This paper aims to investigate the effect of collective work on New Science Teachers’ [NST] practices in classroom in terms of motivational support and in terms of Inquiry Based Sciences Teaching [IBST] implementation.

This interest comes from two main questions.

Firstly, there is a consensus within the educational and scientific community regarding the effectiveness of teaching practices based on investigation. Nevertheless it seems that in most European countries teaching practices does not rely on this approach.

In the same time it appears that the lack of interest shown by students towards sciences and mathematics is partly rooted in teaching methods that are often qualified as "abstract". The introduction of new pedagogical approaches such as the IBST seems to be a way through which teachers could improve students’ motivation toward math and sciences. As a consequence it is crucial to put an interest in the ways to encourage teachers to implement these approaches in their classroom. Secondly, it appears that professional development occurs when the creation of professional networks is promoted (Grangeat, 2008). So we naturally addressed the kind of collective to implement to produce such a professional development.

The objective of this study is to show that teacher collaboration is effective when conducted under certain conditions. In other words, we evaluated the benefits of a training program based on collective work (called seminar of professional practices analysis [SPPA]) aiming at promoting the implementation of IBST in classroom and teaching practices that are recognized as effective in terms of student motivation ( i.e., autonomy support, management of student diversity, encouraging the use of learning strategies).

However, if literature (Rogalski, 1994; Schmidt, 1994) shows that collective work can be held according different modalities and involve different functions, this research focuses on the role of the debative function - that consists in confronting and comparing different points of view about a particular issue – on teaching practices modification.

On the basis of teacher self-report on a questionnaire and observations led in classroom we addressed the following question: Does the collective work and more specifically SPPA based on a socio cognitive conflict alter teachers’ motivational practices and attitudes towards IBST?

We hypothesized that teachers who took part in the training program would demonstrate more support towards students’ motivation and would explicitly more frequently learning strategies to them. We also expected that NST who benefit from the training program would declare to implement IBST in their classrooms more frequently than teachers who did not took part in the program.

Grangeat, M. (2008). Coopérations et partenariats pour enseigner. Pratiques de l'éducation prioritaire. Créteil: CRDP-SCEREN Rogalski, J. (1994). Formation aux activités collectives. Le travail humain, 57, 367-386. Schmidt, K. (1994). Cooperative work and its articulation: requirements for computer support. Le Travail Humain, 57, 345-366.