The Indicators of Becoming an Effective Science Teacher: Inquiract and SCEPSATI,
Allan Blake & Jim McNally, University of Strathclyde
Establishing practices combining pupil enthusiasm and creative classrooms requires evidence of inquiry-based learning experiences in science classrooms, to assist new science teachers in becoming effective. Earlier research (McNally et al 1994; 1997) found that beginning teaching was an affective transition in which relationships with colleagues and pupils were crucial. Inquiract explores interactions between beginning science teachers and significant others. The instrument is a graphic flowchart onto which new teachers map their inquiry-based science teaching interactions during induction (Gray et al. 2005). Because existing instruments for social network analysis use items that fail to capture the specificity of science lessons, the foundation for inquiract's quantitative measurement of performance derives from important dimensions of our existing qualitative theoretical base (e.g. McNally 2006; McNally & Blake 2008). We also measure science classroom environment, as recent studies emphasise the contribution of pupil voice to professional development (Ruddock 2005; McIntyre et al. 2005; Bragg 2007; McNally et al. 2008).