The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to identify factors that influenced prospective and experienced secondary level science teachers' reasoning as they evaluated or selected tasks to formatively assess their students' understanding of scientific concepts. The analysis of the coded written responses revealed two categories of…

Conducted an interpretive investigation of a first-time science teacher that focused on an examination of beliefs and metaphors associated with the teacher's roles as manager, assessor of student learning, and facilitator of learning. Outlines the development of metaphors that guided the teacher in reconceptualizing her role as a science teacher…