Title Participants "Teachers' beliefs and self-reported use of inquiry in science education in public primary schools" "María Lucero Vásquez, Tammy Schellens" "Considering teacher cognitions in teacher professional development: studies involving Ecuadorian primary school teachers" "María Lucero Vásquez" "Department of Educational Studies" "Four empirical studies contribute to the comprehensive understanding of teachersU+2019 behavior and other related characteristics (i.e. their environment, beliefs, competencies, mission, and identity). The aim is also to promote a teacher professional development approach that takes into account what teachers do, think, and feel. In this sense, experiential learning, social learning, and reflection are useful to influence not only the cognitive but also the affective domain, which has been traditionally neglected. The dissertation focuses on the quality of teachersU+2019 questions and the question-answer classroom interaction. In the final chapter, a teacher professional development intervention was implemented and positive results were obtained at both teachersU+2019 and pupilsU+2019 levels. The dissertation also contributes to the literature on instructional design by describing the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating an integral intervention in the context of developing countries." "A holistic approach to in-service teacher training: connecting internal and external expectations" "María Lucero Vásquez, Tammy Schellens" "A methodology to analyse training needs beyond the levels of behaviour and competencies" "María Lucero Vásquez, Tammy Schellens" "In search of teacher professional quality: state of the art of science teaching in Ecuador" "María Lucero Vásquez, Tammy Schellens"