navarra, Universität de Catalunya, SpainBeliefs about teaching and learning are well-established by the time preservice teachers begin theirformal teacher training (Holt-Reynolds, 1992; Pajares, 1992). A major focus of the present studyon teachers’ beliefs was literacy. Review of the literature suggested two things: there is noconsensus, and in fact there is significant disagreement, on theoretical orientations or approachesto reading; and there appear to be two loosely organized but opposing views on reading (and byextension, to literacy in general) (Harlin, 1999; Kagan, 1992). Aims of the study 1. Investigatingthe initial and final orientations of future teachers toward the instruction and learning of readingand writing; 2. Comparing explicit and declarative beliefs with implicit beliefs of the futureteachers in problem-resolution situations; 3. Analyzing possible changes of beliefs and the factorsthat influenced said changes. In this research, conducted from a qualitative perspective, fourpreservice teachers were asked to provide accounts of their perceptions and judgments, over athree-year period, about their practice teaching experiences in schools, both with learning and withacquiring literacy (reading and writing). We collected data, narratives, interviews, criticalincidents, reflective narratives, and educational simulations. We used concept mapping techniquesto follow preservice students’ development as learners, as well as their reflective thought. The datacollection and data reduction techniques were based on methods most specifically discussedbyStrauss and Corbin (1991). Findings suggest that during three years of study in an educationalcollege, practice teaching in schools and curricular intervention, the future teachers broke withbeginning teachers’ ordinary ways of thinking about children, text, and teaching. This studyaddresses ways in which educators and mentors might help preservice teachers make connectionsbetween their past experiences as learners and their present practice as beginning teachers,between their present experiences and their future complex roles as teachers.– 466 –