An examination of the learning and innovation skills of pre-service science teachers in climate change-focused ADI applications

This study aims to examine how pre-service science teachers demonstrate learning and innovation skills (4C skills: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity)and the indicators through which these skills become evident during climate change-focused Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) implementations. The study further seeks to reveal how these skills are structured across different stages of the ADI process and the contexts in which they are made visible. The research was designed as a qualitative case study involving 26 pre-service science teachers enrolled in a science teacher education program. Data were collected over a 13-week implementation period through lesson recordings, student reports, activity sheets, reflective journals, semi-structured interviews, and stimulated recall interviews. The collected data were analyzed using content analysis, with a focus on the distribution of skill indicators across the stages of the ADI process. The findings indicate that pre-service science teachers demonstrated learning and innovation skills in a multidimensional and context-sensitive manner throughout the ADI process. Indicators of critical thinking were consistently observed across all stages, while communication and creativity were particularly prominent during the ideas, plan, and do stages. Collaboration skills were most evident during the plan, do, and share stages. Overall, the findings suggest that learning and innovation skills do not emerge as isolated competencies; rather, they are demonstrated and made evident through dynamic and holistic interactions within authentic problem contexts. In this respect, the study highlights ADI as a powerful and innovative pedagogical approach for supporting 21st-century skills in science teacher education.