Beginning science teacher cognition and its origins in the preservice secondary science teacher program

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to (a) identify the major tenets of a preservice secondary science education program as expressed by science education faculty, (b) identify knowledge structures that beginning secondary science teachers have constructed about the teaching and learning of science, and (c) identify the correlatives that exist between the first two objectives. The study was grounded in the postulates of teacher cognition in that teachers construct their own schema from their experiences in order to comprehend, plan for, and respond to the dynamics of their classroom. This qualitative study consisted of interviews and observations of beginning science teachers, interviews with science education faculty, and an analysis of the course syllabi of that faculty. Methods of single and cross-case analytic induction were combined to analyze the data. Based on the data, it may be concluded that aspects of the program, such as student-centered learning, cooperative learning, general pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge, were adopted into the schema of the beginning teachers; the degree of adoption appeared to be linked to the individual's most significant learning experiences and the constraints of the school situation.

A Review of Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Subject Matter Knowledge for Teaching Earth System Concepts

“…Following Shulman's (1986) ideas about PCK, other researchers developed their own categories of teacher knowledge (e.g. Borko and Putnam, 1996;Grossman, 1990;Adams and Krockover, 1997). Particularly, Adams and Krockover (1997) develop a framework for investigating teacher knowledge by synthesizing Elbaz's (1983) unique category of teacher knowledge, "knowledge of self" and Grossman's (1990) definition of teacher knowledge.…”

Secondary Beginning Teachers' Views of Scientific Inquiry: With the View of Hands-on, Minds-on, and Hearts-on

“…The systematic induction program needs developing with the aim of teacher professionalism and initializing more productive teacher career. In addition, more contextual factors must be considered to encourage beginning teachers to be concentrating on students' engagement in meaningful science activities with the scaffolding by mentor teachers at school (Adams and Krockover, 1997;Choi et al, 2009). It has been reported that beginning teachers make effort to conduct the research into their practices of teaching science as inquiry in learning communities where they could interact with mentor teachers or educators (Bianchini and Cavazos, 2007;Roehrig and Luft, 2006;Kwak, 2009).…”

Learning to teach science in contemporary and equitable ways: The successes and struggles of first‐year science teachers

“…New teachers, although intent on teaching science for all, also find it difficult to start instruction from the knowledge, interests, and experiences of their students; many underscore the importance of student-centered classrooms, but continue to implement teacher-centered curriculum and instruction (Simmons et al, 1999). Forces outside beginning teachers-students, curriculum materials, course requirements, and school structures-further constrain their efforts to describe the nature of science in contemporary ways or to engage students in rich and varied investigations (Adams & Krockover, 1997;Brickhouse & Bodner, 1992;Munby, Cunningham, & Locke, 2000;Trumbull, 1999). Additional research is needed to more fully understand "how teachers learn to teach demanding content to all students, a question that is central to the current reform agenda" (Feiman-Nemser & Remillard, 1996, p. 85).…”