ASSESSING GEOSCIENCE CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OF IN-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS

Content knowledge is generally assumed to be an essential component of teacher success in the classroom. During the Spring of 2007, two attempts were made to assess knowledge of geologic concepts, by elementary, middle, and high school teachers in Louisiana. The initial effort utilized an open-ended, broad discussion format. It was replaced by a multiple-choice questionnaire developed from the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) of Libarkin and Anderson (2005). Survey results were collected with BIRAT. The surveys were emailed to approximately 250 teachers throughout the state. GCI employs common misconceptions as alternative answers in the multiple-choice format. This has the reported benefit of assessing specific knowledge more accurately.

The number of returned surveys was disappointingly small. There were zero replies to the open-ended questionnaire, and only thirteen individuals, following extensive cajoling and coercion, replied to the GCI based approach. Therefore, the survey failed. A variety of factors contributed to this. Foremost, among these is the reluctance of the in-service teachers to support an investigation that may question the validity of their teaching credentials. In addition there are many other demands on teacher time, including extra curricular responsibilities, professional development requirements, and the coincidence of our survey with preparation for high-stakes-testing demanded by the LEAP program.

Our experience with this research highlights one important consideration. A mechanism has to found to encourage in service teachers to “buy in” to evaluation schemes.

Libarkin, J.C., and Anderson, S.W. (2005). Assessment of Learning in Entry-Level Geoscience Courses: Results from the Geoscience Concept Inventory; Journal of Geoscience Education; v. 53. p. 394-401.