THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATION FOR ENHANCING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ COMPETENCY IN SCIENCE LEARNING MANAGEMENT THROUGH SCHOOL COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

Abstract

Working under school collaborative partnerships represents a fundamental strategy in science teacher preparation programs. This research and development study aimed to: 1) investigate the current state of science learning management among pre-service teachers and the utilization of school collaborative partnerships, 2) develop an innovation for enhancing science learning management competencies through school collaborative partnerships, 3) examine the effectiveness of the innovation, and 4) reflect on its implementation outcomes. The participants consisted of eight first-year pre-service teachers, one mentor teacher, six divisional university instructors, seven university instructors from partnered Rajabhat universities, and one educational supervisor. Data were collected using an open-ended science learning management competency assessment, a science lesson plan evaluation, a science teaching observation form and semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through inductive analysis and content analysis. The findings revealed that: 1) pre-service teachers predominantly employed lecture-based teaching methods and worksheets in their science instruction, while universities utilized school collaborative partnerships primarily for classroom observation and practicum courses; however, the integration within major subject courses remained limited and lacked concrete implementation; 2) the developed innovation consisted of three main components: school-based learning, participatory learning and network building, and integrated instructional development cycles; 3) following the implementation, pre-service teachers demonstrated varied yet notable enhancement in their science learning management competencies, particularly showing improved abilities in designing and implementing student-centered learning activities compared to their competencies prior to the innovation implementation. Nevertheless, they continued to encounter challenges in assessment and evaluation, classroom management, and time allocation for implementing learning activities; and 4) the reflective analysis highlighted that collaborative work between school partnerships and universities, with university instructors playing a significant role, was crucial in fostering pre-service teachers' science learning management competencies.