子計畫三：課程推廣與師資培育計畫(3/3)

Science teachers' role in curriculum reform has been changed from curriculum consumer toward curriculum adaptors, or curriculum developers. However, it is in urgent needs to explore the influencing factors and approaches for designing and conducting professional development programs to meet science teachers' needs, as well as to enhance their professional competencies aligned with the reform movements. In this research project, we designed professional programs for three groups of teachers: (a) teachers involved in designing Inquiry Curriculum for Sustainable Development (ICSD), (b) teachers interested in inquiry and practical works in natural science curriculum, and (c) teachers enacting ICSD in other schools. Teachers of different groups were invited to attend focus group interviews, and the researchers act as participant observers, in order to reach a rich understanding about the teachers' various needs and plan professional programs accordingly. The collected data was analyzed to generate the three group teachers' conceptions in terms of Knowledge about frontier science and technology, Knowledge about inquiry science, and Competencies in designing curriculum and planning instructions, integrating social issues, assessing students' inquiry ability, and questioning and facilitating students. The research findings expand our understandings about science teachers' learning and design principles are also provided for future professional development programs.