scholarly journals Shifting the Teaching Beliefs of Preservice Science Teachers About Socioscientific Issues in a Teacher Education Course

Author(s):  
Jessica Shuk Ching Leung
2021 ◽  
pp. 209653112096678
Author(s):  
Guihua Zhang ◽  
Yuanrong Li ◽  
George Zhou ◽  
Sonia Wai-Ying Ho

Purpose: The Nature of Science (NOS) is an important component of scientific literacy. Science teachers’ Views of the Nature of Science (VNOS) directly affect their teaching behaviors. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore science teachers’ VNOS and find ways of improvement. This study was designed to comparatively investigate preservice science teachers’ VNOS between China and Canada. Design/Approach/Methods: The study employed a survey design to explore how Chinese and Canadian preservice science teachers understood the seven different aspects of NOS. Findings: Data showed that preservice science teachers in China and Canada both hold a modern view about science education. The level of Chinese and Canadian participants’ understanding of NOS was above the relatively naive level. Chinese teachers had better macro-understanding toward science education but their micro-mastery was insufficient. While the Canadian participants had a better understanding of the NOS than their Chinese counterparts. Originality/Value: Based on the research results and the experience of science education and teacher education in Canada, we suggested that there is a need to reconstruct the preservice science teacher education curriculum in China and promote the transformation in the science teacher educational system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-201
Author(s):  
Ahmet Altindag ◽  
Hunkar Korkmaz Korkmaz

The goals of this descriptive study were to determine Turkish preservice science teachers’ views on an ideal teacher education system. The sample consisted of 137 preservice teachers including 74 females and 63 males. The questionnaire was based on the open-ended questions and was developed to investigate an ideal teacher education system components as perceived by the preservice science teachers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The results of this study shown that the Turkish preservice science teachers defined an ideal teacher education system components in the following: the personality of the teachers, the teacher educators as possessing professional knowledge, teacher education curriculum, and professional development process. These results and implications are discussed in the context of increasing expectations for demanded highly qualified teachers under provisions of the teacher education studies.   Keywords: Teacher Education; Primary Science Teachers; Ideal Teacher Education


Author(s):  
Samia Khan ◽  
Moritz Krell

AbstractIn this study, we analysed the scientific reasoning competencies of preservice science teachers from a Canadian sample at the beginning and end of a science teacher education methods course. The course contained standard topics, such as the nature of science, assessment, and unit and lesson planning in science. The preservice science teachers were asked to reason about two types of problems in a validated pre- and post-questionnaire: investigatory-process problems and problems regarding modeling. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that the course significantly contributed to the development of preservice science teachers’ competencies for those who had two previous degrees compared with those that did not. Furthermore, a greater proportion of teachers were deemed highly competent at planning investigations and testing models than the more generative dimensions of scientific reasoning, such as formulating questions and generating hypotheses. Implications for science teacher education internationally and the movement towards competency-based curricula are put forward.


Author(s):  
Bahadır Namdar ◽  
Burak Aydin ◽  
Sara Raven

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of media literacy and attitudes towards socioscientific issues as two major predictors of informal reasoning. A sample of 208 preservice science teachers completed an open-ended informal reasoning questionnaire on hydroelectric power plant issue, media literacy level determination scale, and attitudes towards socio-scientific issues scale. In this study, descriptive research method was used. We used both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the data. Results indicated that the participants frequently used ecological-oriented arguments. The participants least used health-oriented arguments. Regarding reasoning qualities, the participants typically created supportive arguments, rather than counterarguments and rebuttals. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed validity and reliability evidence consistent with previous research. Multiple regression analyses revealed that perceived level of media literacy predicted informal reasoning. However, attitudes towards socioscientific issues did not explain informal reasoning. We offer implications for science teacher education programs.


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