ABSTRACT

In this study we investigated pre-service early childhood teachers’ (referred to as student teachers) beliefs that might influence their intention to use inquiry-based learning methods that have been taught on an inquiry-based science course. During this course, the student teachers (N = 17) participated in a number of classroom experiments concerning phenomena that are part of the curriculum of early childhood education, focusing on pupil’s conceptual representations using the inquiry-based approach. Moreover, the student teachers were explicitly taught the reasoning of Control of Variables Strategy (CVS) as an aspect of inquiry. A four-item open-type questionnaire on the classroom experiments that were approached through the CVS method, was used to investigate student teachers’ understanding of this method. Moreover, an eight-item open-type questionnaire and a four-item Likert scale questionnaire were used to investigate student teachers’ intention to use the CVS method in their teaching practice, focusing on attitude, normative and control socio-psychological factors. The results show the categories of student teachers’ beliefs, leading to teaching implications, and indicate a tentative relationship with an indeterminate direction. Specifically, those student teachers who understood the CVS method were influenced by control factors for its implementation, whereas the other student teachers were influenced by attitude and/or normative factors.

摘要

在这项研究中，我们调查了职前幼儿教师（称为见习教师）的信念，这些信念可能会影响他们使用在探究式科学课程中教授的探究式学习方法的意图。在本课程中，实习教师（N = 17) 参与了一些关于幼儿教育课程中现象的课堂实验，重点关注学生使用基于探究的方法的概念表征。此外，作为探究的一个方面，学生教师被明确教授了变量控制策略（CVS）的推理。使用CVS方法进行的课堂实验的四项开放式问卷调查来调查实习教师对该方法的理解。此外，还采用八项开放式问卷和四项李克特量表问卷调查实习教师在教学实践中使用CVS方法的意愿，重点关注态度、规范和控制社会心理因素。结果显示了实习教师信念的类别，从而产生了教学影响，并表明了一种不确定方向的尝试性关系。具体来说，那些理解CVS方法的见习教师受到其实施的控制因素的影响，而其他见习教师则受到态度和/或规范因素的影响。