• Corpus ID: 12845570

Advancing the STEM Agenda Conference Session 1-2

@inproceedings{Cobern2013AdvancingTS,
  title={Advancing the STEM Agenda Conference Session 1-2},
  author={William W. Cobern and David Schuster and Betty Ann J. Adams and Brandy Skjold},
  year={2013}
}

• W. W. Cobern, David Schuster, +1 author Brandy Skjold
• Published 2013
• Education

Planning and implementing successful classroom science instruction for concept learning is a demanding task for teachers, requiring several kinds of knowledge: content knowledge, pedagogy knowledge, and knowledge of inquiry. Together this knowledge is the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Science Instruction. Science teacher education programs routinely include science content courses where knowledge of science is assessed. Much less attention has been given to the assessment of knowledge pertaining to the pedagogies of science content instruction as typically taught in science teaching methods courses. Our assessment items are for this purpose. Each item begins with a classroom teaching vignette followed by a question asking either for an evaluation of what was done in the vignette or preference for what should be done. Although the items were designed with formative assessment in mind, sets of items can also be compiled for summative or research purposes, with versions for different science subjects and grade levels. The instruments can be used to identify science teaching orientations and pedagogical content knowledge of science instruction. This paper describes the development and testing of the items, concluding with comments on applications for instruction and future research. Example items of different types are provided and illustrative results discussed.