The effects of a four-semester pre-service secondary teacher education program on the perceptions and practices of pre-service science teachers concerning constructivist perspectives to teaching

This is an exploratory study that examines: (a) changes in pre-service teachers philosophical and pedagogical conceptions concerning teaching and learning, (b) changes in pre-service teachers' perceptions concerning the instruction they received in their methods courses, and (c) the relationships among pre-service teachers pedagogical and philosophical conceptions, perceptions about the methods course instruction and their own instructional practices, and their actual instructional practices as revealed on videotapes over a four-semester sequence. A sample of thirty-six pre-service teachers (18 males and 18 females) from the Iowa-SSTEP four-semester sequence volunteered to participate in the study.;Three instruments were used to generate the main data to answer the research questions. The three instruments were: (a) Teachers Pedagogical and Philosophical Interview (TPPI), (b) Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), and (c) videotape portfolio evaluated with the Expert Science Teaching Evaluation Model (ESTEEM).;Major results include the following: (1) As pre-service teachers enrolled in a four-semester sequence progressed through the teacher education program, their conceptions concerning teaching and learning became significantly and increasingly more student-centered in terms of what students need to do to enhance their understanding of science concepts and processes as well as in their espoused philosophies of teaching and learning. (2) Pre-service teachers integrated their newly acquired student-centered conceptions from their methods courses, with their previous teacher-centered conceptions to develop mixed conceptions about teaching and learning. (3) Pre-service teachers' espoused conceptions and their perceptions about classroom practices rarely align observed teaching practices in their classroom. (4) Pre-service teacher cohort level in the Iowa-SSTEP sequence proved to have a positive and significant effect on pre-service teachers' constructivist practices of teaching and learning. Their student-centered practices increased as they ascended the hierarchy of the Iowa-SSTEP four-semester sequence. (5) Though reported conceptions, perceptions, and practices were increasingly student-centered as pre-service teachers progressed through the teacher education program, they were characterized as both teacher-centered and student-centered indicating that they retained some teacher-centered beliefs.