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7 Preparing Science Teachers
Pages 125-152

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From page 125...
... Depending on the grades they teach, science teachers may be expected to be knowledgeable about basic ideas and content from at least five academic disciplines: biology, chemistry, earth science, mathematics, and physics. They are expected to have a facility with different kinds of scientific inquiry and also, like any teacher, to possess pedagogical content knowledge -- that is, to understand how students learn particular content and how to teach it.
From page 126...
... and by Shroeder and colleagues (2007) , were particularly useful to us in meeting our charge of identifying consensus in the field and considering the extent to which teacher preparation programs in science reflect that consensus.2 In general, however, we note that the literature on science education includes more professional judgments and 1 The opening chapter of Taking Science to School provides a detailed discussion of trends in scholarship on science learning.
From page 127...
... In general, the field of science education is currently dominated by discussions and plausible recommendations regarding what students and teachers should know, but our confidence in those recommendations is tempered by the limited descriptive and experimental empirical evidence that supports them. This circumstance positions the field well for important research on teaching and teacher education in the future.
From page 128...
... Thus, the report makes clear that science education is important for all students, regardless of their interests and aspirations, because it prepares them to understand and evaluate information and to use evidence when making decisions. AAAS makes a very similar argument in Science for All Americans (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1991)
From page 129...
... . Science Standards The report describing the National Science Education Standards, was developed through a multiyear consensus process with input from scientists and science educators, organizations, and the public (National Research Council, 1996)
From page 130...
... All three documents also emphasize that students must learn both the concepts and principles of science and the abilities associated with inquiry. National Science Education Standards begins with a unifying standard that applies across grades K-12, concerning the "understanding and abilities associated with major conceptual and procedural schemes [that]
From page 131...
... . The consensus from the National Science Education Standards and the other documents cited above is that science education should encompass: • ontent in the physical, life, and earth and space sciences, organized c around the big conceptual ideas of the discipline; • he intellectual processes essential to science, such as inquiry, hands t on empirical investigation, use of evidence, and interpretation and analysis; and • amiliarity with the nature and history of science and its applica f tions outside the classroom and laboratory.
From page 132...
... These documents are not the product of empirical testing of hypotheses about outcomes for students exposed to different kinds of science learning: rather, they draw on research, accounts of exemplary practice, and the contributors' own experiences. Thus, standards are a detailed description of what the field of science education has identified as the foundation of science proficiency for K-12 students.
From page 133...
... We look first at the guides to teaching practice included in standards documents and at other sources. Standards The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996)
From page 134...
... . Other Sources The question of what sorts of instructional opportunities are necessary to foster science learning is also taken up in Taking Science to School, and this report also draws on the National Science Education Standards.
From page 135...
... 1438) concluded that multiple studies have shown "that teachers have a profound effect on student learning," but that identifying the specific factors that influence outcomes "is problematic." For example, although there is widespread agreement that pedagogical content knowledge is a very important component of an effective teacher's approaches, there is little research that directly links it to particular student outcomes.
From page 136...
... . Shroeder and colleagues also describe findings that support the general approach described in the national science education standards and elsewhere, noting that "no one strategy is as powerful as utilizing a combined
From page 137...
... Thus, an individual science teacher would not be expected to develop mastery of all of the content described in the national science education standards, but would focus on the standards for the age groups and subjects he or she intends to teach. Yet logic suggests that even teachers of elementary students need a basic familiarity with the big picture of science.
From page 138...
... has published standards for science teacher preparation that are based on, and designed to be consistent with, the National Science Education Standards. This document describes detailed standards for new teachers in science content, the nature of science, inquiry, science- and technology-related issues, general teaching skills, capacity to plan and implement a science curriculum, capacity to relate science to the community, assessment, capacity to promote safety and welfare (including proper handling of animals and materials)
From page 139...
... They are not based on evidence that if teacher preparation programs are guided by or meet these standards, K-12 students will have higher achievement. We note, as we have elsewhere, that this approach to identifying standards for professional education is an accepted method of identifying the goals to which programs should aspire, though the lack of supporting empirical evidence reduces our confidence in conclusions about this approach.
From page 140...
... Principle 3: The teacher of science understands how students differ in their ap proaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners. Principle 4: The teacher of science understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
From page 141...
... In order for the concepts and reasoning with which students enter school to evolve into the science knowledge described in standards, the authors argue, teachers must understand the levels of intermediate understanding through which students need to pass. Taking Science to School also describes a range of instructional practices that support students in developing proficiency in the four strands of science proficiency (described above)
From page 142...
... A variety of studies indicate that it is important for teachers to have accurate mental models of the way students learn and to understand social and other factors that may influence learning. Unfortunately, this research has yet to provide clear guidance that specific knowledge and skills in these areas are associated with benefits for students.8 Similarly, the report discusses the importance of pedagogical content knowledge, but it acknowledges that "while the logic of subject matter knowledge for teaching is persuasive, there is almost no empirical link between specialized teacher subject matter knowledge and student learning" (National Research Council, 2007, p.
From page 143...
... The field of science education has established a logical case, bolstered by some empirical evidence, that the following attributes help teachers provide students with the instructional opportunities they need to develop science proficiency: • rounding in college-level study of the science disciplines suitable g to the age groups and subjects they intend to teach, which develops understanding of the big conceptual ideas in science; • nderstanding of multifaceted objectives for students' science u learning; • nderstanding of the ways students develop science proficiency; u and • ommand of an array of instructional strategies designed to develop c students' learn the content, intellectual conventions, and other at tributes essential to science proficiency, also known as pedagogical content knowledge.
From page 144...
... . Though the program has the goal of promoting science proficiency for all students, it addresses the concern often voiced by the science education community, that K-12 teachers will teach as they have been taught and therefore need improved undergraduate science preparation.
From page 145...
... . These recommendations and programs build on earlier work, such as reports from the National Center for Improving Science Education (Loucks-Horsley et al., 1989, 1990)
From page 146...
... found that 28 percent of the teachers who taught science to grades 7 through 12 "did not have at least a minor in one of the sciences or in science education" (p.
From page 147...
... Despite these hints, we do not have the information that would be needed to draw conclusions regarding the types of instruction and experiences that aspiring science teachers receive in teacher education programs. Therefore, we cannot tell how consistently teacher preparation programs in science draw on the converging scientific evidence regarding the teaching of science.
From page 148...
... 11.07 57.8 22.27 23.27 6.40 1.07 Biology [N = 76] 11.25 51.28 29.0 13.34 5.87 1.66 NOTES: Samples include only teachers with 100 or more known credit hours in university-designated courses taken in Florida public community colleges and universities prior to their first year of teaching in Florida public schools.
From page 149...
... The National Science Education Standards document was based on a comprehensive effort to establish consensus among a broad-based group of those with expertise and experience in science education, drawing on research wherever possible, and we see no reason to question its content. If one accepts the consensus-based standards from the field, many inferences about the knowledge and skills that will benefit teachers flow logically from its detailed descriptions of the elements of science proficiency.
From page 150...
... If these two propositions about what and how students should learn are true, then it follows that teacher preparation should be aligned with those goals. That is, it is plausible that the following attributes help teachers provide students with the instructional opportunities they need to develop science proficiency: • rounding in college-level study of the science disciplines suitable g to the age groups and subjects they intend to teach; • nderstanding of multifaceted objectives for students' science u learning; • nderstanding of the ways students develop science proficiency; u and • ommand of an array of instructional strategies designed to de c velop students' learning of the content, intellectual conventions, and other attributes essential to science proficiency, also known as pedagogical content knowledge.
From page 151...
... Science preparation for secondary students is of equal importance and presents distinct challenges for educators. As we note above, some secondary science teachers have not majored in the science subjects they are teaching or are not certified to teach it.


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