THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PROSPECTIVE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ SKILLS OF WRITTEN EXPLANATION

A comparative study of prospective teachers' pedagogical skills of written communication in science is presented. Russian and Swedish students were asked to give detailed explanations of two simple physical phenomena (how and why the shadow from a tree appears and why the bulb lights in a torch) to a hypothetical Grade 7 pupil. The results of the questionnaire revealed the evident gap between the students' knowledge per se and their abilities to express didactically their knowledge in written form and in pictures. Undoubtedly this is one of the challenges to teacher educators. The study also revealed the differences between forms and qualities of explanations given by Russian and Swedish students as the result of different pedagogical traditions and communication cultures.