This unique and exciting proposal for a three-year study of secondary life science teachers' "adaptive expertise" is well grounded in the literature and will likely advance the field in understanding teacher cognition and its connection to instructional practice. Through intensive study of teachers' approaches to instructional problem-solving tasks across the in-service spectrum from novice to experienced teachers, SRI will both characterize adaptive expertise as well as develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure adaptive expertise that may be broadly applicable in further research across the science disciplines. This project is innovative in its approach to advance theory and research methodology. The PIs clearly articulate the broader impacts on teacher research as well as in workforce development and show an understanding of emerging multidisciplinary subfields of the life sciences that will demand not only teacher quality but also teachers to be adaptable to the changes in their discipline.
