Teacher-Student Interactions and Teacher Competence in Primary Science.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to assess teacher-student interactions in the primary science classroom and to use it to examine associations between these interactions and teachers' perceived competence to teach primary science and explain science words. The measure of teacher-student interactions, the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), was used for the first time in a large number of primary classrooms in Australia. The model on which the QTI is based maps interpersonal behavior on an influence dimension and a proximity dimension. The questionnaire was administered in 121 Australian primary classrooms. Using a sample of 2,371 primary science students, the reliability of the QTI scales ranged from 0.62 to 0.83 and showed acceptable discrimination between the scales. Significant correlations existed between QTI scales and teachers' use of student outcome statements and students' attitudes.

Introduction

An Australian government-funded inquiry, the Discipline Review of Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science (1989), commonly known as the Speedy report, stated that science teaching in primary schools was in a state of crisis. The report noted that primary science was more honored in its breach than by its presence. While a number of primary teachers implement a highly effective science program in their schools, the majority appear to avoid or minimize the amount or type of science teaching that they undertake. A report of the National Board of Employment, Education and Training, Five to fifteen--Reviewing the compulsory years of schooling (1993) noted that science teaching is not receiving the importance that it warrants because primary teachers lack competence in teaching science. Many primary teachers view the preparation and teaching of science as being too difficult and too demanding (Goodrum, Cousins & Kinnear, 1992). However, a recent study, Matching Science and Technology to Future Needs: 2010 (Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council, 1996) has identified the need to increase science literacy within the Australian community. It is during the primary school experience that many students begin to form ideas and attitudes towards science. Hence it is important to examine the effect that student-teacher interactions and teachers' self-perceived competence has on students' attitudes. A recent study, Foundations for Australia's Future--Science and Technology in Primary Schools (Stocker, 1997, p. 1), stated that "much has been achieved in primary science and technology education over the past ten years but much more needs to be done." Australia's performance in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (Lokan, Ford, & Greenwood, 1996) indicated that, since the previous study, primary students' science ability performance had improved. Students do develop ideas and attitudes towards science at the primary school level, and this study focused on this important primary school level.

Student-Teacher Interactions

Recent reviews (e.g., Fraser, 1998; Fraser & Walberg, 1991) show that science education researchers have led the world in the field of classroom environment over the last two decades, and that this field has contributed much to understanding and improving science education. For example, classroom environment assessments provide a means of monitoring, evaluating, and improving science teaching and curriculum. A key to improving student achievement and attitudes is to create learning environments that emphasize those characteristics which have been found to be linked empirically with student outcomes. However, classroom environment research has been somewhat limited at the primary level compared with the secondary level.

One particular development in classroom environment research occurred in The Netherlands where the focus was on the interactions that occurred between teachers and students. Wubbels, Creton, and Holvast (1988) investigated teacher behavior in classrooms from a systems perspective, adapting a theory on communication processes developed by Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson (1967). Within the systems perspective on communication, it is assumed that the behaviors of participants influence each other mutually. The behavior of the teacher is influenced by the behavior of the students and in turn influences student behavior. Circular communication processes develop which not only consist of behavior, but determine behavior as well.

With the systems perspective in mind, Wubbels, Creton, and Hooymayers (1985) developed a model to map interpersonal teacher behavior extrapolated from the work of Leafy (1957). The model maps interpersonal behavior with the aid of an influence dimension (Dominance, D - Submission, S) and a proximity dimension (Cooperation, C - Opposition, O). These dimensions are represented in a coordinate system divided into eight equal sectors. Every instance of interactional teacher behavior can be placed within this system of axes (see Figure 1). For all figures and tables see issue's website http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/sump.htm

This model has been used in The Netherlands in the development of an instrument, the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), to gather students' perceptions of their interactions with their teacher (Wubbels & Levy, 1993). The QTI contains eight scales based on the eight parts of the model. Table 1 provides a description of each scale of the QTI together with an example item (see Table 1).

An Australian secondary school version of the QTI has been used in studies involving upper secondary science classes across Australia (Fisher, Fraser, & Wubbels, 1993; Fisher, Fraser, Wubbels, & Brekelmans, 1993; Fisher, Henderson, & Fraser, 1995; Fisher, Kickards, & Fraser, 1996; Fisher & Waldrip, 1999). These studies strongly supported the validity and potential usefulness of the QTI within the Australian context, and suggested the desirability of conducting further and more comprehensive research involving the QTI. In one study in Singapore (Goh & Fraser, 1996), the QTI was modified and made suitable for use in primary schools. This study, while clearly related to the previous ones, is distinct in that it incorporates classroom environment theory and research to examine teachers' perceived competence to teach primary science and their perceived self-competence about implementing Student Outcome Statements and student attitudes. This study builds on previous studies and reports the first large-scale adaptation of the QTI to the primary level, and this study will add to our understanding of primary school classroom learning environments.

Student Outcome Statements

Even though the Australian states decided against adopting a common national curriculum, each state is implementing Student Outcome Statements that are based largely on the original national curriculum. Student Outcome Statements (Board of Studies, 1999; Education Department of Western Australia, 1994; Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2000) reflect what the state system considers to be essential knowledge, skills, and processes for students to achieve in each subject area. The adoption of Student Outcome Statements in Australia has implications especially for primary teachers, most of whom were trained initially as generalists, to teach towards specified standards across a range of subjects in ways that are open to public scrutiny and verification. Victorian teachers have been working with outcome statements for over five years whereas Queensland teachers have only been introduced to outcome statements. The Education Department of Western Australia (1996) two-year trial of Student Outcome Statements provided evidence that utilization of Student Outcome Statements can improve student learning. An important aim of this study was to examine the extent to which teachers' use of Student Outcome Statements promotes greater levels of student attitudes (and hence learning).

In 1992, the Australian Academy of Science requested curriculum advisers and tertiary educators to evaluate existing science and technology education materials at the primary school level. One outcome of this evaluation was the development of the Primary Investigations program (Australian Academy of Science, 1992) which claims to make science and technology relevant to students' lives; to encourage small-group problem solving; and to facilitate student-centered learning. These claims appear to be aligned very closely with the current national policy of focusing on Student Outcome Statements. It is reported by the Academy of Science that Primary Investigations is being implemented by many Australian primary schools, and that Student Outcome Statements for science support are congruent with the thrust of Primary Investigations. It was not intended within this proposed study to examine the implementation of different primary science programs. Furthermore, across Australia, primary teachers are being encouraged by science teacher associations to be involved more actively in teaching primary science by participating in professional activities that tend to focus on increasing their content knowledge, teaching approaches, and time spent on primary science. As stated earlier, the extent of teachers' use of Student Outcome Statements is said to promote improved learning.

Teachers' Self-Perceived Competence

Carte and Carter (1993) reported that United Kingdom teachers' perceptions of their competencies in primary science affected their ability to teach primary science. Among a sample of 901 teachers in the United Kingdom, teacher competence and confidence in implementing new science curriculum in primary schools (Key Stage 1 National Curriculum) was found to be the key factor in affecting successful implementation (Carte & Carter, 1993). Previous Australian researchers (Bennett, 1984; Paige, 1994; Scott, 1989; Symington, 1974) have noted that teachers lack confidence to teach science and expertise in science, and that this is central to the achievement of a desirable situation. Hence, a number of programs have been developed to improve the confidence of primary science teachers. For example, The Primary and Early Childhood Science Teacher Education Project (Hardy, Bearlin, & Kirkwood, 1990), Learning in Science (Bell, Kirkwood, & Pearson, 1990), and Primary Investigations (Goodmm, Cousins & Kinnear, 1992) were developed from the concept that teachers felt less than competent to teach primary science. Even though competence is not the focus of this study, the study was designed to consider the effect of perceived competence on student-teacher interactions.

Student Attitudes

Because teachers have a profound effect on the learning environment in their classrooms and students' attitudes, and given the national importance placed on the teaching of primary science, it was both timely and opportune to examine the factors affecting teachers' perceived self-competence in teaching primary science. Successful implementation of teaching strategies to teach primary science is likely to result in the establishment and maintenance of positive students' attitudes towards science and, consequently, achievement. Previous research has shown that students' attitudes are related to their classroom environment (Klopfer, 1992; Schibeci, 1984). Accordingly, this study identifies associations between student-teacher interactions and students' attitudes towards science, and teachers' perceived self-competence in teaching primary science and teachers' perceived self-competence about using student outcome statements.

Methodology

The study reported here was concerned with student-teacher interactions in the primary classroom. The underlying premise of this research was that if we can identify current student-teacher interactions in primary classrooms, then it follows that we have an opportunity to optimize the teaching strategies to be utilized. Specifically, the research tasks were to modify the QTI and determine its reliability and validity in primary science classrooms; and to investigate associations of student-teacher interactions with teachers' use of Students Outcome Statements (SOS) and students' attitude to science. Students' attitudes towards science were examined using selected items which were based on the Test of Science--Related Attitudes (Fraser, 1981). In this study, the Cronbach alpha reliability of this attitude scale was 0.90.

The study involved a sample of 2,371 science students in 121 classes in 46 Australian primary schools. Each student in the sample responded to the QTI and the attitude scale. The teachers in the sample responded to a teacher version of the QTI and indicated the extent to which they felt that Student Outcome Statements affected their teaching, planning, student learning, and assessment procedures. This component was based on Carte and Carter's (1993) study. The QTI contained 48 items which have been construct and content validated by teachers, students, and fellow researchers. Each scale contained five items which were responded to on a five-point scale with the extreme alternatives of Disagree--Agree. Students were asked to indicate to what extent they agreed that each item described their science classroom.

Results

Instrument Reliability

The first research question explored involved the reliability and validity of the QTI instrument to the primary classroom. The internal consistency/reliability (Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient) and scale item mean of each of the QTI scales are shown in Table 2. The table shows that for the sample of students, the alpha coefficients ranged from 0.59 to 0.83 suggesting that each QTI scale has acceptable reliability, especially for scales containing a relatively small number of items. The scale item means showed that the scales of Leadership, Helping/Friendly, Understanding, Student Responsibility/ Freedom and Strict behavior were the most strongly perceived scales while the less desirable scales were Uncertain, Dissatisfied and Admonishing behavior scales. A desirable characteristic of the QTI is that it is capable of differentiating between perceptions of students in different classes. This characteristic was explored by analysis using one-way ANOVA, using the individual as the unit of analysis. The results in Table 2 indicated that each scale differentiated significantly (p [is less than] 0.01) between classes. The eta2 statistic represents the amount of variance in environment scores accounted by class membership, and in this study ranged from 0.22 to 0.37 (see Table 2).

Associations--Teacher-student Interpersonal Behavior

Past research has examined the associations with QTI sector scores (Fisher & Rickards, in press; Rawnsley & Fisher, 1997; Fisher, Henderson & Fraser, 1997). Preliminary data have indicated a weak relationship between school environment and QTI scores (Fisher, Fraser, Wubbels, & Brekelmanns, 1993) but there are very few published studies that investigate the relationship of the QTI to classroom learning environment (Fisher & Waldrip, 1999). In this study, the second research question explores the associations between QTI and students' attitudes; teachers' perceptions of the use of student outcome statements were investigated using simple correlations and multiple regression.

Table 3 shows the results of these simple correlations and the more conservative multiple regression analysis between the QTI, and teachers' use of Student Outcome Statements. Overall, as depicted in Table 3, only some scales of the QTI, were found to be associated with teachers' perceptions of use of Student Outcome Statements. The QTI scale with the most associations were Helping or Friendly and Understanding behaviors while Student Responsibility/Freedom, Uncertain, and Admonishing behaviors had no apparent association. That is, Student Responsibility/Freedom and Understanding behaviors were more likely to be associated with greater perceptions of use of Student Outcome Statements. In particular, Leadership behaviors were more likely to be associated with teachers seeing Student Outcome Statements assisting in their Teaching and Planning processes. Understanding behaviors tended to be associated with teachers' perceptions that utilization of Student Outcome Statements promoted student learning and assisted teachers in planning their teaching (see Table 3).

Attitudes

Past environment research has often investigated associations between student outcomes and the nature of the classroom environment (Fraser, 1994). In order to permit examination of the predictive validity (i.e., the ability to predict student outcomes) of the QTI, students completed a simple Likert-type questionnaire which assessed students' attitudes towards science (Fraser, 1981). Simple correlational analyses were used in examining the degree of association between each of the QTI scales and attitude to science. Overall, as depicted in Table 4, most of the scales of the QTI were found to be associated with students' attitudes. Furthermore, it can be seen that all of the significant correlations were positive for Leadership, Helping/Friendly, Understanding, and Student Responsibility/Freedom Behaviors and were negative with Uncertain, Dissatisfied, Admonishing, and Strict behaviors. That is, these later behaviors were associated with lower scores on attitude towards science. Teachers who displayed understanding of their students, had a helpful and friendly manner, demonstrated strong leadership, and allowed a certain measure of student responsibility and freedom were more likely to have students with more favorable attitudes towards science (see Table 4).

These associations were further investigated using multiple regression. The magnitude and statistical significance of the regression coefficient provides a measure of the association between the outcomes and input variable when scores on the other input variables are held constant. Beta weights and significance levels are reported in Table 4 for each QTI scale and there is a high degree of congruence with the results of the simple correlations. Table 4 shows that the number of significant regression weights for the multiple correlation analysis was eight for attitudes. An examination of the signs of the significant beta weights in Table 4, reveals that the regression weight for attitudes was positive for Leadership, Helping/Friendly, and Student Responsibility/ Freedom Behaviors and were negative with Admonishing behaviors (see Table 4).

Student Outcome Statements

Associations between teachers' perceived use of Student Outcome Statements and student attitudes were investigated. Beta weights and significance levels are reported in Table 5 for each use of SOS scale, and there is a high degree of congruence with the results of the simple correlations. Table 5 reveals that teachers' perceived use of SOS components that relate to teaching does affect student attitudes (see Table 5).

Discussion

This article has described the development and validation of a questionnaire, (QTI) which assesses eight scales of teacher and student interactions of upper primary school students. This exploratory study examined relationships between primary students' attitudes and their perceptions of teacher-student interactions. Additionally, it explored the associations between teachers' perceptions of student-teacher interactions, and teachers' perceptions of the use of Student Outcome Statements. The purpose of this exploratory study was to adapt the QTI to the primary classroom, to provide initial validation information on the QTI, and to examine associations between teacher-student interactions and students' attitudes towards science. Additionally, it examined teachers' perceptions and their perceived competencies about use of Student Outcome Statements. The reliability and discriminant validity for each scale was obtained, and the reliability ranged between acceptable values of 0.62 and 0.83 for this adaptation. Associations between students' perceptions of student-teacher interactions and their attitudes were found. Regression analysis suggested that more positive student attitudes are associated with teachers who displayed understanding of their students, had a helpful and friendly manner, demonstrated strong leadership, and allowed a certain measure of student responsibility and freedom.

Teachers need to consider how their own perceived competence and students' different perceptions of their interactions with them may be utilized. In particular, teachers can utilize this information and match it with the teaching strategies they select for a class. In practice, this would mean that the teacher, acting in the role of a school-based manager of learning, could select a balanced set of strategies and instructional approaches appropriate to a particular class. It could mean that teachers need to consider the effect of their teaching styles on student learning and realize that their interactions are a factor in effecting student engagement.

This study has implications for pre-service training in that prospective teachers need to realize that their interactions with students could have serious implications for teachers' ability to become effective. Classroom leadership and helping, friendly, and understanding behaviors could be emphasized in courses on classroom management. The study has practical significance in that it develops a procedure that can be used by teachers to monitor student-teacher interactions in their own classrooms and to guide improvements in their teaching, thus leading to improved learning among students. Finally, teachers' perceived competence can affect their ability to utilize new curricular, and this perceived confidence could affect students' attitudes. Hence, it is important that teachers receive adequate training when new curricular are introduced.

For References see issue's website http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/sump.htm

Bruce G. Waldrip, La Trobe University, Australia Darrell L. Fisher, Curtin University, Perth, Australia 

Bruce is senior lecturer in science education. His interests include learning environments, culture and learning, and teacher-student interpersonal behavior. Darrell, is Associate Professor in science education. His interests include teacher-student interpersonal behavior, classroom and school learning environments, and evaluation of science curricula and innovations.