Discusses an innovative process that was used for engaging prospective teachers in collaboration and reflection on their learning as they developed a multi-media portfolio. (Contains 15 references.) (WRM)

This study's purpose was to determine whether science teaching self-efficacy beliefs among new teachers of elementary science interact significantly with teaching environments in their schools. The study hypothesized a mechanism by which environments can interact with self-efficacy and, consequently, affect the quality of science teaching. The…

A study was performed to describe and analyze the conceptions about teaching and learning science held by different samples of teachers in Spain. The responses of 265 teachers (107 prospective teachers and 158 active teachers) to items from the Inventory of Scientific and Pedagogical Beliefs (Porlan, 1989) were subjected to multifactorial…

This study, based on constructivist learning theory, examined how effectively preservice chemistry teachers (N = 43) can be educated to think flexibly and to reorganize their thinking in a way that may complement diverse ways students approach the subject domain. The teacher's cognitive structure was assessed prior to and after a conceptual change…

Despite the apparent lack of universally accepted goals or objectives for elementary science methods courses, teacher educators nationally are autonomously designing these classes to prepare prospective teachers to teach science. It is unclear, however, whether science methods courses are preparing teachers to teach science effectively or to…

This paper describes two professional development institutes in project-based science. We collected data from these institutes in the form of structured questionnaires, individual written reflections by the teachers, and focus-group interviews. An analysis of the data revealed three factors that had been underrepresented in previous research:…

The use of an inquiry framework to support the development of learners' scientific literacy has been supported by research on learning in science and advocated by the major science standards and policy documents. To fully engage in inquiry, however, a wide range of tools, including both activities and texts, must be employed. The successful…

The purpose of this study was to examine middle childhood students' perceptions of the learning environment in a reform-based physics course. A lecture-style, introductory physics course was modified into an inquiry-based course designed for preservice middle childhood teachers through the collaborative efforts of faculty in the Colleges of…

The purpose of this research was to enhance self-efficacy beliefs, chemistry content, and pedagogical content knowledge of middle grades teachers by incorporating specific design elements into professional development. This study analyzed the influence of program design on achieving gains in personal science teaching self-efficacy, outcome…

Coteaching as a form of situated learning supports early induction into science teaching. A coteaching model for secondary science methods students and what has been learned from this model is described. Secondary science methods students in pairs were placed with a science teacher to begin teaching as peripheral participants. A cooperative…

The development of new courses is strengthened by assessment and a response to the assessment. Two new science methods courses for elementary and secondary preservice teachers were developed, fostered by the Great Salt Lake Project. The preservice teachers designed and performed research projects that they then converted into inquiry-based…

Cohorts and expanded field experiences are two structures intended to promote reflective thinking in preservice teacher education programs. In this paper, two science methods classes are compared. One class had expanded field experiences and was organized as a cohort. The second was a more traditionally structured class that was not in a cohort…

Because various definitions of inquiry exist in the science education literature and in classroom practice, elementary science methods students and instructors face dilemmas during the study of inquiry. Using field notes, instructor anecdotal notes, student products, and course artifacts, science methods course instructors created fictional…

Teaching is a complex task shaped by many external and internal influences, including the beliefs held by individual teachers. This study sought an understanding of the impact of field experiences on the beliefs developed by preservice science teachers. The participants were students in an undergraduate science education methods course that…

This study investigated elements of pedagogical knowledge when students' higher order thinking was an explicit and focused instructional goal. The findings suggest a model that consists of 6 elements. It seems that, for all these elements, the source of differences between teachers' various pedagogies may be tracked to the basic distinction…