Volume 4: Issue 2 [2019]

ISSN 2472-2553

Learning About Science Practices: Concurrent Reflection on Classroom Investigations and Scientific Works

by Mo A. Basir, University of Central Missouri
Abstract

The NRC (2012) emphasizes eight science practices as a constitutive part of science teaching and learning. Pre-service teachers should be able to perform those practices at least in an introductory-level science investigation. Additionally, they also need to be able to elicit and interpret those science practices in the work of students. Through the integration of doing science and reading about how scientists do science, this article provides a practical teaching approach encouraging critical thinking about science practices. The instructional approach emphasizes on performing science practices, explicitly thinking about how students and scientists do science, and reflecting on similarities and differences between how students and scientists perform science practices. The article provides examples and tools for the proposed instructional approach.

Partnering for Engineering Teacher Education

by Lara K. Smetana, Loyola University Chicago; Cynthia Nelson, Loyola University Chicago; Patricia Whitehouse, William C. Goudy Technology Academy; & Kim Koin, Chicago Children's Museum
Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe a specific approach to preparing elementary teacher candidates to teach engineering through a field-based undergraduate course that incorporates various engineering experiences. First, candidates visit a children’s museum to engage in engineering challenges and reflect on their experiences as learners as well as teachers. The majority of course sessions occur on-site in a neighborhood elementary school with a dedicated engineering lab space and teacher, where candidates help facilitate small group work to develop their own understandings about engineering and instructional practices specific to science and engineering. Candidates also have the option to attend the elementary school’s Family STEM Night which serves as another example of how informal engineering experiences can complement formal school-day experiences as well as how teachers and schools work with families to support children’s learning. Overall, candidates have shown increased confidence in engineering education as demonstrated by quantitative data collected through a survey instrument measuring teacher beliefs regarding teaching engineering self-efficacy. The survey data was complemented by qualitative data collected through candidates’ written reflections and interviews. This approach to introducing elementary teacher candidates to engineering highlights the value of a) capitalizing on partnerships, b) immersing candidates as learners in various educational settings with expert educators, c) providing opportunities to observe, enact, and analyze the enactment of high-leverage instructional practices, and d) incorporating opportunities for independent and collaborative reflection.

Providing Clinical Experience for Preservice Chemistry Teachers Through a Homeschool Association Collaboration

by Sarah B. Boesdorfer, Illinois State University
Abstract

The number of students homeschooled in the United States is steadily increasing, and parents of these students continue to look to community resources for their curriculum as they educate their children. As clinical experiences associated with two of their methods courses, preservice chemistry teachers teach a chemistry course twice a week to homeschooled students under the supervision of their methods instructor. The course is a collaboration between the Department of Chemistry and the local homeschool association (HSA), providing the homeschool students with high school chemistry instruction and experiences in the chemistry laboratory and providing preservice teachers with experiences teaching high school aged chemistry students. This article describes the design of this collaboration aligning it with the research literature of successful clinical experiences for the development of preservice teachers. In addition, initial evidence and feedback from teachers provides support for this collaboration as an effective alternative to traditional clinical experiences in typical high school settings for preservice science teachers. Challenges to carrying out this type of clinical experience are discussed along with tips for teacher educators looking for a different form of effective clinical experiences for their preservice teachers. While improvements continue to be made, the collaboration between the HSA and the methods courses has been successful for students, both homeschooled and preservice, and continues as a clinical experience at our university.