Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 3(2), 223-239. Using Inquiry Empowering Technologies to Support Prospective Teachers ’ Scientific Inquiry and Science Learning

Inquiry course was designed to engage prospective teachers, as science learners, in developing their understandings about and abilities to do scientific inquiry. The design of the course was informed by three central goals: (a) engage prospective science teachers in authentic science experiences in a technology-rich environment designed to promote and support scientific inquiry; (b) situate science learning within a social context; and (c) promote reflection on learning. Pedagogical approaches used in the course are described in detail within the context of a life science module. Throughout the course, prospective teachers reflected on their own experiences as learners of science; these learning experiences appear to serve as powerful referents for novice teachers as they learn to teach science through the use of inquiry empowering technologies. The notion of scientific inquiry is at the core of reform views of scienc