This paper reports on one preservice teacher's use of the Inquiry-Application Instructional Model (I-AIM) to plan and teach an instructional sequence on photosynthesis to 5th-grade students. Analysis of the preservice teacher's planned and enacted instructional sequences and interviews shows that the preservice teacher was successful in leveraging…

Engaging children in scientific practices is hard for beginning teachers. One such scientific practice with which beginning teachers may have limited experience is scientific modeling. We have iteratively designed preservice teacher learning experiences and materials intended to help teachers achieve learning goals associated with scientific…

A science teacher educator returned to teaching adolescents after more than 10 years in the professoriate. We studied his beliefs, practice and daily use of inquiry pedagogy while implementing a reform-based curriculum. Reflection on practice was evidenced by a weekly journal, classroom observations and debriefings, and extensive interviews. Newly…

This study examines the self-efficacy of one preservice elementary school teacher (Kasey) during and after her participation in Science in Childhood Education--a 16-week, elementary preservice science methods course. The case study of this teacher is situated in the context of the class as a whole. This is accomplished through interviewing the one…

The purpose of this study was to describe the influence of constructivist classroom contextual factors in a life science laboratory and a traditional science classroom on elementary students' motivation and learning strategy use. The Constructivist Teaching Inventory was used to examine classroom contextual factors. The Motivated Strategies for…

There have been substantial reform efforts in science education to improve students' understandings of science and its processes and provide continual support for students becoming scientifically literate (AAAS, "Benchmarks for science literacy," Oxford University Press, New York, 1993; NRC, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996; NSTA,…

This study investigated contextual changes in perceptions of science teaching self-efficacy through pre-, post- and retrospective administrations of the Science Teaching Expectancy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B) among preservice elementary teachers when exposed to a science teaching methods course. Findings revealed that the number of postsecondary…

Two research questions are answered: how did teacher instructional skills develop during a whole school year? What is the influence of this development on the interactions between students during the co-operative learning moments? From the analysis, it appeared that the teachers' instruction changed from direct instruction to a more process and…

This study focused on the use of curriculum materials for three teachers who had enacted instructional sequences from the materials on multiple occasions. The study investigated how the teachers drew on the materials, what they understood about the curriculum resources, and how they connected their use of the materials to their observations of…

Studies show that extending students' mathematical thinking during whole-group discussions is a challenging undertaking. To better understand what extending student thinking looks like and how teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) supports teachers in their efforts to extend student thinking, the teaching of six experienced…

The purpose of this study was to better understand teacher tensions in professional development. The population under study was practicing mathematics teachers engaged in a week-long professional development institute. Data sources included observations, interviews, and teacher products (such as registration forms, surveys, journals, and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which six cognitive and attitudinal variables predicted pre-service elementary teachers' (N = 87) performance on line graphing. Predictors included reading comprehension and mathematics scores, logical thinking performance scores, as well as measures of attitudes toward science, mathematics…

The degree to which pre-service teachers learn biology is related to both motivational factors of self-regulation and factors regarding epistemological beliefs. At the same time, self-regulation and epistemological beliefs are also associated with one another. Based on this relationship, the purpose of this study was to investigate the…

This study examines a fifth grade science teacher's attempts at integrating engineering design using the construct of uncertainty. Collaborative action research served as a supportive mechanism to uncover and confront the teacher's uncertainties. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, reflections, classroom observations, lesson…

This study describes the development of an instrument to investigate elementary students attitudes toward science. As a result of the instrument development process employed, the finalized instrument consisted of 28-items separated into three dimensions. The instrument was found to exhibit acceptable ranges of internal consistency. Confirmatory…