Abstract
Much has been written about pedagogical content knowledge, and it continues to be an elusive yet tantalizing construct for science teacher educators. In my work in self-study of my teaching practices, I have spent considerable time examining the assignments given to students in my class by analyzing their work. In the process, I have learned much about my own practice. Although much of my work has focused on how novices develop, I have come to realize that I can also learn about factors that relate to how novices develop pedagogical content knowledge for teaching science. I present that case study of one student, Wendy, to illustrate some barriers to her development of pedagogical content knowledge and how those barriers were revealed in her early work in the teacher education program. In the process of studying Wendy’s development as a science teacher, my self-study helped me to understand and resolve my personal concerns about a significant tension in science education: formative assessment that supports learning versus standardized examinations that can constrain learning.
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Acknowledgments
My changed practice and my students’ responses and gentle comments from Tom Russell in reviewing this chapter have all contributed to my ability to transform the dilemma I had set myself. This project was funded by National Science Foundation Grant 0335737 and by Hatch Grant 1376428. All opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
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Trumbull, D.J. (2012). Following a Student into Her Science Classroom to Better Understand the Tensions of Science Education. In: Bullock, S., Russell, T. (eds) Self-Studies of Science Teacher Education Practices. Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3904-8_9
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