New Perspectives in Science Education

It is often said about teachers, that they teach how they were taught rather than how they were taught to teach. Despite much research into the teaching and learning of chemistry, we are facing and dealing with many of the same problems in 2014 that were present in previous decades. “The more things things change, the more things stay the same!” (Alphonse Karr) There has been a failure to translate effectively the results of science education research  (SER) into science teaching and learning (STL). Whatever we do in initial teacher training (ITT) for pre-service science teachers (PSSTs), it seems that once they enter the education system as teachers they revert to and conform to traditional modes of teaching. One example of this is in the area of chemical misconceptions about basic chemical ideas. Although much research has been done in many countries over many years, chemical misconceptions are still embedded in learners’ understanding at all levels from primary to tertiary levels, including PSSTs. Teachers often hold the same misconceptions as their students and take them back into the classroom, where they are unable to recognise or correct them. Thus the vicious cycle of reinforced error continues. How can we break this vicious cycle and allow evidence from SER to change STL and thus produce real change? This talk will discuss the problem and strategies to solve it.