A CASE-STUDY OF CHANGE IN ELEMENTARY STUDENT TEACHER THINKING DURING AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION IN SCIENCE - LEARNING ABOUT THE FACE OF SCIENCE THAT DOES NOT YET KNOW

This article presents the results of an approach to the study of chang es in one student teacher's thinking about the nature of scientific in vestigation during her participation in an elementary science methods course assignment. During a preservice course in curriculum and instru ction in elementary science, students were assigned the task of design ing an independent investigation to solve a simple question of their o wn. Using survey data, interviews, and a repertory grid technique, ide as about the nature of knowledge acquisition in science were documente d prior to, during, and following involvement in the assignment. In st ructured interviews following the assignment, participants were shown documented changes in their personal constructs regarding the nature o f knowledge acquisition in science and were invited to comment on feat ures of their own investigation which contributed to changes in their ideas. Repertory grid charts and interview data were used to develop 1 2 ''Change Themes'' in the larger study that characterize movements in thinking about the nature of investigation in science. Three of the c hange themes are explored in depth in the individual case report. The article concludes with a discussion on the movement in this student's view of scientific investigation, and the challenges and value of the assignment in a science teacher education program. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.