How to Assess Knowledge Types of Pre- and In- Service Chemistry Teachers

Content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), self-declared knowledge (SDK), and assessment knowledge (AK) are fundamental elements for teachers in general and for pre-service teachers in particular. Second career pre-service chemistry teachers leave industry and return to the Technion to study in the Views (MABATIM) program with the objective of studying toward high school teaching certificate. The goal of this research was to investigate the development of CK, PCK and AK knowledge of pre-service chemistry teachers during their study of methods in chemistry teaching course, in three stages: at the beginning, at the end of the course, and two months after they finished the course. The participants included about 30 pre-service teachers who chose chemistry education as their second career and about 30 chemistry teachers who serve as a comparison group of experts. The assumption was that second career pre-service teachers already have deep CK and professional experience. We studied these teachers` knowledge types by using three questionnaires. The questionnaires included short context-based texts focusing on three topics: energy, acid-base, and oxidation-reduction. In the assignments that follow these texts, we asked them to report their level of knowledge, choose two concepts they know well and explain their meaning, pose questions, and compose relevant student assignments.

Our findings indicate that the second career pre-service teachers improved all types of knowledge over time. We also found that in-service teachers have higher CK than the pre-service teachers but lower AK. This is due to the higher level of creativity and variability of the second career pre-service teachers` composed assignments.

Based on our findings and the background of the second career pre-service teachers we can expect a contribution of these teachers to higher quality of students’ science learning in general and chemistry in particular.