Investigating Novice Teachers’ Abilities for Noticing and Responding to Their Students’ In-Class Inquiry

• In Event: Roundtable Session 64
  In Roundtable Session: Influences on Teaching Science

Abstract

Inquiry-based teaching requires that teachers pay attention to their students’ ideas and reasoning, and adapt their instruction accordingly. We analyzed 14 80-minute science lessons of 42 pre-service teachers working in groups, investigating “teacher noticing and responding” (TNR) abilities relating to their students’ inquiry. Findings suggest that pre-service teachers were able to identify and respond to a variety of aspects of their students’ inquiry, although we identified disagreements between what they responded to and what we thought as important aspects of student inquiry. These findings highlight a disagreement with prior research suggesting that teachers' TNR abilities develop over time and with teaching experience, thus proposing a general need for better understanding of teacher cognition and development.

Authors

• Loucas T. Louca, European University

• Thea Skoulia, University of Cyprus

• Dora Tzialli, University of Cyprus