EARLY CHILDHOOD PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ READINESS FOR USING DRAWING AS A SCIENCE TEACHING STRATEGY

TitleEARLY CHILDHOOD PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ READINESS FOR USING DRAWING AS A SCIENCE TEACHING STRATEGY
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsAchurra, A, Zamalloa, T, Uskola, A
JournalJournal of Baltic Science Education
Volume21
Issue6
Start Page911-927
PaginationContinuous
Date PublishedDecember/2022
Type of ArticleOriginal article
ISSN1648-3898
Other NumbersE-ISSN 2538-7138
Keywordsdrawing science, Early childhood education, science education, teachers’ readiness
Abstract

The use of drawings for science learning helps students to develop communication, modelling, and reasoning skills. Teachers should be trained to use them. This study addresses the readiness (knowledge, confidence and awareness of the importance and usefulness of drawings) of 120 preservice teachers (PSTs) for using teacher-made drawings as a strategy for teaching science, after participating in activities in which they used drawing as a way to represent scientific knowledge. The knowledge of how to draw was analysed by evaluating the presence of interrelated components, mechanisms and phenomena in drawings of the digestive system. Open questions were used to examine three aspects: confidence, awareness of the importance and awareness of the usefulness. Exploratory cluster analyses were also conducted. 69% scored low in knowledge, more than 90% scored high in awareness of the importance and of the usefulness. 28% showed high confidence. No PSTs with high knowledge and low confidence were found. All PSTs with high knowledge showed high awareness of the importance. It is concluded that in order to prepare teachers for using drawings in science teaching, teacher education programs should include the development of drawing skills that could enhance their confidence and awareness of its importance.

URLhttps://oaji.net/articles/2022/987-1671187481.pdf
DOI10.33225/jbse/22.21.911
Refereed DesignationRefereed
Full Text