Budding Science and Literacy A longitudinal study of using inquiry-based science and literacy in comprehensive schooling

-

This project is a longitudinal intervention and development study that seeks to combine teachers? unique competence from the classroom with the competence of science education scholars (researchers). Teachers, with the guidance of researchers, will develo p and adapt curriculum material in science education that concurrently will be tried out in the science classroom and improved. The material will be based on using inquiry-based science activities indoors and outdoors (forskerspire-aktiviteter) and basic skills (grunnleggende ferdigheter) in particular reading and writing in the service of learning science. Our purpose is to make teaching and learning science more inspiring and meaningful both for handling real life situations and in the perspective of li fe-long learning. In the proposed project we intend to investigate how an early intervention will influence the students? abilities and learning outcomes in science and in literacy during the course of their education. The project also involves to follow up and understand teachers? professional development of their own teaching practice during and after an intervention. We will study a selection of teachers on the professional development course, follow them into their classrooms and see how they interac t with their students over time. This group of teachers and students will be our cohort of informants for the longitudinal study. Our research design is video observations, interviews and logs as process data, and science and reading tests as product dat a.