Profiles of U.S. science teacher candidates:  Safeguards amidst the gathering storm

APA 6th edition
In-text: (Westerlund, Radcliffe, Smith, Lemke & West, 2011)
Your Bibliography: Westerlund, J.F., Radcliffe, R.A., Smith, D.A., Lemke, M.R. & West, S.S. (2011). Profiles of U.S. science teacher candidates: Safeguards amidst the gathering storm . International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 6(3), 213-227.

Harvard
In-text: (Westerlund, Radcliffe, Smith, Lemke and West, 2011)
Your Bibliography: Westerlund, J., Radcliffe, R., Smith, D., Lemke, M. and West, S. (2011). Profiles of U.S. science teacher candidates: Safeguards amidst the gathering storm . International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 6(3), pp. 213-227.

Chicago 16th edition
In-text: (Westerlund, Radcliffe, Smith, Lemke and West 2011)
Your Bibliography: Westerlund, Julie F., Rich A. Radcliffe, Daniel A. Smith, Maureen R. Lemke and Sandra S. West (2011). "Profiles of U.S. science teacher candidates: Safeguards amidst the gathering storm ". International Journal of Environmental and Science Education 6 (3):213-227.

Abstract

The shortage of science teachers in the United States and throughout the world indicates a collective need to recruit more students into the science teaching field and to retain current science teachers. This study explores the profiles of U.S. science teacher candidates and investigates what attracts and discourages these pre-service teachers into teaching science. Through the use of survey and structured interview approaches we investigated the profiles of pre-service elementary, middle school, and high school teachers (n = 109) who were interested in teaching science. Common findings among this set of science teacher candidates included: positive science experiences with K-12 teachers during childhood, beliefs that certain teacher preparation content courses were roadblocks to becoming certified, unfamiliarity with the employment market for science teachers, and a lack of being recruited to teach science. Based on these profile characteristics of science teacher candidates, teacher educators may pursue specific strategies to encourage more teachercandidates to select science as their teaching field.

Keywords: pre-service, science teacher-candidates, profiles, recruitment

References