Introduction:

As a science educator, I am interested in educational reforms that will help teachers and students re-envision science as a way of learning that involves an ongoing process of fine tuning perception, refining insight and continuously applying known and novel ideas to new situations. More than this, however, and fundamental to my own growth as a researcher of education practice is the perception, attitudes and beliefs students and teachers bring with them into introductory science classes, and whether the methodologies and style I have adopted are of help in furthering learning.

To this end, a pilot study is proposed that will focus on pre-service teacher's beliefs regarding the nature of science and science teaching in the context of a required teacher-education course in Integrated Science Inter103 at the University of Idaho, College of Education.

The purpose of this study is to inform my own research into more effective ways of helping teachers grasp the essence of science inquiry as an active and evolving personal experience. In trying to evolve my own teaching practice and facilitation of learning in others, I hope to pique their interest in finding pattern, form, purpose, and interaction among phenomena in nature; and the study of nature, and earth-systems-science as an appropriate focus for science education and science content teaching. To these ends, this pilot study will employ Qualitative Research methods to illuminate, changing attitudes toward science from the insight provided by participants through informal and formal interviews, reflective journal entries, through participant observation and the gathering of student-produces artifacts related to the class. These data will serve to guide my next steps in researching constructivist approaches to integrating earth systems themes in science education and the effectiveness of focussing observations on local ecosystems and human impacts.

Education in the sciences has traditionally been divided into categorical units with little cross-over of topics between issues in physical, biological and social sciences courses. From my own experience as a life-long learner and long time student, I often found it difficult to keep the big picture in mind and carry over the concepts from one science discipline to another. Science as a way of knowing was rarely if ever mentioned by my instructors, and it was only after reflecting on the whole process of my own learning that I came to understand the value of having a structure for building my present understanding and integrating the major themes in the sciences. I am an admitted wonderjunkie and have spent the majority of my adult life in formal educational and science research settings. After prusuing degrees in earth science, geology, marine geophysics and oceanography (AS, BS, MS, and 4 years toward a Ph.D in earth systems science/oceanography), I finally hit upon what was for me the main purpose of all this learning: to personally construct a view of the world that made sense and allowed me to help others gain a like appreciation of the importance of knowing about nature and natural processes. Helping others gain a better understanding of how the world¼s physical and biological systems work together, and our place in the history of earth¼s evolution, I hope to contribute to a wider appreciation, a sense of belonging and stewardship. This ambitious goal of affecting change in peoples attitudes and beliefs about nature and our place in the world, led me from formal earth systems science research to environmental education curriculum development, and finally to my current studies in science education and teacher education at the College of Education, University of Idaho.

My interest in science as a way of knowing has evolved into a general inquiry strategy into ways of knowledge construction, concept building and cognitive development. My grasp of the pertinent literature is admittedly far from comprehensive and will an ongoing process. Nonetheless, I feel comfortable in my knowledge of the content matter (science) to launch into the study of how others come to know the world from a scientific perspective. The sciences represent a clearly formalized structure for developing an understanding of nature and natural systems, and with the current push in science education reform toward a constructivist paradigm many colleges and universities across the nation are changing the format and instructional style of pre-service science teacher core courses.

A move to integrate the sciences, especially in introductory courses, is gaining recognition as an approapriate methodology for supporting inquiry and promoting carryover of concepts as students move from class to class among the disciplines. In the College of Education at the University of Idaho, preservice teachers are given the opportunity to participate in an integrated science course that serves to introduce science concepts from across the spectrum of disciplines. The Integrated Science course (Inter103) offered at the College of Education, UI, is in its 5th year of evolution, and for the past 3 years has moved toward a clearly constructivist approach.

The proposed pilot study will investigate pre-service teachers¼ (Integrated Science students) concepts of science and science education with data generated using qualitative research methods.

This pilot will provide a jumping-off point for my dissertation proposal in science education/teacher education. Therefore, it is entirely relevant to my own practice, and may well affect some policy changes in the Integrated Science course taught in the College of Education. Beyond this, I know for certain only that this study will affect my own personal theories of knowledge and learning, and how to best facilitate the intellectual growth of others new to the sciences.

Review of Related Literature:

Science Education in America and abroad is undergoing a dramatic evolution toward a "constructivist" pedagogy (NCR, NAAEE, US Department of Education, NASA, NOAA and other Education and Agency institutions, developing literature review).

Recently applauded by education academicians and practitioners, "constructivist"-style exploratory approaches to science teaching are intent on immersing the learner, with the teacher as guide, in the concepts and methods of scientific inquiry and, learning through doing and explaining (National Science Education Standards, 1996, National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment, National Academy of Sciences).

Many science education programs are exploring thematic approaches to learning about the earth's multiple interacting systems (geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere). Some focus on simulation of species interactions in an ecosysyem (Project Wild, Project Wet, Project GREEN, etc), others on extending local understanding to global awareness and (The GLOBE Program, www.globe.gov).

The reform movement in science education in the 1990¼s is preceded by two decades of research that supports the need for all students to have an opportunity for in-depth engagement in science inquiry (NSTA, AAAS, NCTM, NRC). Numerous experimental teaching efforts are taking place in school districts across the country which attempt to bring about the changes described in these national reports. Little attention has been given, however, to preparing teachers at the pre-service level in college sciencce classrooms which demonstrate these fundamental changes.

The literature on science education in Idaho is not very compelling with regard to the emergence of reform ideas. In fact science education has all but dissapeared from the State Board of Education¼s agenda. Such is the state of politics of education. Idaho is clearly a follower in developing and implementing education reform in the areas of science. The „gaps¾ in the literature covering innovative science education measures in Idaho are indeed chasms. The present study seeks only to contribute in a very small measure to the work of others in the College of Education¼s science education reform activities.

No definitive attempt will be made this early in the study to claim an encompassing knowledge of all the pertinent literature on science education reform. Indeed, further literature review will be ongoing and will certainly help fill in gaps in my own understanding as well as perhaps influence the shape and direction of stury. Additional areas in the literature to be explored include: more on cognitive development theories put forth by Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey, Lakatos, and others, as well as ongoing readings in constructivist teaching/learning practice.

The underlying assumptions of this study are manifold and involve science reform ideas now being widely embraced among American Educators. Namely, that a move toward implementing a construcivist teaching/learning style and away from soley didactic delivery of content will have an effect on student sense of ownership of knowledge gained in collaborative hands-on science courses.

Significance of Study:

Many scientists and science educators are recognizing that the next generation simply cannot afford to focus on the details of keeping abreast of science research and every discovery without running at the risk of not learning fundamental concepts and demonstrating knowledge of overall themes of inquiry and their differing investigation techniques. The content of known science and speculation is reaching overwhelming dimensions, and while curiosity in all realms in encouraged, basic principles can be learned in the context of inquiry as method and the experience used to model investigation strategies across disciplies. There will always be more information than we can know, and it is flooding in so fast these days as we approach global connectivity through telecommunications and computer technology.

The challenge of science education reform is now in the courts of College teacher education programs. The certifying and credential granting Education Colleges and Universities are all undergoing significant changes in philosophy and in the way they are exploring professional development projects for preservice and inservice teachers (Odell, `96 pers. comm.). The results are often mixed, with some student-teachers clearly embracing the new style, and some very resistant to changing from a proven way of learning. And for the "teacher-educator", allowing for innovative and original student-conceived problem solving strategies, along with collaboration and discovery, while maintaining a role as facilitator/reference and refraining from too much "content dumping" is indeed a challenge, even for a seasoned professional.

Recognizing that we all "construct" our own knowledge based on experience and influenced by preconceived ideas (Piaget, 1926, 1954; Gunstone, 1996; Wandersee et al, 1994; NAS, 1996, Vygotsky, 1962, among others), this research will attempt to find patterns in the process that (some) science teachers (those queried herein) have gone through to get to where they are now in their "knowledge" and judgement of the importance of environmental science concepts and issues. This study will attempt to illuminate the relative degree to which educators in training ascribe the importance of teaching and understanding such phenomena as global warming, ozone depletion, resource overconsuption, population, pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Comparisons will be made to each participant's record of "view points" in the questionairres, interviews and field notes as documented.

Findings will be presented in light of the current philosophical frameworks embodied in the National Science Education Standards (NAS, 1996). Further, interpretations of the data will be made following "constructivist, naturalistic, and interpretivistic" pedagogy as presented in the recent literature on environmental education and teacher training (NAS, Cantrell, 1996, others).

Why I'm interested in this study:
As a scientists and science education advocate my personal mission is to help others gain the kind of knowledge that has helped me in understanding abroad range of science and environmental issues. Yet, I want to ensure that they do not have to spend as long as I have in coming to grips with such a holistic understanding. In other words, I want to contribute to a shortening of the learning cycle so that the next generation can grasp the importance of earth systems knowledge from a well founded and framed scientific context, and thus make them more aware of issues that will play an ever increasing role in the decisions of their generation, i.e. resource consuption, environmental quality and biodiversity. Further, I want to ensure as much as I can that the next generation of teachers can help children in their knowledge bnuilding, that they have a sound, well founded conception of science as inquiry, and that their teaching enables students to think critically and reflect on the trustworthiness of the science behind events in their daily lives, even in the politics of education and sustainable economies.

To these ends, I must begin where I am, and I am in a unique position to begin my inquiry with this class in Integrated Science. Through interviews, observations, artifacts and researcher journal/logs I hope to gain some knowledge of the effects preservice teachers attitudes and beliefs about the nature of science inquiry and its relative merit as a way of knowing, have on their future intentions in teaching science to young people.

This study will inform my own research into teacher learning and professional development, preparation for teaching science, and how to gauge a students level of reflective thinking. The study will also influence and inform my own teaching practice for future courses in Integrated Science, and hopefully inform science education in general at UI.

Qualitative Research is a synonymously term for a number of research approaches associated with the interpretive and critical science perspectives (Cantrell, 1996). Naturalistic, ethnographic, ethnomethodological, phenomenological, postpositivist, subjective, artistic, hermenuetics, case study, humanistic, ecological, action research, participatory, feminist, and emancipatory; all are considered in the qualitative paradigm (Cantrell, 1996, Jacob, 1987, 1988; Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Patton, 1990; Peshkin, 1988; Smith, 1987). All of these particular approaches reflect a continuum of inquiry foci tightly bound to the qualitative paradigm and each may have characteristic interpretive methodologies.

Of all the applications of qualitative research, it is perhaps the sciences that are the last bastion of resistence to inquiry by these methods. With such a strong and fiercely defended positivist history, the sciences, and by association, science education resist being reviewed and evaluated with qualitative methods. Arguments over "quality" or the perceived lack of quality in a study hinge upon the inherent philosophical differences..." (Cantrell, 1996). Even so, change is coming as can be evidenced by the growing crowds of attendees at "constructivist" seminars, and qualitative research workshops at conferences, and informal meetings on campuses across the country. Qualitative research and the "naturalistic" approach not only sounds obviously appropriate for the study of integrated earth systems and environmental science education, it can reveal aspects that may not be defendable within the positivist aradigm, yet may be just as plausible, more so perhaps with the added richness of narrative discourse provided in qualitative methods/analysis.

Purpose, Goals and Questions:

Why the study is proposed:
Yesterday's approach to teaching and learning, with its focus on content and theory, assessing by practice and drill, is being diluted as many move to explore alternative constructivist conceptual frameworks and inquiry through discovery ("www.eng.ua.edu/~nova" and "plasma.phys.uidaho.edu/nova"). College courses are being framed to allow each student participant to explore key concepts in the sciences, with their teachers as facilitators, references and guides. Students rediscover and build upon their own personalize knowledge of the way things work, and are allowed time enough in learning cycles to make appropriate and lasting associations (we hope). Evaluation takes on the guise of assessment through demonstration and explanation as the students first learn for themelves and then share in the explaining of their findings to others. They realize that "methods" of learning in the sciences are similar; that inquiry is focused, attentive and often uses tools to extend the senses; that in explaining to another how you know something, or describing a procedure performed is demonstration of applied knowledge. Practice in the application of newly learned concepts is further made relevant when investigative themes take inquiry into the out of doors and tie physical/natural science topics to the local landscape and environment. Learning science in the contexts of the natural world, of biology in context of ecosystems, of physical sciences in contexts of the very earth beneath our feet, the surrounding landscape/cityscape, is fundamental to personalizing the process of science inquiry. Further, assessing student knowledge through demonstration and explanation becomes a rich opportunity for promoting student self efficacy and the free exchange of ideas and view points.

This work will address teachers' understanding of the goals of the National Science Education Standards; in particular the stated aim of helping learners "develop a richer knowledge base (in the life and physical sciences), reason using science concepts, and make connections between evidence and explanations." (NCR, 1996).

How study will be conducted:
This pilot study will build upong my earlier (semester long) observations of student learning in Integrated Science. It will draw on my personal researcher notes and log, in class observations, informal interviews, and artifacts. Participant observation data will play a small role only because during the course of the semester I felt ill at ease with the method and found it difficult to consistently record my observations while I was so embedded in the class as an instructor.

Specifics of inquiry (questions):
Teachers' attitudes toward science:

Teacher beliefs and attitudes toward science have been shown to affect the content and methods teachers choose in their own teaching practices (Brickhouse, 1994, Czerniak and Chiarelott, 1994, Tobin, 1993, Alvermann, et.al., 1995, Pankratius and Young (1995) and Shepard (1995) among others). I have posed a variety of questions intended to elicit students' beliefs about the nature of science and science education to a number of pre-service teachers that I work with in Integrated Science #103 and Science Methods #444/477 at U of I College of Education. Their responses have been anything but consistent (field notes, 12/6/96). When I've explained a possible unifying thematic approach that included adopting study sites in the local community (parks, campus, nature reserves, etc.) for exploring issues in the physical and natural sciences, many teachers became more intrigued as they immediately saw the opportunity of renewed relevance in their desire to build a working archive of lesson plans.

Learning to teach science in the context of the natural world and focussing inquiry on integrated earth systems' themes may affect teacher's beliefs about sicence inquiry as a means of collecting information and building. In modeling real science as focussed inquiry and critical thinking as a process involving the immagination I hope to elicit participants' opinions and highlight any changes in their understanding and beliefs.

Focus research questions:
The focus of this study will be on pre-service teacher attitudes and beliefs about science. Questions of „what is science¾, „who does science¾, and „how has the class (Inter103) has influenced student views of what science is and how it relates to other ways of knowing¾, all will be asked of participants in order to illuminate student perceptions of learning in a „contructivists¾ framework to inquiry. I will directly query participants for their impressions of both the positive and negative aspects of the constructivist approach as well as elicit esponses to questions of power issues in teacher/student relationship in the classroom.

The following questions constitute a launching point for discussions I intend to have with select participant/informants in order to understand their point of view and guide my inquiry into their attitudes about the nature of science.

Ä How... do students (pre-service teachers) feel about science inquiry as a means of knowing or building knowledge?

Ä How... a participant's past experience in science courses, affects their beliefs about the nature of science and science education?

Ä To what extent.. personal experience in the outdoors and wilderness, including recreation and education opportunities has helped them develop their beliefs and opinions may influence their intended teaching practice?

Ä To what extent... an experience in integrating science inquiry such as is promoted in Integrated Science 103 has effected their stance on science inquiry and their intended teaching practice?

These questions are qualitative in nature and are aimed at identifying perceptions among teachers in training at the University of Idaho, College of Education. This will be a qualitative research pilot project, employing qualitative research methods including: open-ended questionnaires, interviews, artifacts and participant-observation (Bogdan and Biklen, 1992, and Maxwell, 1996). The results of this research will be used to inform a subsequent study on the effectiveness of integrating Earth Systems Science and the GLOBE Program as well as constructivist approaches to science education in the Inegrated Science 103 and Science Teaching Methods courses for preservice teachers offered at the College of Education U of I.
Research Design and Methods:

Assumptions of qualitative approach:
Qualitative Research involves rich descriptive reporting of an inquiry¼s initial goals, methods used in „generating¾ data, and acknowledges the reasearcher as instrument both as an influence in the conduct of the study, in the design of methods, of the data accumulated/generated, and of analysis and of interpretation. As in any qualitative research project, this study will be, in fact is already influenced by the interpersonal relations of participants and researcher. I have been an active and engaged participant in all the learning activities ongoing in the Integrated Science course, and all participants now know me fairly well. Participants, and especially the select informants that will help me generate the interview data, are all aware of my motives in this research and know that while I was embedded in the course as Teaching Assistant and co-Iinstructor I was primarily interested in guiding influencing in the course of the participants learning, and less involved in direct content delivery. This was/is after all a class that we are trying to run in a constructivists manner.

Overview of methods to be used and their purpose:
This study will rely on qualitative data collection and generation. The methods of data collection and generation employed in qualitative research are clearly different from those in quantitative research in that they rely of narratives to carry themes, impressions, ideas, concerns and attitudes across from original context to that of the reflective researcher and later the reader of the study. Data useful to my inquiry in this study will include: my own researcher notes, logs and journal entries, strudent journals and other artifacts, informal interviews, limited participant-observations, and finally, formal interviews. Only a very limited amount of participant-observation data has been generated in the course of the class.

Researcher notes comprise my not quite daily doodlings, quick jottings of impressions, and personal memos on where to go next with the lessons. Researcher log notes are those wheere I tried to account for the quality of the day¼s activities, student progress and my own writeups of the laboratory activities. Researcher comprise a series of „reflective¾ notes including many pages of personal notes and thoughts gathered and generated during the course of inquiry in the Integrated Science class, as well as, and importantly, the thoughts, ideas, and concerns I brought over into the Qualitative Research class that was ongoing throughout the same semester and in which I was struggling to find a focus for this very pilot project.

Artifacts will include, student journals and activity writeups along with posters, and student responses to open ended questions on exams/quizes; all of which have a number instances in which we purposefully elicited student viewpoints on the nature of science inquiry.

Informal interview data consist of my jotting of notes and memos from casual conversations between myself and individuals or small groups that took place during class, after class, in hallways between classes, and during my formal office hours. Infromal interviews also consist of discussions with students while they worked on problems.

Formal interviews have yet to be conducted and these will provide the bulk of the data generated from this pilot study. Formal interviews will be two weeks post class, with one or two interviews with students from last semester¼s class. These interviews will consist of conversations with each of 4 selected informants. My selection of informants is largely based on their willingness and interest to discuss the class and reflect on their own process of building science knowledge. Interestingly, and fortunately I believe, the informants selected comprise a fairly representative cross-section of the class. Some were clearly outstanding in their grasp of the class format as well as the content as it was explored. Others had significant problems with the style of teaching (resistence to a constructivist approach), yet were still fairly content savvy. All informants are women (only one male in the entire class).

Participants and context of study:
Preservice teachers participating in the College of Education¼s Integrated Science (Inter103) will constitute my primary informants, and their writings and answers to my questions will provide the raw material for qualitative data generation. The class participants are a mix of traditional and non-traditional (returning) students, largely from within the state of Idaho, and predominantly female, caucasian and middle class. While I am sensitive (I think) to gender and ethnic issues and aware of some of thee influences these factors have on what students know and believe about the nature of science,the pursuit of these issues is well beyond the scope of this study. Although I realize that gender, race and class issues may well influence student perception of science and science education, these important issues will not be addresses in any detail in any of my data generation, analysis and interpretation.

The Inter103 course was/is conducted on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 1:30 to 4:30PM in room #419 in the College of Education, U of I.

The context of this pilot study will be the Integrated Science and Science Methods for the Spring and Semester 1997 at the College of Education, U of I. Access to the learning laboratory is assured through my current position as Teaching Assistant for this class. The lead professor (Dr. Robert Kearney, Physics) has agreed to allow (even promotes) the use of participant-observation as a means of gathering information on the effectiveness of the constructivist teaching/learning methods employed (B. Kearney, `96 pers. comm). The approach taken will be that of the "quasi-friend" participant-observer (Bogden and Biklen, 1992) in that I will be both available for help in explaining some of the concepts covered and therefore assisting students in their immediate learning, and in being neither the "professor" nor an outsider, I hope to develop a repore of mutual respect and trust, even in the more difficult learning moments.

Research strategies "Researcher as instrument":
"The human inquirer serves not only as the instrument of data collection but also as the tool for data analysis. The two remain intertwined because data analysis begins during data collection" (Cantrell, 1996). It becomes a problem only when the researcher is drawn off target by an ever evolving process of analysis and continually reinvests in new ideas for redesigning a project's goals (Bogdan and Biklen, 1994, Maxwell, 1996, K.G. class notes).

I will rely upon and use my personal beliefs and experience in earth systems science research to inform, highlight and focus discussions on student's knowledge and awarenss of earth systems, ecology, sense of space and place, human impacts on the environment. This is in keeping with my peronal goal of helping afect change in the way people, especially teacher approach learning and building understanding of science in context.

In the case of this pilot study, I am a known researcher, who often plays „the knowledgeable fool¾ in getting participants to open up to me and help me understand how they are building their own understanding of science as a way of knowing. Participants in the class know from the outset that this class is non-traditional in its constructivist approach to learning. Over the course of our class activities, I have often mentioned my own personal views on knowledge and the importance of understanding earth systems, ecology and the changing role of humanity, from a full participant in co-evolution of earth¼s biosphere, to controlling influence and diviner of what will remain and what will become extinct, polluted, over-exploited, compromised.

Data collection methods:
In pursuing my research questions I will rely upon a simple open ended questions I intend to ask in the formal interviews. These are being developed from our course content (topics covered) and from my notes on the teaching/learning style (constructivism) we tried to demonstrate throughout the semester. Further initial data will come from the collection of student laboratory notes, activities writeups and learning journals. I will limit the data generated through participant observation to that generated through reviewing my own researcher log and admittedly scattered notes/impressions of how the students were „handling¾ the activities and the teaching/learning methods we employed. I have already generated a series of notes from my personal researcher of the few informal interviews conducted so far, and from my own reflective writings.

The formal interview is an important source of qualitative data. The technique has a long history of success and I will follow the guidelines of Bogden and Biklen, Maxwell, Ely, and others in developing an outline of main questions, secondary, probing questions, and strategies for elliciting more detailed informant responses. Interviewing is a "purposeful conversation... that is directed by one in order to get information from another" (Bogdan and Biklen, 1992). In qualitative research, interviews are often used in conjuction with other methods of data acquisition such as participant-observation and document analysis.

In the course of interviewing I hope to get at my informant¼s interpretations of happenings in the class, how they felt about the learning that went on through out the course, and now in retrospect. Audio and written records of the formal interviews will be gathered. The audio tape will all be carefully annotated and referenced in the discussion of patterns and or trends in the informant¼s thinking over ther course of the Integrated Science class. Particular emphasis will be made on the participant¼s reflections on the learning process.

Management and data recording:
There are several approaches to analysis in the practice of qualitative research. Many if not most development a system for "coding" or identifying categories or themes based upon patterns and ideas that emerge from the data in field notes, interviews, reflections and written artifacts. As a researcher reads through the data s/he looks for patterns in the words, phrases, behaviors, thoughts, and events recorded and carefully notes/annotates those which repeat and stand out. After labeling observed patterns, and sorting, comparing and contrasting, a system for classification emerges (Patton, 1990). Sorting the codes themselves and finding patterns among them is itself a challenge. Bogdan and Biklen (1982) suggest listing families of codes such as: setting/context codes, definitions of the situation codes, perspectives held by subjects, process codes, event codes, strategy codes, relationship and social structure codes, methods codes, and preassigned codes.

Glaser and Strauss (1967) developed a coding system as the foundation for the constant comparative method and grounded theory. Lincoln and Guba (1985) adapted their own coding system as a primary data processing procedure. Their coding involved four phases: comparing incident categories (i.e., assign incidents to categories, compare new incidents to previous incidents in same and different groups coded in the same category, write memos on ideas concerning categories and the fit of incidents, write rules for assigning categories), integrating categories and their properties (shifting from comparing incidents to incidents to comparing incidents to rules), delimiting the theory (simplifying the codes, number of categories are reduced and categories become saturated), and writing the theory.

Miles and Huberman (1984, 1988) further systematize and simplify data coding and analysis in proposing that "analysis consists of three concurrent flows of activity: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification".

Here, "data reduction", involves the selection, focusing, simplification, abstraction and transformation of raw data (field notes). Some anticipatory data reduction can be accomplished through design decisions which focus the study at the outset. Data reduction also takes place during actual data collection through summary sheet coding, memoing, site analysis and interim site summaries.

Systematizing data displays through charts, graphs, and explanatory figures (including context charts, growth gradients, scatterplots, event-state flow charts, casual networks) provides a means of dealing with the cumbersome nature of the narrative text and field notes. They are "designed to assemble organized information in an immediately accessible, compact form, so that the analyst can see what is happening and either draw justified conclusions or move on to the next-step analysis the display suggests may be useful" (Miles and Huberman, 1984).

Data analysis [ongoing and summative analysis]:

Ongoing analysis:
Analysis of participant-observation data will be ongoing and it is expected the data will reveal patterns and information that may necessitate altering the course of my inquiry and even the focus of the research. While considerable effort has been given to developing questions that will lead to the resolution of my primary inquiry, there is no telling that what I find may not shift the focus to an even more interesting domain of science education research.

My focus has already shifted through the employ of ongoing analysis from an initial inquiry into the appropriate use outdoor investigative activities as tools for extending understanding and providing real world associations for learning about the earth, its systems, and our place in local, regional, and global contexts. Beginning with local investigations and "tours" of our own communities, and extending into surrounding landscapes/ecosystems and bioregions, I had hoped to query participants on the use of these types of activities as launching points into science teaching.

In my original focus on the pursue of environmental science education questions, I came to appreciate the insight of Dianne Cantrell and her description of new opportunities for more relevant and holistic approaches to environmental education, and how constructivism, naturalistic inquiry, and interpretivism frameworks can help improve learning, as well as the value of qualitative research.

"Regardless of research perspectives, experts in the field of environmental education generally recognize that there is room for improvement. The interpretive paradigm and qualitative methods provide much promise--if given a chance.... [and] inform practice as well as clarify criteria which are appropriate for assessing the merit of environmental education research based upon the interpretive model." (Cantrell, 1996).

While environmental science education is my passion, this goal of pursuing environment and earth systems science related issues in pre-servive teacher education will have to wait until I am more firmly grounded in teacher¼s perceptions of science in general.

What I found through ongoing analysis of my own researhcer notes and log was that before I could attempt to generate any data on this topic, let alone have anything significant to report through analysis and interpretation, I needed first to get a handle on where the participants were in their own understanding of the nature of science and structured inquiry. Thus my revised focus on the „science as a way of knowing¾, who does science, and what science is questions.

Summative Analysis:
A series of reviews and critiques of participant responses, changes in attitudes, persistence of attitudes, changing levels of awareness, and values statements will comprise much of the data for the summative analysis. Ongoing analysis of researher questions, porpose and goals has already led to a change in the focus of the study many times. A focussing of questions from an initally broad and holistic set of ideas to more immediate questions about student attitudes and beliefs about science as a way of knowing has occurred and I expect my ideas and interpretations will continue to evolve. I will employ the „constant comparative method¾ (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) of analysis to keep track of changes in my focus and in the types of data generated, analysis, and interpretations brought to bear.

Conclusion drawing/verification deals with "emerging meanings that have to be tested for plausibility". Drawing conclusions involves counting instances, noting patterns or themes, seeing plausibility, making metaphors, splitting variables, subsuming particulars into the general, factoring, noting relationships between variables, finding intervening variables, building a logical chain of evidence, and making conceptual/theoretical coherence (Miles and Huberman, 1984). Checking for representativeness, for researcher effects, triangulation, weighing the evidence, making contrasts/comparisons, checking the meaning of outliers, using extreme cases, ruling out spurious relations, replicating a finding, checking out rival explanations, looking for negative evidence, and getting feedback from informants; all these are verification techniques systematized in Miles and Huberman (1984).

Timeline/plan for conducting inquiry:

The timeline for this pilot research hinges on my current teaching-assistantship in Integrated Science (Inter 103). Spring semesters 1997 has beeen an ideal opportunity to frmae this pilot research. The initial questionnaires/surveys have already been delivered to the preservice teachers in the class. As a teaching assistant and co-instructor I have had easy access to my informants and I have made arrangements with a select group of them to participate in the formal interviews.

Researcher competence:

As an avid seeker of knowledge, I have spent a majority of my adult life involved in academic and science institutions. From my earliest degrees in Earth Science/Geology (AS, BS, MS+ in Earth Science/Geology/) to working for the US Geological Survey¼s Marine Geology Division (Field geologist and Oceanographer) to my first graduate work in Marine Geophysics and Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island¼s Graduate School of Oceanography. Since finishing my graduatework in scinece, I have worked in science and in particular, environmental science education reform. Just prior to entering the Ph.D. program in Science Education at the University of Idaho, I spent 5 years in education consulting, curriculum design and instruction.

Having participated in two semesters of coursework in Qualitative Research, I am gaining confident in my abilities to address my research interests within a framework of qualitative methodologies, methods, analyses, and interpretations. I am not at all seasoned in these methods, but as all learning is a process, I can and will begin by simply beginning to document my experience and thoughts on these topics.

My fundamental "point of view" on the importance of science education, and in particular, environmental science experiential learning can be traced back to my childhood where as an enthusiastic explorer of my local surroundings, I spend many an afternoon investigating the local environment of low rolling mountains, valleys, creeks and meadows, swamps and lagoons, and the ocean beaches along the southern California coast. I have always been fascinated with the ways of the natural world, with process and interactions. I also recognized, but kept just under the surface, my feelings of the "value" of such experiences, their impact on my own developing value system from the insights gained in being and actively learning in the outdoors. Early on I came to appreciate the beauty and complexity in the seemingly infinitely diverse but understandable web of interactions among all creatures, including humans, in the environment. (pers diaries/journals dating back many years, and essays published at www.ecoguild.com, as well as my ED-588 reflection notes 11/10/96).

This fascination with nature, with both the pragmatic and aesthetic aspects of the landscape evolution, with interactions among organisms and environment; all eventually lead to my spending more than 15 years grooming myself as an Earth Systems Scientist/researcher (my academic background =AS, BS, MS in Earth Science/Geology/Oceanography).

In reflecting on all my academic and practical experiences in the sciences I recognize that my own choice of learning styles has all along been along the lines of constructivist pedagogies. In all my schooling I have always situated my understanding from within a very personal, naturalistic, and even aesthetic framework, translating lectured material and experienced field studies into personally relevant themes and knowledge constructs.

More recently, both in my work as an environmental science curriculum designer/program facilitator, and in my newest role as graduate student in education, I have found constructivism's foundation most resonant, relevant and appropriate for my continued learning as well as my future role as a teacher of teachers.

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