Elementary Preservice Teachers' Knowledge and Beliefs Regarding Science and Mathematics

Abstract

The development of teacher education programs to better prepare elementary teachers requires an empirical base in which to anchor meaningful change. The research reported herein makes just such an effort. Preservice teachers' mathematics and science knowledge was measured as were their beliefs regarding instruction in these content areas. The results suggest that an increase in the number of college credit hours in science and mathematics content is less likely to effect necessary change than alteration of the methods and curriculum materials.

Antecedents of Teachers’ Educational Beliefs about Mathematics and Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching among In-Service Teachers in High Poverty Urban Schools

“…However, the studies examining the relation between educational background in a given domain and teachers' educational beliefs are scarce and the limited studies that exist have produced mixed findings. Specifically, some studies have found that a strong educational background in the subject-matter taught is positively associated with adaptive educational beliefs (e.g., de Laat & Watters, 1995;Swackhamer et al, 2009;Walter, 2009), whereas several studies have found no significant relationship (e.g., Roberts, Busk, & Comerford, 2001;Stevens & Wenner, 1996;Swackhamer et al, 2009). Moreover, some studies have concluded that there is a negative relationship between the educational background of teachers and their educational beliefs (e.g.…”

“…Among the studies that explored the association between educational background and internal locus of control, Stevens and Wenner (1996) did not find a significant correlation between the number of high school and college science and mathematics courses taken and internal locus of control for both primary science and mathematics teacher candidates. In contrast, Swackhamer et al (2009) found that middle school science and mathematics teachers who had four or more content hours of college level coursework had statistically significant higher levels of internal locus of control compared to their peers who had fewer than four hours of college content hours.…”

Science Teacher Education

“…Developing discursive practices that engaged all learners in sharing, questioning, reflecting on and challenging ideas and to move from authoritative to facilitative discourse played a major role in the instructional strategies. Stevens and Wenner (1996) have shown that preservice teachers doubt their ability to teach science effectively. In addition, many experienced teachers consider themselves to be ill equipped to teach science (e.g.…”

“…Developing positive dispositions towards science is problematic as preservice and inservice elementary teachers, in general, have poor attitudes and beliefs about science and their capacity to be effective teachers of science. For example, preservice teachers doubt their ability to teach science effectively in classroom settings (Stevens & Wenner, 1996), and many experienced classroom teachers feel uncomfortable and unqualified when asked to teach science (Abell & Roth, 1991;Kahle, Anderson & Damjanovic, 1991;Manning, Esler & Baird, 1982;Mechling, Stedman & Donnellan, 1982;Tilgner, 1990). These beliefs and attitudes develop as a result of their own science-related experiences in elementary and high schools (deLaat & Watters, 1995;.…”

Coaching the coaches : supporting university supervisors in the supervision of elementary mathematics instruction.

“…Yet, the often single offering of a mathematics education course has been found to increase content knowledge (Leonard, et aI., 2009;Stevens & Wenner, 1996). It is more effective in increasing content knowledge and changing beliefs than increasing the number of mathematics content courses (Stevens & Wenner, 1996).…”