This book synthesizes theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence and practical strategies for improving teacher education in chemistry. Many chemistry lessons involve mindless “cookbook” activities where students and teachers follow recipes, memorise formulae and recall facts without understanding how and why knowledge in chemistry works. Capitalising on traditionally disparate areas of research, the book investigates how to make chemistry education more meaningful for both students and teachers. It provides an example of how theory and practice in chemistry education can be bridged. It reflects on the nature of knowledge in chemistry by referring to theoretical perspectives from philosophy of chemistry. It draws on empirical evidence from research on teacher education, and illustrates concrete strategies and resources that can be used by teacher educators. The book describes the design and implementation of an innovative teacher education project to show the impact of an intervention on pre-service teachers. The book shows how, by making use of visual representations and analogies, the project makes some fairly abstract and complex ideas accessible to pre-service teachers.

Dedication.- Foreword.- Preface.- Authors’ Introduction.- Chapter 1. Philosophy of Chemistry and Chemistry Education.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Arguments about chemistry teaching.- 1.3 Chemistry Curriculum Development: A Brief Overview.- 1.4 Philosophy of Chemistry: A New Source of Information for Chemistry Education.- 1.5 Benefits of Learning Epistemic Themes in Chemistry Education.- 1.6 Rationale and Outline of the Book.- 1.7 Conclusions.- Chapter 2. Defining the Epistemic Core of Chemistry.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Aims and Values in Chemistry.- 2.3 Practices in Chemistry.- 2.4 Methods in Chemistry.- 2.5 Knowledge in Chemistry.- 2.6 Applying the Epistemic Core to Chemistry Concepts.- 2.7 Implications for Chemistry Education.- 2.8 Conclusions.- Chapter 3. Epistemic Beliefs and Teacher Education.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Epistemology and Teacher Education.- 3.3 Epistemic Beliefs.- 3.4 Teachers’ Knowledge and Learning.- 3.5  Strategies for Supporting Chemistry Teacher’s Epistemic Thinking.- 3.5.1 Argumentation.- 3.5.2 Visualisation.- 3.5.3 Analogies.- 3.6 Development of Pre-Service Teachers’ Epistemic Thinking.- 3.7 Teacher Education in National Context.- 3.7.1 Contrast of Teacher Education Programmes at Oxford and Bogazici.- 3.8 Conclusions.- Chapter 4. Incorporating the Epistemic Core in Teacher Education Practice.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Teacher Education Context in Turkey.- 4.3 Design of Teacher Education Sessions.- 4.3.1 Session on Introduction to Nature of Science.- 4.3.2 Session on the Family Resemblance Approach.- 4.3.3 Session on Aims and Values of Science.- 4.3.4 Session on Scientific Methods.- 4.3.5 Session on Scientific Practices.- 4.3.6 Session on Scientific Knowledge.- 4.3.7 Session on Generative Images of the Epistemic Core.- 4.4 Lesson Ideas on Chemistry Topics Produced by Pre-Service Teachers.- 4.4.1 Lesson Ideas on Aims and Values.- 4.4.2 Lesson Ideas on Practices.- 4.4.3 Lesson Ideas on Methods.- 4.4.4 Lesson Ideas on Knowledge.- 4.5 Conclusions.- Chapter 5. Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers’ Representations and Perceptions of the Epistemic Core: A Thematic Analysis.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Tracing Pre-Service Teachers’ Representations and Perceptions.- 5.3 Defining Aims and Values of Science.- 5.4 Types of Scientific Practices.- 5.5 Diversity of Scientific Methods.- 5.6 Coherence among Knowledge Forms and the Growth of Knowledge.- 5.7 Conclusions.- Chapter 6. The Impact of Teacher Education on Understanding the Epistemic Core: Focusing on one Pre-Service Chemistry Teacher.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Representations and Perceptions of Aims and Values.-6.3 Representations and Perceptions of Scientific Practices.- 6.4 Representations and Perceptions of Scientific Methods.- 6.5 Representations and Perceptions of Scientific Knowledge.- 6.6 Conclusions.- Chapter 7. Learning and Teaching about Philosophy of Chemistry: Teacher Educators’ Reflections.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Journey to Teacher Education.- 7.3 Background in History and Philosophy of Science.- 7.4 Experiences in Incorporating Nature of Chemistry in Teacher Education.- 7.5 Transforming Theoretical Frameworks into Empirical Research.- 7.6  Conclusions.- Chapter 8. Towards Development of Epistemic Identity in Chemistry Teacher Education.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 A Framework of Epistemic Identity.- 8.3 Epistemic Identity and Teacher Education.- 8.4 Implications for Future Research.- 8.5 Strengths and Limitations of the Book.- 8.5 Conclusions.- Authors’ Biographies.