Prospective Primary Teachers' Prior Experiences, Conceptions and Pedagogical Valuations

Prospective Primary Teachers' Prior Experiences, Conceptions and Pedagogical Valuations

Prospective Primary Teachers' Prior Experiences, Conceptions and Pedagogical Valuations of Experimental Activity in Science Education

Supplementary information. Appendix 4

Results for Question 4

Aspect / Fragments of teams’ responses / Freq. (%)
Title of the ExA / An attractive or playful title is proposed / "The magic box", "Magic clips", "Rainbow", "Let's experiment with electricity", "Olive leaf 'fingerprint'" / 14
Scientific content or topics / Chemical reactions / "Chemical reactions"; "Baking soda and vinegar"; "A system for collecting gas (after a chemical reaction)"; "Eruption of a volcano (after a chemical reaction)". / 24
Astronomy / "Sundial"; "Physical model of the Solar System"; "Solar eclipse (the magic box)"; "Planetary System"; "Day and night on Earth". / 19
Water cycle / "The evaporation of water (boiling point)"; "Water cycle". / 11
Analytical techniques (chromatography, microscopy, sedimentation) / "Chromatography and capillarity (the rainbow)"; "Separation of a heterogeneous mixture by a physical method"; "Using the microscope"; "Decantation". / 11
Densities / "Let's work with density!" / 5
Electricity / "Experiments with electricity"; "Closed circuits (The Magic Clips)". / 5
Animals and fossils / "Fossil analysis"; "Butterfly evolution." / 5
Crystallography & Mineralogy (formation of salt crystals, collecting minerals) / "Crystallization"; "Excursion to a Natural Park (collect minerals)." / 5
Plants / "We classify the leaves in our environment"; "'Fingerprint' of the olive tree leaf". / 5
Health / "Tobacco and its consequences". / 3
Others (e.g., making models) / "Relief of the Iberian Peninsula"; "Maths is fun". / 5
Acquisition of exclusively conceptual knowledge / "The pupils know what density is and its formula."; "The difference in boiling point between water and salt water."; "How silver and turpentine together create a chemical reaction."; "Let the children know the properties of salt and its states." / 81
Objectives of the ExA / Acquisition of cooperative learning skills / "... working in groups, fostering cooperative learning." / 8
Acquisition of procedural knowledge / "Using the microscope."; "... knowing how to separate the elements of a heterogeneous mixture ... by decantation." / 8
Acquisition of conceptual and attitudinal knowledge / "Acquiring knowledge of minerals. Being together in the outdoors. Acquisition of attitudes towards the environment."; "The adverse effects of tobacco on the organism. Make children aware of how much tobacco may harm them." / 5
Proposes using household materials, easily accessible and very cheap / "Plastic bottle, balls of aluminium foil, and turpentine."; "Cotton, bottle, cigarette, water, and lighter."; "... balloon, vinegar, spoon, and baking soda." / 89
The preparation, materials, and resources needed / Proposes using standard laboratory materials / "Decantation funnel, flasks, heterogeneous mixture."; "Beaker, 100 mL of water, 100 mL of oil." / 11
A completely closed and scheduled script (cookbook-based approach) indicating the steps to follow in doing the ExA / "We take the olive leaf ... on the underside we stick a piece of adhesive putty. We remove the putty and apply the varnish. We put the putty on the slide and cover it with the cover slip. Finally we put the sample in the microscope and we can see the olive trichomes."
"The mixture is poured into the funnel, the denser [component] will settle underneath ... A flask is placed under the funnel which is then opened to let the liquid out. Before the other element comes out, the funnel is closed leaving the two substances separated." / 97