In this paper, we report on a small-scale study designed to estimate science teachers’ awareness of findings derived from research in science education and other branches of educational research. The study was conducted among experienced science teachers in Portugal who were following advanced professional training programmes, usually leading to Masters’ degrees in science education. The results indicate that science teachers’ knowledge of education research findings is generally very limited. What teachers regard as sound pedagogical knowledge is usually derived from personal experience and ‘common sense’ and does tend not to be questioned by them as to its compatibility with the results of research. The outcome of the study provides evidence of the existence of a serious gap between research and the practice of science education. In the light of these findings, the authors propose that to narrow this gap should be a major task to be addressed by researchers and practitioners.
Science Teachers’ Awareness of Findings from Education Research
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.