Changes in Belief Orientations of Preservice Teachers and Their Relation to Inquiry Activities

Source: Journal of Science Teacher Education, Volume 23, Issue 8, pp 909-936. December 2012.

The authors examined shifts in secondary preservice teachers’ belief orientations as they progressed through a science methods course.
The authors found that overall many of the preservice teachers progressed in their orientation beliefs from a teacher-centered orientation to more student-centered orientation.

The authors characterized four trajectories of change or clusters that describe how preservice teachers’ beliefs changed over the course of the semester.
The authors also describe the different ways in which preservice teachers reacted to specific instructional activities, and how those activities influenced their belief orientation.

In particular, the authors found that preservice teachers in a cluster that exhibited a particular trajectory (progression or regression toward/away from student-centered belief orientation) reacted differently to some activities compared to preservice teachers in some other clusters.

The authors argue that teacher educators need to think carefully about the interplay of these beliefs when designing activities so that they can respond during the course rather than waiting until the end.