Science Teachers' Learning

Science Teachers' Learning PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309380189
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about how best to teach science represents a significant transition in the way science is currently taught in most classrooms and it will require most science teachers to change how they teach. That change will require learning opportunities for teachers that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom. Providing these kinds of learning opportunities in turn will require profound changes to current approaches to supporting teachers' learning across their careers, from their initial training to continuing professional development. A teacher's capability to improve students' scientific understanding is heavily influenced by the school and district in which they work, the community in which the school is located, and the larger professional communities to which they belong. Science Teachers' Learning provides guidance for schools and districts on how best to support teachers' learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development. This report makes actionable recommendations for science teachers' learning that take a broad view of what is known about science education, how and when teachers learn, and education policies that directly and indirectly shape what teachers are able to learn and teach. The challenge of developing the expertise teachers need to implement the NGSS presents an opportunity to rethink professional learning for science teachers. Science Teachers' Learning will be a valuable resource for classrooms, departments, schools, districts, and professional organizations as they move to new ways to teach science.

Science Teachers' Learning

Science Teachers' Learning PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309380189
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about how best to teach science represents a significant transition in the way science is currently taught in most classrooms and it will require most science teachers to change how they teach. That change will require learning opportunities for teachers that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom. Providing these kinds of learning opportunities in turn will require profound changes to current approaches to supporting teachers' learning across their careers, from their initial training to continuing professional development. A teacher's capability to improve students' scientific understanding is heavily influenced by the school and district in which they work, the community in which the school is located, and the larger professional communities to which they belong. Science Teachers' Learning provides guidance for schools and districts on how best to support teachers' learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development. This report makes actionable recommendations for science teachers' learning that take a broad view of what is known about science education, how and when teachers learn, and education policies that directly and indirectly shape what teachers are able to learn and teach. The challenge of developing the expertise teachers need to implement the NGSS presents an opportunity to rethink professional learning for science teachers. Science Teachers' Learning will be a valuable resource for classrooms, departments, schools, districts, and professional organizations as they move to new ways to teach science.

Elementary Science Teacher Education

Elementary Science Teacher Education PDF Author: Ken Appleton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135464170
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
Co-Published with the Association For Science Teacher Education. Reflecting recent policy and standards initiatives, emerging research agendas, and key innovations, this volume provides a contemporary overview of important developments and issues that have that have in recent years shaped elementary science education pre-service courses and professional development, and practices that are shaping future directions in the field. Contributors from several countries who are actively engaged in research and design in elementary science education address: *Conceptual issues which impinge on contemporary science teacher education; *Intersections of content, pedagogy, and practice; and *Professional development as a contextualized practice. Elementary Science Teacher Education: International Perspectives on Contemporary Issues and Practice offers a clear picture of the current state of the field and directions for the future--to the benefit of elementary science teacher educators, aspiring teacher educators, school policy makers, other professionals involved in science education and, ultimately, the millions of elementary school children who will gain from improved practice.

Taking Science to School

Taking Science to School PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309133831
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
What is science for a child? How do children learn about science and how to do science? Drawing on a vast array of work from neuroscience to classroom observation, Taking Science to School provides a comprehensive picture of what we know about teaching and learning science from kindergarten through eighth grade. By looking at a broad range of questions, this book provides a basic foundation for guiding science teaching and supporting students in their learning. Taking Science to School answers such questions as: When do children begin to learn about science? Are there critical stages in a child's development of such scientific concepts as mass or animate objects? What role does nonschool learning play in children's knowledge of science? How can science education capitalize on children's natural curiosity? What are the best tasks for books, lectures, and hands-on learning? How can teachers be taught to teach science? The book also provides a detailed examination of how we know what we know about children's learning of scienceâ€"about the role of research and evidence. This book will be an essential resource for everyone involved in K-8 science educationâ€"teachers, principals, boards of education, teacher education providers and accreditors, education researchers, federal education agencies, and state and federal policy makers. It will also be a useful guide for parents and others interested in how children learn.

A Guide to Teaching Elementary Science

A Guide to Teaching Elementary Science PDF Author: Yvette F. Greenspan
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9463003673
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Nationally and internationally, educators now understand the critical importance of STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Today, the job of the classroom science teacher demands finding effective ways to meet current curricula standards and prepare students for a future in which a working knowledge of science and technology will dominate. But standards and goals don’t mean a thing unless we: • grab students’ attention; • capture and deepen children’s natural curiosity; • create an exciting learning environment that engages the learner; and • make science come alive inside and outside the classroom setting. A Guide to Teaching Elementary Science: Ten Easy Steps gives teachers, at all stages of classroom experience, exactly what the title implies. Written by lifelong educator Yvette Greenspan, this book is designed for busy classroom teachers who face tough conditions, from overcrowded classrooms to shrinking budgets, and too often end up anxious and overwhelmed by the challenges ahead and their desire for an excellent science program. This book: • helps teachers develop curricula compatible with the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core Standards; • provides easy-to-implement steps for setting up a science classroom, plus strategies for using all available resources to assemble needed teaching materials; • offers detailed sample lesson plans in each STEM subject, adaptable to age and ability and designed to embrace the needs of all learners; and • presents bonus information about organizing field trips and managing science fairs. Without question, effective science curricula can help students develop critical thinking skills and a lifelong passion for science. Yvette Greenspan received her doctorate degree in science education and has developed science curriculum at all levels. A career spent in teaching elementary students in an urban community, she now instructs college students, sharing her love for the teaching and learning of science. She considers it essential to encourage today’s students to be active learners and to concentrate on STEM topics that will help prepare them for the real world.

Preparing Teachers

Preparing Teachers PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309128056
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
Teachers make a difference. The success of any plan for improving educational outcomes depends on the teachers who carry it out and thus on the abilities of those attracted to the field and their preparation. Yet there are many questions about how teachers are being prepared and how they ought to be prepared. Yet, teacher preparation is often treated as an afterthought in discussions of improving the public education system. Preparing Teachers addresses the issue of teacher preparation with specific attention to reading, mathematics, and science. The book evaluates the characteristics of the candidates who enter teacher preparation programs, the sorts of instruction and experiences teacher candidates receive in preparation programs, and the extent that the required instruction and experiences are consistent with converging scientific evidence. Preparing Teachers also identifies a need for a data collection model to provide valid and reliable information about the content knowledge, pedagogical competence, and effectiveness of graduates from the various kinds of teacher preparation programs. Federal and state policy makers need reliable, outcomes-based information to make sound decisions, and teacher educators need to know how best to contribute to the development of effective teachers. Clearer understanding of the content and character of effective teacher preparation is critical to improving it and to ensuring that the same critiques and questions are not being repeated 10 years from now.

Hard-to-Teach Science Concepts

Hard-to-Teach Science Concepts PDF Author: Susan Koba
Publisher: NSTA Press
ISBN: 1936137453
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Authors Susan Koba and Carol Mitchell introduce teachers of grades 3- 5 to their conceptual framework for successful instruction of hard-to-teach science concepts. Their methodology comprises four steps: (1) engage students about their preconceptions and address their thinking; (2) target lessons to be learned; (3) determine appropriate strategies; and (4) use Standards-based teaching that builds on student understandings. The authors not only explain how to use their framework but also provide a variety of tools and examples of its application on four hard-to-teach foundational concepts: the flow of energy and matter in ecosystems, force and motion, matter and its transformation, and Earth's shape. Both preservice and inservice elementary school teachers will find this approach appealing, and the authors' engaging writing style and user-friendly tables help educators adapt the method with ease.

Team Teaching Science

Team Teaching Science PDF Author: Ed Linz
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781681402116
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In Team Teaching Science, Ed Linz, Mary Jane Heater, and Lori A. Howard demonstrate the truth in the old adage " Two heads are better than one." This guide for developing successful team-teaching partnerships that maximize student learning will help preservice and inservice special education and science teachers in grades K- 12, as well as methods professors in science education programs who want to cover special needs issues in their curriculum. Using both research-based practices and personal insight from experienced team teachers, the authors strive to make team teaching beneficial for students and accessible for teachers. Linz, Heater, and Howard provide background information on science teaching and team teaching and, most important, six chapters on how to teach specific science topics and how a co-teaching team can proceed through the school year.The basic elements of collaboration are introduced, along with chapters on co-teaching strategies to implement in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The authors, who have years of co-teaching experience, offer practical advice that teachers can apply to their own classrooms. Teaching a diverse group of students is one challenge teachers will likely encounter in a team-teaching environment; the authors address the difficulties that may arise, as well as issues related to assessment, curriculum, and necessary accommodations and modifications. For those tackling the challenges of team teaching, this book will prove to be a valuable resource for making team teaching a positive experience for both students and teachers.

Handbook of Research on Science Teacher Education

Handbook of Research on Science Teacher Education PDF Author: Julie A. Luft
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000568016
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 663

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Book Description
This groundbreaking handbook offers a contemporary and thorough review of research relating directly to the preparation, induction, and career long professional learning of K–12 science teachers. Through critical and concise chapters, this volume provides essential insights into science teacher education that range from their learning as individuals to the programs that cultivate their knowledge and practices. Each chapter is a current review of research that depicts the area, and then points to empirically based conclusions or suggestions for science teacher educators or educational researchers. Issues associated with equity are embedded within each chapter. Drawing on the work of over one hundred contributors from across the globe, this handbook has 35 chapters that cover established, emergent, diverse, and pioneering areas of research, including: Research methods and methodologies in science teacher education, including discussions of the purpose of science teacher education research and equitable perspectives; Formal and informal teacher education programs that span from early childhood educators to the complexity of preparation, to the role of informal settings such as museums; Continuous professional learning of science teachers that supports building cultural responsiveness and teacher leadership; Core topics in science teacher education that focus on teacher knowledge, educative curricula, and working with all students; and Emerging areas in science teacher education such as STEM education, global education, and identity development. This comprehensive, in-depth text will be central to the work of science teacher educators, researchers in the field of science education, and all those who work closely with science teachers.

Ambitious Science Teaching

Ambitious Science Teaching PDF Author: Mark Windschitl
Publisher: Harvard Education Press
ISBN: 1682531643
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 483

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Book Description
2018 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Ambitious Science Teaching outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds. The practices presented in the book are being used in schools and districts that seek to improve science teaching at scale, and a wide range of science subjects and grade levels are represented. The book is organized around four sets of core teaching practices: planning for engagement with big ideas; eliciting student thinking; supporting changes in students’ thinking; and drawing together evidence-based explanations. Discussion of each practice includes tools and routines that teachers can use to support students’ participation, transcripts of actual student-teacher dialogue and descriptions of teachers’ thinking as it unfolds, and examples of student work. The book also provides explicit guidance for “opportunity to learn” strategies that can help scaffold the participation of diverse students. Since the success of these practices depends so heavily on discourse among students, Ambitious Science Teaching includes chapters on productive classroom talk. Science-specific skills such as modeling and scientific argument are also covered. Drawing on the emerging research on core teaching practices and their extensive work with preservice and in-service teachers, Ambitious Science Teaching presents a coherent and aligned set of resources for educators striving to meet the considerable challenges that have been set for them.

Science Matters

Science Matters PDF Author: Robert M. Hazen
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307456641
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
A science book for the general reader that is informative enough to be a popular textbook and yet well-written enough to appeal to general readers. “Hazen and Trefil [are] unpretentious—good, down-to-earth, we-can-explain-anything science teachers, the kind you wish you had but never did.”—The New York Times Book Review Knowledge of the basic ideas and principles of science is fundamental to cultural literacy. But most books on science are often too obscure or too specialized to do the general reader much good. Science Matters is a rare exception—a science book that is informative enough for introductory courses in high school and college, and yet lucid enough for readers uncomfortable with scientific jargon and complicated mathematics. And now, revised and expanded, it is up-to-date, so that readers can enjoy Hazen and Trefil's refreshingly accessible explanations of the most recent developments in science, from particle physics to biotechnology.