Cognitive aspects of the implementation of lessons by student biology teachers

This Study explores some cognitive aspects of the implementation of lessons by biology student-teachers. This exploration is based on thirty-two units of analysis built up from data collected from sixteen student-teachers on teaching practice in secondary school classrooms. Eight student-teachers were Brazilian and eight were English, all attending university courses in their respective countries. Each unit of analysis comprised pre and post-lesson interviews with the student-teachers, relevant lesson plans and teaching materials, and lesson recordings (audio-tapes and still-photographs). A methodology of analysis gradually emerged from an examination of these data, and through an interplay between data and theory, two basic lesson components were isolated. One, the biological knowledge translated by the student-teachers to the pupils; the other, the cognitive processes that were used as a means for facilitating this translation. These components and their complex interrelationship are seen, within the limits of this Study, in terms of the conceptual structure and the verbal and non-verbal processes used by the student-teachers in the lessons. An interpretation of the data, according to a developed system of categories, is attempted. Various features are identified from the data and linked to a number of constructs that have been used in the literature to describe cognitive interactions between teachers and pupils. On this basis, some comparisons are made between the two groups of student-teachers. Three descriptive instruments were devised to aid in the interpretation of the data, on the basis of a distinction between intentional and supportive conceptual units used-for building up the conceptual structure of a lesson. This distinction was inferred from the pre-lesson data sources. The evidence obtained from the Study suggests that, both the instruments of analysis and the interpretive frames enabled the Author to reach a closer understanding of the complexity of the roles of translator and facilitator operated by the student-teachers. The concluding section to the Report points to the value of applying the developed methodology and frames of interpretation to a wider cross-section of student-teachers-in training.