Bridging the Gap Between Preservice Teacher Education and Induction: NSTA Student Chapters as a Transitional Support

This is a conference paper that was presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Science Teacher Education in Sacramento, California.NSTA initiated the student chapter program in 2001 to “maintain a connection to future teachers as they enter the profession and create a conduit as the 'new' teacher workforce enters the classroom” (NSTA, 2009, p. 1). The purpose of the student chapters is to provide preservice teachers of science opportunities to access and use support resources and enhance their professional development (NSTA, 2009). The role of professional organizations in the development of preservice teachers has been largely unexplored in the science education literature. As such, we sought to understand how a NSTA student chapter supported preservice teachers' professional development and the implications for teacher education

Examining beginning biology teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and practice for teaching natural selection

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on October 30, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Patricia J. FriedrichsenIncludes bibliographical references.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."July, 2012"[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The teacher is the most important school-based factor in student learning. Thus, in order to improve student learning, we must examine how teachers learn to teach. My overarching research agenda centers upon K-16 science teacher learning and development. Within this agenda, I conduct studies focused on two strands of research: 1) How teachers learn to teach science using constructivist and inquiry-oriented teaching strategies; and 2) How teachers learn to teach biological evolution. This dissertation merges the two strands together, and consists of four related manuscripts that address how beginning biology teachers learn to teach natural selection using constructivist and inquiry-oriented teaching strategies. In the first manuscript, I reviewed the evolution education literature focused on K-12 teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and practice for teaching evolution. Based upon findings across the studies, I articulated five goals for preparing teachers to teach evolution. The second and third manuscripts are longitudinal empirical studies focused on three beginning biology teachers learning to teach natural selection using the 5E instructional model and interactive classroom simulations. The fourth manuscript is a practitioner article that explains how to teach natural selection simulations using a constructivist, analogy-based teaching strategy. Findings that cut across the four manuscripts are organized into the following themes: The participants developed some common types of knowledge for teaching natural selection, yet also developed in unique ways. All participants developed knowledge of the horizontal curriculum. Yet, participants also developed different types of knowledge. For example, participants who had taken an evolution course developed more integrated pedagogical content knowledge for teaching the core concepts of natural selection. The participant who integrated discipline-level knowledge for teaching science through inquiry with topic-level knowledge for teaching natural selection had taken an undergraduate evolution course and possessed a student-centered orientation, demonstrating the importance of both subject matter preparation and orientations for teaching science in reform-based ways. Differences I observed among the participants highlight the need for more in-depth case studies in addition to large-scale studies to understand beginning science teacher development. Beliefs about science teaching and learning shaped the participants' knowledge and practice for teaching natural selection. Participants who possessed student-centered science teaching orientations developed more integrated pedagogical content knowledge for teaching natural selection. However, one participant with a student-centered orientation possessed beliefs in which it was the students' role to discover natural selection with little intervention from the teacher. This finding supports the need to help teachers develop constructivist orientations to facilitate students' conceptual understandings of science in addition to engaging in inquiry processes. Learning to teach evolution requires a complex amalgam of knowledge, beliefs, and practice. The literature highlights the types of knowledge and beliefs that teachers must develop to be willing to teach evolution, including content knowledge, understandings of the nature of science, and knowledge of teaching controversial topics. In addition, teachers need to develop pedagogical content knowledge for teaching evolution in ways that support students' conceptual understanding of evolution. Based upon my review of the literature, secondary science majors should be required to take a course designed for teaching evolution, with the following goals: 1) Develop content knowledge of evolution; 2) Accept evolution as scientifically valid; 3) Develop understandings of the nature of science related to evolution; 4) Develop strategies for handling the public controversy; and 5) Develop pedagogical content knowledge for teaching evolution. This collection of work has implications for using the construct of pedagogical content knowledge to understand teacher learning, improving teacher preparation, and policy efforts regarding teacher quality.Includes bibliographical reference

The 5E model as a framework for facilitating multiple teacher education outcomes : a secondary science methods course in Australia

Australia is a large country geographically with a relatively small population of approximately twenty four million people. Like many countries, the health of the economy fluctuates over time, but Australia has enjoyed a mostly healthy and stable trajectory of economic output over the last forty years. There is now a strong push to develop STEM education throughout the country, not only due to the need for more students to enter into STEM professions, but also due to concerns about science and mathematics literacy (Australian Council of Learned Academies, 2013). This chapter describes preparing grade 7–10 science teachers at Western Sydney University in Australia using an approach based on the 5E learning cycle (Bybee et al., 2006). The author focuses on teacher discourse practices as his signature lesson, and has students develop their own 5E lesson plan as a summative assessment in the course

Beliefs, practical knowledge, and context : a longitudinal study of a beginning biology teacher's 5E unit

The purpose of this three-year case study was to understand how a beginning biology teacher (Alice) designed and taught a 5E unit on natural selection, how the unit changed when she took a position in a different school district, and why the changes occurred. We examined Alice’s developing beliefs about science teaching and learning, practical knowledge, and perceptions of school context in relation to the 5E unit. Data sources consisted of interviews, classroom observations, and lesson materials. We found that Alice placed more emphasis on the explore phase, less emphasis on the engage and explain phases, and removed the elaborate phase over time. Alice’s beliefs about science teaching and learning acted as a filter for making sense of practical knowledge and perceptions of context. Although her beliefs were student centered, they aligned with discovery learning in which little intervention from the teacher is required. We discuss how her beliefs, practical knowledge, and perceptions of context explained the changes in her practice. This study sheds insight into the nature of beliefs and how they relate to the 5E lesson phases, as well as the different lenses for viewing the 5E instructional model. Implications for science teacher preparation and induction programs are discussed

Using multiple lenses to examine the development of beginning biology teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for teaching natural selection simulations

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become a useful construct to examine science teacher learning. Yet, researchers conceptualize PCK development in different ways. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to use three analytic lenses to understand the development of three beginning biology teachers’ PCK for teaching natural selection simulations. We observed three early-career biology teachers as they taught natural selection in their respective school contexts over two consecutive years. Data consisted of six interviews with each participant. Using the PCK model developed by Magnusson et al. (1999), we examined topic-specific PCK development utilizing three different lenses: (1) expansion of knowledge within an individual knowledge base, (2) integration of knowledge across knowledge bases, and (3) knowledge that explicitly addressed core concepts of natural selection. We found commonalities across the participants, yet each lens was also useful to understand the influence of different factors (e.g., orientation, subject matter preparation, and the idiosyncratic nature of teacher knowledge) on PCK development. This multi-angle approach provides implications for considering the quality of beginning science teachers’ knowledge and future research on PCK development. We conclude with an argument that explicitly communicating lenses used to understand PCK development will help the research community compare analytic approaches and better understand the nature of science teacher learning

Using the FAR guide to teach simulations : an example with natural selection

Engaging students in a predator-prey simulation to teach natural selection is a common activity in secondary biology classrooms. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the authors have changed their approach to teaching this activity from a laboratory investigation to a class-constructed simulation. Specifically, the authors drew upon a research-based teaching tool (FAR guide) to help students understand how the simulation is analogous to what happens in nature. Teaching the activity in this way can help students connect the parts of the simulation to four basic components of natural selection

Examining the evolution education literature with a focus on teachers : major findings, goals for teacher preparation, and directions for future research

The theory of evolution is the fundamental backbone to the discipline of biology, yet many students possess misunderstandings. The teacher is the most important school-based factor in student learning, and therefore to improve students’ understandings of evolution, we must better prepare teachers. The purpose of this paper is three-fold. First, we reviewed empirical research studies focused on K-12 teachers regarding evolution education from 1993 to 2011 with the purpose of identifying major themes of research and corresponding findings. Second, we used our understandings of current findings to inform the development and articulation of five goals for teacher preparation. Third, we discuss implications of this work for teacher preparation initiatives and directions of future research. We found that current evolution education research specific to K-12 teachers falls within four major themes, which collectively inform the development of five goals for preparing teachers to teach evolution. We argue that teachers should: (1) develop content knowledge of evolution; (2) develop understandings of the nature of science related to evolution; (3) develop acceptance of evolution as valid within science; (4) develop knowledge of and strategies for handling the public controversy; and (5) develop pedagogical content knowledge for teaching evolution. Based on our review, evolution courses and professional development initiatives for K-12 teachers should integrate the five goals, with more attention to teaching evolution in the classroom. Investigating the nature of teachers’ acceptance of evolution and pedagogical content knowledge for teaching evolution are areas of research in need of continued pursuit

Setting the landscape : focusing on the methods course in secondary science teacher education

A multitude of countries are interested in improving K-12 science education for the purposes of producing a scientifically literate citizenry and increasing student interest in science-oriented careers. To improve science learning in schools, we must also develop high quality science teacher preparation programs. Although there are numerous outlets for K-12 science teachers to provide insights into their practice (e.g. science education practitioner journals), there are few such outlets for science teacher educators. The purpose of the book is to synthesise detailed descriptions of secondary science methods courses from science teacher educators in different countries across the various continents of the world. We define a ‘secondary science methods course’ as specific university class designed to prepare pre-service or inservice teachers to teach science in secondary school contexts (ranging between grade 5 and grade 12, depending on the context). The chapters are written by different science teacher educators who teach in a particular country and have purposeful approaches to teaching their course. Individual chapters will describe how the science methods course is situated in the larger teacher preparation program and/or state/national context, followed with details on signature course activities and assessment designs, and how they align with research-supported practices in teacher education. This compilation will provide concrete examples of how science teacher preparation is viewed both similarly and differently across contexts, and allow teacher educators an opportunity to learn from one another about course design. In the final chapter written by the editors, an analysis of the different courses concludes with an articulation of research questions that need to be pursued for improving science teacher preparation from a global perspective

Designing and Teaching the Secondary Science Methods Course: An International Perspective

The improvement of science education is a common goal worldwide. Countries not only seek to increase the number of individuals pursuing careers in science, but to improve scientific literacy among the general population. As the teacher is one of the greatest influences on student learning, a focus on the preparation of science teachers is essential in achieving these outcomes. A critical component of science teacher education is the methods course, where pedagogy and content coalesce. It is here that future science teachers begin to focus simultaneously on the knowledge, dispositions and skills for teaching secondary science in meaningful and effective ways. This book provides a comparison of secondary science methods courses from teacher education programs all over the world. Each chapter provides detailed descriptions of the national context, course design, teaching strategies, and assessments used within a particular science methods course, and is written by teacher educators who actively research science teacher education. The final chapter provides a synthesis of common themes and unique features across contexts, and offers directions for future research on science methods courses. This book offers a unique combination of ‘behind the scenes’ thinking for secondary science methods course designs along with practical teaching and assessment strategies, and will be a useful resource for teacher educators in a variety of international contexts

A new chapter : how NSTA student chapters can support preservice teachers and prepare them for the challenges ahead

The article offers information on the new University of Missouri student chapter of the National Science Teachers Association (MUNSTA) which was initiated in 2003 to help preservice science teachers at universities and colleges gain access to professional development opportunities in the U.S. The MU-NSTA has grown to 50 active members. The majority of chapter members are elementary education majors. The chapter engages in many activities like monthly meetings, projects etc