IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRATION OF PEDAGOGY AND TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING SCIENCE

This paper addresses the integration of pedagogy and technology in science teaching. Science teaching is such a complex, dynamic profession that it is difficult for a teacher to stay up-to-date. For a teacher to grow professionally and become better as a teacher of science, a special, continuous effort is required (Showalter, 1984, p. 21). To better prepare students for the science and technology of the 21st century, the current science education reforms ask science teachers to integrate technology and inquiry-based teaching into their instruction (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993; National Research Council [NRC], 1996, 2000). Good teaching “begins with an act of reason, continues with a process of reasoning, culminates in performances of imparting, eliciting, involving, or enticing, and is then thought about some more until the process begins again” (Shulman, 1987, p. 13). Thus, to make effective pedagogical decisions about what to teach and how to teach it, teachers should develop both their PCK and pedagogical reasoning skills .In recent years, many researchers in the field of educational technology have been focused on the role of teacher knowledge on technology integration (Hughes, 2005; Koehler & Mishra, 2005, 2008; Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Niess, 2005). This paper discuss the role of science education in 21st Century, the aim of science education ,purpose of science education ,changing trends in science education, meeting the changing needs in science education, role of ICT in transforming teaching and learning, the link between ICT and pedagogy .At the conclusion it states that though integration of technology and pedagogy is essential for better science teaching but a balance between pedagogy and technology is required to avail the greatest benefit.