Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This dissertation deals with the use of practical work in the context of physics teacher education.The study has been conducted throughout by means of qualitative research.Study was made of the planning and implementing of practical work by pre-and in-service teachers and a model of the challenges faced by the teachers was formed based on the results obtained.The types of challenges confronting both participant groups were similar, but differences were nevertheless detected when the distinct categories were examined more closely.By gaining an understanding of the categories of challenges represented in the model, teacher educators can provide preand in-service teachers with learning situations to realize their own deficiencies.The pre-service teachers' understanding of the objectives of practical work was investigated and the results revealed which objective categories were well understood and which needed to be paid more attention to in the education of pre-service teachers.The results of the study also contain implications for teacher education programs.Pre-service teachers' experiences of practical work at school and university were also examined.Examination revealed not only positive and negative experiences of practical work but also the underlying reasons for such assessments.Negative experiences were mainly related to the challenges involved in the planning and implementation of practical work that their previous teachers had experienced, whereas positive experiences were obtained if the objectives of practical work were transparent to students and the means used to examine the phenomena were reasonable and flawless for students.The relations between experiences and challenges were also subjected to discussion.In the end, all of the results presented in this dissertation are related to the teacher knowledge that can be fostered by taking the implications of the study into account in suitable environments within teacher training programs.One way in which the participants in the program may be provided with opportunities for reflecting on the limits of their teacher knowledge could be the open guided inquiry environment that is described in several of the articles making up this dissertation.The process in which the participants are involved is described and discussed, and the aspects of teacher knowledge that have been developed are described.
Author: Ville Nivalainen
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3094841822