CHEMISTRY EDUCATION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN EUROPE 2000, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 31-36	RESEARCH COMMUNICATION (INVITED CONTRIBUTION) General issues in science education

Nilza COSTA,¹ Luis MARQUES¹ and Richard KEMPA ^2
1University of Aveiro, Department of Didactics and Educational Technology
²Keele University, Department of Education

SCIENCE TEACHERS' AWARENESS OF FINDINGS FROM EDUCATION RESEARCH

ABSTRACT: 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. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur.: 2000, 1, 31-36]

KEY WORDS: research utilisation; theory and practice of science teaching; teachers' pedagogical knowledge

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