Examining Elementary Teacher Candidates' Transfer of Higher Cognitive Questioning Skills: A Mixed-Methods Approach

• In Event: Teachers and Their Influence on the Learning Environment

Abstract

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine the influence of science methods courses on teacher candidates’ knowledge of cognitive teacher questions and how content and context may influence the elementary teacher candidates’ ability to enact a learned skill, higher cognitive questions, during a science lesson. This study utilizes 91 elementary teacher candidates’ pretests, posttests and videotaped science lessons. The findings suggest the science methods course had a significantly positive influence on the teacher candidates’ science content knowledge and there was a significant relationship between the number of higher cognitive questions based on with whom the teacher candidates performed their science lesson.

Keywords: higher cognitive questions, elementary teacher candidates, far transfer

Author

• Stacey Sneed, Texas Tech University