The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of constructivist instruction on the achievement, attitude towards science teaching, science process skills and retention of fourth grade preservice science teachers in Science Teaching Methods II course. Two groups (one experimental and one control) were assigned from Hacettepe University Faculty of Education Department of Science Education. Experimental group consisted of 53 preservice science teachers and the control group consisted of 50 preservice science teachers / totally 103 preservice science teachers participated in this study. Quasi experimental research design was used in this study. Constructivist instruction was used in experimental group and traditional instruction was used in control group during the teaching and learning process. This research study was conducted in fall semester of the 2007-2008 academic year and lasted 15 weeks including the final examination term. Science Process Skills Test, Attitude towards Science Teaching Scale and Achievement Test in Science Teaching Methods II course were administered to participants three times / at the beginning of the study, immediately after the implementation process and 10 weeks later. A mixed between within ANOVA with repeated measures was used as a statistical technique for analyzing quantitative data and both descriptive and content analysis was used for analyzing questionnaire, formative and summative focus group interviews. Statistical mean difference was obtained for all tests in favor of experimental group and the findings of quantitative data analysis results were supported by the qualitative data analysis results. After interpreting the results, it can be claimed that constructivist instruction is effective in preservice science education.

In this study, three aspects of technology integration in English Language Teaching within the context of private universities in Ankara, Turkey were investigated. Firstly, preservice and in-service teachers&amp / #8217 / computer usage frequencies/types, computer competence levels, perceived barriers to technology integration and attitudes toward computers were explored. Then, factors (age, gender, work experience, institutional factors being preservice or in-service) that might potentially affect the findings of the first research question were examined. Finally, the educational value preservice and in-service teachers assigned to technology usage in their language teaching practices and their ideas on effective technology integration were scrutinized. In order to reach aforementioned goals, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The institutions sampled in this study were all private universities, the infrastructure of which varied drastically. A total of 182 questionnaires collected from the teachers (in-service N=120, preservice N=62), as well as eight in-service and four preservice teachers were interviewed. The findings indicated that teachers used computers at their schools at limited frequency. It was also found that they indicated high levels of instructional computer usage outside the school and technology competence. It was also seen that age, gender and the institutions the teachers worked at affected their technology usage and competence levels. As for the educational value assigned to technology usage in their language teaching, the teachers indicated that technology would help make their lessons more student centered. However, the teachers mainly mentioned using technology as teacher tools rather student tools which help foster higher order thinking skills and learner autonomy. Keeping the usage statistics in mind, it was concluded that the schools, even though all of them were private, lacked computer infrastructure to the point that the teachers had difficulty even to use computers for their personal purposes. It was also concluded that the schools in Turkey were still at the stage of fighting with first-order barriers, even at private institutions, indicating that a vision towards technology integration lacks. As for the educational value assigned to computer usage in ELT, it was concluded that institutional barriers were more of a concern for the teachers as they did not have a chance to delve into actual instructional usage and the ICT courses at college were not preparing the teachers for effective technology integration due to lack of proper training activities.

The present study aimed to investigate the self-efficacy levels of prospective teachers and to examine whether attitude towards teaching, competency in subject matter, mentor teacher - student teacher relationship and being a graduate of Anatolian Teacher High School (ATHS) predicted prospective teachers&rsquo / self-efficacy for teaching regarding classroom management, student engagement and instructional strategies. Participants of the study were 179 fourth year prospective teachers of English studying at the Foreign Language Education Departments of Gazi University, Middle East Technical University and Hacettepe University. Data was collected through (1) Teachers&rsquo / Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran &amp / Hoy, 2001), (2) Relationship with Your Mentor Scale (Capa &amp / Loadman, 2004), (3) Scale for Students&rsquo / Attitudes Towards the Teaching Profession (Semerci, 1999). Data analysis was conducted using the statistical software SPSS 15.0. Results of the study revealed that the prospective teachers of English feel quite positive about teaching when their self-efficacy composite scores were considered. In relation to the self efficacy levels of prospective teachers regarding classroom management, student engagement and instructional strategies, the results of this study showed that pre-service teachers of English believe that they are more efficacious in applying instructional strategies than they are in engaging students and they are found to be the least efficacious in managing the classroom. According to the results attained through hierarchical regression analyses, attitude towards teaching variable significantly predicted self-efficacy composite scores, efficacy scores for student engagement, classroom management and instructional strategies. Self-efficacy composite scores and efficacy for instructional strategies were significantly predicted by the competency in subject matter variable. Mentor teacher-student teacher relationship variable predicted only the efficacy for student engagement scores and finally the findings indicated that being a graduate of ATHSs was a significant predictor for neither efficacy belief composite scores nor the subscales. Findings were discussed in the light of the literature and implications of the findings and recommendations for practice and further research have been presented.

Teacher recruitment and retention challenges facing urban school contexts provided the impetus for this study. High percentages of historically marginalized students, plagued by high poverty rates and low academic performance, as well as substandard facilities and inadequate material resources, serve as causative factors inhibiting recruitment and retention of credentialed teachers in urban schools (Education Commission of the States [ECS], 1999; Guarino et al., 2006; Horng, 2009; USDOE, 2003; 2004; Wirt et al, 2004). Schools and districts attempt to meet chronic teacher shortages in hard-to-staff urban schools by creating innovative teacher preparation schemes, such as the Urban Teaching Academy (UTA). This study focuses on teacher identity formation and prospective efficacy beliefs among a group of students enrolled in UTA. The research questions were examined using interpretive phenomenological inquiry (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) through case study methodology (Yin, 2009). Findings show that the precollegiate student teachers in this study made meaning primarily from a student perspective, thus adhering to prototypical images of teaching characterized by identity markers. Salient components of definitions of teacher identity for precollegiate student teachers are Self and Care. Less relevant components for precollegiate student teachers were Emotion and Context. These components appear most influenced by the temporal distance between the precollegiate Urban Teaching Academy and actual teaching experiences during internship/practicum and subsequent teaching in a professional capacity, suggesting a need to determine whether it is possible for precollegiate student teachers to meet the emotional and contextual demands of teaching at such an early stage. Additionally, this study proposes to extend on the teacher efficacy construct by offering a model for prospective efficacy as it pertains to individuals in teacher preparation at the precollegiate and preservice levels. This model contends that beginning with the self as influenced by personal, social, cultural, historical and political knowledge sources, precollegiate student teachers begin to develop an epistemological stance towards teaching. Over time, precollegiate student teachers build identity capital grounded in the skills, knowledge and dispositions gained through access to varied knowledge sources, which develop as precollegiate student teachers learn theoretical principals of teaching, obtain and learn from performance information, and combine the theory and practice into an epistemological framework that provides impetus for ongoing synergy between theoretical and practical experiences. The broader the base of identity capital from which the precollegiate student teacher draws, the greater the likelihood that she will develop prospective efficacy, or the belief that she will be capable of fulfilling teaching roles and responsibilities in the future. This study informs the literature on precollegiate and preservice teacher identity and extends the literature on teacher efficacy.

Views of teaching: implications for the didactic training of mathematics teachers. School mathematics teaching is an essential learning area in South African schools. Owing to persistent traditional positivist-based views and approaches, it still suffers from a variety of teaching-learning problems. Various national attempts have already been made to develop an effective teaching-learning program for school mathematics. Prominent researchers reveal that the failure of teaching-learning programmes often have to be attributed to the lack of an underlying grounded didactic theory. Therefore this study focused on the development of a grounded teaching-theoretical framework for school mathematics teaching. A further problem regarding school mathematics is that its teaching and learning traditionally are viewed from a narrow school subject disciplinary perspective. Therefore this study departed from a general didactic-theoretical perspective, creating the opportunity to approach and solve problems from a wider angle. A constructivist-based post-positivist view of effective teaching was developed, before entering the field of school mathematics. In this way an integrated ontologicalcontextual view of teaching was developed in terms of six identified ontological essential features, and their contextual coherence, namely: intention, teacher, leamer, interaction, content and context. Contrary to traditional positivist views, no causal relationship between teaching and learning was imposed, and teaching was not qualified in terms of learning products. Instead, teaching was characterised and qualified on ontological grounds, departing from the phenomenon itself. In this way the limitations of positivist process-product views of teaching could be identified, explained and overcome. Alternatively, a dynamic integrated view of teaching as a human act, directed at the facilitation of relevant and meaningful learning, was grounded and developed. Based on this general ontological-contextually based view, a specific ontologicalcontextual view of effective school mathematics teaching was grounded and developed. To this end a variety of prominent contemporary views of and approaches to school mathematics, and its teaching and learning, needed to be analysed in a critical way. According to this analysis school mathematics, and its teaching and learning should be viewed and approached from a constructivist-based dynamic change-and-grow perspective as human acts. In addition, it could have been proved that the perspective concerned can facilitate the treatment and solving of the currently experienced teaching-learning problems. This requires the reconsideration, from a similar perspective, of the current school mathematics curriculum, as well as the preservice didactic training of mathematics teachers. Specific implications of the developed ontological-contextual view of effective school mathematics teaching were identified, and practically tested in the corresponding preservice didactic training situation in the North West Province. Based on this an integrated model for the training concerned was formulated. It was found that the current training largely contributed to the continuation of traditional views of and approaches to school mathematics teaching, and its essential features. From the developed integrated ontological-contextual perspective definitive proposals regarding the transformation of school mathematics teaching and the corresponding didactic training were made and motivated. Further areas for investigation and development, resulting from this study, were identified, as well. This study aimed at investigating, and revealing for further exploration, the specific and broadening interaction between the general teaching and subject didactical fields and research, particularly in the two contexts of effective school mathematics teaching and the corresponding preservice didactical training. A particular attempt was made to accomplish this in a grounded and integrated way, to the benefit of both fields. / Thesis (PhD)--PU for CHE, 1998.

Views of teaching: implications for the didactic training of mathematics teachers. School mathematics teaching is an essential learning area in South African schools. Owing to persistent traditional positivist-based views and approaches, it still suffers from a variety of teaching-learning problems. Various national attempts have already been made to develop an effective teaching-learning program for school mathematics. Prominent researchers reveal that the failure of teaching-learning programmes often have to be attributed to the lack of an underlying grounded didactic theory. Therefore this study focused on the development of a grounded teaching-theoretical framework for school mathematics teaching. A further problem regarding school mathematics is that its teaching and learning traditionally are viewed from a narrow school subject disciplinary perspective. Therefore this study departed from a general didactic-theoretical perspective, creating the opportunity to approach and solve problems from a wider angle. A constructivist-based post-positivist view of effective teaching was developed, before entering the field of school mathematics. In this way an integrated ontologicalcontextual view of teaching was developed in terms of six identified ontological essential features, and their contextual coherence, namely: intention, teacher, leamer, interaction, content and context. Contrary to traditional positivist views, no causal relationship between teaching and learning was imposed, and teaching was not qualified in terms of learning products. Instead, teaching was characterised and qualified on ontological grounds, departing from the phenomenon itself. In this way the limitations of positivist process-product views of teaching could be identified, explained and overcome. Alternatively, a dynamic integrated view of teaching as a human act, directed at the facilitation of relevant and meaningful learning, was grounded and developed. Based on this general ontological-contextually based view, a specific ontologicalcontextual view of effective school mathematics teaching was grounded and developed. To this end a variety of prominent contemporary views of and approaches to school mathematics, and its teaching and learning, needed to be analysed in a critical way. According to this analysis school mathematics, and its teaching and learning should be viewed and approached from a constructivist-based dynamic change-and-grow perspective as human acts. In addition, it could have been proved that the perspective concerned can facilitate the treatment and solving of the currently experienced teaching-learning problems. This requires the reconsideration, from a similar perspective, of the current school mathematics curriculum, as well as the preservice didactic training of mathematics teachers. Specific implications of the developed ontological-contextual view of effective school mathematics teaching were identified, and practically tested in the corresponding preservice didactic training situation in the North West Province. Based on this an integrated model for the training concerned was formulated. It was found that the current training largely contributed to the continuation of traditional views of and approaches to school mathematics teaching, and its essential features. From the developed integrated ontological-contextual perspective definitive proposals regarding the transformation of school mathematics teaching and the corresponding didactic training were made and motivated. Further areas for investigation and development, resulting from this study, were identified, as well. This study aimed at investigating, and revealing for further exploration, the specific and broadening interaction between the general teaching and subject didactical fields and research, particularly in the two contexts of effective school mathematics teaching and the corresponding preservice didactical training. A particular attempt was made to accomplish this in a grounded and integrated way, to the benefit of both fields. / Thesis (PhD)--PU for CHE, 1998.

數學能力向來被視為解決問題能力的重要基礎。隨著知識經濟時代的來臨，數學愈加受到重視，數學教師的教學效能亦面臨新的挑戰。為了協助師培生發展更具創意與多元的教學方式，本研究在中學數學科教材教法之課堂中，提供學生以知識翻新（knowledge-building）(Scardamalia, 2002) 教育理念為核心的課程設計，並使用知識論壇(Knowledge Forum™)數位學習平台作為本課程的線上輔助學習環境。研究主要目的在利用教室中與論壇上的知識翻新活動以提昇師培生對數學相關信念之反思與瞭解。研究對象為9位師培生。本研究透過混合研究設計以蒐集資料，資料來源包括：（1）整學期師培生在「知識論壇」平台上之討論與貼文；（2）期初與期末的數學信念開放式問卷；與（3）師培生的試教。資料分析方式如下：(1)平台上的貼文主要使用知識論壇分析工具(Analytic Toolkit for Forum)探討師培生在平台上的互動與知識翻新歷程；（2）數學信念開放式問卷主要以兩種觀點進行內容分析並交叉檢證；與（3）試教過程(錄影檔)以開放式問卷所產生之編碼進行影片內容的分析。 研究結果發現：（1）以知識翻新理論為原則之課程設計有助於師培生發展更建構取向之數學信念；（2）使用知識論壇平台有助於師培生分享知識與自我反思；（3）數學信念與教學實踐呈現相互影響的關係；以及（4）透過知識翻新的課程設計，師培生逐漸理解多元與彈性的教學對學生學習的重要性。本研究根據研究結果提出以下幾點建議以供未來師培教育之參考：（1）數學師資培育必須將專業學術知識的學習與成熟信念的養成作更密切的銜接；（2）師培機構進行課程設計時，應提供更多元開放的教學方式來幫助師培生學習；（3）師培教育應鼓勵師培生發展更能適應未來學生學習之教學方法。 / The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of knowledge building pedagogy and technology on preservice teachers’ views on the nature of, and teaching practices in, mathematics. Participants were nine preservice teachers who took a university course titled “High-School Mathematics Teaching.” A software program called Knowledge Forum was employed to enable an online knowledge building environment for preservice teachers to explore, reflect, and discuss about the nature of, and teaching practices in, mathematics. Data mainly came from three sources: (1) preservice teachers’ online posting and discussion recorded in a KF database, (2) a survey about mathematical beliefs with eight open-ended questions, and (3) preservice teachers’ teaching practice videos. To analyze, (1) online discussion records automatically recorded in Knowledge Forum were analyzed using descriptive statistics; (2) open-ended survey questions were content-analyzed following an open-coding procedure; and (3) two cases of preservice teachers’ teaching practice were further explored by employing video analysis techniques. The main findings were as follows: (1) engaging in knowledge building was found to help preservice teachers develop more constructivist-oriented mathematics beliefs; (2) use of Knowledge Forum was helpful for preservice teachers in sharing their knowledge and reflecting on their teaching; (3) mathematics beliefs and teaching practice could mutually influence each other; (4) after engaging in knowledge building for a whole semester, preservice teachers were able to realize the importance of capitalizing on more diversified ways of teaching to enhance student learning. Building on the results, this study made the following three suggestions: (1) teacher education program should pay more attention to integrating the learning of pedagogical content knowledge into the development of more mature mathematical beliefs among preservice teachers; (2) teacher education program should encourage more diversified and flexible ways of teaching practice when designing its courses; and (3) teacher education program should encourage preservice teachers to develop more adaptive teaching practices to help students learn in the future.

Across the period in which this research was conducted, there has been an increasing emphasis in government and university policies on the promotion of technology integration in higher education. This emphasis has also become evident in Commonwealth and State government policies relating to preservice teacher education because of the need to ensure that teachers enter the profession with the types of technological skills and competencies that can enhance teaching and learning. The research reported in this thesis describes the experiences and perceptions of computer-based technologies from the perspective of academic staff and graduates from two preservice teacher education courses in a Queensland university. The research was conducted in two phases using a repeated cross-sectional longitudinal design. In Phase 1 of the research conducted in 1997, and in Phase 2 in 2002, questionnaires were used to gather data. In Phase 1 of the research, participants comprised 43 academic staff members involved in two preservice teacher education courses and 72 first or second year graduate teachers from these courses. Items in the academic staff and graduate teacher questionnaires elicited information on a range of issues related to the technologies including knowledge and confidence levels, acquisition of knowledge, current and future usage in teaching, advantages and disadvantages of teaching with the technologies, the importance of the technologies to higher and preservice education and the adequacy of preservice teacher education to prepare new teachers to use technologies. Graduate teachers were also questioned about barriers to their classroom use of technologies. Further questions for academic staff investigated the existence of factors that facilitate usage of technologies and the degree to which the presence or absence of these factors constituted barriers or incentives to technology use. A number of questions also explored attitudes surrounding the valuing of teaching, research and publishing. Results from the first phase of research revealed that both academic staff and new teachers made little use of technologies in their teaching. The most salient barriers to academic staff technology use included lack of technical advice and support, time, and lack of evidence of improved student learning and interest. There was also a widely held perception among academic staff that teaching was not valued by their university and that, in particular, innovation in teaching deserved greater recognition. For graduate teachers, barriers to technology use included lack of computers and resources, lack of school funding, and lack of knowledge and training. In Phase 2 of the research, participants comprised 40 academic staff members and 123 graduate teachers from the same two preservice teacher education courses. Participants were again questioned about knowledge and confidence levels, acquisition of knowledge, current and future usage in teaching, and the adequacy of preservice teacher education to prepare new teachers to use technologies. In light of new research and building on findings from the first phase of data collection, several new questions were added. These questions related primarily to the nature and availability of training and how preservice teacher preparation in technology use could be improved. Results from the second phase of research indicated that, among academic staff and graduate teachers, there had been considerable increases in knowledge and confidence levels in relation to the technologies, along with increased levels of usage. Both groups were also significantly more likely than their earlier counterparts to report that preservice teachers were adequately or well prepared in the use of technologies. For graduate teachers, lack of equipment and resources were ongoing barriers to technology use. Training in technology use appeared to be less of an issue for graduate teachers than academic staff with most reporting access to, and satisfaction with, inservice training opportunities. Encouraging too, was the finding that these graduate teachers were significantly more likely than their 1997 counterparts to attribute their knowledge of the technologies to preservice teacher education. While positive change in technology use was evident across this period, continued efforts to support and integrate technology in preservice teacher education remains important, as does support for the innovative use of technology to promote learning in schools.

Submitted by Rafael Gustavo Rigolon (rafael.rigolon@ufv.br) on 2016-08-06T21:18:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Rafael Rigolon (Versão Final).pdf: 4311092 bytes, checksum: fa644046834545eb52424ad7096c5a62 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-08-10T12:47:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 rigolon_rg_dr_bauru.pdf: 4311092 bytes, checksum: fa644046834545eb52424ad7096c5a62 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T12:47:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 rigolon_rg_dr_bauru.pdf: 4311092 bytes, checksum: fa644046834545eb52424ad7096c5a62 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-26 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / As analogias quantitativas são comparações que os professores fazem entre domínios diferentes para dar uma ideia mais compreensível sobre as medidas dos objetos. Geralmente, comparam objetos de medidas de difícil visualização, como as astronômicas e as microscópicas, com objetos do conhecimento dos alunos. Muitos professores e licenciandos de Biologia e de Física recorrem às analogias quantitativas em suas aulas ou outras atividades de ensino para torná-las mais atrativas e compreensíveis. Entretanto, o uso da analogia quantitativa exige certos cuidados por parte do educador para que esta funcione de fato e cumpra seu papel de facilitar o entendimento de uma determinada grandeza física ou de uma quantidade de objetos. Para colaborar com a qualidade do ensino de Ciências, especificamente o de Biologia e o de Física, esta pesquisa procurou saber como os licenciandos empregam as analogias quantitativas em situações de ensino e como uma instrução a respeito, de caráter reflexivo, em um curso de licenciatura em Biologia pode contribuir para um uso dessas analogias mais estruturado, dinâmico e com mais participação dos alunos. Além disso, pretendeu-se conhecer se as analogias apareceram dentre as estratégias didáticas elaboradas pelos licenciandos e que saberes mobilizam para o ensino de macro e micromedidas. Os dados foram constituídos por meio de um questionário escrito e de observações de oficinas ministradas durante o Estágio Supervisionado por licenciandos concluintes de Biologia e Física de duas universidades públicas (de Minas Gerais e São Paulo). Desses, uma turma de licenciandos de Biologia participou de uma intervenção pedagógica antes do preparo das oficinas, que abordou estratégias de ensino para macro e micromedidas. As respostas dos questionários passaram por uma Análise Estatística Descritiva e as transcrições das observações das oficinas por Análise de Discurso. Os resultados mostraram que os licenciandos: fazem grande uso de analogias quantitativas, mesmo sem considerá-las como estratégias didáticas; dizem preferir analogias quantitativas para explicar grandes medidas, mas na prática empregar majoritariamente os modelos em escala; dentre os tipos de analogia quantitativa, fazem mais uso das analogias de grandeza (a = k.b) do que de proporção (a/b = c/d); quando não instruídos a respeito, replicam analogias da literatura e da cultura em vez de produzi-las ou solicitar que os alunos as construam; costumam utilizar objetos muito pequenos, dos quais o número de vezes a que devem ser multiplicados para igualar ao objeto alvo é demasiado grande e, por isso, didaticamente inválido. As experiências de vida dos licenciandos apareceram nos objetos do domínio base das analogias produzidas, mostrando a importância de saberes construídos em situações não formais de ensino. Portanto, os licenciandos devem ser preparados à vida docente com o hábito da reflexão sobre suas práticas, pois assim poderá contar com estratégias didáticas mais variadas e apropriadas para as situações de ensino. O professor/licenciando que vai além de uma mera atuação técnica, reflete sobre suas ações na escola e se questiona: “se eu utilizar tal analogia, os alunos aprenderão (melhor)?” Esta pesquisa pretendeu, desse modo, colaborar com o reconhecimento do uso de analogias quantitativas como uma estratégia didática para o Ensino das Ciências. / Quantitative analogies are comparisons used by teachers, or professors about different domains, to give students a more understandable idea about objects’ measures. Generally, they compare objects difficult to visualize measures, such as the astronomic and microscopic ones, with objects known by the students. Many teachers and undergraduate students of Biology and Physics, future teachers, use quantitative analogies in their classes or other educational activities to make them more suitable and understandable to students. However, the use of quantitative analogy requires certain care for the teacher to make this really work and fulfill its role to facilitate the understanding of a certain physical quantity or a quantity of objects. In order to collaborate with the science teaching quality, specifically biology and physics teaching, this research looked into how the preservice teachers employ quantitative analogies in teaching situations and how an instruction about analogies, of reflective character, in an undergraduate Biology program may contribute to make students more involved. In addition, this study sought to know if the analogies appeared among the teaching strategies developed by preservice teachers and which knowledge they mobilize in the teaching of macro and micromeasures. The data were constituted by means of a written questionnaire and remarks of workshops given during the supervised internship for future Biology and Physics teachers from two public universities in Brazil (in Minas Gerais and São Paulo State). From this sample, a group of perservice biology teachers participated in an educational intervention prior to the preparation of workshops that addressed teaching strategies for macro and micromeasures. The answers to the questionnaires underwent a statistical descriptive analysis and the transcripts of workshops remarks through discourse analysis. The results showed that the future teachers: make quite a lot the use of quantitative analogies, even without considering them as teaching strategies; they declare to prefer quantitative analogies to explain great measures, but in practice mainly employ scale models; among the types of quantitative analogy, they make more use of greatness analogies (a = k.b) than the ratio (a/b = c/d); when not instructed about, they replicate analogies from the literature and culture instead of producing them or ask students to build them; normally they use very small objects of which the number of times must be multiplied to equal the target object is too large and, therefore, invalid in terms of didactic. The life experiences of these future teachers appeared in the basic domain objects of analogies produced, showing the importance of the knowledge built in nonformal teaching situations. Therefore, they should be prepared to their professional life with the habit of reflection on their practices, so they can count with a variety and apropriate teaching strategies. The teacher/future teacher which goes beyond a mere technical performance, reflects on his actions in school and asks him/herself: "if I use this analogy, students will learn (better)"? This research intended, thus, to collaborate with the recognition of the use of quantitative analogies as a teaching strategy for improve the Science Teaching.

Preservice teachers (PSTs) bring a plethora of knowledge and experiences to their educator preparation courses. The PSTs have also formed ideas about how to teach based on their observations during the thousands of hours they spent as students in the classroom from kindergarten through high school graduation. This phenomenon, coined by Lortie, is called the apprenticeship of observation. Past research has focused on the apprenticeship of observation in general while neglecting to specifically explore how this phenomenon influences PSTs in regards to writing. Guiding this study were three research questions: (1) what are the PSTs' beliefs about writing instruction and themselves as writers, (2) how have PSTs' experiences as students affected their beliefs about themselves as writers, and (3) how do PSTs' experiences as students influence their plans to teach writing? After conducting a thematic analysis, there are four findings that stemmed from the data. First, PSTs come to their educator preparation programs with beliefs about themselves as writers. Particularly, the PSTs believe they are either writers or non-writers, Next, PSTs believe that writing instruction should be high-quality and foster student interest. Additionally, data suggested that PSTs' past experiences as students in a writing classroom influenced the PSTs' beliefs. Particularly, the PSTs' experiences around feedback and the control they had over writing were the most discussed. Lastly, past experiences stemming from the PSTs' apprenticeship of observation formed the basis for the plans the PSTs had about teaching writing. These findings have implications for both teacher educators and the PSTs they teach. It is imperative that teacher educators take steps to uncover the beliefs and past experiences of the PSTs as these serve as a lens through which the PSTs look through during their writing methods courses. Teacher educators must also use this information as a springboard for instruction. Finally, teacher educators must challenge the apprenticeship of observation to ensure that the plans PSTs have for teaching writing are not simply a conservative recreation of past experiences devoid of a theoretical basis.