Science teachers are increasingly using internet sources for lesson planning, science content, and designing classroom activities. With the prevalence of disinformation online, there is potential for school students to learn ineffective internet search strategies and integrate disinformation into their knowledge. Science education fit for the future requires teachers who can navigate online information effectively and develop these capabilities in their students. In this study, we address the ways in which Australian preservice science teachers engage their cognitions about knowledge and knowing when searching and evaluating online information. Using concurrent think-aloud protocols we studied preservice science teachers’ cognitions while completing internet search and evaluation tasks for science lesson content on socioscientific issues. Through subsequent interviews, we captured further dimensions of participants’ knowledge and understanding of search and evaluation processes. We contribute new knowledge by providing a novel conceptual framework used for data analysis and empirical evidence about the cognitions (aims, value, ideals, and relied upon processes) that preservice science teachers engage when searching and evaluating online information. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

科学教师越来越多地使用互联网资源进行课程规划、科学内容和设计课堂活动。随着网上虚假信息的盛行，在校学生有可能学习无效的互联网搜索策略，并将虚假信息融入他们的知识中。适合未来的科学教育要求教师能够有效地浏览在线信息并在学生中培养这些能力。在这项研究中，我们讨论了澳大利亚职前科学教师在搜索和评估在线信息时参与他们对知识和知识的认知的方式。使用并发的发声思考协议，我们研究了职前科学教师的认知，同时完成了有关社会科学问题的科学课程内容的互联网搜索和评估任务。通过随后的访谈，我们进一步捕捉了参与者对搜索和评估过程的知识和理解。我们通过提供一个新的概念框架来贡献新知识，该框架用于数据分析和有关职前科学教师在搜索和评估在线信息时参与的认知（目标、价值、理想和依赖的过程）的经验证据。讨论了对研究和实践的影响。