New Perspectives in Science Education

During more than ten years we have been educating preservice preschool teacher students with early childhood education and at least three years of working experience from preschool. The education gives the students possibilities to use and connect their practical knowledge with theoretical studies to become preschool teachers. During their studies, they are working in preschool and have lessons and exercises one day each week at the university campus. The rest of the education is done by self-education individually or in groups using textbooks, films and other web-based material. On their third semester, the students have a 10 weeks course is science and technology. One of the activities in their self-education is to write four reflections about exercises, lectures and theories they followed at the campus and how they shall use their understanding in the work with children. The students usually use their new skills when working in preschool. We have investigated the fourth reflection about evolutionary theories. The students did not have lectures or exercises about evolution but instead used textbooks, educational films and articles from newspapers and they could choose between four different themes for their reflection. They also should give comments on their student peers. These students have a high level of professional experience but they are not aware of how their experience can be put into a general context understanding patterns and phenomena in nature. The written reflections were assessed by using the quality markers 4R´s of Doll’s (Relations, Recursions, Richness and Rigor). The assessment was focused on using evolutionary theories in their answers and if they gave comments on their experience working with children. The results show that many students could use the theories in a correct way. Many students also relate to important issue that should be brought up in preschool. In general the students used their previous experiences in order to construct their own, but usually reasonable, views of the theory of evolution based on random variation and natural selection. 

Keywords: pre-school teachers, self-eduation, theory of evolution;

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