Minnesota State University Moorhead
BIOL/CHEM/PHYS 440 Secondary Science Methods
Spring 2011
Course Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. George R. Davis
Biosciences Department
My office: Hagen Hall 407U
Telephone: 477-2092, E-mail: davisg@mnstate.edu
Office hours:
Monday+ Wednesday: 11:00am-11:30 pm and 2:30pm-4:30pm
Tuesday: 11:00-11:30am + 3:30pm-4:30pm
Thursday: 11:00am-12:00pm + 3:30pm-4:00pm
Friday: 9:00am-10:00am + 11:00am-12:00pm
Course Description:
Secondary Science Methods is designed for pre-service high school and middle school/junior high school science teachers (grades 5-12.) The content of this course will be to provide you the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and understanding in the methods to design and deliver instruction in science. The specific KSU’s of the course are listed below and included in the course outline.
Section: BIOL 440 Course ID: 000166; CHEM 440 Course ID: 000176. The class meets in Hagen 404.
Class meeting time:
The regular meeting time of this class is Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:30am-9:45am. In addition there are three additional events that you will be expected to participate in:

The Science Olympiad Friday, February 6, 2009 , from 8:30am-12:30pm.

Western Regional Science Fair judging Saturday February 28, 2009 , 9:00am-
2:00pm.

MSUM Student Academic Conference, April 19, 2011.
Standards of Effective Practice addressed in this course;
8710.2000 STANDARDS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE FOR TEACHERS. http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/arule/8710/2000.html
Subp. 3. Standard 2, student learning.
A teacher must understand how students learn and develop and must provide learning opportunities that support a student's intellectual, social, and personal development. The teacher must:
G. Use a student's thinking and experiences as a resource in planning instructional activities by encouraging discussion, listening and responding to group interaction, and eliciting oral, written, and other samples of student thinking;
Subp. 5. Standard 4, instructional strategies.
A teacher must understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage student development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. The teacher must:
H. Monitor and adjust strategies in response to learner feedback;

K. Use educational technology to broaden student knowledge about technology, to deliver instruction to students at different levels and paces, and to stimulate advanced levels of learning; and
L. Develop, implement, and evaluate lesson plans that include methods and strategies to maximize learning that incorporate a wide variety of materials and technology resources.
Subp. 7. Standard 6, communication.
A teacher must be able to use knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom. The teacher must:
K. Use a variety of media and educational technology to enrich learning opportunities.
Subp. 8. Standard 7, planning instruction.
A teacher must be able to plan and manage instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals. The teacher must:
C. Plan instructional programs that accommodate individual student learning styles and performance modes;
D. Create short-range and long-range plans that are linked to student needs and performance;
E. Design lessons and activities that operate at multiple levels to meet the developmental and individual needs of students and to help all progress;
F. Implement learning experiences that are appropriate for curriculum goals, relevant to learners, and based on principles of effective instruction including activating student prior knowledge, anticipating preconceptions, encouraging exploration and problem solving, and building new skills on those previously acquired;
Subp. 9. Standard 8, assessment.
A teacher must understand and be able to use formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the student. The teacher must:
A. Be able to assess student performance toward achievement of the Minnesota graduation standards under chapter 3501;
E. Select, construct, and use assessment strategies, instruments, and technologies appropriate to the learning outcomes being evaluated and to other diagnostic purposes;
F. Use assessment to identify student strengths and promote student growth and to maximize student access to learning opportunities;
G. Use varied and appropriate formal and informal assessment techniques including observation, portfolios of student work, teacher-made tests, performance tasks, projects, student self-assessments, peer assessment, and standardized tests;
H. Use assessment data and other information about student experiences, learning behaviors, needs, and progress to increase knowledge of students, evaluate student progress and performance, and modify teaching and learning strategies;
I. Implement students' self-assessment activities to help them identify their own strengths and needs and to encourage them to set personal goals for learning;
J. Evaluate the effect of class activities on both individuals and the class as a whole using information gained through observation of classroom interactions, questioning, and analysis of student work;
K. Monitor teaching strategies and behaviors in relation to student success to modify plans and instructional approaches to achieve student goals;
N. Use technology resources to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning.
8710.4750
T EACHERS OF S CIENCE : C HEMISTRY ; E ARTH AND S PACE ; L IFE ; P HYSICS https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=8710.4750
Subp. 3. E. A teacher of science must have a broad-based knowledge of teaching science that integrates knowledge of science with knowledge of pedagogy, students, learning environments, and professional development. A teacher of science must understand:
(1) curriculum and instruction in science as evidence by the ability to:

(a) select, using local, state, and national science standards, appropriate science learning goals and content;
(b) plan a coordinated sequence of lessons and instructional strategies that support the development of students' understanding and nurture a community of science learners including appropriate inquiry into authentic questions generated from students' experiences; strategies for eliciting students' alternative ideas; strategies to help students' understanding of scientific concepts and theories; and strategies to help students use their scientific knowledge to describe real-world objects, systems, or events;
(c) plan assessments to monitor and evaluate learning of science concepts and methods of scientific inquiry; and
(d) justify and defend, using knowledge of student learning, research in science education, and national science education standards, a given instructional model or curriculum;
(2) safe environments for learning science as evidenced by the ability to:
(a) use required safety equipment correctly in classroom, field, and laboratory settings;
(b) describe, using knowledge of ethics and state and national safety guidelines and restrictions, how to make and maintain a given collection of scientific specimens and data;
(c) describe, using knowledge of ethics and state and national safety guidelines and restrictions, how to acquire, care for, handle, and dispose of live organisms;
(e) implement safe procedures during supervised science learning experiences in the public schools;
(3) how to apply educational principles relevant to the physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive development of preadolescents and adolescents;
(4) how to apply the research base for and the best practices of middle level and high school education;
(5) how to develop curriculum goals and purposes based on the central concepts of science and how to apply instructional strategies and materials for achieving student understanding of the discipline;
(6) the role and alignment of district, school, and department mission and goals in program planning;
(7) the need for and how to connect students' schooling experiences with everyday life, the workplace, and further educational opportunities;
(8) how to involve representatives of business, industry, and community organizations as active partners in creating educational opportunities;
(9) the role and purpose of co-curricular and extracurricular activities in the teaching and learning process; and
(10) how to apply the standards of effective practice in teaching through a variety of early and ongoing clinical experiences with middle level and high school students within a range of educational programming models.
Subp. 3. F. A teacher of science must understand the content and methods for teaching reading including:
(2) the ability to use a wide range of instructional practices, approaches, methods, and curriculum materials to support reading instruction including:
(g) the ability to plan instruction and select strategies that help students read and understand science texts, including the ability to: iv. follow instructions to perform laboratory activities step by step in a disciplined fashion; v. explain diagrams and graphs in terms of scientific content/meaning; and vi. explain meaning of abbreviations and symbols.
MSUM Conceptual Framework: See attached sheet and read carefully. This course is designed to be taught and learned within the context of this conceptual framework . You will be expected to demonstrate your fulfillment of the expectations detailed in the conceptual framework in this course. Use the following websites as well to learn more about what is expected of you as a teacher candidate.

Course materials:
Required Text: Teaching Secondary School Science: Strategies for Developing
Scientific Literacy, 9 th Edition, Rodger W. Bybee, Janet Carlson Powell, Leslie W.
Trowbridge, 2008, Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. ISBN: 13-978-0-13-230450-4
Course Handouts: provided in hard copy and/or from Dr. Davis’ faculty webpage: www.mnstate.edu/davisg/biol 440.cfm
.
Other resources used in this course:

National Science Education Standards
(www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5704)

NSTA Pathways to the Science Standards, High School Edition. Ed. Juliana
Texley and Ann Wild. 1996. ISBN: 0-87355-144-3

Minnesota Science Standards
(http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/Academic_St andards/Science/index.html)

Science for All Americans
(http://www.project2061.org/tools/sfaaol/sfaatoc.htm)
 Project 2061’s Benchmarks For Science Literacy
(http://www.project2061.org/tools/benchol/bolframe.htm)

Project 2061 Atlas for Science Literacy ISBN: 0-871-68668-6
 “How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School”. Edited by John D.
Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, 2000. National Academy
Press. ISBN: 0-309-07036-8 ( http://www.nap.edu
)
 “Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and
School.” Medina, John. 2008. Pear Press. ISBN: 0-9797777-0-4.
Course Requirements:
1. Unit of Instruction 45 points
2. Inquiry Lesson plan 15 points
3. Report: Science equipment order for first year teaching 15 points
4. Report: Science laboratory/activity/field management description and safety
considerations for unit of instruction 15 points
5. Report: Accommodating special needs students (special education and ELL)
15 points
6. Science Olympiad planning and participation 15 points
7. Western Regional Science Fair judging report 15 points
8. E-portfolio understandings reflection 25 points
9. MSUM Student Academic Conference workshop presentation 15 points
10. Attendance 15 points
Total points: 190 points*
* Total points will not change, but I may make some adjustments on points per assignment due to a late scheduling mini teaching opportunity later in the semester.

Grading:
This section of BIOL/CHEM/PHYS 440 will use the plus and minus grading option found in MSUM’s The Bulletin 2007-2008. The rule of thumb you may use is that A’s:
100%-90%, B’s: 89%-80%, C’s: 79%-70%, D’s: 69%-60%, F’s: below 60%.
Class Attendance Policy:
Your attendance in the 30 class sessions of BIOL/CHEM/PHYS 440 will be recorded for each class period and will earn points toward your final course grade. You are allowed 2 class periods of forgiven absences. The opportunity to make up a missed class depends on what was done that day.
Special Accommodations:
Students with disabilities who believe they may need an accommodation in this class are encouraged to contact Greg Toutges, Coordinator of Disability Services at 477-2131
(voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY), CMU 114 as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE EDUCATION UNIT
MSUM Candidates are professionals who are knowledgeable, reflective, humanistic, and creative.
Knowledgeable: MSUM candidates display competence in their subject matter, built upon a strong grounding in liberal studies. MSUM candidates understand the principles of learning, assessment and technology. They understand and apply legal and ethical considerations in all aspects of their work. MSUM candidates are able to integrate theory and practice, and view learning as an active process. MSUM candidates demonstrate the ability to model connections between philosophical foundations and best practices in the field. As life-long learners, MSUM candidates engage in research and complex thinking.
They design opportunities for others to seek knowledge and to understand themselves as members of the world community.
Reflective: MSUM candidates engage in thoughtful analysis of the meaning and significance of their actions, decisions, and results with regard to their work in order to assess progress in meeting this guiding principle. It is through this reflective process that instruction is improved, new ideas are implemented, ineffective methodologies are abandoned, and learning outcomes for students are enhanced. MSUM candidates are skilled at analyzing their teaching from a variety of perspectives and identifying connections between teaching strategies and student learning. In addition, candidates utilize a variety of techniques to question their procedures and consider alternatives for instruction and student growth. MSUM candidates are able to recognize learning, motivational, and developmental variables in their instructional practice and relate those dimensions to their teaching practices. Finally, MSUM candidates bring a questioning spirit to received wisdom and conventional practice when needed.
Humanistic: MSUM candidates value the personal worth of each individual. This is based on a belief in people's potential and innate ability to develop to their fullest. MSUM candidates' actions are grounded in knowledge of different cultural and ethnic groups within the world community, and in knowledge of the influence of culture and history, ethnicity, language, gender and socio-economics on one's life. This knowledge base informs candidates' decision-making as they create environments that promote freedom, compassion, and success for all learners. MSUM candidates are fair-minded in their interactions with others, as well as sensitive to and accepting of individual differences. Further, MSUM candidates have an understanding of aesthetics and the diversity that is part of the human experience and will incorporate this knowledge into their work. MSUM candidates recognize and accommodate a variety of linguistic and nonlinguistic interpersonal skills in their actions with others. MSUM candidates foster resiliency in the students with whom they work, and model these qualities in their own work.
Creative: MSUM candidates understand the powerful resources of the arts and sciences, and use their knowledge of these areas to bring the best of their imaginative and creative acts into the classroom. MSUM candidates recognize the important role creativity plays in the design of instruction and classroom environment They will, for themselves and for their students, meet new situations with resourcefulness, excitement and curiosity, with an investigative attitude, and with the ability to pose, seek and design solutions to problems. MSUM candidates are cognizant of the aesthetic elements of the world and draw on that knowledge to make curricular decisions designed to help students not only learn about aesthetics, but to also learn how to think about the world at large.