Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics

Nina Abramzon; Stefanie Saccoman; Barbara Hoeling

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11

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Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics

Nina Abramzon, Stefanie Saccoman, Barbara Hoeling

Published in International Journal of Elementary Education (Volume 6, Issue 3)

Received: 9 June 2017 Accepted: 21 June 2017 Published: 1 August 2017

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Abstract

The dislike that many elementary school teachers have for teaching physics is a well-known problem that adversely affects science education at all higher levels. This study aims at evaluating an approach to change this negative attitude by demonstrating the relevance of science teaching to the students in the SCI 210 course, “Physics for future elementary school teachers”. Several new elements were introduced in this integrated activity-based course: a historical perspective on the state of science education in the U.S.A., a collaboration with a faculty member from the college of education as well as with educators from the NASA/JPL Office of Education, and a physics teaching experience with middle school children. To gage the effectiveness of this approach, attitudinal surveys were implemented at the beginning and again towards the end of the course. The data show that the attitude towards science teaching of the students improved significantly due to their experience in the “reformed” course. In contrast, in the unreformed course which lacked the above enrichment elements, there was little or no change in the students’ attitudes between the pre- and post-survey.

Published in	International Journal of Elementary Education (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11
Page(s)	16-23
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Attitude, Science, Physics, Preservice Teacher Education

References

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APA Style

Nina Abramzon, Stefanie Saccoman, Barbara Hoeling. (2017). Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics. International Journal of Elementary Education, 6(3), 16-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11

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ACS Style

Nina Abramzon; Stefanie Saccoman; Barbara Hoeling. Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics. Int. J. Elem. Educ. 2017, 6(3), 16-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11

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AMA Style

Nina Abramzon, Stefanie Saccoman, Barbara Hoeling. Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics. Int J Elem Educ. 2017;6(3):16-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11,
  author = {Nina Abramzon and Stefanie Saccoman and Barbara Hoeling},
  title = {Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics},
  journal = {International Journal of Elementary Education},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {16-23},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijeedu.20170603.11},
  abstract = {The dislike that many elementary school teachers have for teaching physics is a well-known problem that adversely affects science education at all higher levels. This study aims at evaluating an approach to change this negative attitude by demonstrating the relevance of science teaching to the students in the SCI 210 course, “Physics for future elementary school teachers”. Several new elements were introduced in this integrated activity-based course: a historical perspective on the state of science education in the U.S.A., a collaboration with a faculty member from the college of education as well as with educators from the NASA/JPL Office of Education, and a physics teaching experience with middle school children. To gage the effectiveness of this approach, attitudinal surveys were implemented at the beginning and again towards the end of the course. The data show that the attitude towards science teaching of the students improved significantly due to their experience in the “reformed” course. In contrast, in the unreformed course which lacked the above enrichment elements, there was little or no change in the students’ attitudes between the pre- and post-survey.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics
AU  - Nina Abramzon
AU  - Stefanie Saccoman
AU  - Barbara Hoeling
Y1  - 2017/08/01
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11
T2  - International Journal of Elementary Education
JF  - International Journal of Elementary Education
JO  - International Journal of Elementary Education
SP  - 16
EP  - 23
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7640
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11
AB  - The dislike that many elementary school teachers have for teaching physics is a well-known problem that adversely affects science education at all higher levels. This study aims at evaluating an approach to change this negative attitude by demonstrating the relevance of science teaching to the students in the SCI 210 course, “Physics for future elementary school teachers”. Several new elements were introduced in this integrated activity-based course: a historical perspective on the state of science education in the U.S.A., a collaboration with a faculty member from the college of education as well as with educators from the NASA/JPL Office of Education, and a physics teaching experience with middle school children. To gage the effectiveness of this approach, attitudinal surveys were implemented at the beginning and again towards the end of the course. The data show that the attitude towards science teaching of the students improved significantly due to their experience in the “reformed” course. In contrast, in the unreformed course which lacked the above enrichment elements, there was little or no change in the students’ attitudes between the pre- and post-survey.
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Nina Abramzon

Department of Physics and Astronomy Pomona, California State Polytechnic University, CA, USA
Stefanie Saccoman

Pomona Unified School District, Pomona, CA, USA
Barbara Hoeling

Hochschule Landshut, University of Applied Sciences, Landshut, Germany

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Nina Abramzon, Stefanie Saccoman, Barbara Hoeling. (2017). Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics. International Journal of Elementary Education, 6(3), 16-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11

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ACS Style

Nina Abramzon; Stefanie Saccoman; Barbara Hoeling. Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics. Int. J. Elem. Educ. 2017, 6(3), 16-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11

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AMA Style

Nina Abramzon, Stefanie Saccoman, Barbara Hoeling. Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics. Int J Elem Educ. 2017;6(3):16-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11,
  author = {Nina Abramzon and Stefanie Saccoman and Barbara Hoeling},
  title = {Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics},
  journal = {International Journal of Elementary Education},
  volume = {6},
  number = {3},
  pages = {16-23},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijeedu.20170603.11},
  abstract = {The dislike that many elementary school teachers have for teaching physics is a well-known problem that adversely affects science education at all higher levels. This study aims at evaluating an approach to change this negative attitude by demonstrating the relevance of science teaching to the students in the SCI 210 course, “Physics for future elementary school teachers”. Several new elements were introduced in this integrated activity-based course: a historical perspective on the state of science education in the U.S.A., a collaboration with a faculty member from the college of education as well as with educators from the NASA/JPL Office of Education, and a physics teaching experience with middle school children. To gage the effectiveness of this approach, attitudinal surveys were implemented at the beginning and again towards the end of the course. The data show that the attitude towards science teaching of the students improved significantly due to their experience in the “reformed” course. In contrast, in the unreformed course which lacked the above enrichment elements, there was little or no change in the students’ attitudes between the pre- and post-survey.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Improving the Attitude of Pre-service Elementary School Teachers Towards Teaching Physics
AU  - Nina Abramzon
AU  - Stefanie Saccoman
AU  - Barbara Hoeling
Y1  - 2017/08/01
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11
T2  - International Journal of Elementary Education
JF  - International Journal of Elementary Education
JO  - International Journal of Elementary Education
SP  - 16
EP  - 23
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7640
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeedu.20170603.11
AB  - The dislike that many elementary school teachers have for teaching physics is a well-known problem that adversely affects science education at all higher levels. This study aims at evaluating an approach to change this negative attitude by demonstrating the relevance of science teaching to the students in the SCI 210 course, “Physics for future elementary school teachers”. Several new elements were introduced in this integrated activity-based course: a historical perspective on the state of science education in the U.S.A., a collaboration with a faculty member from the college of education as well as with educators from the NASA/JPL Office of Education, and a physics teaching experience with middle school children. To gage the effectiveness of this approach, attitudinal surveys were implemented at the beginning and again towards the end of the course. The data show that the attitude towards science teaching of the students improved significantly due to their experience in the “reformed” course. In contrast, in the unreformed course which lacked the above enrichment elements, there was little or no change in the students’ attitudes between the pre- and post-survey.
VL  - 6
IS  - 3
ER  -

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