From reflection to framework: investigating biology pre-service teachers’ understanding of genetic information flow, exchange, and storage (IFES)

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in eight preservice teachers’ professional identity and the factors contributing to such changes during a four-week block practicum.Design/methodology/approach– A qualitative case study design was used and the data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with preservice teachers and their mentors, reflective journals and observation checklists. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data.Findings– The findings showed high levels of confidence and development of teacher voice by the end of their four-week block practicum. The findings also suggested that positive mentoring relationships contributed to changes in the preservice teachers’ teacher identity.Research limitations/implications– Despite focussing on a relatively small number of preservice secondary teachers during the first four-week practicum of a single teacher education program at a Western Australian University, this research highlights the need to maintain constructive mentoring relationships with preservice teachers to provide positive influences on their professional identity. In order to facilitate this, preservice teacher education programs should provide thorough training for mentor teachers.Originality/value– This work highlighted the crucial role of mentor teachers in creating positive impacts on preservice teachers’ professional identity, such as development of their confidence and teacher voice. This paper provides useful insights for researchers, mentor teachers, and preservice teacher education policy developers.

This study investigated the changing belief of pre-service English teachers during they did teaching practicum. It was one of subjects in teacher education programs. Belief of pre-service English teachers played significant role as it could influence their classroom practices and teaching outcomes. The methodology of research used in this study was qualitative case study. It involved twenty pre-service English teachers from English Department. They were put in twelve schools which located in four towns in Banten Province. This study employed questionnaire and reflective journal as instruments for collecting data. The questionnaire itself was distributed before and after teaching practicum, while reflective journal was filled by twenty pre-service English teachers during teaching practicum.The results of this study revealed that the changing of teachers’ belief varied among participants. The changing belief of pre-service English teachers covered three themes, which consists of (1) learners (2) learning and (3) teaching, before and after they did teaching practicum. Dealing with the first theme, changing belief on learners, pre-service English teachers experienced more on their emotion specifically on their confident as well as patient. In addition, the second theme, changing belief on learning, it occurred more on pre-service English teachers’ awareness that the classroom reality helped them to test their knowledge and it made them more aware of their personal beliefs about learning. Moreover, the last theme, changing belief on teaching, it took place when pre-service teachers had been exposed to teaching English in real contexts EFL classroom.

This study examined the preservice biology teachers` changes of self-efficacy on the teaching of science as inquiry, science inquiry-based teaching planning and practices, and their reflection through science methods courses during two consecutive semesters. The instructional intervention followed the four stages of the intellectualization, operationalization, actualization, and internalization for two consecutive semesters. During the first semester through science teaching methods course I, the preservice science teachers experienced the intellectualization stage by learning about scientific inquiry, as well as the operationalization stage by having a chance of creating inquiry lesson plans. Then the next semester through science teaching methods course II, a group of three to four preservice teachers implemented an inquiry lesson through the simulated teaching within the secondary biology textbook as the actualization stage. Finally, the preservice teachers reflected on their implementation of inquiry teaching as the internalization stage. These preservice biology teachers improved inquiry-based science teaching efficacy and expanded ideas of inquiry-based science teaching within secondary biology context. Teacher preparation program needs to provide opportunities of learning inquiry as students by experiencing of a method of investigation and teaching inquiry as teachers by planning and implementing inquiry-based instruction in order to support inquiry-based science teaching in the classroom.

Introduction: Although there is ambiguity about the elements of teacher knowledge, all researchers accept that being able to anticipate what errors can be made, the reasons for and the strategies to overcome these errors, in short, the knowledge of students is important for student achievement. In this study, knowledge of students refers to being aware of students’ possible errors and underlying reasons for these errors and knowing how to overcome these errors. Based on this consideration, the purpose of this study is to investigate pre-service elementary teachers’ knowledge of students on the subtraction topic. Methods: Considering the purpose, the data were collected from 118 pre-service elementary teachers who were enrolled in a four-year Elementary Teacher Education program via a task-based questionnaire related to the topic of subtraction and semi-structured interviews following the questionnaire. The task-based questionnaire included three completed incorrect subtraction tasks and was prepared considering the related literature and the elementary school mathematics curriculum of Turkey. Each task in the questionnaire contained a different type of error. The pre-service elementary teachers’ answers to the task-based questionnaire were categorized as correct, partially correct, wrong, or no answer by means of categorical analysis. The pre-service elementary teachers who gave correct and partially correct answers to the tasks were asked to participate in the second part of the study to learn their possible strategies to overcome the errors made in the tasks. Results: As a result of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the pre-service elementary teachers’ responses, it was found that their knowledge of students for subtraction is limited. Specifically, although the pre-service elementary teachers were partially able to identify the errors in the first and second task, they were not able to identify the error in the third task. Furthermore, they were better able to determine a more commonly occurring subtraction error compared to the uncommon ones. The pre-service elementary teachers could not identify the underlying reasons that led the students to the errors. They could not explain what conceptual knowledge related to the topic of subtraction the student lacked that resulted in the errors. As the pre-service teachers did not attain these reasons, they were not able to provide strategies to overcome these errors different than restating the rules or procedures to overcome students’ errors. Discussion: Only being able to identify the errors is not enough to make the instruction effective. Teachers also need to know and provide a rationale for why the errors happen and how to overcome them (Even & Tirosh, 1995). Contrary to this statement, the pre-service elementary teachers in this study could not attempt to understand the students’ thinking or could not explain the reasons behind students’ errors with the notion of subtraction. Son (2013) emphasizes that pre-service teachers tend to explain the reasons for students’ errors as procedural. Similar to this emphasis, the pre-service teachers identified the errors as resulting from not applying procedures carefully or not enough knowing algorithms to find correct solutions. However, without addressing the reasons or focusing on procedures does not promote students’ understanding of the related topic (An, Kulm, & Wu, 2004). The pre-service teachers’ difficulties in identifying the possible conceptual reasons may result from deficits in knowledge of students (Fennema & Franke, 1992; Ball et al., 2008). Limitations: The findings were limited with the responses of the pre-service elementary teachers participating in this study. Moreover, the pre-service elementary teachers’ knowledge of students was investigated within the scope of subtraction. Conclusions: Although the pre-service elementary teachers could identify students’ errors on subtraction, they had difficulty in identifying the reasons and suggesting strategies to overcome the errors. Therefore, it can be concluded that the pre-service teachers’ knowledge of students for the topic of subtraction is limited. An implication of this is that teacher educators need to include error-analysis tasks to help pre-service teachers be aware of the importance of their knowledge of students.

Introduction. The integration of AI in education has gained significant attention, and its potential to enhance teaching and learning outcomes is increasingly recognized. This study aimed to investigate whether the combination of Project-Based Learning (PBL) and artificial intelligence (AI) could improve pre-service teachers' pedagogical skills and the quality of their instructional materials. Methods. A quantitative, pre-experimental design with a one-group pretest-posttest format was employed. Thirty pre-service biology teachers participated in the study. Data were collected using a product assessment rubric to evaluate the quality of the e-worksheets created before and after the intervention. Additionally, a post-intervention questionnaire was administered to gather participants' perceptions and experiences. Paired samples t-tests were conducted to analyze the significance of the changes in e-worksheet quality. Results. The findings revealed a significant improvement in the quality of e-worksheets developed by the pre service teachers after participating in the AI-integrated PBL (M = 36.83, t = 26.33, p = .000). All aspects of the assessment covering content, design, functionality, accessibility, and technicality increased significantly (p = .000). This implied that the implementation of AI-assisted PBL enhanced pre-service teachers’ ability in developing biology e-worksheets. At the end of the class session, they also showed a very positive response (N = 30, Q = Q4) towards the experience of learning how to develop biology e-worksheets using AI. They agreed that AI-assisted PBL could enhance their creativity, problem-solving skills, and technology integration abilities. KEYWORDS Conclusion. This study highlights the potential of AI-assisted PBL as a valuable approach for enhancing pre service biology teachers’ ability to develop e-worksheets, especially in the aspects of content, design, functionality, accessibility, and technicality. This study also gives a worthy learning experience in the age of AI by conducting an AI-powered learning mode. Thus, the findings of this study imply that teacher education programs should consider the integration of AI to help biology preservice teachers master AI-enhanced pedagogy and prepare them to be technologically literate teachers in the future.

ABSTRACTIn the study, the impact of inquiry-based learning on pre-service teachers’ critical thinking dispositions was investigated. The sample of the study comprised of 56 pre-service teachers in the science education teacher education programme at the public university in the north of Turkey. In the study, quasi-experimental design with an experimental and a control group were applied to find out the impact of inquiry-based learning on the critical thinking dispositions of the pre-service teachers in the teacher education programme. The results showed that the pre-service teachers in the experimental group did not show statistically significant greater progress in terms of critical thinking dispositions than those in the control group. Teacher educators who are responsible for pedagogical courses in the teacher education programme should consider that the inquiry-based learning could not be effective method to improve pre-service teachers’ critical thinking dispositions. The results are discussed in relation to potential impact on science teacher education and implications for future research.

Aunty Mary Graham, Kombu-merri elder and philosopher, says: "You are not alone in the world." We have a responsibility to each other, as well as to the land; and violence is the refusal of this relationship that binds us (Rose). In this paper, I use Emannuel Levinas’s ethics as first philosophy and epistemological violence to consider how non-Indigenous educators come to know Indigenous people. In his philosophy, Levinas presents a paradox: that to act as if one is a free being, as first philosophy, is to ignore that one is not alone in the world and that the presence of others evokes responsibility. However, to claim to know another is to bring them into one’s totality, one’s knowledge framework; an act of reducing another to who you think they are. We must find a new relationship to knowledge, one that is not based on possession. For non-Indigenous educators learning about teaching Indigenous students and perspectives in schools, much of the curricular material draws on the corpus of knowledge constructed by non-Indigenous researchers, politicians, and professionals about Indigenous people (Nakata, Cultural Interface). This material is already bound by others' interests and motivations. How can non-Indigenous educators engage with Indigenous peoples, histories and knowledges in a way that foregrounds the responsibility that our entanglement prompts? In this paper, I present data from my research into pre-service teachers undertaking a compulsory university subject in Indigenous education, where the pre-service teachers wrote weekly reflective learning journals. This data is drawn primarily from the end of the semester, where students reflected on what their learning would mean as they moved into future practice. I explore the role of responsibility in regards to the ethical violence that Levinas discusses.

In This Issue

This study aims to investigate the perceptions of pre-service English teachers regarding discourse analysis (DA) and its potential impact on English Language Teaching (ELT). The participants of the study included 198 second-year pre-service teachers (126 females and 72 males) studying at a Turkish state university. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design. Data were collected through written reflections, and qualitative content analysis was employed to analyze the data. The results of the study revealed that pre-service English teachers expressed positive perceptions towards DA, recognizing its potential contributions to their professional development and future teaching careers. Participants reported that the course helped them to understand the importance of language use in different contexts and situations, and provided them with practical tools for analyzing and teaching language. The findings suggest that ELT programs can consider incorporating DA into their curriculum to help pre-service teachers develop a deep understanding of language use and its implications for effective teaching. By doing this, teacher education programs may support the growth of proficient language teachers and ultimately raise the standard of language instruction

Inquiry-based learning model relies on the idea that individuals are able to learn by researching real problems and questions. It promotes science as a way of thinking and an attitude of mind. It is a multifaceted activity that involves making observations, posing hypothesis, making experiments to test it, and giving explanations. This study is in the field of science teacher education. It was conducted to investigate pre-service primary teachers’ difficulties regarding the implementation of the inquiry-based teaching. The sample consists of 74 pre-service teachers’ teaching scenarios for electromagnetism; they were collected in the context of an Introductory Didactics of Science Laboratory course in which participants experienced inquiry-based teaching and learning. Content analysis of the teaching scenarios was followed in order to analyze the data. The results show that pre-service teachers have some difficulties in implementing inquiry-based teaching. Their difficulties mainly focus on the formulation of the research hypothesis and the designing of the corresponding experiment in order to test the hypothesis. The findings implied that although pre-service teachers recognize experimentation as an important part of science teaching, they had difficulties designing experiments that test particular hypotheses related to the teaching objectives. These findings contribute to the field of science teacher education, shedding light to the difficulties pre-service primary teachers have in implementing inquiry-based teaching model. Particularly, pre-service primary teachers should be offered a much bigger amount of opportunities to engage in authentic inquiries before they are ready to implement inquiry-base teaching in their classes.

In this study, we examined the effect of School Experience (SE) and Practice Teaching (PT) courses on pre-service chemistry teachers’ beliefs towards chemistry teaching over a one-year period. To reach this purpose, participants’ beliefs and experiences towards chemistry teaching were monitored closely throughout the varied phases of the two practicum courses. Two pre-service chemistry teachers participated in the study. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, observation notes, CoRes and reflection papers. Semi-structured interviews focusing on the pre-service teachers’ beliefs regarding chemistry teaching were conducted three times while participating in the SE and PT courses. During the PT course before their teaching experiences the participants prepared CoRes, and after their experiences they critiqued their own performances. Moreover, the participants were observed during their student-teaching experiences to identify how they transfer their beliefs into their teaching. Data were analyzed via inductive analyses. Results indicated that both pre-service teachers had stable core beliefs derived from their own experiences as students that remained constant during these courses and guided their practical instruction. Although both participants attended the same courses during the teacher education program, their attitudes while taking the educational courses were different. Factors that shaped pre-service teachers’ beliefs towards teaching were presented as the practicum courses enriched with CoRes and reflection papers, observing their mentors, experiences gained from microteaching sessions, and pedagogical and methods courses taken during the pre-service teacher education program. Implications for the formation of pre-service teachers’ beliefs towards teaching throughout pre-service teacher education programs were provided.

Developing young people’s understanding of geography concepts requires teachers who have detailed, structured, interconnected, and accurate conceptual knowledge and understanding. Accordingly, this study focuses on pre-service geography teachers’ understanding of the exemplar concept of contours on maps and discusses its implications for teacher training programmes. Data collected using a two-tier conceptual test and a questionnaire in a sample of 127 pre-service geography teachers indicated that pre-service teachers should not be perceived as a homogenous group with identical conceptual understandings and educational needs. The results highlighted the necessity to differentiate between pre-service teachers not only based on their conceptual understanding but also on the non-cognitive dimensions of concepts. Four types of pre-service teachers were identified based on success and certainty rates: successful-certain (SC), successful-uncertain (SU), failing-uncertain (FU) and failing-certain (FC). Both SU and FU types were characterised by low confidence in their related skills and a negative relationship to the concept of contours. The non-cognitive dimension manifested in opposite ways in SC and FC types. The specific educational approach required by each type is discussed, and implications for further research are presented.

Reflective journal writing is recognized as a valuable tool for pre-service teachers to analyze their teaching experiences and foster professional growth. However, its effectiveness in EFL teacher education in Kuwait remains understudied. This study investigates how systematic reflective journal writing affects pre-service EFL teachers’ practicum experiences in Kuwait. The study employs a qualitative case study approach to explore pre-service teachers’ perceptions and experiences with reflective journal writing during their practicum. Data was collected through interviews, reflective journals, and document analysis. Preliminary findings suggest that reflective journal writing enhances pre-service teachers’ self-awareness, critical thinking, and professional growth. However, challenges related to time constraints and classroom management also emerge. This study highlights the potential of reflective journal writing as a powerful tool for professional development among pre-service English language teachers in Kuwait. By exploring the impact of the weekly frequency of reflective journaling on participants' experiences to enhance teacher education programs.

Given that teacher dropout is an issue for beginning teachers, it is important to be proactive in order to retain teachers within the profession. Physical Education pre-service teachers’ education programs represent a crucial part of their professional development in preparing them to face the challenges that often explain retirement, especially students’ motivation. Authors recognize the importance of considering pre-service teachers’ needs during teacher education programs and their concerns about the challenges to be faced once they start teaching (Richards et al., 2013). Using a qualitative approach, this study aims to: (1) identify pre-service Physical Education teachers’ perceptions of anticipated challenges in general, (2) identify the specific challenges they anticipate aboutsupporting students’ motivation and (3) describe how they can be prepared to support students’ motivation. Participants consisted of 18 pre-service Physical Education teachers (Mage = 25; SD = 3.61 years) from French-language universities in Quebec (Canada). Four focus groups were conducted, and data were analyzed consistent with the four steps suggested by Boutin (2007). Results indicate that the main challenges anticipated by pre-service Physical Education teachers are classroom management and students’ lack of motivation. In terms of supporting students’ motivation, five specific challenges were highlighted: (1) student heterogeneity, (2) proposal of learning activities to support motivation, (3) student engagement, (4) management of disengaged students, and (5) gender differences. As for their needs during teacher education program, participants wished to learn how to plan motivational strategies, be given more opportunities to practice, and discuss how to implement these strategies. Recommendations for teachereducation programs are discussed in the conclusion.

Proof has an important place both for the learning and teaching of mathematics. Pre-service mathematics teachers who learn about proof during undergraduate courses will use proofs during their teaching when they enter the profession. This is why the pre-service teachers’ views about proof are important. In this study, the effects of an intervention study that aims to improve pre-service mathematics teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge of proof on pre-service teachers’ views about proof were examined. The quantitative phase of this design-based research study was conducted in a teacher preparation program at a state university in Istanbul with 22 pre-service mathematics teachers, and the qualitative phase was conducted with three pre-service teachers. Data from the study were obtained during the spring semester of the 2017-2018 academic year. The quantitative data of the study were collected by a Likert-type scale, while the qualitative data were collected by semi-structured interviews. For the analysis of quantitative data, Two tests, Wilcoxon signed ranks test and marginal homogeneity test, were used. For qualitative data analysis, descriptive analysis was used. The quantitative findings of the study revealed that course intervention had a significant impact on pre-service teachers’ views about proof. The qualitative findings of the study also support quantitative findings. According to the qualitative findings of the study, the non-positive views of the participants before the implementation changed positively after the implementation. In line with the findings of the research, it may be suggested to conduct intervention studies to improve the different affective behaviors of pre-service teachers related to proof.