A Case Study on the Process of Practicum of Student Teachers Majoring in Physics Education

물리교육 전공 학생들의 교육실습 과정 사례 연구

This study has been undertaken in the light of constructivist view of teacher education. Participant observation, unstructured interview and questionnaire were used to explore the process and the role of practicum in science teacher education. The subjects were 19 student teachers majoring in physics education; 8 had participated at boys junior high school, 11 at senior high school. The student teachers had very critical and negative perception on their school days' science lessons. They had expected to do 'better' in their practicum but there were only 3 to 5 opportunities of teaching under the umbrella of textbook. Explanation in the classroom and solving exercise problem were the main features of student teachers' lessons. Much of the lessons were similar when it is to same topic and the main reference for their lesson preparation was the textbook. The student teachers felt the design of teaching approach as the most difficult thing during their lesson preparation. They realized that teaching is harder than they thought and they should consider students' level and responses. Though they had become to have more positive perception on teaching job through their field experiences, their decision on job preference did not change. More than half did not want to be a teacher. The student teachers recognised the courses related with science education as the most useful to their teaching in practice among the program of college of education which they had taken. The experience of writing one lesson plan or teaching in front of their peers, designing a new demonstration equipment were recognised as valuable and helpful element of the courses. They proposed to reduce the amount of general education courses and to emphasize the courses relevant with science education and practicum. The limited opportunity of teaching in practicum was pointed out as problematic. Though the practicum was recognized as a 'good' experience to student teachers, it was confined by textbook and limited teaching opportunity. In conclusion, the practicum was not organized and implemented as a meaningful experience of science teaching and learning. There should be more structured studies on what kind of perceptions and experiences the student teachers had brought to the science teacher education program, how they interact with the elements of the program and how they affect to their science teaching. The structure and content of practicum also should be studied and developed so as to make practicum as a meaningful experience of science teaching and learning.