<b>Preservice Elementary Teacher Readiness to Teach Using Inquiry After a Blended Science Content and Methods Course</b><b></b>

A mixed methods study was used to investigate the influence of blended learning on preservice teachers’ readiness to teach using inquiry-based learning. Online science teaching methods activities were added to a face-to-face science content class for the preservice teachers to improve their readiness to teach using inquiry-based learning. An instrument, the Teacher Readiness Survey, was developed and validated, and then used to collect pre- and post-test scores. Four factors related to teaching were observed using confirmatory factor analysis. Inferential statistics, t-tests, two-way ANOVA, and regressions were used. Cohen’s d effect sizes were also used. An open-ended survey was used to obtain qualitative data. A significant improvement in teacher readiness to use inquiry-based learning was observed. Regression analysis indicated that some of the four factors obtained during the confirmatory factor analysis had a predictive influence on each other, while others did not. The qualitative data provided more information on why this improvement was observed. These results inform targeted recommendations for teacher training and suggest avenues for further investigation.