As online Initial Teacher Education (ITE) expands, there is increasing need for pedagogies that support deep engagement with complex socio-scientific issues (SSIs). This study investigates the use of Digital Weaving to trace and interrelate preservice teachers’ discussion board contributions across online STEM and SSI-focused units. The work is situated within contemporary SSI scholarship that foregrounds transformational learning and perspective taking in science education (Nolan & Zeidler, 2025), and discourse-oriented analyses of positioning and power in STEM contexts (Wieselmann et al., 2021).
The study addresses two questions: (1) How can Digital Weaving support engagement and knowledge construction in online science/STEM units? and (2) How does it assist teacher educators to understand students’ developing socio-scientific reasoning? Using a mixed retrospective–prospective design, anonymised discussion posts and assessment artefacts are analysed through thematic coding and discourse-informed tracing of conceptual linkages across threads. Visual mapping techniques are used to identify patterns of perspective taking, epistemic authority, and community formation.
Preliminary findings indicate that Digital Weaving makes students’ conceptual progression visible, highlights shifts in perspective, and supports the development of reflective, justice-oriented science educators. The study contributes a methodological framework for examining discourse, transformation, and community in online science teacher education.