Scott McDonald, Ph.D.

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Seeing the Science: Professional Vision in Practicing and Preservice Teachers

Scott McDonald, Ph.D.
2008 KSTF Research Fellow
Assistant Professor
College of Education
Pennsylvania State University

Scott McDonald earned a B.S. in Physics from Colorado College, an M.Ed. in Teaching, an M.S. in Science Education and Ph.D. in Learning Technologies in Science Education at the University of Michigan. McDonald is a former high school Physics, Mathematics, and Environmental Science teacher. He is currently an assistant professor of Science Education at The Pennsylvania State University. His research examines professional pedagogical vision in prospective and practicing science teachers in the context of The Invisible College for Inquiry Science Study (ICISS). ICISS is a researcher-practitioner group of science educators focused broadly on the development of a theory of teaching for inquiry science pedagogy. McDonald makes extensive use of Studiocode, innovative video analysis software, in both his research and in his undergraduate and graduate courses. McDonald is also interested in the interaction of disruptive technologies with teaching and learning environments.

Project Summary
Much of the work that science teacher educators do with preservice teachers is predicated on the assumption that preservice teachers see practice the way that experienced teachers see practice. This assumption of a level of professional vision (Goodwin, 1994) has implications for learning to teach science. This research describes a study designed to determine the differences between practicing and preservice teachers' professional vision. Specifically, the following research questions were investigated: (a) How do expert and novice teachers see (specifically highlight and code) inquiry science teaching differently? (b) How can these differences begin to define a framework for professional pedagogical vision in the context of classroom inquiry science teaching? Teachers were asked to analyze a science lesson for its inquiry science content. Data included video analysis documents from both groups of teachers, as well as transcripts of focused discussion following the lesson analysis. Differences between the two groups of teachers are described in detail along with implications for science teacher education.

"My research investigates how expert teachers achieve making science relevant and fun to students while still helping them understand the science."

photo by: Yischon Liaw, 1000 Views Studios