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Becoming
an expert teacher: Novice physics teachers' development of conceptual
and pedagogical knowledge
Carl Angell,
Jim Ryder and Phil Scott
There is an alarming decline in the number of qualified physics teachers
in many countries around the world. For example, in the UK the number
of physics graduates entering teaching is at an all-time low. Furthermore,
a high proportion of physics teachers both in the UK and Norway are approaching
retirement age. One response to this problem is to enable science graduates
without a subject specialism in physics to enter training courses that
develop their physics subject knowledge and enable them to qualify as
specialist teachers of physics. Such a course has recently started in
the UK (http://www.gatsby.org.uk). The aim of our study is to examine
these trainee teachers' experiences alongside those of trainees with specialist
physics backgrounds, and to explore the trainee teachers' conceptual and
pedagogical knowledge along with those of experienced physics teachers.
In the first phase of our study
we are examining teachers' (both beginners' and experts') written responses
to science questions set in a pedagogical context. Specifically, we address
the following research questions:
1. What are the key features
of the knowledge bases (relating to content, teaching strategies, pupils'
reasoning) which beginner and expert teachers draw upon in thinking about
the design of science instruction?
2. What are the key differences in those knowledge bases?
3. What can be said about how those differences in knowledge bases relate
to the pedagogical practices of novice and expert science teachers?
Publications:
A working document with preliminary results and analyses is here!
Angell, C., Ryder, J. and Scott, P.H. (2005). Becoming an expert teacher:
Novice physics teachers' development of conceptual and pedagogical knowledge. Paper presented at the European Science Education Research Association Conference in Barcelona
For more information:
Centre
for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education. University of Leeds
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