The aim of this study is to explore effective teaching strategies through an investigation of the problem-solving abilities and reasons for the unsuccessful problem solving of pre-service teachers. The participants of the study were 60 pre-service tea...
The aim of this study is to explore effective teaching strategies through an investigation of the problem-solving abilities and reasons for the unsuccessful problem solving of pre-service teachers. The participants of the study were 60 pre-service teachers who were expected to teach earth science in elementary school (40) and secondary school (20). The participants had taken a course in astronomy before they took part in the present study. The instruments for the study were a paper-and-pencil test and interviews. The results demonstrated that the pre-service teachers' abilities to solve problems were low. The pre-service teachers of the elementary school were inferior to those of the secondary school in their problem solving abilities. The causes for the unsuccessful problem solving were identified as follows: (1) lack of prerequisite knowledge to understand the motions of the moon and the planets, (2) failure to represent problems based on solution principles, (3) failure to apply the knowledge acquired in one setting to another, different setting, (4) frames of reference the frameworks for everyday life situation and for earth science problem situation, and (5) rote-memorization of facts rather than understanding the cause-and-effect relationships. The above causes for unsuccessful problem solving seemed to be related to the characteristics of novice problem solvers in general and of the tasks about the motions of the moon and the planets. Suggestions are made to enhance pre-service teachers' problem solving abilities based on the result of the study.