Science teacher education literature has emphasized the importance of prospective teachers' prior knowledge of their K-12 experiences as a key factor influencing their professional development as future science teachers. The purpose of the study was to identify the teaching practices in prospective teachers' prior knowledge of science instruction…

"Those who can't do, teach." This adage is common, perhaps because the general public does not fully understand what teachers do. Here, we describe our findings from a collaborative project, GIFT (Graduate Identity Formation through Teaching), in which STEM graduate students (GSs) taught science content to teacher candidates (TCs) and…

This study contributes to the growing body of research on the role of crosscutting concepts (CCCs) in three-dimensional teaching and learning by examining the complexity of elementary preservice teachers' (PSTs) knowledge for teaching related to CCCs. The researchers used qualitative methods to analyze PSTs' responses to a questionnaire about CCCs…

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is crucial for effective teaching, but it is a complex and implicit knowledge, especially in chemistry education. Therefore, this study explores the use of the LBCD (Learning by Collaborative Design) model to support PCK development among pre-service chemistry teachers. This study adopted a one-group…

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are revolutionary technologies extensively used in science education. However, there has been insufficient discussion of teachers' expertise in using VR/AR. This study explored how pre-service teachers use VR/AR technology in science education based on the technological pedagogical and content…

As the adoption rate of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) continues to rise in the United States, there is an increasing need for the development of high-quality instructional materials that reflect NGSS and effectively prepare teachers for its implementation. The NGSS aim to foster an understanding of three interconnected dimensions in…

Scientific practices describe behaviors scientists engage in while investigating the natural world. Educators should be aware of different science practice frameworks to better understand their students' progression for learning science practices across the K-20 spectrum. For example, a high school AP instructor would benefit from understanding…

Fostering students' scientific literacy is a key goal of science education, with understanding the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI) as a central component. Achieving this goal requires teachers to possess adequate knowledge in this area. However, assessments indicate that pre-service science teachers (PSTs) have not yet developed comprehensive…

One of the main objectives of science education is to produce students and, in general, a society that is scientifically literate. To achieve this objective, teachers across the different educational stages must work on science at school, so it is essential that students in education degrees reach scientific competence, but for this, it would be…

This qualitative, questionnaire and interview-based study explores how pre-service physics teachers think about the role that mathematics plays in the teaching and learning of physics at university and school level and whether these views change during their pre-service teacher education. Many of the pre-service teachers were aware of the complex…

While many recent curriculum reforms recognise the value of history of science (HOS) in science teaching, in-depth investigations into teachers' experiences of planning HOS-based science lessons have been rare. We present a case study of two groups of preservice science teachers (PSTs) who collaboratively planned high school science lessons using…

Developing knowledge about science instruction is critical for preservice teachers. This study explores how 79 elementary preservice teachers perceive the relevance and importance of assessment task scenarios designed to elicit information about content knowledge for teaching (CKT) about matter and its interactions--a foundational topic for…

Given the demand for anatomy instruction, it is imperative to understand the current cohort of anatomy teachers. This study aimed to delineate the demographic characteristics, academic backgrounds, and professional responsibilities of United States (U.S.) anatomy teachers. A survey was sent to teachers who were identified by their professional…

This study reports findings from an interview study with eleven teacher educators from a physics teacher training program in Finland. They represented the four training environments that students encounter during their education, i.e. the Department of Physics, the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, the Department of General…

Addressing student conceptions is crucial in science education. Therefore, teachers should be able to notice and interpret situations, in which student conceptions are part of the complex classroom interactions. This study analyzes the skills known as professional vision using an interpretivist research paradigm and a sociocultural perspective.…