Fermi problems are real-context estimation tasks that are suitable for introducing open-ended problems in primary school education. To ensure their effective introduction in the classroom, teachers must have adequate proficiency to deal with them. One of the key aspects of problem-solving proficiency is flexibility, but there are few studies on…

The aim of this study is to assess future primary school teachers' learning outcomes, their achievement goals, support for the development of their creative competence and the appropriate methodological and technological processes that take place. The data was analyzed using a mixed research approach. The participants of the study are 160 students…

Over the past 20 years, teacher professional learning as been reconceptualised as a process that is initiated during pre-service preparation but which continues in the form of job-embedded and collaborative learning activities. Researchers have mapped the range of professional learning activities employed in selected Western and Asian societies.…

This design research study describes how one mentor teacher-teacher candidate dyad co-learned to promote student engagement and participation through using a "Collaborative Learning Structure" (CLS) tool that we are developing. We share how the dyad used the CLS, with support from a professional development facilitator and fellow…

This study aims at characterizing elementary pre-service teachers' conscious lack of knowledge about familiar technical artefacts and its relation to their knowledge about these artefacts. The participants were asked to state what they knew and also what they did not know about a sample of familiar technical artefacts such as a fan or a lock. The…

Proficiency in solving mathematical problems is essential for preservice elementary teachers, as they will teach foundational math concepts and foster problem-solving abilities among young learners. However, many studies found low problem-solving performance among preservice teachers. In line with this, the present study examined how…

A 12-episode constructivist teaching experiment with two pairs of elementary preservice teachers was conducted to examine how they reason distributively and proportionally. Specifically, I studied how prospective teachers reason with ratios as multiplicative comparisons. Prospective teachers solved different problems in one specific context (Step…

Inquiry as a strategy for science teaching has become widespread in the classroom and has various applications. But whether teachers are sufficiently trained to carry it out in pre-university classrooms would need to be determined. The objective of this study is to determine the inquiry knowledge of preservice primary teachers and their ability to…

Critically conscious care theories provide a framework for teacher candidates to name, analyze, and challenge structural injustice within and beyond the classroom during their teacher education. To support teacher candidates' enactment of such a critically conscious praxis in the postpandemic era, teacher educators must understand how teacher…

Learning to plan modeling-based investigations (MBIs) presents significant challenges for pre-service elementary teachers. Although they understand disciplinary core ideas and modeling practices, they address both as competing learning goals and, as novices, they have not experienced how to structure MBIs for their future students. In the context…

Background: National and international assessments show South Africa's underperformance in mathematics. As many learners already fall behind in the early grades, where foundational number sense should be established, addressing the challenges of number sense in the Foundation Phase (FP) is important. Research recognises the need to better develop…

This paper presents the lived experience of a practitioner researcher working as a teacher educator engaging in action research with primary pre-service teachers (PSTs). Aligning with the work of Cook (2009) ['The Purpose of Mess in Action Research: Building Rigour Though a Messy Turn.' "Educational Action Research" 17 (2): 277-291] this…

This paper reports the results of a study conducted in an elementary education mathematics methods course aimed at increasing elementary preservice teachers' (EPTs) level of professional noticing. Weekly reflections conducted by EPTs from tutoring sessions were video recorded and scored using the Framework for Learning to Notice Student…

A modern specialist's ability to self-educate is a valuable professional quality. Education has been given the essential responsibility to develop the learners' readiness for self-education (RSE). However, university students experience difficulties organizing and implementing self-educational activities. The study's goal is to investigate the…

Our case study analyzed preservice teachers' (PTs') critical dispositions and alignment or resistance to critical literacies and race-visible discourse. In a virtual reading methods course at a large public university, a diverse cohort of twenty-two PTs recursively discussed self-selected multimodal texts utilizing synchronous and asynchronous…