What Do They Tell Us about Preservice Elementary Teachers Attitudes towards Science and Science Teaching?
This paper reports on a study that examined the effects of formative experiences on the attitudes of preservice elementary teachers towards science and science teaching. Students in the science sequence of an elementary teacher preparation program wrote autobiographical essays about their experiences in science. These essays (n=56) were analyzed for patterns relating to experiences in the elementary, middle school and high school years, as well as non-formal and collegiate experiences. The influence of other people and preservice elementary teachers’ representations of science instruction were also examined. The analysis shows the importance of hands-on experiences and the importance of teachers’ attitudes toward science across all grade levels in influencing positive attitudes towards science. The analysis also shows that negative attitudes towards science can be partially attributable to poor interactions with teachers and the content driven nature of school science. This study sugge
