This paper is concerned with the issue associated with final-year Natural Science pre-service teachers’ lesson design abilities. This paper reports how the implementation of a lesson study approach served as an intervention to support the lesson preparation abilities of pre-service teachers during a work-integrated learning (WIL) process. The case study generated rich qualitative data from multiple sources such as e-mail communications, WhatsApp responses, video capturing, and focus group team discussions. Couched within the critical emancipatory theory, the study found that the planning and preparation of innovative and inclusive Natural Science lessons are inseparably associated with the collaborative practices and interaction that existed among the team of pre-service teachers. The accommodative and engaging nature of the lesson study sessions empowered pre-service teachers to share their diverse subjective experiences and contextual ideas, which were pivotal to the generation of knowledge and design of Natural Science lessons. Consequently, the lesson study approach not only affected the pre-service teachers’ lesson design abilities but also better positioned them for the WIL experience.

The study aimed to describe how a team of final-year pre-service teachers followed the process of improvisation to develop and utilise improvised science-teaching models during a teaching practicum experience. Guided by a conceptual understanding of the process of improvisation, this purposeful qualitative case study sought to respond to a series of research questions. These research questions are: “What are the issues that necessitate the need to develop science-teaching models for a teaching practicum experience?”, “How could the process of improvisation enable Natural Science pre-service teachers to develop improvised science-teaching models for a teaching practicum experience?” and “To what extent do the Natural Science pre-service teachers utilise the improvised science-teaching models in their teaching practicum?” Data collection methods such as spontaneous free-response e-mail communications, a focus-group discussion, and the use of photo-voice methodology yielded rich empirical data. The findings revealed how the Natural Science pre-service teachers ultimately engaged with the improvisation principles to develop improvised science-teaching models from low-cost and recycled materials. The paper further describes how the improvised science-teaching models were introduced in the pre-service teachers’ Natural Science lesson delivery as part of a model-based teaching approach. Findings from the study suggest that initial teacher education programs render environmental and contextual consciousness in shaping pre-service teachers for the diverse schooling contexts. The study further suggests that initial teacher education programs be intentional towards structuring module course material to make the skill of improvisation accessible to pre-service teachers as part of their teacher development.

The expectation is that pre-service teachers that are specializing in the teaching of primary school natural science, ought to make use of teaching approaches that will allow them to engage learners in a joyful yet meaningful science learning experience. One such teaching approach to be considered is regarded as board game-based teaching. This paper investigated how natural science pre-service teachers experienced the development of educational science board games. This study draws on a conceptual understanding of gamebased education, which allows for the integration of topics within board game mechanics, board game aesthetics and board game thinking. This qualitative case study considered a focus-group discussion and photo-voice methodology as data collection techniques to capture the pre-service teachers' experiences on the development of educational science board games. Findings from the study revealed how their engagement in the development of educational science board games had an impact on their personal skill development, their professional teacher development, their development of pedagogical content knowledge, as well as their development of applicable assessment methodology that relates to the teaching of the subject natural science. On the other hand, issues surrounding the learning objectives, the complex design processes, and the lack of relevant materials available to develop the educational science board games were viewed in a less positive light. Findings from the study suggest that science teacher education programmes should be intentional in shaping pre-service teachers' skills to develop educational board games that would complement the quality of their science teaching practice.

This paper investigated how graduating Natural Science pre-service teachers were able to integrate the principles of Transformative Pedagogy in their lesson-plan designs. The study draws on the theoretical tenets of Transformative Pedagogy, a form of pedagogy that combines social constructivism and critical theory, in order to teach for equity and equality. The study was qualitative in nature; it and made use of a documentary analytical method to respond to the primary research question: how do graduating Natural Science pre-service teachers integrate the principles of Transformative Pedagogy in their lesson-plan designs? To respond to this primary research question, descriptive text that derived from the purposely selected sample of lesson-plan designs of the pre-service teachers was analysed. An analysis of the three-lesson plan designs revealed that the principles of Transformative Pedagogy, namely the “prompting of learners’ critical consciousness about social issues”, “the existence of open-dialogue amongst learners” and “learners’ engagement in educational collaborative practices” were thoughtfully considered and integrated within the lesson-plan designs. Based on the findings, this study holds a series of implications for future research in the scholarship of pre-service teacher development, especially in the field of science education. Given the ideals of Transformative Pedagogy, future research could focus on the capability of pre-service teachers to infuse the principles of Transformative Pedagogy in other science-related school subjects, such as Physical science and Chemistry teaching. Future research could also perhaps explore how pre-service teachers experience the integration of Transformative Pedagogy in their lessons.

The promise stem cell therapy holds for curing diseases for which no therapy currently exists is often translated as fact. Unfortunately, enforced misconceptions between fact and promise often also translate into exploitation and harming of patients. This article aims to clear up misconceptions about the biological promise and legal consequences of insisting on promises not based on scientific facts.