Learning to teach primary science through problem-based learning

Alliance researchers agree that the selection of development partners in terms of the distance between their knowledge bases is critical. However, research results differ concerning the most effective distance between development partners’ knowledge bases. This paper strives for a more differentiated look at the knowledge base and, specifically, its content-related components. By drawing on theories of strategic alliances, innovation and knowledge-based view, we predict relations of knowledge distances of specific knowledge base components and innovation performance. We examined 53 development projects to determine the influence of development partners’ knowledge distance on innovation performance, focusing specifically on content-related knowledge base components. The findings reveal differences and suggest considering the distances of knowledge base components separately for partner selection. We highlight the implications for researchers and managers.

This study aimed to assess pre-service teachers’ knowledge base of teaching and the extent they perceive and reflect its implementation in a microteaching course. Employing mixed-methods design, the study involved pre-service teachers in a state university in Special Territory of Yogyakarta. The quantitative data were collected from a test on the pre-service teachers’ understanding of teacher knowledge base of teaching and a survey of their perceptions towards the implementation of teacher knowledge base of teaching in their microteaching practices. The qualitative data were gathered from the pre-service teachers’ reflections. The findings showed that despite the overall good test score average of the pre-service teachers’ knowledge base of teaching and the generally positive self-rating perceptions, the pre-service teachers’ limited and descriptive reflections did not sufficiently depict their actual implementation of teacher knowledge base of teaching in their microteaching practices.

Existing studies conducted on education have aimed to contribute to educational reforms by focusing mostly on students. Both in Turkey and throughout the world, further studies are required to analyze teachers in addition to students, particularly teachers' knowledge base needs further investigation. Educational research should not necessarily be associated only with those conducted by collecting data in the field. Meta-synthesis studies that offer general outlooks on previous studies are also required in the field of education. To address this gap in the literature, this article aims to analyze studies in Turkey that have investigated pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the field of mathematics education.The concept of pedagogical content knowledge was first introduced by Lee S. Shulman at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in 1985. Shulman (1986) argued that there was an imbalance between content knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge and that no relation had been established between these two types of knowledge; he described this deficiency as the missing paradigm. With an effort to eliminate this deficiency, Shulman (1987) defined PCK as the special combination of content knowledge and pedagogy. Shulman conceptualized PCK in two categories. The first category is the knowledge of teaching strategies and representations that suggest how to organize, represent, and adapt the subjects that are taught. The second category is the knowledge of students' subject understanding at different levels. These two components are the unique professional expertise of teachers who act as the bridge connecting content and pedagogical knowledge.Despite the fact that Shulman's conceptualization of PCK is considered a cornerstone in the literature, he was later criticized by scholars working in this field. Depaepe, Verschaffel, and Kelchtermans (2013) collected the criticisms directed at Shulman's PCK model under five categories. The first was the lack of a theoretical and empirical basis for the presence of PCK as a separate category in the knowledge base of teachers. The second was related to his static view of PCK as a type of factual knowledge that could be acquired and applied independently from the classroom context. The third criticism arose from the concern of researchers about the possibility of theoretically and empirically distinguishing PCK from content knowledge. The fourth was that Shulman conceptualized PCK in a very narrow framework under two categories. The fifth one relied on the argument that PCK cannot be normative, as it can vary according to culture.In accordance with the criticisms in the literature, several scholars from different subject areas restructured Shulman's PCK model in different ways in an attempt to clarify the borders between PCK and other types of knowledge. In this context, the first studies on PCK were conducted by Shulman's colleagues (Grossman, 1990; Marks, 1990). Grossman, one colleague of Shulman, expressed PCK, which Shulman had framed too narrowly, by widening it. Grossman (1990) divided PCK into four components: (a) knowledge of students' understanding, (b) knowledge of teaching strategies, (c) knowledge of teaching purposes, and (d) knowledge of curriculum. Grossman expanded Shulman's PCK model by adding knowledge of teaching strategies and knowledge of curriculum as separate components in PCK.Marks (1990), another colleague of Shulman, divided PCK into four components in light of his empirical study's findings: (a) knowledge of subject matter, (b) knowledge of students' understanding, (d) knowledge of teaching media, such as materials, books, and so on, and (d) knowledge of teaching processes. Marks argued that these four components were not independent from each other but that they intensively interacted with each other. He advocated his argument, expressing that a mathematics teacher, when deciding whether or not the examples of mathematical operations in a course book are sufficient, reflects to a certain extent his/her knowledge of media for content education, knowledge of teaching processes, and knowledge of students' content comprehension. …

Teachers’ academic self-concept is considered an important factor influencing their professional competence. Regarding primary science education, positive science (teaching) related self-concepts might encourage teachers to plan and teach ‘minds on’ experiment-based science lessons leading to deep learning processes. However, research on pre- and in-service primary teachers’ self-concepts and influencing factors, such as previous experimental experience, is scarce. Thus, this study investigates the impact of an experiment-based intervention on pre-service primary school teachers’ experiment-related self-concept and self-concepts on planning and teaching experiment-based lessons. The evaluation followed a quasi-experimental, longitudinal (pre-post) design with an experimental group of N = 158 pre-service primary teachers and a baseline group (N = 44), not attending the course. According to the results, pre-service teachers gained little to moderate experimental experience in school and studying at university. Besides, the pre-service teachers with a science major gained significantly more experimental experience than those with other majors during their time at the university. Significant, positive correlations were found between previous experimental experiences and the self-concepts examined in this study. While self-concepts did not change in the baseline group, they increased significantly in the experimental group. One reason for this could be the perception of competence, as the findings reveal positive correlations between changes in self-concepts and perceived experimental competence during the intervention. Regarding the impact of the variable ‘course format’ on reinforcing the self-concepts, participants of the intensive block format seem to have a slight advantage compared to pre-service teachers attending the traditional, weekly course format. Furthermore, the results indicate that the course is equally beneficial for pre-service teachers with and without a science major.

The study was designed to describe changes in preservice teachers’ images and perceptions of teaching and literacy as they engaged in collaborative learning experiences within the college classrooms as peers and in the elementary classrooms working with cooperating teachers and young children. Data were collected from students’ semantic maps of themselves as literacy teachers and accompanying narratives collected at three intervals throughout the course. Descriptive statistics used to analyze the data showed the preservice teachers’ initial images of literacy and literacy teachers and the transformations which took place throughout the semester. Among the findings were changes in their language from general to specific terminology, perceptions of children's influences on literacy teaching, and redefinition of the literacy teacher's role and knowledge base.

Pre-service english teachers’ perceptions of language assessment in a colombian language teacher education program

Self-efficacy beliefs that relate to teachers’ motivation and performance have been an important area of concern for preservice teacher education. Research suggests high-quality science coursework has the potential to shape preservice teachers’ science self-efficacy beliefs. However, there are few studies examining the relationship between science self-efficacy beliefs and science content knowledge. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to investigate changes in preservice teachers’ science self-efficacy beliefs and science content knowledge and the relationship between the two variables as they co-evolve in a specialized science content course. Results from pre- and post-course administrations of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument-B (Bleicher, 2004) and a physical science concept test along with semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and artifacts served as data sources for the study. The 18 participants belonged to three groups representing low, medium and high initial levels of self-efficacy beliefs. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance design was used to test the significance of differences between the pre- and post-surveys across time. Results indicated statistically significant gains in participants’ science self-efficacy beliefs and science conceptual understandings. Additionally, a positive moderate relationship between gains in science conceptual understandings and gains in personal science teaching efficacy beliefs was found. Qualitative analysis of the participants’ responses indicated positive shifts in their science teacher self-image and they credited their experiences in the course as sources of new levels of confidence to teach science. The study includes implications for preservice teacher education programs, science teacher education, and research.

Summary In light of the growing diversity in European and Slovenian schools, equity-centered plurilingual pedagogies have gained prominence across the political, educational, and scientific spectrum. This gives particular weight to this study, which aims to contribute to the understanding of the complexity of factors that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The concept of Linguistically Sensitive Teaching (LST) was used as a lens to study pre-service teachers’ perceptions of plurilingual pedagogies in their educational context. More specifically, the study aims to examine pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the relevance of plurilingual pedagogies for their future profession and their understanding of the teachers’ competence in regard to the implementation of plurilingual pedagogies in Slovenian schools. Data from 27 pre-service primary education teachers from the University of Ljubljana of the Faculty of Education were examined. Reflection prompts were used to stimulate and guide the critical engagement of participants within the context of LST: a video, a document, and a SWOT analysis template. The findings illustrate pre-service teachers’ awareness of the relevance and the benefits of plurilingual pedagogies for their profession and their understanding of the complexity of factors, specifically in relation to teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The study highlights how the reflections of pre-service primary education teachers can support the development of future pre-service teacher training within initial teacher education. As such, it has positive implications for developing teacher education to better respond to the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse classes in today’s schools.

This study arose from a desire to investigate initial teacher education for primary school mathematics teachers in Hong Kong. A conceptual framework for analyzing pre-service teachers’ mathematical knowledge and beliefs informed this qualitative investigation. The purpose of the study was to scrutinize both the cognitive and affective domains in mathematics teaching of pre-service primary teachers within the analytical framework. This paper seeks to capture three cases of Hong Kong pre-service primary teachers holding different views about mathematics teaching and learning as revealed by a beliefs survey. Their mathematical knowledge was examined along with a questionnaire, individual interviews, and an analysis of the lesson plans they provided. Through triangulation, it was found that these pre-service teachers’ beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning correspond to their pedagogical content knowledge to some extent. The results of lesson plan analysis were mostly consistent with those in the questionnaire and interviews although some of the interview data were inconsistent with the questionnaire results. Such inconsistency seemed to suggest that pre-service teachers’ reform-oriented mathematical beliefs were impacted by some traditional values such as Confucianism. Implications are discussed regarding the relationship between knowledge and beliefs in mathematics education as well as the theory of teacher competencies.

The lack of student engagement greatly influences the implementation of the learning process. This is very important because it refers to the pre-service teacher’s ability to manage the class so that it runs effectively and involves all students. This study explores the strategies pre-service teachers use to increase student engagement. This research was designed with a case study approach. Four pre-service EFL teachers were selected as participants in the research. In collecting data, the researcher used semi-structured interview techniques and observations through video recordings of teaching carried out by each participant. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that there were six strategies used to increase student engagement during teaching practicum, including measuring student engagement, establishing good communication between pre-service teachers and students, balancing structure and student autonomy through cooperative learning methods, promoting digital media as an innovation in the learning process, providing evaluation questions, and increasing the engagement of students with exciting activities. This study concludes with pedagogical implications for how pre-service teachers can use strategies to increase student engagement in English learning during teaching practicum.

Elementary education students enrolled in both science methods and social studies methods coursework implemented standards-based STS lessons during their clinical experience. Data were collected from preservice teachers, elementary/middle school students, and cooperating in-service teachers. Findings from each school group include (a) preservice teachers' content knowledge in science and social studies hindered their development of meaningful STS curriculum, (b) the STS curriculum development and implementation experience increased preservice teachers' anxieties, (c) interviews with elementary students after the STS learning suggest that they did achieve some understanding of science and social studies, and (d) cooperating in-service teachers' conceptualization of curriculum differed from the science and social studies professors' understanding.

This seminal paper is presented against the background of a “hands-off” approach to teaching visual arts in most of the Western world where visual arts education is often considered by the school community as peripheral to the real “mission” of education. Most scholars agree that the role of pre-service teachers in the twenty-first century is to develop creative thinking and action in children. However limited research has been conducted into this area of study. The basic aim of this study is to use arts-based research inquiry to investigate Australian primary pre-service teachers' situated knowledge, experiences, and implicit theories using empirical and interpretive data. In this small-scale arts-based research inquiry a mixed-method approach was developed using multiple case studies, a questionnaire, participant observations, semi-structured interviews and critical friends groups (collaborations with artists). In order to understand how “creativity” is fostered in pre-service teachers, artist-led intercultural “hands-on” workshops were used in both formal and informal settings. The data analysis revealed that pre-service teachers' visual arts practices are influenced mainly by inconsistent implicit theories on “creativity” and are often limited by access to the necessary skills and knowledge needed to effectively teach visual arts education. The study revealed that 80% of the cohort felt limited in their confidence to teach visual arts education indicating that they lacked the necessary prior knowledge needed to effectively teach visual arts education. These findings positively correlate with the qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted with twelve of the final-fourth year pre-service teachers who participated in the workshops. Some of the inhibiting factors discussed by pre- service teachers were inadequate initial teacher education and limited time to practice new “creativity” teaching approaches during their teacher training. In addition, the paper discusses future recommendations for researchers and policymakers about how to foster “creativity” through new approaches to learning and teaching within the primary educational framework.

ABSTRACTGlobal reforming driven by neoliberal ideas is today reshaping educational systems. This study explores how a national policy incentive, aimed at changing teacher education in Sweden, is transformed and realized into educational practice and how pedagogic discourses are operating in and through the primary teachers’ examination practice in Sweden. The aim is also to explore which competencies are legitimized and thus form the knowledge base for primary teachers. The study is conducted through a qualitative and quantitative, theoretically based, analysis of all examination tasks (n = 322) in the primary teacher education at a teacher education department located at one of Sweden’s largest universities. The qualitative software package Nvivo was used for the qualitative analysis and the statistical software SPSS was used for the quantitative analysis. The result shows that most examinations involve the examination of methodological/didactical knowledge related to teachers work in the classroom (out of horizontal knowledge structures) and that students lack opportunities to practice and show analytical skills, with vertical knowledge structures, in their examinations.

The purpose of the study was to compare the influence of dynamic geometry software activities and influence of the physical manipulatives and drawing activities on the spatial ability and van Hiele levels of pre-service primary school teachers in a geometry course. A quasi-experimental statistical design was used in the study. The participants were 61 pre-service primary teachers in the second year of their undergraduate program in the Department of Elementary Education at Afyon Kocatepe University. A total of 32 pre-service teachers (computer group) were trained in the dynamic geometry based activities and 29 pre-service teachers (physical-drawing group) were trained in the physical manipulative and drawing based activities. In order to determine the two groups of the pre-service teachers’ geometric thinking levels, the van Hiele Geometry Test and in order to determine the two groups of the pre-service teachers’ spatial ability, The Purdue Spatial Visualization Test was used as the pre-test and post-test. The results of the study showed that there was no difference on the post-test of the two groups related to the van Hiele levels and spatial abilities. Moreover, both groups have significantly higher achievement on the post-test compared to the pre-test.

Background: The development of primary pre-service teachers’ chemistry motivation and attitudes toward chemistry were examined in order to develop their science literacy using case-based learning. Students’ ideas were emphasized, real-life situations were discussed, and students could share their ideas and knowledge with peers; as a result, students were active in the learning process.Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of using case-based learning instruction to increase pre-service primary teachers’ chemistry motivation and improve their attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject.Sample: The subjects of this study consisted of 51 (20 female, 31 male) freshman primary pre-service teachers from an urban university in Turkey. The mean age of the primary pre-service teachers was 21.Design and methods: One group pre-test and post-test design was used. A chemistry motivation questionnaire and chemistry attitude scale were used for data collection. For the data analysis, two-way repeated measures of ANOVA and repeated measures MANOVA were conducted.Results: The results indicated that the mean of the attitude score after the treatment was significantly greater than the mean of the attitude before the treatment. The results also demonstrated that there is no significant difference between females and males. According to the results of the study, there is no significant difference between primary pre-service teachers’ chemistry motivation. However, some chemistry motivation constructs mean scores are greater after the treatment.Conclusions: In sum, it could be stated that case-based learning is helpful for the development of students’ chemistry motivation and attitudes toward chemistry.