Proefschrift Tessa Slim
| PO | VO | MBO |
PhD thesis
Abstract
This thesis aimed to answer the question: How can teachers (learn to) accommodate students’ individual differences in elementary science and technology education? Elementary science and technology (S&T) education is characterized by differences: While one student may thrive on scientific curiosity, another student can be taken aback by the complexity of a natural phenomenon. Meanwhile, one teacher might know how to respond to a student’s curious question, even when they themselves do not know the answer, where another teacher feels insecure about their own knowledge. Understanding how students’ individual differences can be accommodated thus requires insights from different angles: students’ individual differences, teacher differentiated support and teachers’ professional development. The current thesis has presented four studies that attempted to shed light from these angles, focusing primarily on differentiated instruction as framework for accommodating individual differences. The findings show that the proactive approach of differentiated instruction might help in answering the question “What do my students need?” It requires to not only think about this question during an S&T lesson, but before and after as well. This, in turn, requires setting learning objectives and focusing on student learning – a focus that should receive attention during teacher education as it might help teachers to understand the value of accommodating individual differences. Teachers’ own mastery of S&T content and how comfortable they feel teaching it seems related to this aspect as well. Furthermore, assessment is key when focusing on student learning: knowing where students actually stand, rather than guessing. With a lack of proper assessment measures in S&T education, students’ standardized assessment scores on reading comprehension and math ability can help provide some indication of who might need additional support. Additional use of assessment measures that do not heavily rely on reading or language ability, however, might offer a more comprehensive view of where students stand. Apart from these cognitive components, students’ enjoyment during S&T education is important to take into account as well. In sum, accommodating individual differences is complex yet essential to foster the blossoming of all students in S&T education, helping both teachers and students.
Verwijzingen
- Slim, T., Van Schaik, J. E., Dobber, M., Hotze, A., & Raijmakers, M. E. J. (2022). Struggling or Succeeding in Science and Technology Education: Elementary School Students’ Individual Differences During Inquiry- and Design-Based Learning. Frontiers in Education, 13 June 2022.
