Aiming for responsible and competent citizenship through teacher professional development on teaching socioscientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL)

The pre-service primary science teachers' confidence and needs

The pre-cohort questionnaire results revealed that all participants had low confidence on SSI teaching (mean = 3.637) and IBSE teaching (mean = 2.907), in addition to a strong need for further education, indicated for both SSI teaching (mean = 4.935) and IBSE teaching (mean = 5.468). After the SSIBL courses (Table 2), confidence on SSI and IBSE teaching increased in all three cohorts, with the average scores being over five, and the same results for SSIBL teaching. Confidence outcomes on SSI, IBSE and SSIBL teaching differed significantly between the OSTD and DTD groups in all three aspects. The need for further education on SSI and IBSE teaching after the TPD courses decreased from mean scores of 2.670 to 3.225 across the three cohorts. Generally, the OSTD group showed less need after the course for all the three aspects of teaching, but the DTD group had a significantly higher need for further education in IBSE and SSIBL teaching. All participants were positive about the SSIBL TPD courses.

Table 2. The post-cohort survey.

Categories of the survey oups			Mean	Std. Deviation	*Significance (P < 0.05)**
Confidence	SSI teaching	OSTD	6,315	0,6839	OSTD>DTD*
		DTD	5,339	1,3490
		OSBU	5,864	0,9121
		Total	5,859	1,0746
	IBSE teaching	OSTD	5,923	1,0057	OSTD>DTD*
		DTD	4,713	1,8279
		OSBU	5,209	1,2413
		Total	5,310	1,4606
	SSIBL teaching	OSTD	6,177	0,9214	OSTD>DTD*
		DTD	4,783	1,7683
		OSBU	5,427	1,4079
		Total	5,493	1,4905
Need for further education	SSI teaching	OSTD	2,177	1,3557	No significant difference
		DTD	3,209	1,8901
		OSBU	2,691	1,7617
		Total	2,670	1,7018
	IBSE teaching	OSTD	2,354	1,3895	OSBU > DTD >OSTD*
		DTD	3,470	1,9255
		OSBU	4,000	0,0000
		Total	3,225	1,5314
	SSIBL teaching	OSTD	2,108	1,5422	DTD>OSTD*
		DTD	3,470	2,1085
		OSBU	3,236	1,9100
		Total	2,899	1,9278
General feedback on the SSIBL course		OSTD	4,700	1,5139	No significant difference
		DTD	3,635	1,5417
		OSBU	4,436	1,6197
		Total	4,273	1,6008

The pre-service primary science teachers' reflections on the SSIBL classroom activities

A reflection sheet similar to Table 3 was provided to all participants (nine groups) from three cohorts of the SSIBL TPD courses. Each group needed to reflect on each element of the SSIBL framework in the three-step SSIBL activity which they had experienced during the specific lesson, with an X in each element, if they found the link (Appendix 4). The results showed that only one out of the nine groups could reflect on all the elements of the SSIBL framework with all three steps of the three-step SSIBL model (see Table 3). CE was less reflected in Step 2, and RRI was less reflected in steps 1 and 2. All groups focused on IBSE in Step 2, while step 3 had the most focus on the context of SSI.

Table 3. Numbers of groups that made the link between the SSIBL framework and each step of the three-step SSIBL activity.

The three-step SSIBL model	SSIBL framework	The number of groups showing the link/total groups
Step 1 Contextualisation (SSI context)	CE	6/9
	RRI	3/9
	SSI	8/9
	IBSE	2/9
Step 2 Decontextualisation (Inquiry process)	CE	4/9
	RRI	4/9
	SSI	1/9
	IBSE	9/9
Step 3 Recontextualisation (Decision-making/argumentation)	CE	8/9
	RRI	8/9
	SSI	5/9
	IBSE	1/9

Concerning PCK reflection while designing the three-step SSIBL activity, and the first of the three main aspects of curriculum, students' learning difficulties, and assessment, the results showed that the curriculum goal of providing students with action competence (i.e., to have sufficient knowledge and confidence to act) was present in all the groups across the three cohorts of the SSIBL TPD courses:

We want our students to develop action competence concerning environmental issues and become aware of the consequences of their own behaviour. (One of the groups in the first round of TPD)

There was no consensus about students' learning difficulties throughout the three rounds of TPD, other than that awareness of typical learning difficulties connected to certain concepts or aspects of the content was needed:

Knowing typical learning difficulties is important.

(One of the groups in the third round of TPD)

All groups during all the three rounds of TPD agreed on the use of formative assessment:

We will use this assessment method [students' written argumentation] formatively, using group and individual feedback. We want to show the group's progression during the teaching sequence – from emotional to fact-based…

(One of the groups in the third round of TPD)

Further, the pre-service teachers suggested different forms of formative assessment were found in the teachers' feedback:

We will use exit tickets for the students to show their thoughts about the issue.

(One of the groups in the second round of TPD)