Secondary pre-service science teachers learning to use students’ ideas

This dissertation examines how secondary pre-service science teachers (PSSTs) learn to use students’ ideas in instruction during the last year of their teacher preparation program. Drawing on a situated learning perspective (Lave & Wenger, 1991), this three-paper qualitative dissertation examines: (1) the development of PSSTs’ instructional visions around using students’ ideas, (2) the role of science methods courses in supporting this learning, and (3) the shift of PSSTs’ noticing practices as they analyze classroom video clips. The first study investigated how PSSTs describe the influences on their instructional vision aspects during their last teacher preparation year, revealing the complex interplay between coursework, personal experiences, and field placements in shaping reform-oriented goals and beliefs. The second study examined how a teacher preparation science methods course supports PSSTs in learning to use students’ ideas, identifying the course features that supported PSSTs in learning to use students’ ideas, while also highlighting areas of alignment and misalignment between instructor goals and PSSTs’ experiences. The third study explored PSSTs’ development of professional vision during their last year in the teacher preparation program, showing shifts in their noticing from surface-level to interpretive analyses of pedagogical phenomena, with variations in individual learning trajectories. Together, these studies contribute to understanding how PSSTs begin to conceptualize and develop responsive teaching beliefs and practices. Findings offer theoretical and practical insights for designing teacher education programs that foster reform-aligned science instruction by designing teacher education programs that leverage PSSTs' variations, instructional vision construction, promote productive methods course activities, and support the development of the practice of noticing. Implications for future research and teacher education are discussed, particularly regarding how teacher preparation contexts can support shifts toward using students’ ideas in instruction, and consequently in teaching responsively.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Machaka, Nessrine

Contributors dc:contributor

• Krist, Christina (Stina)
• Gonzalez, Gloriana
• Hug, Barbara
• Kuo, Eric

• Responsive Teaching
• Pre-service Teachers

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2025 by Nessrine Machaka. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for educational use only. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129813

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129813