Development of Scientific Competencies in Future Biology Teachers Through Field Practice: The Case of Tian Shan Mountain Ash (Sorbus Tianschanica)

Abstract

This study investigates how educational field practice can foster research competencies in future biology teachers, using the Tian Shan mountain ash (Sorbus tianschanica Rupr.) as a regionally significant object of inquiry. A quasi-experimental design was implemented during one academic semester (2024–2025) with second-year undergraduates enrolled in the 6B01508 Biology program: a control group (n = 21) and an experimental group (n = 31). Both groups followed the same curriculum, while the experimental group engaged in a research-based instructional approach that integrated field sampling, cytohistological preparation, microscopy, quantitative biometry, and the interpretation of rooting experiments. Plant material consisted of annual shoots collected from maternal plants of different ages in the Zhetysu Alatau; cytohistological analyses were conducted in the Laboratory of Bioresources of the Research Institute of Biotechnology and Ecology at Zhetysu State University named after I. Zhansugurov. Biological results indicated a diffuse-porous wood structure with predominance of uniseriate rays, supporting a moderate rooting potential that increased significantly under growth regulators (ANOVA: p < .001; Kruskal–Wallis: p < .001). Pedagogical assessment employed a three-component model (motivational, cognitive-content, and activity-based) across three measurement stages. At the final assessment, the distribution of research competence levels differed significantly between groups (χ² = 16.16, df = 2, p < .001) with a large effect size (Cramér's V = .56); no students in the experimental group remained at the low competence level. The findings suggest that integrating authentic anatomical and histological research on endemic flora into undergraduate biology teacher education can strengthen students' motivation, conceptual understanding, and independence in scientific inquiry, providing a scalable model for practice-oriented curriculum design.