Our research group had a new manuscript published in the Journal of Science Teacher Education in May.  This paper focused on preservice teachers learning life science content and formative assessment practices in an integrated content and methods course. For a pdf of this paper, click here.

Sabel, J.L., Forbes, C.T., & Zangori, L. (2015). Promoting prospective elementary teachers’ learning to use formative assessment for life science instruction. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 26(4), 419-445. doi: 10.1007/s10972-015-9431-6

Abstract: To support elementary students’ learning of core, standards-based life
science concepts highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards, prospective
elementary teachers should develop an understanding of life science concepts and
learn to apply their content knowledge in instructional practice to craft elementary
science learning environments grounded in students’ thinking. To do so, teachers
must learn to use high-leverage instructional practices, such as formative assessment,
to engage students in scientific practices and connect instruction to students’
ideas. However, teachers may not understand formative assessment or possess
sufficient science content knowledge to effectively engage in related instructional
practices. To address these needs, we developed and conducted research within an
innovative course for preservice elementary teachers built upon two pillars—life
science concepts and formative assessment. An embedded mixed methods study
was used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on preservice teachers’ (n = 49)
content knowledge and ability to engage in formative assessment practices for
science. Findings showed that increased life content knowledge over the semester
helped preservice teachers engage more productively in anticipating and evaluating
students’ ideas, but not in identifying effective instructional strategies to respond to
those ideas.