Describes the experiences of Ethiopian science student teachers and considers factors affecting their professional development with regard to their practical work. Proposes ways in which the Ethiopian Ministry of Education might implement changes to practice in preservice teacher education in order to meet the objectives of new educational…

Explores factors related to preservice teachers' capacity to understand the learning cycle. Finds that understanding of the learning cycle was related to science teaching outcome expectancy, not to personal science teaching efficacy or to attitudes toward science. (Contains 32 references.) (Author/WRM)

Perceptions of mentors' practices related to primary science teaching from nine Australian universities (N = 331 final-year preservice teachers) were gathered through a literature-based instrument. Five factors that characterize effective mentoring practices in primary science teaching were supported by confirmatory factory analysis. These…

This study was conducted in a reform-based mathematics and science teacher education program in the USA, the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP). The goal of the undergraduate program was to prepare upper elementary/middle level specialists in mathematics and science. One significant aspect of the MCTP was the expectation that…

The purpose of this study was to examine what kinds of tensions, conflicts, and difficulties a prospective elementary teacher paid special attention to in the process of interacting with others to learn to teach elementary science during the internship year, and to describe how the novice teacher responded to and finally negotiated those tensions…

Given the important role of science teacher educators in developing science teachers' understandings of nature of science (NOS), this study explores 15 Turkish "prospective" science teacher educators' beliefs about NOS in the context of teacher education reform in Turkey. A reflection-oriented qualitative approach was adopted in the…

The study investigated the efficacy of prospective teachers authoring and using their own online learning designs as a means of creating links between theory classes and their teaching practicum. Trainee primary and secondary teachers adopted an exemplary, well-researched learning design to inform their own specific task designs, and used them in…

The goals of secondary preservice science teacher education are to prepare future science teachers with competency in both science content knowledge and science teaching ability. The study reported in this paper investigated the development of pedagogical content knowledge of three preservice chemistry teachers in Taiwan during one year of a…

It is not difficult to find information describing how enterprising teachers use telecommunications in their classrooms; however, it is very difficult to find studies describing how teacher education institutions can (or should) employ telecommunications. Two hundred and twenty nine students (all were enrolled in a methods/curriculum course) were…

The purpose of this study is to improve attitudes toward learning science and inquiry-based, science teaching through specially designed instruction in a science methods course for preservice teachers. Eighty preservice teachers over two terms elected to complete one of two projects as part of their science methods course. The "Discussions in…

This study explored secondary preservice science teachers' attempts to implement a constructivist approach to science teaching in a practicum setting. Described is the secondary science education program at St. Francis Xavier University. Interview excerpts are presented as data. Results indicated: (1) student teachers went through two…

This study was conducted to identify those variables that differentiate between those who choose to become teachers and those who have demonstrated competence in science and mathematics but do not choose to become teachers. Comparisons were made of the values and perceptions of career choices of all seniors in the college of education of the…

Meeting the needs of the nation for science teachers who can prepare future citizens for a technological world requires a new curriculum. Middle school science education spans all of the natural sciences and therefore a college program to prepare teachers for this kind of assignment should include a strong background in interdisciplinary science…

This study assessed the qualifications of biology, chemistry, and physics teachers, both from the perspective of their initial preparation and with regard to the type of certification they possessed. In particular, the Ohio Department of Education sought to determine what patterns of preparation must be followed at each of Ohio's teacher education…

The purpose of this study was mainly to: (1) assess the competencies of pre-service biology teachers in identifying and correcting student misconceptions about photosynthesis; (2) search for relationships which might exist between each competency and a set of four independent variables, namely, background knowledge about photosynthesis,…