Discussing inquiry-based teaching and didactic models in initial biology teacher education

Abstract

In order to understand the contributions of inquiry-based teaching (IBT) and didactic models (traditional, technological, spontaneous, alternative/investigative) in initial teacher training, discussed in Emergency Remote Teaching, we carried out this qualitative descriptive research, in two aspects: i) analysis of lesson plans and investigative didactic sequences developed in the disciplines of Ecology of a course in Biological Sciences; ii) diagnosis of which didactic models the undergraduates intend to experience in their future teaching practice. We registered a predominance of IBT with a structured approach (8), which allows limited student protagonism in relation to semi-structured (2) and open (1). We found agreement with constructivist models, but traditional/technical elements were also pointed out, revealing didactic model hybrid and inconsistent because it has antagonistic conceptions. We conclude that it is necessary to expand the spaces for discussion of IBT linked to the assumptions of didactic models to avoid the hybridity of dissonant models.