This meta-analysis reports on the use of practitioner inquiry (PI) with early program teacher candidates in conjunction with elementary science and math methods courses using cognitive load theory as a theoretical framework. The findings suggest that the teacher candidates enhanced their knowledge of practice within practice across 5 dimensions of…

This article describes a two-day lesson in which fifth-grade students took on the role of marine biology scientists, using their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to explore human impact on the blue crab ecosystem. The purpose of "Crabby Interactions" was to help students understand the impact of human activities on the local…

Given the recent media attention on the public's shift in opinion toward being more skeptical about climate change, 154 preservice teachers' participated in an intervention in an elementary science methods course. Findings indicated that students developed a deeper level of concern about climate change. Their perceptions on the evidence…

This qualitative, sociocultural study examines how teacher preparation programs may have deliberate impact on science reform by unearthing the complex layers of diversity inherent in the contextual reality of education. This study was conducted in one of the largest school districts in the Southeastern United States, serving a predominately…

This study aimed at examining the predictors of quality of science fair (SF) projects in the light of pre-service teachers' evaluation of SF rubric' domains. These projects were selected by judges in A city for the A Regional Exhibition of Science and Mathematics Project Study for Primary School Students: The SF projects were evaluated by thirty…

Pedagogical competence and teaching efficacy significantly influence the quality of classroom science learning. Without applying pedagogical learning in realistic classroom environments, there is slight possibility that prospective teachers will increase their teaching confidence or develop understanding of how learners acquire and construct…

This study has been carried out to identify the relationship between the epistemological beliefs of student teachers and their metacognitive perceptions about the nature of science. The participants of the study totaled 336 student teachers enrolled in the elementary science education division of the department of elementary education at the…

The Environmental Studies curricular area, taught at primary school level in Portugal, is a challenging context for curricular interdisciplinarity and the achievement of small-scale research and creative and innovative experiences, inside and outside the classroom. From that assumption, we present, under the master course of primary teacher…

This self-study investigated how one teacher educator influenced his final-year pre-service teachers perceived primary science classroom learning environment. The study utilized the Nature of Science as Argumentative Questionnaire (NSAAQ) and regularly scheduled focus group interviews. These tools investigated how the learning environment the…

This article discusses the key components of a reform-based introductory undergraduate environmental science course for nonscience majors and elementary teacher candidates as well as the impact of such components on the participants. The main goals for the course were to actively engage the students in their learning and, in doing so, to enhance…

This qualitative exploratory study investigated practicing and pre-service elementary teachers' representations of the nature of matter and the ways in which those representations were transformed into teaching representations. Seven practicing elementary teachers from a rural elementary school and five pre-service elementary teachers were…

This study investigate the effectiveness of adding an "explicit general problem solving teaching strategy" (EGPS) to guided inquiry (GI) on pre-service elementary school teachers' ability to solve heat transfer problems. The pre-service elementary teachers in this study were enrolled in two sections of a chemistry course for pre-service…

The current review examined modeling literature in top science education journals to better understand the pedagogical functions of modeling instruction reported over the last decade. Additionally, the review sought to understand the extent to which different modeling pedagogies were employed, the discursive acts that were identified as important,…

This study explores the impact of a semester-long science methods course examining pre-service elementary teachers' views on the nature of science (NOS). Also examined were NOS characteristics that pre-service teachers incorporated into their science lesson plans and peer teachings, during the course. Data used for this study were obtained from 21…

Science is a complex process, and we must not teach our students overly simplified versions of "the" scientific method. We propose that students can uncover the complex realities of scientific thinking by exploring the similarities and differences between solving the familiar crossword puzzles and scientific "puzzles."…