Alternative certification programs (ACPs) have been proposed as a viable way to address teacher shortages, yet we know little about how teacher knowledge develops within such programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate prior knowledge for teaching among students entering an ACP, comparing individuals with teaching experience to those lacking teaching experience. Of the four participants seeking secondary biology teaching certification, two participants had 2 years of prior biology teaching experience. We used the Lesson Preparation Method as a data collection tool, asking participants to create lesson plans to teach the concept of heritable variation. Primary data sources were the lesson plans and follow-up interview transcripts. Prior teaching experience made little difference as both groups held didactic teaching orientations and wrote similar lesson plans. Both groups drew on general pedagogical knowledge (PK), and had little pedagogical content knowledge for teaching heritable variation. Teaching experience did appear to lead to more integration among PK components. The study includes implications for the teacher education, research, and policy. ß

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This investigation examines the difficulties encountered by one graduate teaching assistant as she taught Physics for Elementary Education, a large‐enrollment, inquiry‐based science course taught at a public Midwestern university. The methodological approach of hermeneutic phenomenology served as the lens to investigate the research question, “What is the lived experience of a graduate teaching assistant as she learned to teach physics through inquiry to elementary education students?” We summarize the findings in terms of the blending of two conceptual frameworks: orientations to science teaching and professional identity. We learned that fundamental beliefs about the nature of science support certain orientations, and if those beliefs remain unchallenged, then the orientation is unlikely to change. Finally, we discuss implications for strategies that may assist college‐level instructors with changing their orientation to teaching science. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 584–602, 2004

ABSTRACT:The purpose of this study was to understand how the professor, teaching assistant, and students experienced inquiry-based science instruction in an undergraduate physics course designed for elementary education majors. During the teaching of a 6-week electricity unit, the professor faced several challenges: knowing when and how to tell the scientifically accurate answer, deciding when and how to introduce scientific terminology, and doing inquiry vs. testing. The professor and the teaching assistant also experienced several tensions. Their orientations to science teaching differed in terms of their science learning goals, beliefs about teaching and learning, and beliefs about assessment. The students experienced frustration with the inquiry approach related to their views of learning, their need as learners to get the right answer, and the disconnect they felt between the inquiry approach and the assessment used in the course. During the course they were also building their views of inquiry and their visions of themselves as future teachers. We analyze the A previous version of this paper was presented at

In response to the shortage of qualified secondary mathematics and science teachers in the United States, alternative certification programs (ACPs) are proliferating. This study used identity as a theoretical lens to examine the incoming identities of 19 participants with post-baccalaureate degrees who entered an ACP. Within this cohort, the participants' incoming teacher identities ranged from "Always a Teacher" to "Late Deciders" to "Career Explorers." Participants held multiple non-teaching identities, some which supported their teacher identities (e.g., parent, tutor) while other identities (e.g., college instructor) created tension. Implications include recommendations for alternative certification program development and further research.