CHEMISTRY TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE IN ASSESSING SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY COMPETENCE

Assessing scientific inquiry competence (SIC) is essential for fostering students’ inquiry skills, and the effectiveness of such assessments largely depends on teachers’ assessment knowledge. Grounded in a four-dimensional framework of science teacher assessment knowledge, this study developed and validated a scenario-based diagnostic instrument incorporating authentic video clips of inquiry-focused teaching situations. The instrument was administered to 146 novice chemistry teachers in China to examine their knowledge of assessing SIC. Results showed that teachers demonstrated relatively strong knowledge of assessment content but had only moderate awareness of assessment purposes and limited knowledge to apply appropriate assessment strategies and interpret evidence. These findings highlight significant gaps in teachers’ assessment knowledge of SIC, especially in integrating multiple dimensions of assessment in practice. The study underscores the need for targeted professional development to enhance teachers’ assessment literacy and support effective inquiry-based science teaching, particularly in discipline-specific contexts such as chemistry.