Abstract
Teaching concepts that are abstract such as electron configuration remain challenging in Physical Sciences classrooms, particularly for pre-service teachers who are still developing their pedagogical and technological competencies. The integration of technology with inquiry-based teaching presents opportunities to support visualisation and strengthen instructional practice. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative case study exploring Physical Sciences pre-service teacher's implementation of a VR-enhanced 5E Instructional Model of Inquiry when teaching electron configuration during microteaching. The study focused on three Physical Sciences PostGraduate Certificate (PGCE) pre-service teachers that were purposively selected from a South African university. The data was collected using lesson plans, non-participant classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and stimulated-recall reflections. The findings from the lesson plans and semi-structured interviews indicated that pre-service teachers showed willingness to integrate VR and 5E Instructional Model during their teaching. VR was found to be effective as it promoted learner engagement, visualisation of abstract atomic structures, allowed the exploration and promoted the explanation during microteaching sessions and assisted in grasping the concept that is abstract. Challenges were identified during the implementation of the VR-enhanced 5E Instructional Model during micro-teaching such as limited instructional time allocated per pre-service teacher were not enough, technical difficulties due to lack of training, varying levels of confidence in the use of the VR tool from the pre-service teachers, and difficulties in coherently balancing the integration of all phases of the 5E Instructional Model while also implementing the VR tool. Despite these challenges being raised, the pre-service teachers also reported positive teaching experiences and recognised VR as a valuable tool for supporting inquiry-based teaching in science classrooms. The study recommends the purposeful inclusion of VR-supported inquiry approaches within teacher education programmes. Furthermore, opportunities for VR-based microteaching should be expanded to better prepare PGCE pre-service teachers for real classroom contexts and to strengthen their ability to implement inquiry-based instructional practices in Physical Sciences.