LS as a tool for developing reflective thinking in science pre-service teachers

Abstract

Pre-service science teachers from Switzerland and the USA worked in a collaborative inquiry team to explore effective methods for engaging diverse pupils. Participants construct, teach and refine one lesson on climate changes over the course of four cycles. During lesson instruction, other team members collect pre-determined data on student engagement and comprehension. After analisis of the collected data, pre-service teachers modify the lesson in order to be more and more relevant for the students. This research is the result of the observation and the analysis of a process that took place over 8 months carried on by the facilitators observing pre-service teachers. All the meetings, debriefings, research-lessons and online meetings were recorded and coded (n=30). This study explores how involvement in this project affects the development or evolution of reflective thinking competencies. The theoretical framework convenes authors of reflective thinking (Van Manen 1995 ; Grushka et al., 2005 ;Lee, 2005 ; Finlay, 2008 ; Lamb & Aldous, 2016 ; Bubnys & Zavadskiené, 2017), researchers in LS (Alston et al., 2011 ; Murata & Poten, 2011 ; Myers, 2012) and in professional development (Brand & Moore, 2011). In addition to verbal data, the facilitators collected information from the drawings provided by the Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test (DASTT), administered at the beginning and end of the process (Thomas et al., 2001 ; Markic & Eilks, 2010 ; Morago & Grigioni Baur, 2017).

Data suggest that individual participants experience a shift in thinking from traditional teacher-centered ideals to a more student-centered approach with some surprising exceptions. Therefore we suggest that LS can be a successful approach to allow reflective thinking to take place, especially for pre-service teachers.