TEACHING SCIENCE IN AN INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT:
WHAT IT MEANS FOR PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY SCIENCE TEACHERS

Esra Macaroglu Akgul
Received: 13.11.2005, Accepted: 17.01.2006

ABSTRACT. This research examines Turkish pre-service elementary science teachers' understandings of teaching science in an inquiry-based learning environment. Thirty-five prospective teachers who attended to one of the big teacher training institutions in Istanbul participated in this study. Data were collected via course assignments and inclass activities in teaching science. These were pre- and post-philosophies of teaching science, Nature of Science Card Game and a discussion centered on an inquiry-based teaching scenario. Open-coding of data helped to note patterns to identify categories and form assertions. Inquiry-based learning environment changed participants' traditional views about not the nature of science but teaching science.

KEYWORDS. Teacher Education, Science Education, Teaching Science, Nature of Science, Scientific Inquiry.