EPO and Pre-service Science
Education
Astronomical Society of the Pacific Annual Conference
Pinky Nelson, Western Washington University
September 18, 2006
Introduction / Outline
• Why me?
• Affirmation of EPO people and progress!
• Needs and of preservice Teachers
• Comments about preservice education
• WWU elementary preservice program as an
example
• A suggestion for a significant EPO
contribution
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Needs of Preservice Teachers
Two recent views: Lillian McDermott, Leo Kadanoff
• Deep enough content knowledge of science disciplines that
they will be teaching
• Deep understanding of scientific inquiry
• Deep understanding of learning research and theories
• Content Specific Pedagogical Knowledge
• Knowledge of and experience with effective materials
• Knowledge of children (ed psych stuff)
• Knowledge of how to function in a professional learning
community
• School knowledge (rules, classroom management)
• Commitment to equity and useful tools
• Confidence in their own ability to learn
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Comments on Preservice Education
• Current model is failing (sustaining the status quo)
• Elementary students enter with severe deficits
– 75% are not proportional reasoners
– Science knowledge is at ~ grade 6-8 standards
• Secondary students have weak conceptual understandings,
poor (traditional) teaching models
• Students are not “dumb”, they have been grossly
underserved by the system
• Preservice reform must include K-12 reform
• Any reform should plan to evolve
– If we are successful, students will change over time
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
An example from Western Washington
University (K-8 endorsement program)
NCOSP Partners
• University with a large teacher preparation
program
• Four neighboring two-year colleges
• 28 school districts
• Washington State LASER
One of the goals
• Help WWU and CC transfer preservice
students become confident science learners
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
New Requirements for El Ed major
Five Science Content Classes (quarters)
• 3 quarter sequence--phys, biol, geol
• 1 quarter capstone--Inquire science (chemistry)
• 1quarter nature of science--Science and Society
Two Science Pedagogy Classes
• Science Methods
• Science practicum
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Development Stucture
•GUR Working Group ~ 25 Faculty,
2-3 Teachers on Special Assignment
•3 Sub-groups Phys, Biol, Geol
•No hierarchy
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Guiding Documents:
How People Learn
Understanding by Design
Physics Education for Teachers
Learning Cycle Model
•Purpose
•Initial Ideas
•Collecting and Interpreting Evidence
•Summarizing Questions (Reflection)
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Developing the courses
Issues that we faced:
• Staff Development
• Survey course vs. Depth
• Integrated vs. Discipline-based
• Innovated vs. Research-based
• Academic freedom vs. Common Course
(including assessments)
• University vs. Two-year faculty
• Full-time faculty vs. Part-time faculty
• Existing vs. Home-grown
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Initial Course Implementation
Inservice
Teachers
Preservice
Teachers
Physical
Science
Life Science
Summer 2004
Fall 2005
Summer 2005
Earth Science
Summer 2006
Winter/Spring
2005-06
Winter/Spring
2005-06
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
K-16 Reform-Based Science Instruction
New Physical Science GUR Course at a Glance
• Participating Institutions (Fall 2005): EVCC, SVCC, WCC & WWU
• PET curriculum
• Constructivist: based on experiences, investigations, and discussions in the
classroom
• No textbook
• Part of a science sequence for elementary education students
• Approximately 80 students participated in Fall 2005
• Data, data, data
content assessments
student surveys of students’ beliefs
teacher interviews
student interviews
observations
PET Student Assessments
N=53
Percent Correct (%)
Preservice Elementary Teacher
Performance (PET Course)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
EvCC
WWU
SVC
Pretest
Posttest
Students’ Views of the Nature of Science
The main skill I expect to get out of this course is to learn how to
reason logically about the physical world.
Logical Reasoning
50
pre
40
post
30
20
10
0
Strongly
disagree
somewhat
disagree
neutral
somewhat
agree
strongly
agree
“… a lot of the things that I just take for granted I had to question and then realize that I
was wrong on a lot of the things I thought and the good thing is that because we did
experiments… we had to figure out how to learn it ourselves and the teacher didn’t just
tell us how to think, it counteracted what I thought that was wrong so it forced me to
realize what was wrong and not go back to what I was thinking before”.
-WWU student
Learning science made me change some of my ideas about how scientific
phenomena can be used to understand the world around me.
When learning science people can understand the material
better if they relate it to their own ideas.
Understanding Science Relates to
Personal Experience
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
pre
post
Strongly
disagree
somew hat
disagree
neutral
somew hat
agree
strongly
agree
“…I just learn information like for a test, then I forget it, then I’ll just return
back to what I thought before but this way I remember it better”.
-WWU student
Observations:
Using HRI Observation Protocol
Capsule Ratings of Quality of the Lesson
Foci of Observation:
•
Design
•
Implementation
•
Content Experienced
by Students
•
Classroom Culture
Level 1: Ineffective Instruction
Highly Unlikely to contribute to students’ understanding.
Level 2:Elements of Effective Instruction
Some evidence of learning but serious problems in design,
implementation, or content.
Level 3:Beginning stages of Effective Instruction
Somewhat limited in its ability to contribute to students’
understanding.
Level 4:Accomplished Effective Instruction
Quite likely to contribute to the majority of students’
understanding.
Level 5:Exemplary Instruction
Highly likely to contribute to all or most students’ understanding
and develop capacity to do science.
Rating Averages
Standard GUR
 Design: 4
 Implementation: 3.7
 Content: 3.7
 Culture: 3.8
Capsule: 3.2
New GUR
 Design: 4.4
 Implementation: 3.8
 Content: 4.1
 Culture: 3.9
Capsule: 3.9
Standard Physics GUR: 6 observations of three courses
New Physics GUR: 8 observations of four courses
Content As Experienced by Students
• Quotes from Students in Physics Class
– “Although it was less than a year ago that I completed a
Physics AP class in High School, I was surprised by
how often my own ideas were challenged and changed
by the basic ideas taught through this elementary
curriculum”
– “…of all the courses I took this quarter, I believe I
showed the most growth in SCED 201. It is amazing to
look at the initial ideas in my binder and see how much
progress my ideas and thoughts have made over just a
unit in the curriculum. I also noted a lot about my own
thought processes and the way that I learn”
Content As Experienced by Student
“I believe that this course will be extremely useful for
me in the future. Even though I am not going to be a
science teacher, I am planning on being a Spanish
teacher. Before taking this course, I thought that the
science GURs would be useless for my major, and that
all science courses were lecture-based. But, rather than
just teach me something about science in a new way,
this course taught me about how I learn, and showed
me that there are different approaches to go about
teaching materials that can be carried across the
disciplines, which I will be able to bring into the
classroom as a Spanish teacher.
Classroom Culture
“At the beginning I was very nervous about it because I
don’t feel like I’m a strong science thinker. I was
really afraid to verbalize and vocalize my opinions
and what I was thinking on a topic, but after a week
or so I began to become really comfortable because I
realized that the reason everyone’s talking about it is
to help everyone learn. And when someone would
say something that was incorrect, no one would care
because we all just wanted to help them understand
what was actually going on so…I was very
comfortable by then.”
- WWU Student
Example: Selecting the Biology “Big
Ideas”
Taken from:
Washington State Standards
National Science Education Standards
AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Content: Life Systems “Big Ideas”
•
Food serves as fuel and building materials for an organism.
Sugars are an example of food, but water, carbon dioxide, and
oxygen are not.
•
Using the energy from light, plants make their own food - in
the form of sugars - from carbon dioxide (in the air) and water.
Nothing else is required for this process
•
Plants transform the energy from light into chemical energy in
the sugars.
•
Animals cannot make their own food, but must acquire it by
consuming plants or other animals that have consumed plants.
More…
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Content: Life Systems “Big Ideas” (cont.)
•
Organisms grow by breaking down the food and assembling
the breakdown products into their body structures.
•
Organisms gain energy for their life processes breaking down
energy-rich food into simpler substances with less energy. The
energy is used for growth and body functions. Other energy is
released as heat.
•
If not used immediately for fuel or building structures, the
breakdown products can become part of body structures that
serve as energy storage for later use.
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Overarching Scientific Process “Big Ideas”
• The Universe is Understandable
• Scientific Ideas Are Subject to Change
• Scientific Knowledge is Durable
• Science Explains and Predicts
• Science Cannot Provide Complete Answers to All
Questions
• Science Demands Evidence
• Science is a Blend of Logic and Imagination
• Science is not Authoritarian
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
Data from summer pilot 2005
Investigating the Flow and Matter
and Energy in Living Systems
Four Cycles
• What is food for living organisms?
• How do plants get food?
• How do organisms use food?
• How does matter and energy cycle in
living systems?
HRI Life Science Assessment:
Pre and Post Scores
Overall
100
84*
80
Score
67
60
40
20
0
Pre
Post
* Post-test scores significantly greater than pre-test score (p < 0.05), 1-tailed
paired samples t-test. Effect size = 1.39 standard deviations. Gain score= .51.
N=165
Comparisons by Grade Level
100
91
86
79
80
79
73
Score
59
60
40
20
0
Elem e ntar y
M iddle
Pre
High
Post
Controlling for pre-test scores and other demographics, high school teachers
scored significantly higher than elementary and middle school teachers (effect
sizes of 0.45 and 0.31 standard deviations, respectively). However, no
significant differences between gain scores (ES=.49, MS=.48, HS=.57).
N = 87, 42, 36
Comparisons by Gender
Gender
100
87
82
80
72
Score
64
60
40
20
0
Male
Fem ale
P re
P o st
No significant differences by gender.
Gain scores: M=.54 F=.50
What have we learned?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Less is more
Initial perceptions of “academic freedom” must be
addressed (student- vs. faculty-centered)
Implementing reformed courses is material, staff, and
faculty intensive w/ implications for sustainability
Team teaching helps
Lesson Study helps
Staff development is key
Interpersonal relationships are critical
Course revisions being made based on student and
faculty feedback--methods course.
Can’t do it all – where is the place for chemistry,
astronomy, environmental science….?
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060
A Suggestion for EPOers
•
•
•
•
•
•
Assemble teams to develop and test three or more one-semester
astronomy content courses for future teachers
•
Solar System and Stars for Elementary
•
The Universe for Secondary
Copy the Physics for Elementary Teachers format (for example)
•
Pilot these materials so you know how they function
Include an instructor’s guide and staff development
Use proven development protocols (UBD)
•
Start by choosing learning goals (Benchmarks 6-8)
•
Create and test assessments
•
Design inquiry-based activities
•
Include cool simulations and data where it makes sense
Build in a robust evaluation plan from the start and pay attention
Don’t worry about missions or even NASA--worry about students
learning important ideas
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HER-0315060