Literature suggests the transfer of understanding the nature of science to instructional practice requires preservice teachers to value teaching about the nature of science. Despite decades of research developing preservice teachers' views of nature of science, there is still a disconnect between their understanding and instructional practice.…

The purpose of this study was on understanding and interpreting five minoritised pre-service teachers' past educational experiences that impacted their first-time science microteaching experiences in a science teaching methods course. The study is unique because it illuminates and contributes to the literature on the importance of minoritised…

Science teaching efficacy belief (STEB) is of paramount importance as it motivates teachers to teach science or hinders them from teaching science. Preservice teachers' efficacy beliefs may change during their method courses. Knowing how pre-service teachers' beliefs change over time can significantly contribute to teacher educators to improve…

In this article, we share design guidelines for the development and use of online, video-based "teaching playgrounds," which provide opportunities for prospective teachers to engage in professional noticing of teaching practices. Through teaching playgrounds, we provide an instantiation of the Presence+Experience framework, which…

This article has two aims: (a) to offer a new model for a teacher preparation course that features reflection and teaching as integral, inseparable actions and (b) to provide empirical evidence from an exploratory ethnography to demonstrate teacher development possibilities with this model. The model, termed "Transformative Reflection,"…

This study draws from cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) to analyze preservice teachers' reflections on a microteaching activity. Microteaching activities involved preservice educators teaching middle school students from local schools. The study was conducted with 23 preservice teachers enrolled in a large university's teacher…

Using multiple representations and argumentation are two fundamental processes in science. With the advancements of information communication technologies, these two processes are blended more so than ever before. However, little is known about how these two processes interact with each other in student learning. Hence, we conducted a design-based…

This study examined the influence of a professional development program based around commercially available inquiry science curricula on the teaching practices of 27 beginning elementary school teachers and their teacher mentors over a 2 year period. A quantitative rubric used to score inquiry elements and use of data in videotaped lessons…

With the goal of producing scientifically literate citizens who are able to make informed decisions and reason critically when science intersects with their everyday lives, the National Research Council (NRC) has produced two recent documents that call for a new approach to K-12 science education that is based on scientific practices, crosscutting…

Thirty preservice teachers enrolled in a field-based science methods course were placed at a public elementary school for coursework and for teaching practice with elementary students. Candidates focused on building conceptual understanding of science content and pedagogical methods through innovative curriculum development and other course…

Although teacher educators have successfully helped K-12 teachers' develop adequate views of NOS, their views have not been transferred to their students. It is evident that K-12 students' understanding of NOS still does not align with the recommendation of the reforms document, indicating that holding an adequate view of NOS is…

This case study of a fifth-year elementary intern's pathway in learning to teach science focused on her science methods course, placement science teaching, and reflections as a first-year teacher. We studied the sociocultural contexts within which the intern learned, their affordances and constraints, and participants' perspectives on their roles…

This study investigates beliefs about teaching held by preservice science teachers and their influences on self-perceived microteaching outcomes within interactive secondary science teaching methods courses. Hermeneutic methodology was used in cooperation with seven preservice science teachers (N = 7) to infer participant beliefs about teaching…

This article reports the phases of design and use of video editing technology as a medium for creatively expressing science content knowledge in an elementary science methods course. Teacher candidates communicated their understanding of standards-based core science concepts through the creation of original digital movies. The movies were assigned…

This study addresses preservice teachers' perceptions toward online experiences, specifically, their perceptions about utilizing an online science methods curriculum versus a traditional methods curriculum. Thirty-eight senior level preservice teachers at a midwestern U.S. university completed surveys about their experiences during their methods…