Scholars have advocated for more environmental education (EE) within elementary preservice teacher education through science methods courses as elementary preservice teachers have consistently demonstrated limited environmental literacy. This is critical as environmental issues continue to threaten our world, preservice teachers must demonstrate…

This study explored the use of digital notebooks in an elementary science methods course to encourage teacher candidates (TCs) to think critically about and reflect on important aspects of elementary science teaching. Framed within John Dewey's experiential education and the application of this work to science education, we examined how TCs…

The classic silver mirror reaction at room temperature in textbooks usually used glucose to react with silver nitrate and ammonium nitrate with the presence of caustic alkalis. But the aldehydes such as acetaldehyde and propionaldehyde were difficult to react under the same condition. In this paper, Na[subscript 2]CO[subscript 3] was used to…

This case study explores the integration of children's literature in science education, with a focus on engaging preservice teachers in a science methods course to select, locate, design, and implement the integration of children's literature in their instructional practices. Sixty-four elementary preservice teachers in an initial teacher…

In "Making Sense of Sensemaking," readers will learn how to navigate the journey from traditional teaching to a dynamic, student-centered approach that emphasizes understanding over rote learning. Grounded in the latest educational research and aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), this book provides practical…

Computational thinking (CT) has the potential to enhance learning when integrated into mathematical classroom activities. Teachers are being asked to include CT concepts in their core disciplines; however, there is an open question as to how best to equip teachers to integrate CT into their practice. Oftentimes teacher candidates enter math and…

This study examined how five minoritized female pre-service teachers negotiated their border crossing from learning to teach science to science teaching for the first time (microteaching) within the context of an elementary science teaching methods course. Perspectives from the border crossing literature guided this study and helped in addressing…

Teacher candidates kept journals for one semester, documenting the science content and practices they encountered in their daily lives, while their professor provided detailed written feedback. The objective of this study was to determine gaps in everyday science practices, and to eventually design interventions which might help teacher candidates…

Even though the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) were released over a decade ago, science is still infrequently taught in early childhood and elementary classrooms. A lack of teacher confidence due to inadequate content knowledge may be a contributing factor, making access to high-quality elementary science methods courses even…

The purpose of this study is to describe the conditions under which diffracting noticing becomes both a process and product in dynamic relations to re-imagine preservice science teachers' becoming as ethical mattering, a concept rooted in a relational ontology of change and emergence. Drawing on theories of posthumanism, this study theorized…

The shift to student engagement in scientific and engineering practices to learn science provides opportunities for science learning and language learning to occur in tandem. These opportunities also pose new challenges for elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) since literacy methods courses have been presented separately from science methods…

Recently scholars have advocated for using teachers' practice as a site for teacher learning. The recent proliferation of online, digital spaces, including simulated classrooms, has paved the way for novel approaches within practice-based teacher education. Yet, limited research has investigated the extent to which and how the use of online,…

Research on teacher educators' professional learning has gained increasing interest within science education. Curriculum materials have been suggested as a means of supporting "teacher" learning for several decades but have not yet been examined as a potential tool for supporting the learning of "teacher educators." In this…

While recent research has examined students' and teachers' understanding of models and modeling, few studies have focused on how teacher educators can support preservice elementary science teachers in envisioning enriched learning processes and outcomes for their students while engaging in modeling practices. Informed by reflective practices…

Reform efforts in K-12 science education have been gaining pace ever since the introduction of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS). The new vision calls for reconsidering teacher preparation programs to prepare future teachers who are confident and competent in delivering NGSS-based instruction. This study investigated the…