Prospective teachers' initial conceptions about pupils' understanding of science and mathematics

Abstract

Earlier reports have shown that prospective teachers' conceptions about teaching science to a high degree are resistant and do not change substantially during the teacher‐training programme. In our investigation we elucidate the prospective teachers' initial conceptions about pupils' understanding of science and mathematics. We applied ‘The Lesson Preparation Method' and used a phenomenographic approach in order to reveal the range of conceptions that the prospective teachers hold. A third of the prospective teachers did not consider pupils' conceptions when planning lessons. The rest of the 32 participants expressed awareness; some of the prospective teachers even referred to subject‐specific teaching experience. Also regarding the prospective teachers' conceptions about pupils' knowledge and beliefs, as well as about pupils' difficulties, there was a significant diversity. By raising these issues about pedagogical content knowledge the prospective teachers' conceptions can be extended and developed during the education.

Keywords:

• pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
• science
• mathematics
• teacher education
• initial conceptions

Acknowledgement

We wish to thank the prospective teachers involved in the study. We are also grateful to the Swedish Research Council, the University of Gävle and Göteborg University for their financial support that has made this project possible.