Exploring the Design of Scaffolding Pedagogical Instruction for Elementary Preservice Teacher Education

Sneed

2019

EURASIA J MATH SCI T

Self Cite

Inquiry teaching in science education has been widely advocated for decades. It is a critical learning objective in many science teacher preparation programs. Despite its importance, it is not effectively implemented in science classrooms. One of the reasons is the lack of reliable and valid instruments that provide practical definition, concrete guideline, and objective assessment for the practice of inquiry teaching. To fill this gap, we designed a 3E rubric based on the 5E learning model as one specific form of inquiry teaching to measure preservice teachers' practice at different phases of a science lesson. In this study, we thoroughly introduced the 3E rubric and its use. Through drawing on 76 elementary pre-service science teachers' teaching videos, we analyzed its reliability and validity with the tools of Intraclass Correlation Coefficient, Fleiss' kappa, and Pearson correlation. According to the results, the 3E rubric is a reliable and valid tool to assess pre-service teachers' practical knowledge of inquiry teaching. The contributions of this rubric to the teaching and research in science teacher preparation are discussed and future research directions are proposed.Inquiry teaching is also being abused due to its loose definition. Crawford (2014) discusses five myths about inquiry teaching:Myth 1: All science subject matter should be taught through inquiry.Myth 2: True inquiry occurs only when students generate and pursue their own questions. Myth 3: Inquiry teaching occurs easily through use of hands-on or kit-based instructional materials.Myth 4: Student engagement in hands-on activities guarantees that inquiry teaching and learning are occurring.Myth 5: Inquiry can be taught without attention to subject matter. (p. 516)Those myths correspond to the inaccurately over-simplified definition of inquiry teaching criticized by Kirschner et al. (2006), which are also common problems PSTs experience when they first implement inquiry teaching. Those myths suggest that inquiry teaching should be framed as one candidate approach to science teaching (Myth 1) epitomized by minds-on rather than hands-on activities (Myths 2 -4) in the attempt to deepen students' conceptual understanding (Myth 5). Together, the guidelines above direct our work of designing the 3E rubric to evaluate PSTs' practical knowledge of inquiry teaching. The 3E Learning CycleIn this study, we derive a 3E rubric from the 5E model (Bybee et al., 2006). As outlined by Liu et al. (2009), this 5E model defines 5 phases of teaching:Engage: The teacher assesses students' prior knowledge and engages students in learning a new concept. The teacher also helps students make connections between prior and present knowledge and helps to organize students' thoughts about the learning outcomes of present activities.Explore: The teacher provides students with a common base of activities reflective of present concepts processes, and skills. Students complete activities by using prior knowledge to generate new ideas, to explore questions and possibilities, and ...

Section: Rq2 Validitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validating a 3E Rubric Assessing Pre-service Science Teachers’ Practical Knowledge of Inquiry Teaching

Sneed

2019

EURASIA J MATH SCI T

Self Cite

“…Analogously, this applies to (science) teachers' interest in science and their sciencerelated self-concept. Not surprisingly, quantitative studies have found that these three constructs are substantially correlated, yet distinguishable from one another (e. g., Feser, 2020;Findley-Van Nostrand & Pollenz, 2017;Wang & Sneed, 2019). Beyond that, qualitative research has shown that the lack of a sense of belonging to science among preservice teachers goes hand in hand with stronger feelings of alienation and detachment regarding the natural sciences (Danielsson et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the validity of a single-item instrument for assessing pre-service primary school teachers’ sense of belonging to science

Feser¹,

Plötz²

2023

Preprint

Current research indicates that pre-service primary school teachers’ sense of belonging to science is decisively related to their professionalization in teaching science. Nevertheless, because only very few studies have examined pre-service teachers’ sense of belonging to science so far, further research in this regard seems both reasonable and necessary. To this end, there is a need for instruments enabling a valid assessment of pre-service primary school teachers’ sense of belonging to science. However, existing sense-of-belonging-to-science instruments require a comparatively long time on task due to their significant number of items. Consequently, the applicability of these instruments within research is limited because surveys in educational contexts must often be brief and highly economical. The research we present in this paper aims to tackle this issue by examining on an exploratory level, whether and to what extent pre-service primary school teachers’ sense of belonging to science can be validly assessed using a single-item instrument. In doing so we report qualitative, as well as quantitative, findings that provide cogent evidence regarding the validity of our instrument. The implications of the present study for future research are outlined at the end of this paper.

“…On the other hand, studies (conducted in Germany) that address pre-service primary teachers' interest, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging regarding natural and/or social sciences are scarce (e.g., Beudels et al, 2021;Feser & Plotz, 2023;Lenzgeiger, 2022;Reichhardt, 2018;Wang & Sneed, 2019). Studies focusing on natural sciences have found that these affective-motivational orientations, although distinguishable, tend to be substantially correlated with one another (Feser & Plotz, 2023;Wang & Sneed, 2019). An analogous finding looms for social sciences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-Service Primary School Teachers Interdisciplinary Competence and their Interest, Self-Concept, and Sense of Belonging Regarding Natural and Social Sciences: Findings from a Longitudinal Study in Germany

Feser¹,

Michalik²

2023

iejee

In German primary schools, natural sciences and social studies are learned and taught in an integrative manner within a subject called Sachunterricht. To teach Sachunterricht in a high-quality manner, it is reasonable to assume that primary school teachers themselves require—among other things, such as knowledge about pedagogy, teaching Sachunterricht, and the various content areas of Sachunterricht—a distinct interest, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging regarding natural and social sciences. Furthermore, they should possess a solid interdisciplinary competence that enables them to teach natural and social sciences in an integrative way. In the present study, we conducted a longitudinal survey of pre-service primary school teachers from a German university over a period of 2 years to investigate the changes in their (self-evaluated) interdisciplinary competence; the changes in their interest, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging regarding natural and social sciences; and the correlations between these constructs. Our data analysis revealed a decrease over time in participants’ sense of belonging to natural and social sciences, as well as their (self-evaluated) interdisciplinary competence, while their academic self-concept in natural and social sciences remained stable. Participants’ interest in social sciences decreased, while their interest in natural sciences increased. Moreover, we found varying degrees of correlation between these constructs. In summary, the results of the present study provide important insights into the professional development of pre-service primary school teachers within university-based teacher education for teaching natural and social sciences in primary school. The implications of these findings are discussed in detail at the end of this paper.