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

• VerfasserIn: Spector, Barbara S.
• Place / Publishing House: Rotterdam : : SensePublishers :, Imprint: SensePublishers,, 2016.
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Edition: 1st ed. 2016.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (118 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

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. .

Table of 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. .