Science Student Teachers’ Understanding and Teaching Practices of Inquiry Approach

Abstract

     This study explored what science student teachers understood about inquiry science teaching and teaching practice in their field. The participants were six science student teachers who were practicing their teaching according to the National Science Curriculum Standards, B.E. 2551 at the junior high school level. Data from semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes, and analysis of lesson plan documents were triangulated. Analytic induction was used for data analysis. The results revealed that the concept of inquiry science teaching was partially understood with a specific misconception. From the observations, some of the discrepancies in their teaching practices were: they did not allow students to define the problems to be investigated, they did not allow students to analyze the investigation process and the survey questions used for examination, and the lack of feedback and guidance regarding the students’ own conclusions. There was also a lack of teaching that reflected on scientific inquiry which should emphasize students defining questions, examining, and problem solving. The findings could be applied for developing methods of instruction in a science course to promote understanding and microteaching practice by focusing on activities using the scientific process and by reflecting on the nature of the acquisition of scientific knowledge and using various evaluation methods.