The current pilot study attempts to examine the effects of challenging pre-service students pre-conceived notions of learning on their beliefs about teaching for deeper kinds of understanding. Specifically, pre-service students were given the opportunity, and resources through Knowledge Forum, to engage in knowledge building during a five-week course on teaching elementary science. The course was structured so that students were expected to engage in discussions about their understanding of shared problems relating to various scientific phenomena (e.g., phases of the moon). The paper describes students work on light and shadows, which was covered over two classes. Students were expected to engage in theory-building discourse (predicting, observing, explaining, and revising), in small and large groups, and to reflect on any changes in their understanding in their class database. Pre-service students descriptions of changes to their theories of teaching and learning as a result of engaging in the five-week course are reported. Preliminary results suggest that although students were able to engage in some level discourse centered on shared problems, there was little evidence of ongoing reflection and/or building on ideas in the class database. Furthermore, it appears that many students theories of teaching and learning remained relatively unaffected by their learning experience. The paper concludes with plans for ongoing research into pre-service students notions of learning, specifically pertaining to their understanding of epistemic agency, and its relationship to the development of theories of teaching for deeper kinds of understanding.