Professional development needs to focus on two dimensions shown to be important. First,
science teachers need to learn science content to facilitate inquiry into subject area learning in
depth. Second, science teachers need to engage in professional development to enable their
use of inquiry learning methods with their science classes (Bybee and Loucks- Horsley, 2001).
The degree to which the breadth and depth of content knowledge alone is responsible for
excellence in the classroom is highly debated in the literature. Some research shows that
content knowledge is the single most important factor in the preparation of teachers. Yet other
research casts a shadow on the importance of content knowledge alone (Grossman, Schoenfeld
and Lee, 2005). The issue of professional development seems to be related directly to student
achievement. “The CCSSO meta-analysis of studies of teacher professional development
programs in mathematics and science found that 16 studies reported significant effects of
teacher development on improving student achievement” (CCSSO, 2009, p. 27). The Standards
for Science Teacher Preparation recognize that a broad and deep understanding of content
must be accompanied by explorations of how the content can be put into practice as the
educator adopts their role.