An Inquiry-Based Approach to Physics Teacher Education: the Case of Sound Properties

Abstract

In this paper we describe some results of an experimentation on Pre-Service Physics Teacher Education performed with a group of non-Italian Trainee Teachers engaged in one-month mobility activities at University of Palermo, in the framework of the EU Project “Move’in Science”. Some preliminary results of the experimentation of a Teaching/Learning Unit about Mechanical Wave propagation are presented, with particular reference to mental models about wave propagation evidenced by Trainee Teachers. Their understanding of the relevance of pupils’ mental model knowledge, in the framework of what a teacher should do to be an “effective” teacher, is also discussed.