The Stories They’d Tell: Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Writing Stories to Demonstrate Physical Science Concepts

Source: Journal of Science Teacher Education, Volume 21, Number 6, 703-722.
(October, 2010).

This article describes results of a study designed to explore stories regarding science concepts which were written by preservice teachers.
Preservice teachers enrolled in a science content-based course wrote stories that could help their future students understand a science concept.

First, the participants chose their topic and wrote the story with few guidelines to establish a baseline.
In the next part, a different set of students were given a choice of three topics (based on force, electricity, and heat misconceptions), and collaborated to write stories with guidance from the instructor.

The findings reveal that without guidance, many students struggled to find ways to integrate science within a story.
With guidance, participants wrote stories that included more narrative elements overall, and participants felt the stories helped them understand the concepts.