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The COVID-19-induced closure of schools significantly impacted the field experiences of students enrolled in teacher preparation programs. We addressed this ongoing challenge by adapting an early field experience model for secondary teachers that shifted online mid-semester. The University Teaching Experience model deploys a cohort of preservice secondary mathematics teachers to support instruction in an introductory university mathematics course. When the designated mathematics course moved online, the preservice teachers were able to continue their field experience by facilitating small-group discussions in virtual breakout rooms. To understand the perspectives of the stakeholders participating in the online field experience, we conducted semi-structured one-on-one interviews with the preservice teachers, the mathematics course instructor, and the university mathematics students involved in this setting. Early results indicated that the preservice teachers were highly valued by both the course instructor and the undergraduate mathematics students. Additionally, the preservice teachers appreciated the opportunity to continue their field experience, albeit in the more limited format. We present themes which emerged from preservice teacher interviews and share guidance for teacher preparation program faculty interested in trying an online early field experience while access to K-12 classrooms is limited.
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Investigating the Development of Preservice Science Teachers’ Nature of Science Instructional Views Across Rings of the Family Resemblance Approach Wheel
While much is known about teacher learning of nature of science (NOS) concepts, less is known about how teachers develop an understanding of how to effectively teach NOS or how instructional views might differ across levels of the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA) wheel. Therefore, this study investigated the NOS instructional views related to different levels of the FRA wheel of preservice secondary science teachers as they completed a semester-long NOS course. At four times during the semester, data was collected through written documents and interviews about NOS instructional views. Participant NOS instructional views were evaluated in terms of three aspects of NOS teaching: explicit, reflective, and role of context (McComas et al., 2020). In terms of the explicit and reflective components of NOS instruction, participants generally progressed from utilizing inaccurate representations of NOS to inclusion of accurate implicit messages, and finally to explicit reflective instruction often mimicking course activities. As the semester progressed, their questioning also moved toward targeting more specific NOS aspects. As far as the role of context, participants moved from treating NOS as its own topic to a more embedded approach. Other findings include that preservice teachers tended to use more abstract and contextualized activities for social institutional aspects of NOS as opposed to concrete and moderately contextualized activities for cognitive-epistemic NOS. Features of the NOS course may account for some aspects of the learning progressions observed.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1949833
- PAR ID:
- 10438248
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Science & Education
- ISSN:
- 0926-7220
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-023-00418-7
