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corresponds to the research question “What are prospective teachers’ ideas about teaching science using inquiry methods as they learn more about inquiry instruction through their secondary science methods courses?” Statistically significant change occurred (sig. 001) over the four points in time, showing continued growth through each experience with a slight decrease shown in the student teaching experience where understandings were measured through an interview. Qualitatively examining the change of each prospective science teachers’ understanding of inquiry, we found that most students experienced a considerable change (from very naive to sophisticated) through their definitions and explanations expressed in the first methods course to their understandings expressed in RBF documents and in the student teaching interviews. This data was obtained through qualitative analysis of documents and interview transcriptions.
As the preservice teachers displayed a more sophisticated understanding of the concepts and ideas of inquiry and inquiry pedagogy, the next research question focused on whether a better understanding of inquiry resulted in successful implementation of inquiry teaching. The preservice science teachers who strongly advocated inquiry pedagogy in writing did not necessarily result in strong examples of inquiry teaching and learning in the classroom. When analyzed, the documents written earlier in Methods 1 (pre- and post-) and Methods 3 (RBF) displayed a positive progression of learning and sophistication that decreased slightly in interviews conducted during student teaching where preservice teachers spoke about their plans for future inquiry teaching, as students reverted somewhat in terms of their plans and descriptions for incorporating inquiry pedagogy into their instruction. These results were obtained by applying the IAR to the written documents and interview transcripts. The increases shown in their explanations of inquiry teaching in their future