Constructing Meaning in a Science Methods Course for Prospective Elementary Teachers : A Case Study / by Barbara S. Spector.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spector, Barbara S., Author.

Series:

Education Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education.

Local Subjects:

Education.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (118 p.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2016.

Place of Publication:

Rotterdam : SensePublishers : Imprint: SensePublishers, 2016.

Summary:

How do prospective elementary science teachers think? This case study • reveals thinking patterns common to preservice elementary teachers; • identifies their behavioral characteristics while learning to teach science which are not commonly noted in current literature; • provides change strategies to accelerate preservice elementary teachers embracing the holistic, constructivist, inquiry/practice-based paradigm consistent with the standards set by the curriculum. The chapters in this book immerse the reader in a sequence of episodes in this science methods course, and reveal the adventure of turning theory into practice while analyzing student-student/student-instructor interactions and their outcomes in an inquiry-driven, flipped classroom. Strategies presented empower preservice elementary teachers to • implement national and state standards; • change science learning/teaching from “business as usual” to applying science and engineering practices in the classroom; • make cognitive and behavioral changes required to shift paradigms and eliminate science anxiety; • pass through stages of grief inherent in the loss of dominant mechanistic paradigm. This book will interest a wide readership including science educators; scientists and engineers; administrators, supervisors, and elementary teachers in a clinical education setting; preservice elementary teachers; and anyone seeking to improve STEM education in elementary schools. .

Contents:

Preface

Prologue

National Context

Theoretical Framework

Change Principles

Resistance to Change

Method

About the Course

Course Premise

Flipped Classroom

Course Scaffolding

Formats for Sharing Products

Assignments as Learning Opportunities

Use of Community

Variants in Context from Earlier Courses

Findings about Course Participants

Experiential Learners

Student-Student Interactions and Relationships as a Cohort

Receptivity to Change

Student-Instructor Interaction: Cause and Effect Deficit

Following Directions

Living Student-Centered Schooling

Students’ Grade Obsession: A Key

Responses to an A Grade at Mid-Semester

Interventions

Attenuating the Grade Obsession: Deconditioning

Self-Assessment/Self-Evaluation

Delayed Grading

Structure of the Mid-Semester “Test” Episode as a Learning Opportunity

Critical Event Episode

Accelerating Passage through Stages of Grief

Responses to Instructor’s Reflections

Applying Constructed Knowledge: Outcomes after Mid-Semester

Presentations

Site Visit Exploration Episode

Recognize Science Could Be Found Anywhere

Interactions Created a Productive Community

Recognizing Benefits of Open Discussion

Testing Inquiry in Elementary Schools

Final Unit Plans

Tying It All Together

Advice to Future Preservice Teachers

Change Principles in Action

Conclusion

Future Studies

Epilogue

Appendix A: Next Generation Science Standards

Appendix B: Common Core Standards from the National Governors Association & Council of Chief State School Officers (2009)

Appendix C: The Clash of the Culture of Science and the Culture of Traditional Preservice Students

Appendix D: More Emphases – Less Emphases NSES Charts

Appendix E: More Advice to Future Students and Other Student Perspectives

References

About the Author. .

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9789463004114

9463004114

OCLC:

938891014