Transforming Teacher Education Through the Epistemic Core of Chemistry

Sibel Erduran is a Professor of Science Education at University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College. She also holds a Visiting Professorship position at Zhejiang Normal University, China. She is an Editor for International Journal of Science Education, Section Editor for Science Education, and serves on the Executive Board of European Science Education Research Association. Her work experience includes positions in the USA (University of Pittsburgh), Ireland (University of Limerick) as well as other universities in the UK (King’s College London and University of Bristol). Previously she held Visiting Professorships at Oxford Brookes University, National Taiwan Normal University, Kristianstad University, Sweden, and Bogazici University, Turkey. Her higher education was completed in the USA at Vanderbilt (PhD, Science Education & Philosophy), Cornell (MSc, Food chemistry and Chemistry) and Northwestern (BA, Biochemistry) Universities. She has worked asa chemistry teacher in a high school in northern Cyprus. Her research interests focus on the infusion of epistemic practices of science in science education, in particular chemistry education.  Her work has received international recognition through awards from NARST and EASE, and has attracted funding from a range of agencies including the European Union, Gatsby Foundation and Science Foundation Ireland.  She is currently the Principal Investigator of a project on the assessment of practical science funded by the Wellcome Trust, and her edited book on Argumentation in Chemistry Education has been published in 2019 by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Ebru Kaya is an associate professor in science education at Bogazici University, Turkey. She received her PhD from Middle East Technical University, Turkey in 2011. Dr. Kaya has been a visiting scholar at University of Bristol, UK in 2009 and at National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan in 2016 and 2017. Her research interests include argumentation and nature of science in science education. Dr. Kaya is the recipient of the Young Scientist Award from Science Academy in Turkey in 2015; the Outstanding Paper Award from East-Asian Association for Science Education (EASE) in Japan in 2016; and the Young Scientist Award from TUBITAK (Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council) in 2017. Dr. Kaya has participated in research projects funded by TUBITAK (Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council) and NARST, and conducted professional development workshops for science teachers in Turkey, Rwanda, Lebanon, and Taiwan. She served as a board member in Turkish Science Education and Research Association from 2012 to 2014, and a committee member in NARST Outstanding Paper Award Committee from 2013 to 2015. Currently Dr. Kaya is a reviewer for numerous journals including International Journal of Science Education and Science & Education. Dr. Kaya has been the PrincipalInvestigator of the projects entitled ‘‘Nature of Science in Science Teacher Education: A Comparative Research and Development Project’’ and ‘‘University Students’ Understanding of Reconceptualized Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science: A Case Study’’ funded by Bogazici University Research Fund.

• Dedication.- Foreword.- Preface.- Authors’ Introduction.- Chapter 1. Philosophy of Chemistry and Chemistry Education.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Arguments about chemistry teaching.- 1.3 Chemistry Curriculum Development: A Brief Overview.- 1.4 Philosophy of Chemistry: A New Source of Information for Chemistry Education.- 1.5 Benefits of Learning Epistemic Themes in Chemistry Education.- 1.6 Rationale and Outline of the Book.- 1.7 Conclusions.- Chapter 2. Defining the Epistemic Core of Chemistry.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Aims and Values in Chemistry.- 2.3 Practices in Chemistry.- 2.4 Methods in Chemistry.- 2.5 Knowledge in Chemistry.- 2.6 Applying the Epistemic Core to Chemistry Concepts.- 2.7 Implications for Chemistry Education.- 2.8 Conclusions.- Chapter 3. Epistemic Beliefs and Teacher Education.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Epistemology and Teacher Education.- 3.3 Epistemic Beliefs.- 3.4 Teachers’ Knowledge and Learning.- 3.5  Strategies for Supporting Chemistry Teacher’s Epistemic Thinking.- 3.5.1 Argumentation.- 3.5.2 Visualisation.- 3.5.3 Analogies.- 3.6 Development of Pre-Service Teachers’ Epistemic Thinking.- 3.7 Teacher Education in National Context.- 3.7.1 Contrast of Teacher Education Programmes at Oxford and Bogazici.- 3.8 Conclusions.- Chapter 4. Incorporating the Epistemic Core in Teacher Education Practice.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Teacher Education Context in Turkey.- 4.3 Design of Teacher Education Sessions.- 4.3.1 Session on Introduction to Nature of Science.- 4.3.2 Session on the Family Resemblance Approach.- 4.3.3 Session on Aims and Values of Science.- 4.3.4 Session on Scientific Methods.- 4.3.5 Session on Scientific Practices.- 4.3.6 Session on Scientific Knowledge.- 4.3.7 Session on Generative Images of the Epistemic Core.- 4.4 Lesson Ideas on Chemistry Topics Produced by Pre-Service Teachers.- 4.4.1 Lesson Ideas on Aims and Values.- 4.4.2 Lesson Ideas on Practices.- 4.4.3 Lesson Ideas on Methods.- 4.4.4 Lesson Ideas on Knowledge.- 4.5 Conclusions.- Chapter 5. Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers’ Representations and Perceptions of the Epistemic Core: A Thematic Analysis.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Tracing Pre-Service Teachers’ Representations and Perceptions.- 5.3 Defining Aims and Values of Science.- 5.4 Types of Scientific Practices.- 5.5 Diversity of Scientific Methods.- 5.6 Coherence among Knowledge Forms and the Growth of Knowledge.- 5.7 Conclusions.- Chapter 6. The Impact of Teacher Education on Understanding the Epistemic Core: Focusing on one Pre-Service Chemistry Teacher.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Representations and Perceptions of Aims and Values.-6.3 Representations and Perceptions of Scientific Practices.- 6.4 Representations and Perceptions of Scientific Methods.- 6.5 Representations and Perceptions of Scientific Knowledge.- 6.6 Conclusions.- Chapter 7. Learning and Teaching about Philosophy of Chemistry: Teacher Educators’ Reflections.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Journey to Teacher Education.- 7.3 Background in History and Philosophy of Science.- 7.4 Experiences in Incorporating Nature of Chemistry in Teacher Education.- 7.5 Transforming Theoretical Frameworks into Empirical Research.- 7.6  Conclusions.- Chapter 8. Towards Development of Epistemic Identity in Chemistry Teacher Education.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 A Framework of Epistemic Identity.- 8.3 Epistemic Identity and Teacher Education.- 8.4 Implications for Future Research.- 8.5 Strengths and Limitations of the Book.- 8.5 Conclusions.- Authors’ Biographies.

“Contributions like this book under review are more than welcome. … This book constitutes a successful instantiation of this interplay … that are undoubtedly of value for practicing and prospective chemistry teachers and for chemistry teacher educators, and will foreseeably aid in the road towards ‘making chemistry teacher education more epistemic than it currently is’ … .” (Agustín Aduriz‑Bravo, Foundations of Chemistry, Vol. 23, 2021)