Worked with Jack Easley:
project examining cognitive behavior in children.
Thesis:
"The Representation
of Conceptual Frameworks in Young Adolescent
Science Students"
Professor of Science Education
King's College London
Distinguished Service to Research
in Science Education
awarded by NARST
Contributions to
Science Education
Thesis presented a radical
argument at the time. Children's ideas were viewed as naive notions, but
Driver used a new language- "alternative framework" or
"interpretive models".
Encourage the practice of science
arguments to encourage progress in students' learning and develop critical
thinking skills.
Driver was dedicated to improving
the way teachers teach and think about their students, which is reflected
in all of her projects and studies.
Kuhnian paradigm shifts:
Children's learning is dependent upon existing ideas about a phenomenon,
rather than being limited by a child's developmental stage (Piaget).
Main progenitor of the constructivist
movement.
Promote science education for
all students and scientific literacy; understand students' conceptions
of the nature of science.
Reconstructing and designing
research and development programs to target specific classroom scientific
domains that would encourage classroom discussions and arguments among
students.
Projects
Children's Learning in Science
Project (1982-1989)
Children's Learning in Science
Research Group, CLIS (1990-1995)
Funded by UK government
Investigated reasons for poor
performance of students in science
Books/Publications
"The Pupil as a Scientist
(1983, Open University Press)
based on CLIS; geared toward
teachers
teachers changed their perceptions
of children's learning, and started to respond to children's thinking more
directly in their teaching
Reflected Driver's view that
research can often be of practical relevance to the classroom science teacher
and underpin curriculum development.
"Children's Ideas in Science"
(1985, Open University Press)
"Constructing Scientific Knowledge
in the Classroom (1994, Educational Researcher)
"Young People's Images of Science"
by Rosalind Driver, et
al (Paperback - December 1995)
"Making Sense of Secondary
Science : Research into Children's Ideas"
by Rosalind Driver, et
al (Paperback - March 1994)
"Making Sense of Secondary
Science : Support Materials for Teachers"
by Rosalind Driver, et
al (Paperback - December 1993)
Personal Applications
& Implications
Annette's
As a researcher of education, Dr. Driver
maintained close links with practitioners of education (teachers), making
her theories most applicable.
Many of Driver's articles offered pedagogical
examples of how teachers could use student prior knowledge to effect conceptual
change and build scientific knowledge.
Driver's research suggested reasons why it
is significant that we decrease the amount of science content in curriculum,
if we truly want scientifically literate students and adults.
As a teacher, I am more committed to commencing
my lessons with an assessment, or discussion of students' present theories
of a topic than with a discrepant event or mere statement of objective.
Cindy's
Make courses relative to students' alternative
frameworks. If students can relate new knowledge to an existing framework,
scientific literacy will increase.
Challenge existing ideas; make student's
think and not simply accept what they are being told.
Students come to class with many ideas of
how the world works and preconceived notions about scientists' role in
the world. Our lessons need to address their ideas and beliefs.
Renae's
Driver allowed student's interpretive models
of science concepts to shape her way of thinking to restructure science
curriculum.
Driver's devotion to improving teacher's
inexperience and application of science concepts in the classroom.
To structure more friendly and inviting lessons
that encourage students to become active participants in the classroom
and laboratories where they will deduce, argue and formulate their own
ideas.
James'
Children develop "alternative
frameworks" to make sense of what they experience & these cognitive
structures can be very resistant to change.
A student's "alternative
framework" should not be dismissed as incorrect and meaningless; rather
they should be viewed as a starting point upon which to build and progress
towards conceptual change. Indeed, many of these "alternative frameworks"
mirror some of the accepted science "facts" of the past; the sun
orbiting the Earth for example.
Because students attempt to understand new
ideas by relating them to what they already know, meaninful learning and
conceptual change are more likely to occur through
persuasive teaching approaches that challenge
students to examine their cognitive frameworks in light of new vidence.
What students observe during a science inquiry
activity depends on their preconceptions and expectations. Therefore
one of the teacher's tasks is to guide the student's observations to help
them sort through what is relevant and what is irrelevant.
For meaningful learning to occur, a student's
"alternative framework" requires the right amount of challenge from a novel
idea. If the dissonance between the two is too great, the new idea
will not link to the existing framework and rote learning is likely to
occur. If no dissonance occurs, the student's cognitive framework
remains unchanged.
Rosalind
Driver
Projects
Links