Domain-Specific Expertise of Chemistry Teachers on Context-Based Education About Macro–Micro Thinking in Structure–Property Relations

This study aims to determine and describe the new domain-specific expertise of experienced chemistry teachers in teaching an innovative context-based unit about macro–micro thinking in structure–property relations. The construct of ‘teachers’ domain-specific expertise’ was used to analyse the new repertoire chemistry teachers need to acquire to teach a context-based unit and achieve the intended effects of the curriculum innovation. A phenomenological approach of exploration and verification of teachers’ new repertoire resulted in the description of seven themes. These themes were related to the new aspects of the unit: the context-setting, the teacher’s role and the new content. In addition, the results show that the theoretical framework of teachers’ domain-specific expertise is feasible for the analysis and description of their new repertoire in the domain of teaching a context-based unit. Further research is necessary to explore the use of the framework from the perspective of teachers’ professional development, where affective components in teachers’ learning processes play an important role.

[1]  F. Paas,et al.  Cognitive Load Theory and Instructional Design: Recent Developments , 2003 .

[2]  N. Verloop,et al.  The Change of Science Teachers’ Personal Knowledge about Teaching Models and Modelling in the Context of Science Education Reform , 2007 .

[3]  Anna T. Cianciolo,et al.  The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance: Tacit Knowledge, Practical Intelligence, and Expertise , 2006 .

[4]  N. Cowan.  The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity , 2001, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[5]  P. Tynjälä.  Towards expert knowledge? A comparison between a constructivist and a traditional learning environment in the university , 1999 .

[6]  Eduardo Fleury Mortimer,et al.  Meaning Making in Secondary Science Classrooms , 2003 .

[7]  F. Paas,et al.  Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design , 1998 .

[8]  L. Shulman.  Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching , 1986 .

[9]  Julie A. Luft,et al.  Experienced Secondary Science Teachers’ Representation of Pedagogical Content Knowledge , 2008 .

[10]  L. Shulman.  Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform , 1987 .

[11]  Piet Lijnse,et al.  Didactical structures as an outcome of research on teaching–learning sequences? , 2004 .

[12]  Providing Students with a Sense of Purpose by Adapting a Professional Practice , 2010 .

[13]  Nienke Nieveen,et al.  Design Approaches and Tools in Education and Training , 2012 .

[14]  Welko Tomic,et al.  Burnout and self-efficacy: a study on teachers' beliefs when implementing an innovative educational system in the Netherlands. , 2002, The British journal of educational psychology.

[15]  Albert Pilot,et al.  The Use of “Contexts” as a Challenge for the Chemistry Curriculum: Its successes and the need for further development and understanding , 2006 .

[16]  J. Gilbert.  On the Nature of “Context” in Chemical Education , 2006 .

[17]  Paul J. Feltovich,et al.  The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance , 2006 .

[18]  Albert Pilot,et al.  Approach to Designing Chemistry Education using Authentic Practices as Contexts , 2013 .

[19]  J. H. Driel,et al.  Teacher Knowledge and the Knowledge Base of Teaching , 2008, Science Teachers’ Knowledge Development.

[20]  A. Pilot,et al.  Towards a Framework for a Professional Development Programme: Empowering Teachers for Context-Based Chemistry Education. , 2009 .

[21]  D. Treagust,et al.  Multiple Representations in Chemical Education , 2009 .

[22]  John W. Creswell,et al.  Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches , 1966 .

[23]  B. Dunphy,et al.  In Pursuit of Expertise. Toward an Educational Model for Expertise Development , 2004, Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice.

[24]  Rainer Bromme,et al.  Professional learning: Gaps and transitions on the way from novice to expert , 2004 .

[25]  P. Tynjälä.  Perspectives into learning at the workplace , 2008 .

[26]  A. Pilot,et al.  Strategies for a professional development programme: empowering teachers for context-based chemistry education , 2009 .

[27]  R. Sternberg,et al.  Intelligence as Developing Expertise. , 1999, Contemporary educational psychology.

[28]  Slava Kalyuga,et al.  The Expertise Reversal Effect , 2003 .

[29]  J. Creswell.  Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches, 2nd ed. , 2007 .

[30]  Keith S. Taber,et al.  Learning at the Symbolic Level , 2009 .

[31]  David Strahan,et al.  Toward a Prototype of Expertise in Teaching , 2004 .

[32]  S. Ralph,et al.  Change-Linked Work-Related Stress in British Teachers , 2002 .