Professional Identity Development of Teacher Candidates Participating in an Informal Science Education Internship: A focus on drawings as evidence

Studying Science Teacher Identity

“…Mental modeling theory suggests that we hold representations in our minds to understand our experience (Norman, 1984). In previous research, we have used drawings to follow the changes in the mental models of pre-service teachers as they progress through their teacher preparations programs and into the field (Katz et al, 2013;Katz et al, 2010). We used the Draw-A-Scientist procedure for additional data to follow changes in the mothers' mental models of who does science, in what settings, and with what materials/investigations.…”

“…Yet, as we have stated in the introduction, it also has a distinct base that derives from a core aim of science education, that of enabling the development of scientifically literate pupils. In promoting scientific literacy, "the teacher has a vital role in helping students to understand these wider concepts of scientific literacy that 'frame' science education" (Katz et al, 2011(Katz et al, , p. 1170. One of these is focused on providing students with the skills and knowledge of professional scientists, enabling students to approach situations as scientists would; the other is focused on preparing students for science-related situations they may encounter as citizens, enabling them to make decisions about socio-scientific issues (Roberts, 2007).…”

Informal Science Contexts: Implications for Formal Science Learning

“…(Falk & Dierking, 1997, p. 216) Informal experiences with science through interaction with myriad resources outside of the school have become a vital source of curriculum enrichment. Partnerships between schools, scientists, and museums may offer rich and meaningful science learning opportunities for students and their teachers (Katz et al, 2011;Kisiel, 2005Kisiel, , 2006. Innovative models of school-museum partnerships have been developed to enhance student learning in science.…”

“…These principles focus on (a) building teachers' knowledge of the nature of science and its epistemological foundations; (b) deepening teachers' understanding of science concepts; (c) developing their pedagogical content knowledge; and (d) immersing teachers in real-world science problems and processes (Loucks-Horsley et al, 2003;NRC, 1999). Nonetheless, many science teachers experience a disconnect between the traditional instructional approaches used in their methods courses and those that they are expected to use in their classroom practice (Katz et al, 2011;Topcu, Yilmaz-Tuzuun, & Sadler, 2011;Riedinger et al, 2011).…”

Science Teaching Experiences in Informal Settings: One Way to Enrich the Preparation Program for Preservice Science Teachers

“…Informal science education contains various forms of out-of-school learning that are often socially constructed, self-motivated, voluntary, and guided by learners' needs and interests [2003]. These unique features of informal science education provide a nonthreatening and supportive environment that offers numerous benefits for science teacher preparation programs, including (a) improving preservice teachers' attitudes, interest, and curiosity in science [6,9,20], (b) facilitating preservice teachers to learn constructivist-based teaching practice and transformative teaching strategies [2,13,23], (c) enhancing preservice teachers' identities as science teachers [14], and (d) developing contemporary ideas about science teaching and learning [3]. Until now, however, little research has used the phenomenographic approach to understand preservice teachers' teaching experience in informal settings.…”