Exploring TPACK among pre-service teachers in Australia and Israel

The ubiquitous nature of technology in the world has not yet translated into the ubiquitous use of technology to transform learning and teaching. Teachers lack the confidence and competence to integrate technology across a broad range of tools within a range of contexts. Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) has become a common framework to explore technology within teaching and teacher education. However, little research exists to explore the similarities and differences of TPACK between different teacher education programmes, within different countries or even different disciplines, especially in a secondary context. Using a self-report online survey, this study sought to compare and contrast TPACK results from pre-service teachers studying in secondary teacher education programmes in Australia and Israel. Findings suggest that TPACK is higher in Australia, and in both countries for those students who were aged over 26. There were no significant differences between gender and disciplines reported. The paper also discusses broad-scale implications for the future of research in TPACK.     

Self-efficacy for promoting EfS among pre-service teachers in Israel

Self-efficacy is a parameter capable of predicting change in teacher behavior. We designed a questionnaire to investigate self-efficacy for promoting Education for Sustainability (EfS), which includes pro-environmental behaviors and environmental attitudes, to answer the question: What characteristics of self-efficacy for promoting EfS among pre-service teachers allow promotion of EfS in the private and public spheres? Findings reveal that skill is the key predictor of self-efficacy in promoting EfS. The characteristics of a pre-service teacher with a high level of self-efficacy for promoting EfS included positive attitudes towards the environment, pro-environmental behaviors in the private and public spheres, and belief in the EfS course providing relevant skills for promoting EfS. Outside of the school, a high level of self-efficacy is characterized by pro-environmental behaviors in the private and public sphere. We conclude that EfS courses should emphasize skills as a key to increasing self-efficacy in promoting EfS.     

The team teaching experiences of pre-service science teachers implementing PBL in elementary school

The current phenomenological-qualitative case study examined the team teaching related experiences of 17 Israeli student teachers in the context of using the project-based teaching method in the course of their pedagogical practicum module conducted in elementary schools. The focus of the study was on participants’ experiences in terms of quality and content. Data collection methods included reflective reports and in-depth interviews. Data analysis was conducted using the qualitative method for content analysis. Findings of the study indicate that during team teaching, the student teachers underwent a process of four qualitatively different experiential stages, each of which is characterised by a unique set of experiences. There was also a qualitative difference at each stage between the experiences of student teachers who emerged with an overall positive assessment and those who emerged with an overall negative assessment of team teaching. The practical implications of the findings are discussed. This research contributes to the professional literature on the team teaching of science courses, and may serve to encourage educators to implement team teaching as part of student teachers‘ practicum involving a project based, student centred methodology.     

Teaching portfolios: Developing quality learning in pre-service science teachers

The premise that underlies the pre-service science teacher education program at Monash University is the need to focus on the nature of learning in ways that encourage student-teachers to reconsider their conceptions of learning and how this relates to their view of teaching. The purpose of teaching portfolios is to act as a prompt for student-teachers to reconsider these conceptions and as a way of helping them to better articulate their professional knowledge. The Science (Stream 3) student teachers construct a portfolio of teaching strategies, episodes, ideas, etc. that demonstrate how they see their role as science teachers. The portfolio is ungraded, openended and organised as a dynamic assessment task, not just a static end product. This paper reports on student-teachers' understanding of, and approach to portfolios as they come to understand its purpose and value. Specializations: chemistry and science education, technology and industry links with science curriculum Specializations: science education, reflection, curriculum and evaluation     

The effect of problem-based learning on the metacognitive awareness of pre-service science teachers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on the metacognitive awareness of pre-service science teachers. In the study, an experimental design with pre-test/post-test control group was used. A total of 51 junior pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The study was carried out over 10 weeks and within the scope of an environmental science course. During the study, lessons in the experimental group were processed using a PBL approach while lessons in the control group were processed using a traditional teaching approach. Data were collected through a personal information form and Metacognitive Awareness Inventory. Data were then analysed using PASW Statistics 18 (SPSS Inc.). The findings of the study revealed that PBL could be an effective intervention to promote metacognitive awareness towards procedural knowledge, planning and debugging. The results are discussed based on the findings of the study.     

Exploring pre-service primary teachers’ progression towards inquiry-based science learning

ABSTRACT

Background

An in-depth understanding of pre-service primary teachers’ progression towards teaching science through inquiry is critical for improving teacher education programmes and, ultimately, improving the quality of science teaching and learning in the classroom.     

Understanding the nature of science: A comparison of scientists and science teachers

Interpreting science in the culture is coming to be the responsibility of a science teacher. The author finds that some neophytes are prepareil.     

Analysing the socio-psychological construction of identity among pre-service teachers

A teacher’s representation of self is crucial in how they construct their identity. In this article, it is argued that pre-service teachers’ identities are intricately linked to their perceptions of the teaching profession. This paper explores the social construction of identity among pre-service teachers and the implications for professional identity. It focuses on pre-service teachers in Kenya. The findings presented here are primarily based on semi-structured interviews distributed among students enrolled in a Kenyan university. They highlight pre-service teachers’ difficulty in overcoming the negative perceptions of the profession and building positive identities of self as teacher. They also underscore the need for training programmes that take perceptions and representations of the teaching profession into account when formulating training curricula.     

Assessing the performance of Turkish science pre-service teachers in a TPACK-practical course

Education and Information Technologies - This study assesses the performance of Turkish science pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a TPACK-Practical Course that consists of the training course and...     

The impact of inquiry-based learning on the critical thinking dispositions of pre-service science teachers

ABSTRACT

In 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.     

SCI-LINK: An innovative project linking research scientists and science teachers

Summary The major purpose of the SCI-LINK Projects was to explore ways of linking research scientists and school science teachers. Not only did the project provide these teachers with a better understanding of scientific environmental research and recent findings, but it allowed them to develop activities and other instructional materials they could use in their classrooms. Leadership skills also were developed as evidenced by the Master Teachers that evolved and the many professional activities in which they have been engaged since the first institutes. Many things were done during the course of the project in order to make the process more efficient. These include assistance to scientists in making their presentations and field trips more effective and helping teachers with their writing and library skills. Also explored were the nature and format for the activities the teachers developed and how they can best be evaluated and disseminated. Positive feedback from teachers and the continued interest of research scientists to participate has led to another project patterned after the model used in the SCI-LINK Project. This second generation project, GLOBE-NET, also supported by the National Science Foundation, involves scientists and teachers in the development of instructional materials on global change. At least some of the efforts to improve science education should include scientists and teachers as partners. The model used in the SCI-LINK Project provides one way of doing so.     

Building resilience in pre-service teachers

This article examines the role that professional experiences (practicum) can play in building resilience in pre-service teachers. In particular it focuses on a learning communities model of professional experience with its emphasis on relationships and its attention to the complex and dynamic interactions between individuals and their ‘student teaching’ contexts. This article draws on a number of studies including evaluations of two cohorts of graduate Bachelor of Education (primary) students and a self-study based on the work of two university academics. Jordan's [2006. Relational resilience in girls. In S. Goldstein, & R. Brooks, (Eds.), Handbook of resilience in children. New York: Springer] model of relational resilience – with its characteristics of mutuality, empowerment and the development of courage – is used as a conceptual framework for illuminating some of the emerging insights from our work with the Learning Communities model.     

Integrating alternative assessment in a project-based learning course for pre-service science and technology teachers

This paper deals with a required methods course, based on the national curriculum of science and technology for junior high schools. The course participants are pre-service teachers who study towards a B.Sc. degree in education in science and technology parallel to their studies in one of the faculties of sciences or engineering. Working in small teams, the students carry out a project in a Project-Based Learning (PBL) environment. The final outcomes of the project are group and individual written reports, a portfolio, a multimedia presentation and a physical model. The research question was: what implementation issues and processes do higher education students encounter in a Project-Based Learning environment which involves an alternative assessment approach? Qualitative and quantitative tools for collecting data included ‘the participant as observer’ observations at the classroom, semi-structured interviews with students, questionnaire, and analysis of students' reports and products. The findings relate to the advantages of PBL from the students' point of view, the challenges students experienced and perceived while conducting their projects, and the benefits students may gain from formative assessment.     

Educating science teachers in the twenty-first century: implications for pre-service teacher education

Abstract

This study examines the verbal interactions among a group of pre-service teachers as they engaged in scientific discussions in a medicinal chemistry course. These discussions were part of the course that encompassed an explicit instruction of scientific argumentation structures as well as an applied component, whereby the pre-service teachers learned the content of medicinal chemistry through cases developed using the strategy of competing theories. By adopting a case study approach using sociocultural framework of learning, we examined the interactions between the pre-service teachers using video data. We describe 12 possible forms of interactions during discussions – (1) seeking clarification, (2) figuring out loud, (3) sharing information, (4) agreement, (5) asking questions, (6) providing explanations, (7) raising strategic and procedural issues, (8) stating claims, (9) disagreement, (10) sharing perspectives, (11) offering alternatives, and (12) persuasion. The pre-service teachers engaged in figuring out aloud and seeking clarifications frequently, and used persuasion least in their discussions. To clarify their ideas and thoughts, pre-service teachers commonly rebut their counterparts and used warrants to support their own assertions. A similar pattern was also observed when figuring their thoughts out loud. Our findings suggest that pre-service teachers were able to carry out rebuttals in the argumentation process. However, the quality and function of their rebuttals can be improved by deepening their understanding of the subject matter knowledge and the science argumentation structure. Implications are discussed.     

Use root cause analysis teaching strategy to train primary pre-service science teachers

This study examined the Root Cause Analysis （RCA） teaching strategy on pre-service primary science teachers and instinct pre-service teachers to apply RCA teaching strategy to science curriculums. RCA Teaching Strategy is to coordinates 5 Why Method and Fishbone Diagram. The participants included 18 pre-service primary science teachers and the training courses for 4 hours a week and lasted for 18 weeks. The result shows that pre-service primary science teachers are gradually familiar with RCA teaching strategy and can apply it to science curriculums from microteaching classroom observation and teaching-portfolios. For example, in The Influence of Heat on Materials unit, the fifth grade students observed the balloon on the PET bottle soaked in water swelled. Students would brainstorm all causes of balloon swelled with 5-W method, and draw fishbone diagram together. Finally, they found the root cause with Root Cause Analysis.     

Thai pre-service science teachers engaging action research during their fifth year internship

As a key element in teacher education programmes, action research is a learning process in which pre-service teachers inquire, reflect on and improve their teaching practices. This qualitative study sought to understand what enhanced or hindered Thai pre-service teachers' action research projects during their student teaching. This study drew upon written reflections, focus-group interviews and observations of seminar sessions. Data analysis was inductive, involving categorical aggregation followed by a search for correspondence and patterns. The results indicated that the pre-service teachers misunderstood action research, and also held a negative attitude toward it, both of which led them to superficial analyses of practice. They struggled with time limitations, data gathering and interpretation strategies. In spite of the struggles they experienced, these pre-service science teachers did learn more about the action research through collaboratively working with cooperating teachers and university supervisors and on-campus seminar discussions held concurrently with the fifth year internship. Recognizing and understanding the reasons and thinking patterns at the root of these teachers' difficulties with learning about action research can form the basis for reflecting on and rethinking the components of science teacher preparation programmes in Thailand.