Knowledge and Use of the Science Practices from a Content Course to Student Teaching: A Study of Preservice Elementary Teachers

Abstract

The National Research Council developed a framework for science education that has become an important element in current reform efforts in science education. A major component of this framework is a set of science practices meant to be integrated with disciplinary core ideas to provide students authentic learning experiences. To better understand the connection between science practices and teaching, this study examines the knowledge and use of the practices by a group of preservice elementary teachers. While many studies have researched the practices individually or in small sets, few have looked at the practices holistically. Those that have, examined preservice teachers’ knowledge and teaching either in their methods course, or a little beyond that into their first years of teaching. This dissertation addresses this gap by looking at several science practices and tracking a group of preservice elementary teachers’ engagement, knowledge, and teaching with the science practices from a physics course, through a methods course, and into student teaching. Using qualitative methods, this longitudinal study draws on lab work, participant generated lesson plans, interviews, and videorecords of teaching enactments to understand the preservice teachers’ experiences and knowledge. This study follows nine participants drawn from a group of 30 preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a science methods course and who took physics either that academic year or the year before. Four of the nine continued with the study into their student teaching. To evaluate the participants’ engagement, knowledge, and use of the practices in teaching, I developed a set of rubrics to determine their level of sophistication. The participants engaged in the practices at a novice level, which was consistent with their prior experiences. For every practice, the participants understood the practices with more sophistication than they were able to engage in them. This suggests that their knowledge of the practices did not constrain their engagement. The participants’ lesson planning and teaching sophistication scores were a measure of how appropriately they incorporated the practices into their lessons, aligned the practices with the subject matter, and considered the age and grade level of their students. From the beginning to the end of the study, the participants’ sophistication in planning and teaching increased for three of four practices. These findings suggest that teacher educators should consider the experiences their preservice teachers have had with the science practices. For example, many preservice elementary teachers have had few experiences with modeling, especially designing their own models. Their experiences with modeling in the physics course likely increased their knowledge of the practice, and while they did not use it often in their teaching, they did so at a strong level. Second, teacher educators should consider the possible positive effects that content courses can have when they are included within the contextual discourses of the teacher preparation program. This is especially true for elementary programs that are already pressed for time. The preservice teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the practices can influence how they teach with the practices. For example, if they have a limited understanding of a practice (e.g., Data Analysis & Mathematical Thinking), they might use the practice less often with their students, or they could overestimate the abilities of their students with a practice based on their own knowledge and experience with the practice.