To effectively support early science learning in preschool, teachers need to be aware of the constructivist nature of children’s learning. This study examined a sample of Swiss preschool teachers’ beliefs about science learning and teaching and their relation to their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and scaffolding practices within a curriculum about floating and sinking. In Study 1, beliefs and PCK were assessed by means of questionnaires. A latent-profile analysis involving 104 preschool teachers reveals three clusters of teachers exhibiting specific belief profiles about science learning: ‘highly constructivist,’ ‘low constructivist’ and ‘hands-on’ teachers. PCK differed across clusters, while highly constructivist teachers ranked highest. To deepen our understanding of the relations among preschool teachers’ beliefs, PCK and teaching, we videotaped scaffolding practice of a subsample of 32 preschool teachers when teaching a curriculum of floating and sinking (Study 2). We found that teachers often apply scaffolding strategies to support topic-specific learning. However, scaffolding strategies aiming to stimulate higher-order thinking were rather rare. Furthermore, we found correlations between teachers’ constructivist beliefs and their scaffolding as well as between teachers’ topic-specific language and their PCK. Our findings emphasize the importance of targeting teachers’ beliefs and PCK to improve the quality of preschool science instruction.

Daten erheben, verstehen, darstellen Wie geht man bei der Durchführung einer empirischen Studie in den Bildungswissenschaften vor? Dieses Buch spannt einen prozesshaften Bogen von der Entwicklung einer stilvollen und überprüfbaren Fragestellung und Konzeption über verschiedene Datenerhebungsmethoden.

Engaging in vivid conversations is crucial for the social and cognitive development of young children and for building their understanding of science phenomena. In this regard, educators play a pivotal role in shaping interactions with learners by providing adequate scaffolds to promote sustained shared thinking. Tablet computers are considered to have substantial potential for supporting learning, particularly in enriching communication and collaboration, as well as in making science phenomena more accessible. However, there are concerns that increased screen time may lead to social isolation. To address this situation, the present multiple-case study explores the impact of using tablet computers’ video functionality on the quality of teacher–child interactions during a specific play-based learning scenario in the domain of science. The investigation, which employed a mixed-method approach, followed two individual teachers separately during 24 lessons each in a videographic setup and isolated 200 science content-relevant interaction episodes. These episodes were coded according to their interaction quality in an inter-rater agreement procedure using MAXQDA. High-quality interactions were defined as those episodes involving a deep, prolonged, intellectual and content-specific exchange between the teacher and at least one child, based on both teacher and children playing their active roles in the participation of the talk. The results indicated that using tablets in the specific play scenario under investigation was associated with teacher–child interactions of longer duration, variable scaffold quality among teachers, and increased verbal engagement from children. These results counter the concerns that the use of digital media might lead to screen-based isolation and suggest that tablet computers can be harnessed for valuable educational interactions.

The conduct of teachers, especially in handling disruptions, significantly impacts the comfort of students. This research investigates the correlation between preservice teachers’ effectiveness in terms of managing disruptions and the emotions experienced by both engaged and disruptive students. In an experimental simulation, we crafted a classroom scenario wherein preservice teachers engaged in handling severe disruptions over a 10-min period. During the simulation, other preservice teachers assumed the roles of either engaged or disruptive students, following specific behaviour guidelines. Afterwards, the student role players completed questionnaires to gauge their perceptions of positive and negative emotions, as well as to assess the effectiveness of the teacher’s management of disruptions. Notably, interaction effects were observed between preservice teachers’ disruption management strategies and the students’ roles (either engaged or disruptive) on their emotional responses. When preservice teachers effectively managed the classroom during the simulation, those acting as engaged students reported higher levels of positive emotions and fewer negative emotions. In contrast, when classroom management was ineffective, participants portraying disruptive students experienced more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions. The educational implications of these results are considered and discussed.

Daten erheben, verstehen, darstellen Wie geht man bei der Durchführung einer empirischen Studie in den Bildungswissenschaften vor? Dieses Buch spannt einen prozesshaften Bogen von der Entwicklung einer stilvollen und überprüfbaren Fragestellung und Konzeption über verschiedene Datenerhebungsmethoden.

At the University of Teacher Education Lucerne (Switzerland), prospective teachers who intend to teach at secondary schools complete their studies in social and educational sciences with a written assignment. In this final paper, teachers to-be are expected to reflect in a methodical and systematic way on school- and teaching-related situations that occurred during their internships. The reflective processes are guided by the phases and categories that form part of the framework model EDAMA (Aeppli & Lötscher, 2016), a model specifically designed for reflection purposes. In our contribution, we present longer passages from one assignment that serves as example to illustrate how a student teacher experienced a significant situation in his internship and in what way he analyses and evaluates this situation in accordance with the model. In order to assess the quality of the student teacher‘s reflections, the lecturers too draw on criteria that refer to the model.