This research explored the common experiences, values, and beliefs of three science teacher educators with elementary teaching experience and how these commonalities influenced their thinking about teaching preservice elementary teachers. This qualitative study used a life story approach and included an autobiographical component. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and archival records. The findings were shared in eight chronologically ordered vignettes that portrayed an individual representing a composite of the participants. The participants shared numerous life experiences including: growing up in small towns, having older parents, being part of a two sibling family, having strong female role models, learning science through everyday occurrences, and having successful experiences in school math and science. They also placed a high value on education, responsibility, spiritual development, and contributions of diverse groups. Two beliefs stood out in the data. First, each participant believed that she had been a "good" elementary teacher. Second, each participant believed in the importance of attending to the affective domain within teaching and learning environments.These findings represent an extension of the existing limited literature base regarding qualifications and characteristics of science teacher educators. The findings direct our attention to the need for changes in science teacher education programs with regard to recruitment and design in order to attract more applicants with elementary teaching experience and understandings of the elementary school culture.

College and university teacher education programs are not, and should not be, exempt from the growing demand for distance education opportunities. Science teacher education is no exception to this growing demand. While there are some distance-learning courses and even complete programs for teacher education, the majority of these are offered as continuing education or post-graduate education opportunities. The number of programs offered specifically in science teacher education (either undergraduate or post-graduate) is extremely limited. Those distance-learning classes that are available for teacher education rarely reflect the instruction expected from teachers by the National Science Education Standards when they enter the K-12 classroom. With the demand for distance education rising, it is important to determine if it is possible for the distance-learning format to be an effective form of delivery for quality preservice science teacher education programs. The research herein took the form of a qualitative case study of two sections of a Science Technology and Society Interaction (STS) course offered via a distance-learning format. (For the purposes of this study, distance-learning courses are defined as those that are offered using online delivery.) The research investigated the extent to which the course incorporated the principles of science education reform. The study took the form of an evaluative case study and provided a rich description of the course itself as well as the nature of the interactions and meanings constructed by students. The course was determined to be an example of a distance learning opportunity that exhibits the desired ideology. Insights gained here were used to illuminate some guiding principles for developing courses for distance delivery that exhibit principles consistent with science education reform.

This qualitative study described non-science undergraduate majors' responses to controversial issues embedded in an introductory level environmental science course in a liberal arts college located in the southeastern United States. Participants enrolled in this 12-week summer course were both traditional college-age (late teens to early twenties) and non-traditional age student (thirties to fifties). Approximately 76 percent were female. Students demonstrated various lifestyles (e.g., gay, single-parent, living at home), socioeconomic statuses (e.g., middle-income, low income), employment (e.g., employed, unemployed, ex-military) and ethnicities. The structure of the environmental science course was consistent with the science education reform movement standards applied to K-12 public schools, but not yet pervasive in higher education. Some of the reform techniques included use of open discussion format, cooperative learning, field trips, classroom demonstration, and v arious media. The theoretical framework for the study was using controversial issues in science to stimulate cognitive dissonance, which may provide a pathway to higher level reflective thinking. Controversial issues triggering a response in students showed elements of injustice and unfairness. Examples included the CHEERS pesticide study on children in Jacksonville, Florida; human radiation experimentation, including the use of depleted uranium in military conflicts; and local groundwater cases that exhibited environmental racism. The study showed the use of controversial issues in the environmental science course stimulated reflective thinking and encouraged the expression of environmental advocacy beyond the classroom. Students expressed participation in energy and water conservation, recycling practices, political involvement, and joining environmental groups. Students shared information with outsiders, such as family, friends, and co-workers when they deemed it personally or societally relevant (e.g., pertaining to family, health, safety, homelife, politics). Generational differences in students were observed in their openness to discuss controversial issues, ability to self-express, attitude toward the environment, quality of writing, and involvement in the educational process.

Science education reform movements have long urged the use of inquiry methods in all science instruction. More recently, standards and accountability reform efforts have emphasized measuring and improving student science achievement. Researchers have questioned the alignment and balance between these reforms (Lane, 2004; Yeh, 2001). This study addresses issues faced by secondary science teachers as they simultaneously meet the goals of these reform movements. Mixed methods were used to answer the questions: 1) Can a teacher's beliefs and practices regarding inquiry teaching methods be correlated with his/her assessment practices?; 2) What item types are most commonly employed by teachers that use an inquiry pedagogy?; and 3) What assessment strategies do teachers describe to assess scientific inquiry? Secondary science teachers, mostly from one western state, responded to a survey (N = 83) and provided a teacher-made classroom assessment (n = 30). Survey responses were used to assign a teacher inquiry score based on described frequency of pedagogical practices supporting or detracting from an inquiry focus. A rubric based on cognitive complexity was used to determine a numeric value for each test item with the sum of item scores providing an overall assessment score. Using regression analysis and Pearson's correlation this study found a moderate correlation (r = 0.0447, p = 0.0133) between teacher inquiry scores and assessment scores. A modest correlation was also established between teacher inquiry levels (high, medium, and low categories assigned using cut scores) and overall assessment scores using an ANOVA (DF=2, p = 0.0262) and Tukey-Kramer pairwise analysis (low to medium p = 0.046; low to high p = 0.057). Correlations indicate that teachers are able to simultaneously focus on inquiry in pedagogical and assessment practices. Cognitively complex items used by teachers with an inquiry focus measure the same cognitive skills as scientific inquiry. Survey responses to open-ended questions provided additional qualitative data supporting the study's findings. Respondents reported challenges in creating assessments that measure student scientific inquiry competency, but also noted that labs, observation and questioning, and performance assessments are useful in measuring inquiry skills.

The goal of the most recent science education reform movement in the U.S. is science literacy for all Americans. Science literacy among U.S. students remains low, however, as compared with students in other industrialized countries, and is lowest among English Language Learner (ELL) students. Although there are barriers to developing science literacy for all adolescent students, ELL students often experience additional barriers that make developing science literacy even more challenging without support. Because textbooks are often heavily relied upon by secondary science teachers, the opportunity for many ELLs to develop science literacy may depend upon the support for these students included in science textbooks. Many textbook publishers have included textual tools for teaching ELLs in the teacher's editions of science textbooks they claim will help teachers support the learning of ELLs in the ways that are recommended by national standards, which describe appropriate science content, pedagogy, and language supports. These standards, referred to in this study as ELL standards, include the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, the CREDE standards, the WIDA standards, and the TIMSS standards. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative content analysis was to determine how the textual tools for teaching ELLs found in three widely used secondary biology textbooks in the U.S. are aligned with the ELL standards. All textual tools were read, reread, and coded using the ELL standards as a priori coding categories. The results indicate that some of the textual tools in the biology textbooks align with the ELL standards. However, the frequency of alignment between the textual tools and the ELL standards is not high. Further, many of the instances of alignment between the textual tools and the ELL standards are implicit, rather than explicit, indicating that the alignment between them is weak. Finally, many of the textual tools that are aligned with the ELL standards are only aligned with one of the categories within a given standard and ignore other, important, categories. It is recommended that textbook publishers update the textual tools for teaching ELLs in future editions of their textbooks to make them more aligned with the ELL standards. It is further recommended that secondary science teachers be better prepared so they will not have to rely on the textual tools for teaching ELLs in their instruction.

No description available.

No description available.

This study examined an innovative, project-based curriculum in a freshman biology laboratory by focusing on how students developed their conceptual understanding of a biological species. A model for learning was posed based on learners working in small groups. This model linked a sociocultural approach to teaching and learning to conceptual change theory. Qualitative research methods were employed to collect a variety of data. Documentation of this innovative curriculum is provided. This investigative curriculum incorporated the research practices that scientists use. A wide range of dynamic interactions with students actively investigating problems and sharing both their findings and thoughts during this time occurred. This essentially modeled the authentic practices of scientists. A direct comparison was made with this learning environment and the model for learning. Peer tutoring, cooperative learning, and most importantly, peer collaboration were observed when students grappled with difficult problems for which there was no single right answer. Teachers served as guides in learning, shifting responsibility to the students. Analysis of student writing revealed richer, more complex definitions of species after the experience of the laboratory project. Several of the students used knowledge gained directly from their experiences during the laboratory project to help elaborate their definitions. The electronic discussions showed a range of social interactions and interactivity. High quality discussions were found to be rich in scientific thought, engaging discussants by offering information, questioning, and actively hypothesizing. Mediating and facilitating discussions by the participants was found to be an important factor in their success. Groups exhibiting high quality discussions also had a lower response time than other groups, indicating that more substantive dialogues which are rich in thought proceed at a slower pace. Significantly, an important connection has been made between the socio-cultural approach to learning and conceptual change theory. A closer examination of how small groups of learners develop conceptual understanding is needed. This approach also needs to be extended into other settings where reform in science education is taking place. / Ph. D.

No description available.

The overall purpose of this collected papers dissertation was to examine the utility of a cognitive apprenticeship-based instructional coaching (CAIC) model for improving the science teaching efficacy beliefs (STEB) of preservice and inservice elementary teachers. Many of these teachers perceive science as a difficult subject and feel inadequately prepared to teach it. However, teacher efficacy beliefs have been noted as the strongest indicator of teacher quality, the variable most highly correlated with student achievement outcomes. The literature is scarce on strong, evidence-based theoretical models for improving STEB. This dissertation is comprised of two studies. STUDY #1 was a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study investigating the impact of a reformed CAIC elementary science methods course on the STEB of 26 preservice teachers. Data were collected using the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B) and from six post-course interviews. A statistically significant increase in STEB was observed in the quantitative strand. The qualitative data suggested that the preservice teachers perceived all of the CAIC methods as influential, but the significance of each method depended on their unique needs and abilities. STUDY #2 was a participatory action research case study exploring the utility of a CAIC professional development program for improving the STEB of five Bahamian inservice teachers and their competency in implementing an inquiry-based curriculum. Data were collected from pre- and post-interviews and two focus group interviews. Overall, the inservice teachers perceived the intervention as highly effective. The scaffolding and coaching were the CAIC methods portrayed as most influential in developing their STEB, highlighting the importance of interpersonal relationship aspects in successful instructional coaching programs. The teachers also described the CAIC approach as integral in supporting their learning to implement the new inquiry-based curriculum. The overall findings hold important implications for science education reform, including its potential to influence how preservice teacher training and inservice teacher professional development in science are perceived and implemented. Additionally, given the noteworthy results obtained over the relatively short durations, CAIC interventions may also provide an effective means of achieving improvements in preservice and inservice teachers’ STEB more expeditiously than traditional approaches.