Comparison of Perception on Science Teacher Preparation Courses by Beginner and Experienced Science Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate beginner and experienced Korean science teachers' perceptions about the science teacher preparation courses from which they graduated, and to compare them. The study was conducted as a qualitative study using in-depth interviews. For the study, interview questions were developed by the authors based on the questionnaire of 'The IMPPACT project' that was being conducted in America. The interview tool includes questions about their experience of science subject matter content knowledge, science pedagogical content knowledge, and general pedagogical content knowledge in their preparation courses. For the interview, seven beginning science teachers, less than five years of teaching experience, and five experienced science teachers, more than five years of teaching experience, were sampled from secondary schools in Korea. The research results are as follows: First, most of the beginner and experienced science teachers perceived that the teaching methods in the classes of science subject matter were not good model for teaching science in their secondary school, because they were not diverse enough and entailed mostly knowledge transfer just through lecture without teacher-student interaction. Second, most of the beginner science teachers perceived that they were affected positively by the teaching strategies and evaluation methods in the classes for science pedagogical subject matter and they could apply those strategies and methods in their current science teaching. Lastly, most of the beginner and experienced science teachers perceived that general pedagogical subject matter is important and prerequisite for science teaching in their schools, but the courses that they experienced at their university were not appropriate for their current teaching.