Identifying Pre-service Teachers’ Conceptions about the NGSS Practices Using a Curriculum Critique and Revision (CCR) Task

Abstract

The Next Generation Science Standards articulate a new vision for K-12 science learning that engages students in disciplinary practices to encourage deeper participation in and understandings of science and engineering. Teacher educators have a major responsibility in helping pre-service teachers (PSTs) develop knowledge of these practices and ways to engage students in the practices. The words comprising the NGSS practices convey specialized disciplinary meanings. Yet, most PSTs have common sense interpretations of these words, which influence their understanding of the practices from a disciplinary perspective and further influence the way they implement these practices in classrooms. This study reports on conceptions of the NGSS practices that elementary PSTs exhibit during a Curriculum Critique and Revision (CCR) task in a methods course at two different university teacher education programs. Using the CCR, PSTs analyzed the presence or absence of NGSS practices within a lesson from a science curriculum guide. Qualitative thematic analysis of the PSTs’ responses revealed a wide range of interpretations of the practices. We share these PST conceptions and present findings that may enable teacher educators to better understand PSTs’ views of the practices. We provide conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses in PST’s understandings for each of the NGSS practices and suggest possible implications for the community of teacher educators.