Teaching science in the laboratory: a study on portuguese school science teachers’ perspectives

[Excerpt] Laboratory activities may serve diverse educational purposes (Hodson, 1994) and may be used in different ways (Leite & Dourado, 2013). The educational advantages taken from laboratory activities depend on the ways they are performed. Teachers’ conceptions are one of the key factors that may influence their teaching practices (Kang & Wallace, 2004). Thus, teachers’ conceptions on the best ways to carry out laboratory activities may also influence the potential taken from them. Research suggests that teachers’ practices regarding laboratory activities are teacher centered, based on receipt like worksheets and aim at confirming previously taught concepts (Abrahams, 2011; Ramalho, 2007). [...]This work is funded by CIEd – Research Centre on Education, projects UID/CED/1661/2013 and UID/CED/1661/2016, Institute of Education, University of Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT