"What Should You Do?" Preservice Science and Mathematics Teachers' Reasoning Through Scenario-Based Think-Aloud Interviews

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Experiences of Teachers: Early Childhood and Teacher Educators

Abstract

This qualitative study sought to understand the reasoning of pre-service science and mathematics teachers through think-aloud interviews. Nine teacher education students were interviewed while focusing on contextualized and challenging teaching scenarios. We used scenarios that target non-academic clusters of attributes (empathy and communication, resilience and adaptability). Our three-step analysis of interview transcripts revealed six themes (e.g., context, communication) similar to an initial study of elementary and secondary pre-service teachers. Further analyses of data from a sub-sample revealed four reasoning profiles identified by motivations and beliefs that focused on solutions, consequences, students, or personal values. Justifying responses to scenarios was a common reasoning process. Practical implications include professional development around decision-making while fostering non-academic attributes during teacher education programs.

Authors

• Tracy Lyn Durksen, University of New South Wales

• Lynn Sheridan, University of Wollongong

• Sharon Tindall-Ford, University of Wollongong