Science Teaching Reconsidered A Handbook (1997) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Chapter 1: How Teachers Teach: General Principles
Chapter 1: How Teachers Teach: General Principles
Pages 1-8
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
Teaching is much more difficult than most faculty are willing to acknowledge: "The assumption that knowledge of a subject implies the ability to teach in that field permeates American higher education, and one result is that our colleagues generally believe that the problems associated with teaching should disappear as the competent scholar eases past the initial nervous ness" (Fraher, 1984)
|
From page 2... ...
Science teaching requires attention to both the content of the course and the process of moving students from their initial state of knowledge and understanding to the desired level. In fact, teaching is part of a whole that comprises the teacher, the learner, the disciplinary content, the teaching/learning process, and the evaluation of both the teacher and the learner.
|
From page 3... ...
While developing their own teaching style, science teachers must answer a fundamental question: Is the primary goal of my course for each student to gain specific information, or for each student to master how to organize and apply new information independently to new situations? The primary goal may not be the same for each student in a course, especially when the students come from diverse backgrounds (see Chapter 8)
|
From page 4... ...
useful to meet with their colleagues to Those who have studied the learning of science have con design a syllabus that optimizes the or- cluded that students learn best if they are engaged in active der and structure in which to present the learning, if they are forced to deal with observations and con course material. For example, if you are cepts before terms and facts, and if they have the sense that teaching atomic theory, is it best to start they are part of a community of learners in a classroom envi with basic terms and then to build up to a ronment that is very supportive of their learning (Fraser, 1986; model, or to start with a model and disas- Chickering and Gamson, 1987; McDermott et al., 1987; Fraser semble it piece by piece?
|
From page 5... ...
This course approaches the matter of technical literacy from the point of view of a curious and motivated newspaper reader, for whom reports are available on a daily basis that provide a mix of engineering and public policy issues. The material draws heavily upon information from recent news reports on subjects having to do with energy or environmental matters.
|
From page 6... ...
Equipment and materials are supplied, but the students plan and execute the experiment and analyze the results, all with the guidance of an instructor. Instructors emphasize that understanding the results is more important than whether the results are "correct." For example, the physics/chemistry term introduces students to optical and infrared spectroscopy, computer modeling of molecular structure, and some wet lab techniques used in organic chemistry.
|
From page 7... ...
An undergraduate science teacher who models real scientific skills of investigation and critical thinking, and applies those skills to new situations, can make an enormous contribution to the education of those students who will not only use the model, but eventually will teach it. Should we teach present or future teachers differently from other students in our science classes?
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.