Browsing by Author "Huttula, Jenna"

The aim of my Bachelors Thesis in Educational Sciences was to find out what kind of views and experiences class teachers have about inquiry-based science education and curriculum integration in their work. Also I tried to find out did participation in a development project called LumaLähetit give better preparedness for putting the above-mentioned subjects into practice. The research assignment of my Bachelor’s thesis was to find out how the views of the teachers, who took part in the LumaLähetit development project, changed during it. LumaLähetit development project is a part of LUMA Finland development program which aims to increase skills and interest towards natural sciences and mathematics. Two teachers participated into my research. These teachers took part in the LumaLähetit development project in the spring of 2015. The answers to my research questions I tried to find out via three internet based questionnaires which the teachers filled in three steps during the development project. The first one just before the project, second during it and the third one approximately six months after the LumaLähetit development project. Questions in the questionnaires were open questions. The material gathered was analyzed using the method of content analysis. From inquiry-based science education the teachers had experience already before the pro-ject, but both of them felt that their understanding about it deepened. In principle, the teach-ers felt that inquiry-based science education was onerous method for teaching. Later on af-ter the project, the teachers thought that the project did give them ideas, tools and encour-agement for creating inquiry-based science lessons in their classes. The answers in the questionnaires concerning curriculum integration were short. One of the two teachers felt that LumaLähetit development project clarified the benefits of curriculum integration used in teaching for him. The other teacher on his behalf felt that the project strengthened his under-standing how curriculum integration increases motivation towards learning in various school subjects. In summary it can be said that for the participated teachers, LumaLähetit develop-ment project increased the eagerness to use methods of curriculum integration and inquiry-based education in their work as teachers.