Epistemic analysis of high school science teachers’ class talks

An increasing number of studies in science education have proved the positive effects of students’ epistemic beliefs on their academic achievements and self-efficacy. Despite the critical roles of teachers’ classroom talks on shaping students’ epistemic beliefs, little research has explored teachers’ talks from epistemic perspectives. Therefore, this study undertook an epistemic analysis of two high school science teachers’ class talks in China. The findings show the teachers’ talks were focused on ‘constructing knowledge’ practices, with very few of ‘explanation’ operation. In the observed classes, teachers led most ‘description’ and ‘argument’ operations, while the students were involved in a low level of epistemic load. The epistemic features of teachers’ talks were influenced by both exam pressures and teachers’ pedagogical beliefs. This study argues that the latter was undermined by exam pressures in education systems and was neglected in the current teacher education system. This study indicates the context-dependent nature of teachers’ epistemic talks in science classes and advocates the explicit teaching of epistemic cognition in teacher education courses

Epistemology · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Science education · Sociology · Teacher education · Chemistry · Education and Critical Thinking Development · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies · Philosophy · Psychology · Science Education and Pedagogy

• Attitudes towards science

  Jonathan Osborne, Shirley Simon et al.•International Journal of Science…•2003

  Add to list

• Reconceptualizing the Nature of Science for Science Education

  Open Access•Zoubeida R Dagher, Sibel Erduran•Science & Education•2016

  Add to list