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This paper reports on part of a cross-national study of science classroom environments in Taiwan and Australia. It focuses on teachers' beliefs about science and science teaching and the effects these beliefs have on the learning environment in the science classroom. Better understanding of this relationship between teacher beliefs and learning environment can lead to the identification of the barriers to the introduction of constructivist teaching approaches in school science. Descriptions of the Classroom Learning Environment Survey and the Beliefs about Science and School Science Questionnaire are provided. Statistical analyses of questionnaire data for each country are also provided and contain internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, mean scores, and standard deviations. Recommendations for further research include using existing questionnaires as interview/observation frameworks and for future research to be guided by a set of interpretive research questions.

Constructivism has become a major focus of recent pedagogical reform in mathematics education. However, epistemological reform that is based on the constructivist referent of learning as conceptual change has a very limited viability in traditional mathematics classrooms because of its cultural insensitivity. By contrast, the social epistemology of critical constructivism addresses the socio-cultural contexts of knowledge construction and serves as a powerful referent for cultural reform. From this perspective, the social reality of traditional mathematics classrooms is governed by powerful cultural myths that restrain the discursive practices of teachers and students. The power of the repressive myths of cold reason and hard control is evident in the ways in which they act in concert to create a highly coherent and seemingly natural social reality. Epistemological reform of traditional mathematics classroom learning environments is, therefore, synonomous with cultural reconstruction. Critical constructivism, which has a central concern with discourse ethics and the moral agency of the teacher, draws on the social philosophy of Jurgen Habermas and argues for an alternative culture of communicative action to be established in mathematics classrooms. Teachers are expected to work collaboratively as agents of cultural change in forums beyond their classrooms. Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth.

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As an educational researcher, I value highly the explanatory power of interpretive research, which i have employed for the past 13 years to generate unique insights into the sociocultural dynamics of science and mathematics classrooms...

In this paper, we report an analysis of metaphors used by three science teachers in their classroom discourse and consider the implications of this research for the image of science that students are likely to construct. Teacher beliefs about the nature of science are implicit and entrenched and may be contrary to both contemporary philosophies of science and constructivist theory. We argue that the presence of metaphors such ateaching as a journey, knowledge as object andteacher as pathfinder in teachers' classroom discourse signify the implicit existence of a powerful objectivist epistemology that governs teachers' pedagogies. If students are to construct contemporary views of the nature of science and if constuctivist pedagogy is to develop in the science classroom then science teachers need to reflect on their use of these role-determining objectivist metaphors.

A 20-week classroom-based study was conducted to investigate the extent to which a computerized learning environment could facilitate students' development of higher-level thinking skills associated with scientific inquiry. In two classes students' interactions with a scientific data base—Birds of Antarctica—were closely monitored, and the mediating roles of the teachers' epistemologies were examined. Interpretive data were generated and analyzed in relation to a constructivist perspective on learning. In the class where the teacher implemented a constructivist-oriented pedagogy, students took advantage of enhanced opportunities to generate creative questions and conduct complex scientific investigations. These higher-level thinking skills were much less evident in the class in which a more transmissionist-oriented pedagogy prevailed. The results of the study suggest that it is not the computer itself that facilitates inquiry learning; the teacher's epistemology is a key mediating influence on students' use of the computer as a tool of scientific inquiry.

As a university teacher educator working in the field of science and mathematics education I am concerned with reforming the epistemology that underpins postgraduate university teaching. In this paper, I present an account of my current attempts to create a constructivist learning environment in one of my postgraduate classes, and describe a newly-developed questionnaire (UCLES) that I am using to evaluate the efficacy of my teaching reforms.

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We explore Ernst von Glasersfeld’s radical constructivism, its criticisms, and our own thoughts on what it promises for the reform of science and mathematics teaching. Our investigation reveals that many criticisms of radical constructivism are unwarranted; nevertheless, in its current cognitivist form radical constructivism may be insufficient to empower teachers to overcome objectivist cultural traditions. Teachers need to be empowered with rich understandings of philosophies of science and mathematics that endorse relativist epistemologies; for without such they are unlikely to be prepared to reconstruct their pedagogical practices. More importantly, however, is a need for a powerful social epistemology to serve as a referent for regenerating the culture of science education. We recommend blending radical constructivism with Habermas’ 'theory of communicative action' to provide science teachers with a moral imperative for adopting a constructivist epistemology.

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The perceptions of school climates at high- and low-performing schools were studied in 11 elementary schools from a large, multicultural urban school district selected for their high or low achievement. The sample consisted of 151 teachers from the 5 high-performing schools and 146 from the low-performing schools. School performance was determined by administrator recommendation and scores on standardized tests. Teacher attitudes were determined through the School Climate Survey for Teachers developed for this study. Teacher qualifications and experience were essentially the same in both groups. In all the schools, teachers generally thought positively of their school climates. Most had favorable perceptions of teacher-student relations, school standards, instructional materials, and feedback to students. Teachers from high-performing schools reported a greater academic emphasis or orientation and a greater use of innovative instructional strategies. They also felt that they had better facilities and resources than teachers in low-performing schools. Teachers in low-performing schools reported more discipline problems and more involvement in nonteaching activities. One figure and three tables present survey findings.

Constructivist classroom environments are characterized by student engagement in science processes and manipulating experimental materials with experiential teaching of specific science concepts. Constructivist classrooms are where teachers build models of students' science knowledge, students participate actively in determining the viability of their own constructions, learning is interactive, cooperative and collaborative. The philosophical, psychological and pedagogical models for science teaching within the paradigm of constructivism are congruent with encouraging both "hands-on" and "minds-on" approaches in science laboratories with respect to a number of issues which include: preparation, pacing, need for attention, negotiation of social norms and negotiation of meanings. Arising out of the constructivist epistemology, therefore, is the need to use negotiated learning pedagogy in a constructivist-oriented science classroom. Given the socially active nature of science laboratory classes characterized by the need to exchange information, the use of negotiated learning pedagogy is even more compelling. If negotiation is to become an integral part of science teaching, teachers need to know what it means and how to identify and classify types of negotiation which go on in their classes. At the moment, the literature indicates a void in this area which needs to be filled as science educators aspire to appropriate use of constructivist pedagogy for meaningful teaching and learning of science. This study therefore investigated the sorts of teacher/student negotiation which can occur in a school science laboratory and attempted to find out if the types of negotiation identified could be grouped meaningfully. Using a case study approach which utilized a participant observation technique, seven groupings of negotiation were identified from several learning events within science practical classes of a selected teacher. The implications of the results together with the dif

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In this paper, we consider the role of theory, ethics and politics in interpretive research and focus our discussion on the evolving interpretive framework of Cath's doctoral study of cultural myths in the science classroom. In constructing this framework, Cath is seeking to gain insight into how myths develop, how myths have been identified and interpreted by other researchers, and how others have described the role of myths in society. Her interpretation of other people's research and theorising constitutes a synthesis of the literature (traditionally called a 'literature review') and is assisting her to construct an interpretive framework for a subsequent analysis of classroom discursive practices in school science. During this selfreflective process, Cath is considering how her study is to be legitimated. In this respect, she is examining the relationship between ethics, theory and politics in interpretive research.

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Reports a study designed to compare science and nonscience Indonesian high school students' (n=400) energy-related knowledge and their attitudes toward energy conservation. Results indicated that (1) students in general have unfavorable attitudes toward energy conservation, and (2) nonscience students are less knowledgeable about energy-related issues. (18 references) (MDH)