Prompts or Protocol: Supporting Elementary Science Teacher Candidates to Notice Students' Resources During Video Analysis
Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching
Published online on June 14, 2026
Abstract
["Journal of Research in Science Teaching, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nScience education has shifted from a focus on canonical correctness toward students and their sensemaking. In response, teacher educators have explored video analysis as an activity for helping teacher candidates (TCs) notice students and their resources. Framing (e.g., facilitator prompts, protocols) influences what TCs learn through video analysis. Here, we analyze the influence of framing on one feature of an undergraduate elementary science methods course: video clubs that were intended to support TCs in noticing students' resources. Our data come from a larger study that designed, implemented, and evaluated an elementary science methods course at two universities: A large public university in the midwestern US and a small private university in the southeastern US. In this paper, using a case study approach, we compare two structures for framing TCs' noticing of students' resources during video clubs: open‐ended prompts and a protocol. Specifically, we analyze data from two contrasting cases: (a) one facilitator‐led video club using guiding prompts and an open‐ended structure (Year 1) and (b) one TC‐led video club that relied on a protocol (adapted from Jilk [2016]) with targeted sentence frames to focus TCs' noticing on students' resources (Year 2). We found that in both cases TCs attended to students' resources. The TCs in the prompt‐facilitated discussion focused more often on students' non‐canonical strengths (e.g., cultural knowledge) and on teaching, yet use of a facilitator limited TCs' opportunities for participation. In comparison, the TCs in the protocol‐guided discussion focused more often on students' canonical assets (e.g., understandings of force and motion) and non‐canonical strengths (e.g., interactional resources), and the TCs had more opportunities for participation without a facilitator. These findings offer implications for teacher educators aiming to support equitable science teaching through courses and professional development.\n"]