RT Journal Article T1 Emotions experienced by preservice early childhood teachers during a training program in inquiry‐based science education A1 Alarcón-Orozco, Marta A1 Franco-Mariscal, Antonio Joaquín A1 Oliva, José María A1 Blanco-López, Ángel K1 Emociones K1 Educación infantil K1 Ciencia - Estudio y enseñanza K1 Pedagogía K1 Profesores - Formación profesional AB The influence of emotions on teaching –learning processes is a topic of increasing interest in science education research. This study explores the emotions experienced by 121 preservice early childhood teachers during a training program in inquiry-based science education. Using a checklist of nine emotions (both positive and negative), participants indicated the emotions they experienced at three stages of the instruction: at the outset, after experiencing an inquiry cycle as science learners, and after designing an inquiry cycle as teacher trainees. Only five of the emotions (interest, concentration, confidence, enjoyment, and insecurity) were reported at all three stages, and closer analysis showed that their prevalence varied depending on the phase of the inquiry cycle and the role that students were in (i.e., science learners or teacher trainees). In both roles, insecurity was generally associated with the initial phases of inquiry (problem formulation, designing experiments, and choosing variables); enjoyment was more prevalent during the phases of realization of the experience in the science learner role and of data analysis in the teacher trainee role; and confidence was particularly associated with the drawing conclusions phase in both roles. These results suggest that in order to understand preservice early childhood teachers' emotions in relation to inquiry-based science education, it is necessary to consider the different phases of inquiry, each of which may generate a different emotional response. When instructing preservice teachers in the use of inquiry tasks, their emotions are also likely to vary depending on whether they are engaging with the approach as science learners or teacher trainees. PB Wiley YR 2025 FD 2025 LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/39182 UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/39182 LA eng NO Alarcón-Orozco, M. M., A. J. Franco-Mariscal, J. M. Oliva, and Á. Blanco-López. 2025. “Emotions Experienced by Preservice Early Childhood Teachers During a Training Program in Inquiry-Based Science Education.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.70007. NO This work was supported by the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación), MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Open access funding provided by Universidad de Málaga / CBUA. DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga RD 21 ene 2026