Attitude-, group- and activity-related differences in the quality of preservice teacher students' engagement in collaborative science learning

Abstract

Teachers can play a key role in stimulating children's interest in science, yet the literature suggests limited opportunities for such development at primary level. This study investigated how preservice primary teacher students with diverse attitudes towards learning science engage in collaborative science activities and how diverse attitudes influence their shared learning. Empirically, engagement was examined in terms of the participatory roles spontaneously adopted by students during group activities. Based on class questionnaire data, four attitude profiles were identified using clustering methods, Optimal, Promising, Vulnerable, and Uncommitted. Four small groups characterized by the diversity of their members' attitudes were selected for in-depth analysis. Video footage of each group's interactions in two activities was subjected to systematic analyses of their members' self-adopted roles, with a focus on three areas: Science content, opinion sharing, and experiment and process. Role analysis revealed attitude-, group- and activity-related differences in the quality of individual and group engagement.