ProKoWiD
Science teachers’ professional competencies related to scientific reasoning during transition from university-based teacher training to professional practice in schools

Scientific reasoning competencies are the abilities needed for engaging in scientific problem-solving and reflecting on this process at a meta-level. Around the world, researchers consider them an outcome of good science education and a component of science teachers’ subject-specific professional competencies. In addition, several studies indicate that teachers’ professional competencies determine their teaching practice and student learning. Most studies to date focus either on pre-service or on early career teachers, but rarely on the transition phases of an incipient teaching career. It is known, however, that the transition from university education to work is challenging for teachers and that experience and reflective practice advance the development of teachers’ professional competencies during this period. Hence, how these competencies further develop once students have left university and how they impact teacher practice and student learning is crucial but limited in literature.

This project aims to address the research gap by investigating the relationships between science teachers’ scientific reasoning competencies, the quality of their lesson planning and teaching practice, and the scientific reasoning skills evidenced by their learners. These relationships will be investigated in three cohorts with a focus on the transition phases. Additionally, the project will consider important variables of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge about scientific reasoning as well as their self-efficacy in teaching scientific reasoning.