The Use of Clinical Interviews to Develop Inservice Secondary Science Teachers' Nature of Science Knowledge and Assessment of Student Nature of Science Knowledge

• Published in: The Clearing house 2013-11, Vol.86 (6), p.229-237
• Main Author: Peters-Burton, Erin E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: clinical interviews; College students; Curricula; Evidence; Faculty Development; Graduate Study; Interviews; Knowledge; Learning; Learning environment; nature of science; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Professional development; Scaffolding; Science Education; Science Teachers; Scientific Principles; Secondary school students; Secondary School Teachers; secondary teacher professional development; Student Evaluation; Teachers; Translation
• ISSN: 0009-8655; 1939-912X
• DOI: 10.1080/00098655.2013.826489

To fully incorporate nature of science knowledge into classrooms, teachers must be both proficient in their own nature of science knowledge, but also skillful in translating their knowledge into a learning environment which assesses student knowledge. Twenty-eight inservice teachers enrolled in a graduate course which in part required a clinical interview. For the interview, teachers developed six increasingly difficult questions, interviewed a student, and analyzed the result. Findings show that while teachers needed scaffolding to write cognitively higher questions, they were, however, encouraged to shift their practice from asking questions that had one-word answers to engaging students in connecting knowledge.