Abstract
This Australian study describes the experiences of five mature-age preservice teachers in a semester unit of science education. The unit was designed to help teachers examine and make explicit their ideas about science and science teaching and consider ways in which they might put those ideas into practice. The preservice teachers expressed a need for a supportive learning environment in which concepts were built gradually and introduced using concrete examples. Previous science experience was found to be a major influence on the attitudes the participants brought to the present course. Changing attitudes to science during the preservice experience is seen as an important step in breaking the cycle of the impoverished state of elementary science.
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Mulholland, J., Wallace, J. Breaking the cycle: Preparing elementary teachers to teach science. J Elem Sci Edu 8, 17 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173739
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173739