Students’ annotated drawings as a mediating artefact in science teachers’ professional development

Sammendrag

This paper presents a case study of a teacher examining her 4th graders’ conceptual understanding of factors causing day and night, seasons, and the phases of the Moon both pre- and post-teaching, as a part of participating in the continuous professional development (CPD) project QUEST.  The study is framed in reference to the extant research in the two fields of CPD and students’ alternative conceptions in science.  The findings pertain to both the 4th graders’ conceptual understanding and the teacher’s meaning-making when examining the students’ annotated drawings and discussing them with colleagues. The teaching in general seems to be efficient concerning challenging students’ alternative conceptions; however not in relation to the phases of the Moon.  The teacher re-designed her teaching and emphasized the insight gained from looking into a structured analysis.  Nonetheless, she questioned whether teachers would find time for such analyses.  While there are promising indications that this teacher will continue using pre- and post-assessment based on the insights gained, the collaborative analysis seemed rather superficial. The spreading to colleagues is discussed referring to this inquiry as supporting individual but probably not collaborative agency.