How much time an institution allocates to content can indicate its
overall importance and intended value to the
educator preparation program. For decades there have been calls to
integrate more authentic science inquiry experiences into not only
undergraduate elementary science courses, but into all elementary educator
preparation courses. Many elementary educators do not receive training on
effective methods for teaching science, they will not feel comfortable and will
likely have low self-efficacy. This study investigated the amount of time
allocated to teaching science as inquiry and the knowledge participants had
prior to and after taking an elementary teaching science methods course. The
critical incidents within two science methods courses that assisted
participants in developing a deeper understanding of teaching science as
inquiry were also analyzed. Over three academic semesters, a purposive sample
of 58 college pre-service teacher candidate participants from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States were surveyed to answer the research
question to what extent, if any, does time allocation
have on teacher candidates’ understanding
of teaching science as inquiry? Results suggest it would be of great benefit
for educator preparation programs to require a science teaching methods course,
with an emphasis on the teaching of science as inquiry. Participants indicated
the most useful critical incidents were labs, more assignments that require
lesson/unit planning, and teaching lessons to elementary students.
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