What Prospective Teachers Enrolled in a Science Methods Course Said They Learned as a Result of Subscribing to an Electronic Discussion List

Abstract

Prospective teachers who subscribed to an electronic discussion list during the Spring semester of 1995 were surveyed during the Summer of 1995 to determine what they learned as a result of subscribing to the list which was a part of a science methods course in which they were enrolled. The written statements provided by the fifteen prospective teachers in response to the question "What are some of the things you learned as a result of completing this assignment?" are analyzed and the findings are reported in this paper. A qualitative analysis of the fifteen prospective teachers' written responses revealed that they learned quite a few science related ideas and information as well as other ideas and information which they could someday use in their own classrooms, learned how to use computers and e-mail, and also learned the value of communicating and sharing ideas.