Unintended Consequences: Pre-Service Science Teachers' Immersion in Modeling-Based Inquiry in Tropical Ecology

Abstract

Learning modeling-based scientific inquiry (MBI) can be a challenge for educators and students alike. Teacher educators have used various approaches, experiences, and tools to aid in preparing future science teachers to use MBI in the classroom. However, this ambitious vision of practice remains elusive for most science teachers. This qualitative case study investigates the following research questions: (1) What and how do participants learn from immersion in an authentic modeling-based ecology experience that is intended to be both a science experience and a science teaching experience? (2) What are the unintended consequences of learning that is situated in modeling-based inquiry for pre-service teachers? Findings from this study indicate that authentic inquiry experiences, if too far-removed from teachers’ prior or future classroom practice, will not transfer easily to a teacher’s practice. Furthermore, a short-term experience engaging with scientists might emphasize science content and obscure the instructor’s focus on science teaching practices. Findings from this study can inform science teacher educators about the affordances and limitations of situating learning in a modeling-based inquiry community of practice.

Keywords: modeling-based inquiry, pre-service teachers, science teacher education, ecology education