Article Critique: Science Teaching in Elementary Education

This document presents a critique of two professional journal articles focusing on science teaching in elementary education. The first article explores the correlation between time spent on science instruction and student achievement, while the second discusses elementary school teachers' understanding of physics concepts and its impact on teaching. The critique includes a synopsis of each article, summarizing key findings and research methodologies. The evaluation section provides the student's opinion on the usefulness of the content, highlighting the importance of teacher knowledge and early science education. References are provided in APA format. The assignment adheres to the requirements of a homework assignment for a teacher development course.

Research/Critique

Contents
Synopsis......................................................................................................................................................3
Evaluation..................................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................5

Synopsis
The article explains the degree to which time that is spent on learning science and other
topics related to it in elementary school. It is found that time on instructions to science are related
to science achievement. As per the other professional journal, science is one of the compulsory
subjects in elementary education and the scope consists of biology, physics as well as aspects of
earth and space science.
Evaluation
As per my opinion of on of the journals about understanding of elementary school
teachers on physics concept, majority of the teachers at an elementary school in Surakarta are in
a misconception about the concept of time that is needed by an object to reach the surface of
ground (Arias and Davis, 2017). This is then followed by the concept of light creep, gravity and
sound. For this research article, a sample of 14 teachers at the school was taken. If an elementary
school teacher is found to have misconception about the topics that are to be taught to the
students, it can lead to creating a big obstacle in the process of learning science. This is because
the underlying concepts of science form the basis of understanding of the concepts of next level.
The other professional journal which is about early elementary science instruction states
that one of the major goals policy makers is to improve the student achievement in science and
equity (Understanding of elementary school teachers on physical concepts. 2019). It has been
included in the article that early elementary years hold a lot of importance for elementary
students (Tugurian and Carrier, 2017). The results of the research show that improvements in
science achievement in the early in early grades of the school will lead to higher level of changes
and this can include either increasing the amount of time spent on science or adjusting the

number of science topics covered. The research states that there is a need for continued research
on early science education.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Arias, A. M., & Davis, E. A. (2017). Supporting children to construct evidence-based claims in
science: Individual learning trajectories in a practice-based program. Teaching and
Teacher Education. 66. 204-218.
Tugurian, L. P., & Carrier, S. J. (2017). Children's environmental identity and the elementary
science classroom. The Journal of Environmental Education. 48(3). 143-153.
Online
Understanding of elementary school teachers on physical concepts. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:< https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1318/1/012077/pdf>.