ERIC Number: ED336263
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1991-Apr
Reference Count: N/A
Intentions of Grade 2-8 Science Teachers To Use Science Investigations: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.
Johnson, Brenda K.; Crawley, Frank E., III
To what degree do teacher participants in one science enhancement institute intend to use the information in the classroom the next fall? What factors assist this extension of learning? What factors detract from teachers applying new knowledge in the classroom? Sixteen second- to eighth-grade science teachers from a physical and life science enhancement summer institute participated in a baseline study to apply the social science "Theory of Planned Behavior" to an educational setting. The study centered on the teachers' intentions to use the knowledge gained from the institute in their classrooms. The goal behavior for the participants was to teach two investigations from the institute in the classroom before October 14, 1989. Using tenets of the Theory of Planned Behavior, an open-ended questionnaire identified participants' salient beliefs relating to personal outcomes, personal support, and personal control. Results of the open-ended questionnaire were content analyzed and rewritten to reflect the participants' belief statements. Closed questionnaires were developed to learn more about teachers' intentions to use their investigations in their classrooms. (Author/KR)
Descriptors: Behavior Theories, Beliefs, Elementary Education, Elementary School Science, Elementary School Teachers, Inservice Teacher Education, Institutes (Training Programs), Investigations, Program Descriptions, Questionnaires, Science Education, Summer Programs, Teacher Attitudes, Teaching Methods, Transfer of Training
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (Lake Geneva, WI, April 7-10, 1991).