Capturing Science Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs: The Development of the Teacher Beliefs Interview

Abstract

For the last five years we have used a semi-structured interview, which we refer to as the
Teacher Beliefs Interview, to explore the beliefs of beginning secondary science teachers
who were involved in different induction programs. Our initial questions focused on
teacher epistemologies and probed the beliefs of beginning and experienced teachers,
while our process of interviewing utilized methods common in qualitative research. In
reviewing and refining our interview process, we developed maps that allowed us to
describe and define various beliefs held by pre-service, beginning/induction, and
experienced science teachers. Our current Teacher Beliefs Interview is based upon the
analysis of semi-structured interviews with over 100 pre-service, induction, and inservice
science teachers. Ultimately, these maps have allowed us to track the
development of science teachers, while providing feedback regarding the effectiveness of
our pre-service and induction programs.