Inquiry-Based Fieldwork - From experiences in student role to reflections on teacher role

Despite clear recommendations from the research field that fieldwork should be explorative, and student centered, school practice is not characterized accordingly. In this study, an inquiry-based fieldwork activity, was developed for science teacher education, and conducted in both freshwater, and marine ecosystems. Data was collected autumn 2023, and a thematic analysis on preservice teacher`s (PST`s) written reflections, form 3 student groups, was conducted. Four themes were identified and categorized accordingly. The analysis revealed contrasting views among the informants, where one group considered inquiry as combination of scientific practices, and another group of informants emphasized solely on data collection. The informants also suggested several relevant ideas for adaptation to school practice and reflected on the teacher role. However, our findings indicates that they struggled to differentiate open/closed inquiry form scaffolding, support, and structure. Furthermore, PSTs with a singular emphasis on data collection may view inquiry’s practical aspects as most explorative or may not fully grasp the different practices contributions in arriving at durable answers.