Preface for the Special Issue on “Video-Based Research on Teacher Expertise”

Abstract

The objective of this special issue is to draw on video-based research to model the nature of mathematics and science teachers’ expertise. Expertise is understood as Bexperts’ masterful performance^ (Li & Kaiser, 2011a, b, p. 3), which can be conceptualized either as Ba cognitive modeling approach that focuses on classroom instruction process^ or as Bknowledge system perspective that tends to specify knowledge components of teachers’ expertise^ (Li & Kaiser, 2011a, b, p. 7). Based on this perspective, studies are included that apply complex and innovative sets of video-based assessment instruments covering characteristics identified as typical for (teacher) experts, such as knowledge, perception, accuracy, and speed. Video records render a teacher’s recorded classroom practice available for assessment. Alternatively, video-based assessment that require teachers to perceive typical classroom situations presented in video clips are, for example, able to capture many of the complex characteristics of teacher expertise highly efficiently. Other facets of expertise can be examined with speed tests in which teachers have to identify student misconceptions or react quickly to suggest instructional responses to a recorded student action or statement. The challenge of research on teacher expertise is to come using the chosen evaluation instrument close to real classroom situations, i.e., include in the instrument prospective tasks of the teacher in everyday teaching such as generating teaching strategies or developing teaching tasks and evaluating possible student errors. Most of the expertise research has relied either on retrospective, think-aloud case studies or Int J of Sci and Math Educ (2015) 13:257–266 DOI 10.1007/s10763-015-9629-2