Pre-service elementary teachers’ experience in a community of practice through a place-based socio-scientific inquiry

Abstract

With this case study, we explored efforts to connect pre-service elementary teachers (PSTs) and campus scientists through place-based inquiry instruction. Using the framework of Community of Practice (CoP), the research question guiding this study was: what features of our place-based inquiry course intervention (involving PSTs and scientists) afforded or constrained the extent to which our students moved toward a fuller involvement in the CoP? The results indicated the PSTs were able to participate in a CoP engaged in authentic scientific inquiry and were able to move through levels of legitimate peripheral participation in varying degrees while maintaining their identities as future elementary teachers. Additionally, place-based inquiry was an effective means of including PSTs in the CoP by enabling them to provide a unique knowledge set to partnering scientists and to build arguments based on authentic local inquiry.