Preservice biology teachers' inquiry process: Manifestations of views of science, subject matter knowledge and prior inquiry experience

The primary objective of this research is to investigate the influence of preservice biology teachers' views of science, subject matter knowledge, and prior inquiry experiences on their process of inquiry. A secondary objective is methodological comparison of survey/interview and practice based approaches in assessing views of science.;This study was conducted in a preservice science course using three pairs of preservice biology teachers who were purposefully selected to represent diversity in considered variables. Participants engaged in generating evidence-based natural selection explanations working with an authentic dataset provided in a computer environment. Using a multiple case study design, the three cases' inquiry processes were compared in the light of their characteristics. A wide variety of data sources were used, including surveys, interviews, and video-recordings.;Analysis of the data suggests that preservice teachers participating in the study had problematic understanding of the nature of science as well as little prior experience "doing" science, due in part to their experiences learning science through traditional lectures and highly structured practical experiences that omit the discursive and social aspects of science. Pairs studied differed from each other with respect to their inquiry process. It was found that for fruitful inquiries, strong subject matter knowledge was necessary but not sufficient. Prior inquiry experience and informed views about science also manifested themselves in participants' thoroughness and systematicity in data analysis, methodological choices and strategies, and overall quality of the explanations.;To be able to realize the goal of scientific literacy for all, it is suggested that postsecondary science education faculty work closely with science faculty in an effort to provide authentic inquiry experiences that promote deep, conceptual understandings of subject matter as well as informed views about science. This study shows that survey/interview and in-practice assessment of views of science have distinct limitations. Both methodological choices merit consideration of subject-matter knowledge as a primary mediator in assessing views of science.