Science Teaching Methods Course Research Articles

The Impact of Online Cooperative Learning on Scientific Reasoning Skills and Motivation

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all universities across Turkey transitioned to remote education as an urgent measure. Despite indications that the pandemic has subsided, online teaching practices continue to prevail in higher education. Accordingly, the purpose of this study, conducted under extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, is to examine the impact of online cooperative learning on the scientific reasoning skills and motivation of pre-service science teachers. A total of 54 students participated in the study, with 28 from the experimental group and 26 from the control group, following a non-equivalent control group design. The experimental group received instruction using the online cooperative learning, while the control group participated in large group discussions in an online environment in the context of a science teaching methods course. Data for the research were collected through pre-test and post-test administrations of the Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). According to the results, compared to whole-class discussions, online cooperative learning increased pre-service science teachers’ scientific reasoning skills and motivation. In conclusion, online cooperative learning is considered an effective method for enhancing the pre-service science teachers’ education, contributing to the further improvement of online teaching, which has become even more widespread due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Classroom Learning Environment and Action Research in a Science Methods Course for Preservice Elementary Teachers

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of action research conducted by five science teaching methods course instructors on their students’ perceptions of the classroom learning environments at a large public university in Texas. The study analyzed the results from 133 students who completed two administrations of the What is Happening in this Class (WIHIC) questionnaire, one at the beginning of the semester and one at the end of the semester. Five sections served as a treatment group while two sections served as a control. Quantitative analyses, including one-way ANOVA, were conducted for each class section. Results showed that the perceived learning environment increased between the beginning of the semester and the end of the semester for all sections. However, the most significant gains in students’ perceptions were made in the treatment sections and were attributed to the action research interventions that were designed and implemented by the instructors based on the analyses of the first WIHIC administration.

Border crossing perspectives of prospective teachers’ first-time science microteaching experiences

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was on understanding and interpreting five minoritised pre-service teachers’ past educational experiences that impacted their first-time science microteaching experiences in a science teaching methods course. The study is unique because it illuminates and contributes to the literature on the importance of minoritised prospective teachers’ educational experiences in their pre-service preparation and how these experiences challenge or contradict the urgency of equitable science instruction in traditional teacher education instructional discourse. The study draws on the literature on border crossing as a guiding theoretical framework, and phenomenology as a guiding methodological framework to analyse first time science teaching experiences. Data included videos and written narratives of first-time science teaching experiences. Analysis indicated that past educational experience of being left out in doing science underscored minoritised pre-service teachers’ first-time science teaching experiences. Furthermore, they had created navigation strategies to counter the past educational experiences by challenging and modifying science teaching routines and devising equitable ways to use science teaching resources to cultivate a sense of belonging. The study suggests that future science education research would benefit from attention to minoritised pre-service teachers’ experiences used to challenge or contradict past educational inequities.

A Practice-Based Theory of Teaching Analysis of Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Prior Knowledge of Science Instruction

ABSTRACT Science teacher education literature has emphasized the importance of prospective teachers’ prior knowledge of their K-12 experiences as a key factor influencing their professional development as future science teachers. The purpose of the study was to identify the teaching practices in prospective teachers’ prior knowledge of science instruction before their enrollment in a science teaching methods course. Constructs from the practice-based theory of teaching, reform-based science instruction, and the pedagogy of poverty framework collectively served as the conceptual lens to focus on teaching practices. Three-hundred and sixty-one prospective teachers took part in this qualitative study. Visual (drawings) and written (narratives) served as the data and thematic analysis was used to identify and categorize teaching practices. The predominant teaching practices were framed by the pedagogy of poverty (68.4%) (giving information and directions). Other teaching practices were framed by a combination of teaching practices (pedagogy of poverty and core science teaching practices) (28.0%) (giving information and directions, engaging students in investigations, and facilitating classroom discourse), and teaching practices that reflected only core science teaching practices (8.0%) (engaging students in investigations and facilitating classroom discourse). Prospective teachers in this study had identified and accepted as knowledge-for-practice from their K-12 experiences a set of limited teaching practices. The findings indicated that prospective teachers’ prior knowledge of science instruction reflected the inclusion and an over reliance on specific teaching practices that contradicted or limited current reforms in science education and imply that they are yet to experience science instruction as stipulated by the current reforms.

Examining pre‐service elementary educators' perceptions of teaching science when integrated with poetry

AbstractResearch has revealed that a small percentage of weekly instructional time in the elementary grades is dedicated to teaching science. Additionally, elementary educators receive limited preparation to teach science concepts compared to math or literacy skills. Therefore, this study examined if utilizing poetry to teach science concepts had a significant influence on elementary pre‐service teachers' (PSTs) self‐efficacy (SE) and expected outcomes (EOs) toward teaching science. Instructors in elementary literacy and science teaching methods courses collaborated to model strategies that integrated poetry within a science unit and mentored the PSTs in creating poems. Following the three‐week integrative unit, analyses of the survey responses revealed significant increases in the PSTs' EOs resulting from their science teaching when integrating poetry. 92% of the PSTs believed poetry would help them integrate more science instruction and in greater depth. Moderate positive correlations were found between PSTs' SE toward teaching science and gains in: (a) perceived knowledge of science concepts, (b) belief that poetry would help integrate more science instruction, and (c) belief that integrating poetry would help students learn science concepts better. This study provides implications for informing teacher preparation programs, professional development experiences, and integrated curricula efforts to expand science instruction in elementary curricula.

The Influence Of The Science Teaching Methods Course And The Practicum Course On Self-Efficacy Of Pre-Service Science Teachers Of Middle And High Schools In The State Of Kuwait

The Influence Of The Science Teaching Methods Course And The Practicum Course On Self-Efficacy Of Pre-Service Science Teachers Of Middle And High Schools In The State Of Kuwait

Preservice Primary Teachers' Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms.

The teaching of natural sciences and technology in primary schools presents an opportunity to use innovative approaches to teach STEM-based activities. The subject presents opportunities for learners to experience STEM-based instructional approaches in their early school years; therefore, it is essential that preservice primary school teachers are adequately prepared for the task. This study explored the perceptions of preservice teachers of STEM-based teaching in natural sciences and technology classrooms. Using a qualitative research approach and a single case study of a science and technology teaching methods course at a South African university, five participants were purposively selected from a group of 42 preservice teachers who had participated in a project to develop lesson plans and reflect on how to teach STEM. The data collected were analysed using thematic content analysis techniques. The findings indicate that the preservice teachers used natural sciences as an entry point to teach STEM and underestimated the technology component. The preservice teachers had the perception that STEM is taught through activity-based strategies while incorporating assessment for learning. Although they identified activities that could be used to teach STEM, they did not link the activities with developing specific skills in the lesson plans. The study recommends that preservice teachers be taught to link STEM activities with the development of specific STEM skills.

Preservice science teachers’ epistemological framing in their early teaching

ABSTRACT Background In the context of recent research in science education and continued struggles to understand how best to support science teachers, epistemological frames, made up of sets of epistemological resources teachers activate, have emerged as an important focus of research. However, at the time of this writing no research was available to identify the epistemological frames activated by preservice science teachers (PSTs). Methods In this research, using qualitative research methods, we studied and applied a coding scheme to identify 10 PSTs’ epistemological framing in their early teaching as part of a science teaching methods course. Three observations and three interviews of each PST served as primary data sources. Findings We found three main epistemological frames activated. Further, we identified the contexts in which these frames were activated, where contexts can be understood as situations characterized by different possible dimensions within which resources are activated. We also described dynamics noted by PSTs related to the activation of specific epistemological resources and identified frames. Contribution This research is a relatively new application of the epistemological framing framework that has potential to help science teacher educators better understand and support PST learning and practice.

Journeys in STEM learning: first-time experiences of science teaching

ABSTRACT Background As prospective teachers traverse the early stages of their careers, their first experiences of teaching (both in-course and in-classroom), and the transitions between them, need to support the growth of their professional learning. In the context of STEM education, more needs to be understood about pre-service teachers’ lived experiences of these initial sessions, and the transitions between them, so that teacher educators can better prepare and support pre-service teachers to learn from these experiences and advance along their professional pathways. Purpose This study sought to explore primary teachers’ lived experiences of teaching science for the first time, firstly within a science teaching methods course, and then within a practicum. Methods Participants were 24 pre-service primary teachers attending a primary school teacher preparation programme in the USA. A phenomenological approach was adopted to describe the essence of the pre-service teachers’ lived experiences in teaching science for the first time, initially in a science teaching methods course and then in a practicum. They were interviewed at two points in time: once after their micro-teaching on the methods course, and then again after they had taught science at least once in their practicum. Data were analysed qualitatively. Findings The analysis suggested that the essence of pre-service primary teachers’ first-time science teaching experiences appeared to be about constructing ‘operating systems’ for teaching science (in the methods course), and then, once they had transitioned to the practicum, reconfiguring their operating systems, in part to align with the mentor teachers’ conceptualisation of what constituted science instruction and learning. Conclusion These findings highlight how the notion of ‘experience as teacher’ could assist science teacher educators in helping pre-service primary teachers to adjust their expectations and support their learning as they transition through the early stages of their STEM teaching journeys.

Exploring sources of engineering teaching self-efficacy for pre-service elementary teachers

BackgroundThe Next Generation Science Standards (2013) put a special emphasis on engineering for K-12 science education. However, a significant number of elementary teachers still feel unprepared to integrate engineering into their science programs. It is, therefore, incumbent upon science educators to update their elementary science methods courses to accommodate engineering especially in the states which adopted the NGSS. In this study, we taught an engineering unit in an elementary science teaching methods course to examine what instructional components and learning experiences provided in the engineering unit enhance teachers’ engineering teaching self-efficacy beliefs.Our research questions addressed to what extent the engineering education intervention improved pre-service teachers’ engineering teaching efficacy beliefs and what instructional components and learning experiences served as sources of self-efficacy contributing to the improvement of pre-service elementary teachers’ engineering teaching efficacy beliefs. We also explored how pre-service teachers viewed the relative importance of the sources of teaching efficacy stemming from the engineering unit.ResultsThe participants comprised 84 pre-service teachers enrolled in an elementary education program at a public university in the Southwestern United States. Data obtained from the Engineering Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (ETEBI) indicated that the pre-service teachers’ personal teaching efficacy beliefs significantly improved after the engineering intervention; however, the engineering intervention had a small impact on teachers’ engineering teaching outcome expectancy beliefs. Written reflections used to explore the sources of engineering teaching efficacy and the relative importance of each source showed that cognitive content mastery and cognitive pedagogical mastery were the major sources of engineering teaching self-efficacy among the pre-service elementary teachers.ConclusionOur study illustrated that integrating engineering design activities with explicit-reflective instruction on the nature of engineering concepts could enhance pre-service teachers’ personal engineering teaching efficacy beliefs even though a relatively small impact was observed in their engineering teaching outcome expectancy beliefs. Also, the study indicated cognitive content mastery and cognitive pedagogical mastery were the most important sources of engineering teaching efficacy. Therefore, the study suggests that it is vital to integrate a variety of mastery and vicarious experiences in methods courses to support the development of teachers’ engineering teaching efficacy beliefs. Besides, the current study could provide an example for integrating engineering education in methods courses.

Teaching Novice Science Teachers Online: Considerations for Practice-Based Pedagogy

The COVID-19 pandemic has required educators at all levels to pivot instruction online. In this article, we consider methods we adopted to engage novice science teachers in approximations of teaching, online. We describe the principles of our science teacher education program and provide a rationale for the core feature of our science teaching methods course: practice-based pedagogy. We then discuss adaptations we have made to engage novices in ambitious science teaching practices online, and the affordances and constraints the virtual context posed to these practices. We conclude with a discussion of considerations for online practice-based pedagogy.

Prospective Science Teachers’ Level of Self-efficacy for Teaching Science Online and its Relationship to Their Perceptions of Education Technology Courses ... A Study at Beni-Suef University

The Faculties of Education in Egypt seek to develop student teachers' skills for using technology in teaching their subjects through studying education technology courses. Since the arrival of Covid-19, the ability to teach online has become a necessity. The current study aimed to reveal prospective science teachers' level of self-efficacy for teaching science online. The study sample consisted of (253) prospective science teachers who graduated in 2020 from the Primary and General Education Divisions at the Faculty of Education, Beni-Suef University. A five-point Likert-scale was created for this study. The scale included (44) phrases belonging to four dimensions of skills: using online technology, using online pedagogy, managing online behaviour, and identifying online science content. The study results showed that the prospective science teachers in the two divisions had a very low level of self-efficacy for teaching science online. The results also showed that there was no correlation between the prospective science teachers' level of self-efficacy for teaching science online, and their perceptions of the education technology courses they studied during their preparation programme. Based on the findings, the researchers recommend the necessity of practically training student teachers on teaching science online through education technology and science teaching methods courses.

Rapid online teaching: movement of animal science courses online during COVID-19. Case study: pedagogical decisions in transitioning animal science courses online.

Traditionally, earning a degree in animal science requires many face-to-face, hands-on courses; however, the COVID-19 pandemic created a situation in which traditional delivery of these courses may not be feasible as they provide a health risk to our students, teaching assistants, and instructors alike. This examination of two pedagogically different courses and how each was transitioned to an online format highlights the types of teaching decisions that are required to effectively teach animal science in an online format. The Farm Animal Production Systems lab was an animal handling and production practices lab, and although the transition to online delivery did not allow for students to participate in traditional hands-on development of skills, various resources were utilized that still achieved the development of animal handling concepts that will prepare students for later courses and work with live animals. In contrast, the Animal Science Laboratory Teaching Methods course remained consistent in format through the transition to online because students were still able to participate in discussion-based activities via Zoom meetings each week due to the small class size, which helped to maintain student engagement. However, the final teaching experience was modified to an alternative assignment. The alternate assignment included self-reflection and course evaluation that will help to improve both the Farm Animal Production Systems laboratory and the Animal Science Teaching Methods course in the future. Although COVID-19 has been a challenge that disrupted traditional courses, it has provided opportunities for a traditionally hands-on discipline, such as animal science, to more effectively engage students via an online platform.

Epistemic Criteria Considered by Pre-service Teachers for Assessing the Quality of a Scientific Investigation About Friction Force

This paper analyses the epistemic criteria that pre-service teachers consider when assessing the quality of a scientific investigation about friction force. The participants were 71 pre-service primary teachers working in 18 small groups of three or four participants (N = 18), who were enrolled in a science teaching methods course that addressed inquiry, nature of science and epistemology. They had no previous experience in planning scientific investigations and assessing. In the context of studying speed, the task consisted of investigating which material, among cardboard, plastic, cork or lacquered wood, would be the most appropriate to build a racetrack for toy cars. For data analysis, students’ written products related to planning, carrying out and assessing the investigation were collected. The main findings highlighted a great number of criteria provided by the small groups for assessing the quality of the investigation, but little use of them in the assessments. Implications for promoting epistemic knowledge in inquiry environments are discussed.

Exploring continuity equation via a modeling activity: in the context of crowd science

Using problems from real life contexts which is related to learners’ environment or their culture plays an important role in their learning that concept. In this regard, science educators especially physics educators search for real-life domain of theoretical concepts for effective science teaching and they consider analogical and physical models as an opportunity in their instruction. In the presented activity, we worked with 66 senior pre-service science teachers from our science teaching methods course. We used crowd movements as a real-life domain of our analogical models to scientifically explain a stampede case, then utilized physical model to explore continuity equation. Real life problem based scenarios could be used while taking advantage of the 3 D modeling in teaching of scientific principle. As a result, we found that pre-service teachers were able to make scientific explanation for causes of stampedes by using modeling activity. High school teachers and upper-level instructors could benefit from including the modeling activity introduced in this study to help their students understand the concepts related to continuity equation by designing a physical model based on an analogical model. Via the physical model, students are able to make predictions, observations, interpretations and explanations of a complex and abstract scientific phenomenon.

The Impact of a Summer Camp-Based Science Methods Course on Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Teaching Science as Inquiry

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research is to examine the effect of a summer camp-based science methods course on elementary pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching science as inquiry. The science camp was offered to K-6 students as part of the 4-week, 3-credit science teaching methods course over the summer. The preservice teachers were asked to teach camp children for two weeks for their practicum requirement. This study utilized a mixed-methods design using both qualitative and quantitative data collected with 55 participants over four years. The TSI (Teaching Science as Inquiry) was administered at the beginning and end of the course to estimate participants’ self-efficacy. We only measured PSTEB (Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Belief) using 34 items out of the TSI to reduce test fatigue. We also conducted semi-structured interviews at the end of the course to investigate sources for their self-efficacy. The paired samples t-test of the pre- and post-course survey indicates that preservice teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching science as inquiry increased significantly as a result of participating in the course (p < .001). Analysis of the interview data revealed eight main sources of self-efficacy and each one’s relative significance compared to other sources. The findings of this study imply that the camp-based course increased pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy by providing not only various mastery experiences, but also unique experiences that afforded reflection and mentoring, and drew camp participants’ positive reactions. This study highlights the potential of informal science education settings as field experience sites especially for elementary science methods courses.

Developing a Three-Dimensional View of Science Teaching: A Tool to Support Preservice Teacher Discourse

ABSTRACTThe Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) on which they are based, describe a new vision for science education that includes having students learn science in a way that more closely aligns to how scientists and engineers work and think. Accomplishing this goal will require teacher educators to make important shifts in the ways they prepare future science teachers (NRC, 2012). Many science teaching methods courses are being reformed to better support future science teachers to meet the ambitious goals of the NGSS. Specifically, these reform efforts require evidence-based and standards-aligned tools to help preservice teachers align instruction with the new science standards. This study utilized the methodology of Improvement Science “Plan, Do Study, Act” cycles in order to design a Three-Dimensional Mapping Tool (3D Map) as a visual scaffold for use in science teaching methods courses to support preservice teachers in unpacking the components of NGSS and to promote discourse related to the three-dimensionality of planning instruction. The 3D Map provides a visualization of key elements of the NGSS, while being flexible enough to accommodate established teaching strategies.

Introducing Engineering Design to a Science Teaching Methods Course Through Educational Robotics and Exploring Changes in Views of Preservice Elementary Teachers

Introducing Engineering Design to a Science Teaching Methods Course Through Educational Robotics and Exploring Changes in Views of Preservice Elementary Teachers

예비 생물교사의 과학 탐구 교수 학습의 효과성 탐색 - 과학 탐구 교수 효능감을 중심으로 -

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.

Exploring the role of identity in elementary preservice teachers who plan to specialize in science teaching

Reforms in science education emphasize learning outcomes of elementary students; it is important to prepare elementary teachers to teach reformed-based science. This study interviews twenty elementary preservice teachers who participated in four discipline-specific science teaching methods courses to become elementary science specialists. This study asks: Why do elementary preservice teachers want to specialize in science teaching? And, how do the they narrate change in their identities following enrollment and through the progression of one or more courses? Using an identity lens, we find that discipline specific experiences and practice develops teachers' ability to see themselves as reformed-based elementary science teachers.