There is growing recognition of the prevalence of "within school churn", a phenomenon in which teachers remain within a school but are assigned a new grade level or course. In this study we examine the consequences of within-school churn for the pedagogical content knowledge of elementary teacher participants in an NSF-funded science PD…

The Next Generation Science Standards call for changes in not only what is taught in elementary science but also how students engage in the learning experience to develop understanding of core disciplinary ideas. In this study we examined 5th-grade teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for 1 particular core idea: the small particle model…

While there is a growing literature focused on doctoral preparation for teaching about science teaching, rarely have recommendations extended to preparation for teaching science content to teachers. We three doctoral students employ self-study as a research methodology to investigate our developing pedagogical content knowledge for teaching…

While increased attention has been put on approaches to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), little has been reported on teachers' views, perceptions, and beliefs about teaching STEM. Such knowledge is needed to inform efforts to support innovative teaching of STEM subjects in classrooms. In this study, 154 in-service…

The purpose of this case study is to delve into the complexities of the early development of preservice chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations, knowledge of learners, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of assessment during a two-semester intervention designed to enhance their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for…

The purpose of this study was to examine experienced chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for two different topics in chemistry to better understand how PCK is specific to topic, including whether all components of PCK are topic-specific and to what degree. To explore the topic-specific nature of PCK, we examined two experienced…

Just as the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSSs) call for change in what students learn and how they are taught, teacher education programs must reconsider courses and curriculum in order to prepare teacher candidates to understand and implement new standards. In this study, we examine the development of prospective elementary…

A number of science education policy documents recommend that students develop an understanding of the enterprise of science and the nature of science (NOS). Despite this emphasis, there is still a gap between policy and practice. Teacher professional literature provides one potential venue for bridging this gap, by providing "activities that…

While teacher educators have had some success in helping prospective teachers understand the nature of science (NOS), they have been less effective in helping prospective teachers teach NOS. Though several studies have alluded to impacts of various interventions on developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for NOS, the nature, source, and…

Teachers often have questions about how the strategies they learned at a professional development (PD) workshop will work with their students. Wouldn't it be great if teachers had the opportunity to practice implementing new strategies during PD so that they could hone their skills before returning to their classrooms? That's what 35 teachers got…

Although teacher educators have achieved some success in improving teachers' understanding of the nature of science (NOS), helping teachers teach NOS has proved a much greater challenge. Currently, there are few examples in the literature of teachers who effectively teach NOS, and fewer still that rely on student outcomes as a measure of teachers'…

Science education doctoral programs often fail to address a critical piece--the explicit attention to the preparation of future science teacher educators. In this article, we argue that, in addition to developing skills and a knowledge base for research, doctoral students must be given the opportunity to observe, practice, and reflect on the…

Teacher education programs have met with limited success in improving teachers' understanding of the nature of science (NOS). Research suggests that such efforts could be enhanced by addressing NOS in preservice teachers' science courses. We planned NOS instruction in a physical science content course for preservice elementary teachers. Our first…