P. Sean Smith

The First Five Years

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) puts forth an ambitious vision for K–12 science instruction. The success of the NGSS will be judged in large part by how they are implemented in classrooms. Yet the ability of teachers to implement the NGSS successfully depends on a large number of factors including the development of new instructional and assessment materials, rethinking and revising preservice programs for prospective science teachers, and providing ongoing and in-depth professional development for inservice teachers.

SITUATING BELIEFS IN THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR

In this chapter, we describe the development of the Teacher Beliefs about Effective Science Teaching (TBEST) survey, a new instrument designed to fill a gap in the collection of extant beliefs measures. The survey was originally designed for a study investigating relationships among science teacher attributes, classroom practice, and student learning. The TBEST draws upon Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (2012, 1985), which posits a model for how beliefs influence actions.

Personal and Canonical PCK: A Synergistic Relationship?

For 30 years, science education researchers and practitioners have waited for the promise of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to be fulfilled. PCK has the potential to shape instruction, teacher professional learning, and instructional materials. When the field speaks about PCK in terms of these benefits, a particular kind of PCK is envisioned. In our work, we refer to this kind of PCK as “canonical” to convey that it is widely accepted by the field and transcends context. Despite its promise, examples of canonical PCK are lacking in relation to the number of science topics in standards documents. In this chapter, we explore the possibility that the PCK held by teachers—“personal PCK”—can be compiled to grow the body of canonical PCK. We first describe a model of personal-canonical PCK synergy. We then explain how we have tested this synergy hypothesis, drawing on literature reviews and data collected directly from teachers. We find that, within the narrow range of topics we have focused on, personal PCK does not accumulate to fill gaps in the canon. We illustrate through several examples that instead, personal PCK appears largely as variations on PCK themes already apparent in the literature. We conclude the chapter by discussing implications for the field.

When ‘we wish they knew’ meets ‘I want to know’

ABSTRACT The tension between mandated curricula and students’ interests is evident throughout the history of science education. Societal expectations for student learning often lead to standards and curricula that leave little room for students to explore their own individual interests. Occasionally, however, an event can capture the interest of so many students that teachers feel compelled to respond. The Ebola outbreak of 2014 was such an event. This article discusses findings from a study of teacher decision-making; specifically, it explores how high school science teachers in the U.S. decided whether and how they should address Ebola during the 2014–2015 school year, when the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was at its peak. Approximately 2500 teachers of science responded to an online questionnaire that addressed their Ebola-specific instruction. In comparing the decisions of those who taught about Ebola and those who did not, the study found that teachers weighed various factors, in particular student interest but also curriculum standards, time, and availability of resources for teaching about Ebola. The article concludes with implications for future urgent health-related issues.