Problematization of a document analysis grid of internship reports produced during supervised practice

Abstract

Science Education is fundamental to answer and minimize global and local challenges. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure quality training of Biology teachers, in Portugal and in the World. This study aims to present and problematize the process of building an analysis grid to be used in the context of a PhD project, in the documentary analysis of internship reports of future Biology teachers from four public higher education institutions, produced over a decade (2009-2019). The analysis grid consists of three dimensions: 1) Supporting knowledge area(s); 2) Strategies to science teaching; and 3) Professional development. This version was developed based on the articulation of a literature review of the themes of scientific knowledge, didactic-pedagogical strategies in science teaching and supervision. The grid was applied to 39 pedagogical training reports of (future) teachers prepared within the scope of the Master’s in Biology and Geology Teaching in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and Secondary Education of one of the higher education institutions involved in the doctoral project. The results of this preliminary analysis allowed the mapping of specific features of the curriculum of teacher education highlighting its usefulness in the characterization of research object. Future work will involve refining the grid in light of the phased and interactive validation model of Lopes, Pedrosa & Watts (2016) so that the grid can be applied to the analysis of internship reports from other institutional contexts.