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.Purpose: This study set out to describe and analyse the progression of pre-service primary teachers' learning during an initial teacher education course on how to teach science through inquiry. There was a specific focus on the progression of learning in the area of curriculum content as a component of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Method:The sample consisted of 347 pre-service primary teachers grouped into 92 teams. As part of their pre-service training, they were designing science teaching proposals as part of the course on teaching science through inquiry. An analysis was conducted to explore the content of the designs created by these teams, both at the beginning and end of the course. Data were analysed qualitatively, using an interpretative approach informed by grounded theory. Findings:The analysis identified that most of the teachers progressed in their learning throughout the course, although only 14 of the teams progressed in all categories. It was possible through the analysis to determine intermediate levels of learning, between the starting level and the highest level of PCK. The analysis also indicated that the change paths of each team were very different. Discussion and Conclusions:Our study suggested that it was possible to analyse the professional learning and knowledge of the pre-service primary teachers in terms of progression in their learning of how to teach science through inquiry. Identifying progression in learning is complex and nuanced. However, we believe that this endeavour is an important underpinning research activity in order to support improvement in initial teacher education in primary science.

The research indicates the importance of learning about our natural environment from an early age to train scientifically literate and environmentally responsible citizens. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of a group of 120 primary school children regarding the biodiversity of their nearby environment (Andalusia, Spain) based on their drawings. For this, we used a qualitative methodology that focused on the analysis of the content. We analyzed the content of each drawing, complemented with written questions and an interview. The different environmental elements (natural, geological, and anthropic) of the children’s drawings were identified and analyzed. The results show how children perceive the biodiversity (plants and animals) of their nearby environment and their low knowledge of the concept of the environment as a system. Likewise, this study allowed for the definition of a series of emerging categories as an instrument of analysis that will serve as the basis for the design of appropriate strategies to improve initial teacher training in regard to science education.

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El cambio de las concepciones y emociones sobre la enseñanza a través de ciclos de mejora en el aula Porlán

En este trabajo se analiza la evolución de las concepciones sobre los contenidos de 16 docentes universitarios de ciencias, cuando realizan ciclos de mejora en el aula en un curso de formación. Para ello, se ha utilizado un cuestionario inicial de preguntas abier-tas y un informe final público sobre su práctica docente. La metodología utilizada ha sido de tipo cualitativa y basada en el análisis del contenido de ambos instrumentos. Los resultados indican que el desarrollo profesional alcanzado es significativo y se orienta hacia una visión de los contenidos coherente con una enseñanza centrada en el estudian-te y en el aprendizaje, aunque de diverso grado según las dimensiones analizadas. Tam-bién permiten proponer una hipótesis de progresión del conocimiento docente del profe-sorado universitario de ciencias en relación con los contenidos, que oriente las estrategias formativas.