This study aimed to develop a two-tiers diagnostic test to assess the high school, junior high school, and elementary pre-service teachers about the heat and the temperature concepts in a general physics course. There are two tiers in this test: The first tier composed of six items consisting of multiple-choice questions related to the heat and the temperature, including the correct answer. The second tier of each item contains reasons for students choosing their answer to the first tier. The second tier included four or five responses, one of which is a correct conceptual understanding. The wrong answers, also called distractors, were based on students’ misconceptions. To this end, 128 pre-service teachers from Quebec in Canada completed a pencil-paper questionnaire of sixty minutes duration composing of six questions (four open-ended questions and two multiple choice questions with justifications). As illustrations, the following  conceptual understandings have been identified in our qualitative analysis of the data collected: 1. The change of state of the matter does not require a constant temperature; 2.  The temperature is a measure in degrees to indicate the level of heat of an object or person; 3. The mercury contained in a thermometer expands when it is heated so that the particles which constitute it expand; and 4. The sensation of cold (or warm) is related to the difference in temperature.

Preservice elementary teachers have had a variety of experiences in their math classes which influence their willingness to engage in math as well as their confidence in doing so. This study examined the responses of two sets of preservice elementary teachers, in 2017 and in 2022, to questions about their "best" and "worst" experiences in math classes. Previous research has seldom asked preservice elementary teachers to examine what they do as students to create a better math experience and research is only now beginning on how COVID-19 may have affected student behavior. Inductive analysis revealed that the emotional intelligence of teachers greatly affected preservice elementary teachers' willingness to meaningfully engage in math. For example, a recurring theme in the data was a strong sense of not wanting to appear dumb, which prevented the students from asking questions or seeking help when needed. This study demonstrates that the classroom environment plays a significant role in preservice elementary teachers' success in math, confidence and comfort level with the subject, and, undoubtedly, how they will eventually teach math to their future students.