Exploring alternate route science teacher development of pedagogical content knowledge

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how alternate route first year science teachers' learning experiences gained from their alternate route courses translated into their classroom instruction and facilitated the development of their pedagogical content knowledge. Participants included three first year high school teachers from two alternate route program institutions. Data collection and analyses focused on semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and teacher-generated artifacts. Findings reveal patterns among participant responses that emphasized the limited translation of learned pedagogical experiences from their alternate route programs into classroom instruction. In addition, findings show that participant alternate route program learned pedagogical experiences were not perceived to have attributed to participants' pedagogical content knowledge. Triangulation of data indicated two main themes that contributed to limited translation of participant learned experiences into their classroom teaching; relevance and reflection. Findings from this study inform understandings of how teacher participant learning experiences from alternate route programs translated to classroom practice and in turn, facilitated teacher pedagogical content knowledge development in novice teachers.