Important Biological Issues for Elementary Pupils – A Study of Elementary Pre-service Teachers’ Conceptions

Authors

  • Eija Yli-Panula University of Turku
  • Eila Jeronen University of Oulu
  • Heidi Seiko-Ahlströn University of Turku
  • Elsa Ruotsalainen University of Turku

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/nordina.2579

Keywords:

Biological content knowledge, content-based analysis, pre-service teacher, self-efficacy

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate what kind of conceptions pre-service teachers have concerning the issues they find important in teaching and management of biology in order to be able to provide adequate learning to Finnish elementary school pupils. A questionnaire survey was conducted over three years in a Finnish university. Answers were subjected to content-based analysis. As background information, the pre-service teachers’ self-evaluation estimations of their biological content knowledge and management were measured.The important issues mentioned by pre-service teachers were mainly knowledge and skills, also experiences, attitudes, teaching, and some other matters concerning the Finnish National Core Curricula were mentioned. The conceptions of pre-service teachers were discussed in connection with subject content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. The implications for science educators were also presented.

Author Biographies

Eija Yli-Panula, University of Turku

Department of Teacher Education

Eila Jeronen, University of Oulu

Faculty of Education

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2017-09-04

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2017)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).