Graduate Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form
for Courses Numbered 6000 and Higher
Note: Before completing this form, please carefully read the accompanying instructions.
Submission guidelines are posted to the GCC Web site: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/gcc/index.cfm
1. Course prefix and number:
SCIE 6003
2. Date:
11/23/2011
3. Requested action:
New Course
X
Revision of Active Course
Revision & Unbanking of a Banked Course
Renumbering of an Existing Course from
from
to
#
Required
#
Elective
4. Method(s) of delivery (check all boxes that apply for both current/proposed and expected
future delivery methods within the next three years):
Current or
Proposed Delivery
Method(s):
Expected
Future Delivery
Method(s):
On-campus (face to face)
Distance Course (face to face off campus)
X
Online (delivery of 50% or more of the instruction is offered online)
X
5. Justification (must cite accreditation and/or assessment by the graduate faculty) for new course
or course revision or course renumbering:
The Science Faculty in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Instructional
Technology Education identified the need to revise the existing course to focus on two
bodies of knowledge namely content and pedagogical content knowledge. Faculty
approved the revision of two existing science courses and creating a new science course
to provide practicing science teachers with advanced understanding of the foundational,
basic, and interdisciplinary concepts and inquiry practices needed to teach science in the
global classroom. Each of the science courses addresses specific “content” and
“professional development” standards outlined and explained in key standards
documents. These documents include:

North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards (Advanced NCPTS)
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


Science — A Common Core of Standards (SCCS)
National Science Education Standards for Professional Development (NSES)
Science Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)
These three science courses utilize educative, research-based curriculum materials (Davis & Krajcik, 2010)
to facilitate science teacher learning of science content, pedagogical content knowledge, and pedagogical
content knowledge for disciplinary practices. The purpose of the course and its instructional materials is to
help teachers develop the cognitive tools for use in the classroom that help them meet the high expectations
for learning set for them in state (SCCS), national (NAEP), and international (Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study and the Program for International Student Assessment, TIMSS and PISA,
respectively) assessments.
The SCIE 6003 course is designed to enable science teachers to meet common and unique science
knowledge and performance standards set forth in the 19 standards contained in the SCCS, including:
1. STANDARD 1: Science as Inquiry (The competent science teacher understands scientific inquiry
and has the ability to conduct scientific inquiry)
2. STANDARD 3: Molecular and Cellular Sciences (The competent science teacher understands and
can apply concepts that explain the cellular and molecular basis of heredity and biological
evolution)
3. STANDARD 4: Organisms and Ecosystems (The competent science teacher understands and can
apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their
environment)
4. STANDARD 9: Practices of Science (The competent science teacher understands and applies
accepted practices and implications of science in contemporary and historical contexts)
5. STANDARD 10: Science, Technology and Society (The competent science teacher understands
the interaction among science, technology and society, including historical and contemporary
development of major scientific ideas and technology innovations)
6. STANDARD 11: Unifying Concepts (The competent science teacher understands the major
unifying concepts of all sciences and how these concepts relate to other disciplines, particularly
mathematics and the social sciences)
STANDARD 17: Connections in Teaching Science (The competent science teacher can relate
science to the daily lives and interests of students as well as to the larger framework of human
endeavor and to learning in other disciplines).
6. Course description exactly as it should appear in the next catalog:
6003. Advanced Studies in Biological Science for Teachers (3) Analysis of advanced concepts,
principles, and practices in the biological sciences, content-specific learning problems students
encounter, and their implications for biological science education.
7. If this is a course revision, briefly describe the requested change:
The course places greater emphasis on both content knowledge and professional knowledge needed to
teach biological science courses (viz., pedagogical content knowledge).
8. Course credit:
Lecture Hours
3
3
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
Lab
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Studio
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Practicum
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Internship
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Other (e.g., independent study) Please explain.
s.h.
s.h.
2
Revised 04-06-11 and posted fall of 2011
3
Total Credit Hours
s.h.
25
9. Anticipated annual student enrollment:
10. Changes in degree hours of your programs:
Degree(s)/Program(s)
Changes in Degree Hours
MAEd in Science Education
None
11. Affected degrees or academic programs, other than your programs:
Degree(s)/Program(s)
Changes in Degree Hours
None
12. Overlapping or duplication with affected units or programs:
X Not applicable
Documentation of notification to the affected academic degree programs is
attached.
13. Council for Teacher Education (CTE) approval (for courses affecting teacher education):
Not applicable
X
Applicable and CTE has given their approval.
14. University Service-Learning Committee (USLC) approval:
X Not applicable
Applicable and USLC has given their approval.
15. Statements of support:
a. Staff
X Current staff is adequate
Additional staff is needed (describe needs in the box below):
b. Facilities
X Current facilities are adequate
Additional facilities are needed (describe needs in the box below):
c. Library
X
Initial library resources are adequate
Initial resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an
estimate for the cost of acquisition of required initial resources):
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d. Unit computer resources
X
Unit computer resources are adequate
Additional unit computer resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief
explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition):
e. ITCS resources
X
ITCS resources are not needed
The following ITCS resources are needed (put a check beside each need):
Mainframe computer system
Statistical services
Network connections
Computer lab for students
Software
Approval from the Director of ITCS attached
16. Course information (see: Graduate Curriculum and Program Development Manual for
instructions):
a. Textbook(s) and/or readings: author(s), name, publication date, publisher, and
city/state/country. Include ISBN (when applicable).
Hewitt, P., Lyons, S., Suchocki, J. & Yeh, J. (2007). Conceptual Integrated Science.
San Francisco, CA: Addison Wesley. [ISBN-10: 0805390383]
Driver, R., Squires, A., Rushworth, P., & Wood-Robinson, V. (1994) Making Sense of Secondary
Science: Research into Children’s Ideas. NY: Routledge-Falmer. [ISBN: 0415097657]
American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011). AAAS Project 2061 Science
Assessment Website. Retrieved from http://assessment.aaas.org/pages/home
b. Course objectives for the course (student – centered, behavioral focus)
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: identify, use, and teach biological science
principles, scientific inquiry, and technological design (NAEP) to students grades 9-12. In particular,
students will be able to:
1. Identify, explain and apply scientific facts, concepts, and principles pertaining biology and apply
these to the explanation of biological objects, phenomena, and interactions (NCESS Bio.1.1.1-4.2.2
and NSES LS Content Standards A & C).
2. Use science practices (analyze, evaluate, and create) to acquire an understanding of biological
phenomena and interactions (ask scientific questions that can be tested empirically; develop testable
predictions; collect appropriate data to test predictions; search for regularities and patterns in
observations and measurements; use evidence and knowledge to construct scientific explanations,
models, and representations; and use mathematical reasoning and quantitative applications to
interpret and analyze data to solve biological science problems (central to NAEP, NCESS & NSES).
3. Identify, implement, and evaluate pedagogical content knowledge regarding the misconceptions of
students in grades 9-12 to design and teach research-based biological science lessons.
c. Course topic outline


Evolution
Genetics and Variation
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







Adaptations
Populations Dynamics
Speciation
Immune System
Digestive System
Circulatory System
Anatomy & Physiology
Medical Ethics & Biomes & Habitat Progression
d. List of course assignments, weighting of each assignment, and grading/evaluation system
for determining a grade
Assignments in the Advanced Studies in Biological Science for Teachers course were
developed to help science teachers acquire a deep understanding of core concepts,
principles, and practices in the biological sciences and the documented learning
problems students encounter when learning biology. Teachers develop and field test
distractor-driven multiple-choice test items and reflect on the implications of the results
for instruction. Instruction in the course consists of four thematic units, each unit
containing lessons pertaining to core concepts, principles, and practices that comprise
the theme and the learning problems students encounter.
Weekly Assignments: Individual assessments of teachers’ understanding of concepts,
principles and practices contained in weekly lessons. (14 @ 5 pts, Total = 70 pts.)
[Objective 1 and 2]
Weekly Projects: Presentation of results of weekly interviews with earth science
students about their understanding of key earth science concepts, principles, and
practices and the use of the results to develop distractor-driven multiple-choice test
items. (14 @ 5 pts, Total = 70 points) [Objective 2 and 3]
Unit Reflections: Individual teacher reflections on the results of a self-assessment of
“readiness to teach” and students’ “obstacles to learning” about key earth science
concepts, principles, and practices. (2 @ 30 pts, Total = 60 pts) [Objective 3]
Professional Presentation: Presentation of the “Obstacles to Learning Earth Systems
Science” to school/district science faculty. (100 points) [Objective 3]
Grading Scale (200 pts):
A = 93-100%
B = 85-92%
C = 77-84%
F = below 77
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