Supporting pre-service teacher learning about planning for practical work in science education: developing a pedagogical framework

Practical work, which includes any activity where students work in groups or alone to manipulate objects and materials, is a common and engaging feature of science classrooms. Yet the quality and value of practical work for supporting student learning has been criticised as ineffective, ill-conceived and unproductive. Practical work is ineffective when the Domain of Observables
(what students do, DO) and the Domain of Ideas (what the teacher intends student learn, DI) are not aligned, given insufficient attention or made not explicit during practical work. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) need targeted support when learning how to plan for practical work because of their lack of experience planning for student learning, especially with respect to DO and DI, and
due to the short timeframes and sporadic practicum experiences during initial teacher education. The aim of this research was to make explicit key elements for practical work in DO and DI to support PST learning. A six-year intervention study took place during a biology method unit at a large university in Melbourne Australia. PST assignments (n=272) were analysed using thematic analysis and tested using Rasch. The Practical Work Effectiveness Matrix was created and offers a pedagogical framework which makes explicit the complex and nuanced elements of planning for DO and DI to support the development of PSTs knowledge and capacity to plan for practical work.