Transcript Document

TPC 0554594
Reformed Undergraduate Science Courses: A
Nationwide Research Project Investigating the
Impact on pK-6 Teachers
Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE)
International Conference
January 14-17, 2010
Sacramento, California
TPC 0554594
National Study of Education in
Undergraduate Science*
(NSEUS)
Cheryl L. Mason
San Diego State University
Dennis W. Sunal
Cynthia S. Sunal
University of Alabama
Dean Zollman
Kansas State University
*Based on the NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics (NOVA)
Professional Development Program
NSEUS Research Assistants
TPC 0554594
Corinne H. Lardy
San Diego State University
Donna Turner
Erika Steele
Cheryl Sundberg
University of Alabama
Sytil Murphy
Mojgan Matloob-Haghanikar
Kansas State University
This paper was developed under the National Science Foundation Grant TPC 0554594.
The content does not necessarily represent the policy of NSF and
should not be assumed as an endorsement by the Federal Government.
Project Goals

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
Characterize levels of reform in NOVA
versus nonNOVA undergraduate science
curriculum and teaching (courses & faculty)
Investigate the impact of reformed entry
level courses on undergraduate students
Determine short- and long-term impacts of
undergraduate science courses on
elementary teachers
Reformed Course Characteristics

Reflects national science standards

Emphasizes student-centered activities

Utilizes inquiry-based pedagogy

Builds on undergraduate students’ prior
knowledge

Incorporates interdisciplinary learning and
collaborative approaches
The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher
demonstrates. The great
teacher inspires.
William Arthur Ward
Research Study Population
States with study
Institutions
States with
Institutions attending
workshops but no
courses were
developed
No institution
attended workshop or
developed reform
course
NSEUS Timeline
Year 1
Characterize
national study
population of
reformed
science
courses
Plan data
collection
instruments
and protocols
o
Select pilot
study
institutions
o
Develop the
NSEUS website
o
Year 2
Conduct pilot
studies with 3
institutions
o
Conduct final
training in
research
protocols
o
Year 3
Collect data
from
university
science and
elementary
classrooms
o
Perform data
analyses
o
Year 4
Continue to
collect data
from the
selected sites
o
Continue to
perform data
analyses
o
Select 30 main
study
institutions
o
Begin to
collect data
from the
national
sample of 30
institutions
o
Give
presentations
o
Submit
papers for
publication
o
Continue to
present and
submit papers
for publication
o
Year 5
Complete data
collection and
analyses from 30
institutions
o
Disseminate the
results and
conclusions on
undergraduate
science course
reform
o
Conduct a
national
conference on
undergraduate
science course
reform
o
Research
Comparison of Entry-level Reformed and
Traditional Undergraduate Science Courses

Essential characteristics for meaningful learning

Effects of varying levels of reform characteristics

Cognitive and affective learning outcomes

Long-term impacts on pK-6 teachers
Data Collection Instruments

QUANTITATIVE
MEASURES
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•
•
•
•
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CLES
TSSI
DAST
STEBI-A
STEBI-B
CBATS

QUALITATIVE
MEASURES
•
•
•
•
•
RTOP
CoRe
PaP-eR
Interviews
Science Content
Achievement
(SCA)
Administration of Instruments
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Pre-site Visit:
Undergraduate Students:
DAST and On-line
Demographic survey, CLES &
TSSI
On-site Visit:
Undergraduate Faculty & pK6 Teachers: RTOPs, Interviews,
CoRe, PaP-eR
Undergraduate Students:
Focus Group Interviews
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Post-site Visit:
Undergraduate Students:
DAST, On-line CLES&TSSI, and
SCA
pK-6 Teachers:
On-line STEBI-B, CLES, & TSSI
On-site Visits

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On-site visits to university and elementary classes add
richness to the data concerning reform efforts in
undergraduate science.
Triangulation of results from interviews and
observations provide further elaboration of the
quantitative data.
On-site visits are helpful in gaining insights into the
methodologies and rationale for how and why
science is taught the way it is at various levels.
Results
(Undergraduate Science Courses)
 Differences
were found between
reform and traditional course
instructors in coursework observed.
 Reform instructors exhibit deeper
understanding of how students
typically think about science and
modify teaching to match students’
learning needs.
 Reform instructors exhibit greater
proficiency in knowledge about
science teaching.
Impact of Reformed Undergraduate
Science Courses (Faculty)

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“The class seems to help change students’
views of science. They don’t hate science
anymore and they’re not afraid of it.”
“If you just show them a drawing in the
textbook or on the board it is not enough.
They have to do it themselves in order to
reinforce the material that is being
taught.”
Impact of Reformed Undergraduate
Science Courses
(Undergraduate Students)
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“Before this class I was nervous and afraid of
science, but now I have more fun learning and
thinking about how to teach it.”
“I failed chemistry in high school so I was nervous.
But [this instructor] makes me feel very
comfortable. She’s very approachable and she
seems like she wants to help us learn. If I want to
succeed, I can succeed. She’ll give us the tools.”
Results
(Elementary Science Teachers)
Compared to elementary teachers experiencing only
traditional science courses, reform teachers:
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possess a greater depth of science content
knowledge on the concepts taught;
exhibit a more expansive knowledge of how students
think about science, and modify teaching to match
students’ learning needs; and
demonstrate a greater knowledge of science
pedagogy.
Impact of Reformed Undergraduate Science
Courses
(NOVA Elementary Teacher #1)
“You can’t just sit there and lecture as a [science]
teacher. The [reform course] really showed me that the
most because all of my other [science] courses were
really lecture-based. If you don’t get it that way, then in
a lecture class you won’t learn the material. I can learn.
. .and really get it when I dig into it and I think that most
people are that way. The [reform course] was great
because it had a good mix of lecture and activity, so
you got the information in multiple ways and see what
those concepts actually look like.”
Impact of Reformed Undergraduate Science
Courses
(NOVA Elementary Teacher #2)
“The [reform course] especially added to my
understanding and made me think about
why and how do these concepts work.
That’s when my whole thought process
about science really changed because until
you really question the concepts and think
about it on your own (not just memorize) it’s
not meaningful. You look at the content
differently when you have to teach it to
others. You have to know it yourself to be
able to explain it to someone else.”
Impact of Reformed Undergraduate Science
Courses
(nonNOVA Elementary Teacher)
“[At the undergraduate level] I just took
science courses and did what I had to
do. I had no idea how to relate what I
was learning to how I could teach it to
others. I now wish that I had more ideas
about how to teach science, but I am
getting there.”
Conclusions
 Successful
reform ideas are adopted
by other faculty.
 Collaborative
teams sustain course
reform over time.
 Reform
science courses have
significantly higher positive classroom
learning environments.
Conclusions
(cont.)
 Reform
course faculty teach more inquiryoriented science.
 The
way undergraduate students perceive
former science experiences differs among
individuals but not classes.
 Undergraduate
students’ ideas about the
nature and process of science are more
informed and positive in reformed classes.
Conclusions
(cont.)
 Graduates
of reform courses teach
more inquiry science in elementary
schools.
 Science
PCK is more expansive in
teachers who had taken reform
coursework.
 NOVA
and nonNOVA teachers
emphasize the impact of effective
professional development.
Overall Comments
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Reform efforts are sustainable with dedicated
faculty & administrative support.
Professional development activities that reflect
reform profoundly affect the teaching of
elementary & IHE science.
Undergraduate science experiences affect how
students view science on both affective and
cognitive levels.
National Study of Education in
Undergraduate Science (NSEUS)
TPC 0554594
We would like to acknowledge the
wonderful cooperation and professionalism
of the elementary teachers and
adminstrators, and the university faculty and
adminstrators who have contributed
immensely to the success of this project.
Please visit our website http://nseus.org
Additional Information
The following slides serve as a
supplement to the presentation .
Research Questions

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How do the levels of reform science course characteristics learning environments, course structure, pedagogical content
knowledge, and collaboration - differ between reform courses
(treatment only) and how do these differences relate to the
learning outcomes of undergraduate students? (CLES, TSSI,
DAST, STEBI-B, RTOP, CoRe, PaP-eR, Faculty and Undergraduate
Student Interviews, SCA)
How do the science course characteristics of reform and
traditional courses compare in the long-term based on
graduated in-service K-6 teachers in their own science
classrooms? (CLES, DAST, STEBI-A, CBATS, RTOP, Elementary
Teacher Interviews, CoRe, PaP-eR)
Draw A Scientist Test
(DAST)
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Intended to provide students with opportunity to:
• Picture perception of scientists
• Relate the scientist to their personal environment – lab, etc
• Consider the ways in which they view scientists relate to their
own science beliefs about the nature of science
Includes an illustration plus a short personal narrative (Contributes
additional information and confirms evaluator’s interpretation of
drawings- Since interviews with each student are impractical)
Evaluator follows a checklist to interpret drawing. Evaluator gives
one point for each item present. The higher the score, the more
stereotypical the image is.
Constructivist Learning
Environment Survey
(CLES)
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Survey is designed to monitor the development of constructivist
approaches in the classroom, as perceived from the teachers’ and
undergraduate students’ points of view.
5 key dimensions of a “critical constructivist” learning environment are
ascertained:
•
Personal relevance
•
Uncertainty of Science
•
Critical Voice
•
Shared Control
•
Student Negotiation
Six items are given for each of the 5 dimensions with possible responses of
Almost Always, Often, Sometimes, Seldom, and Almost Never.
The Thinking about Science
Survey Instrument (TSSI)
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Developed to assess preservice and inservice elementary
teachers’ attitudes toward science using a Likert scale.
[How well do students’ thoughts about science align with
“a commonly presented image of science in the public
square?” (Cobern & Loving, 2002, p. 1025)]
Examines individual’s attitudes about “the public place of
science with respect to society and culture” (Cobern &
Loving, 2002, p. 1020).
Science Teaching Efficacy
(STEBI-A)

Survey is used to measure two components of
teacher efficacy beliefs(Riggs & Enochs, 1990).
Teacher’s self-efficacy (level of confidence in
her/his own teaching abilities)
• Teacher’s outcome expectancy (belief that
student learning can be influenced by effective
teaching)
Teachers respond to each item on this 5-point
Likert scale of Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree.
•

Science Teaching Efficacy
(STEBI-B)
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Survey is designed to measure the selfefficacy of pre-service elementary
science teachers.
Modified version of STEBI-A
Administered to education major
undergraduate students (post-test only)
Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol
(RTOP)
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Developed by Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in
the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT).
Protocol is designed to measure quantitative
characterization of the degree to which a science
classroom is “reformed” based on the national
standards for science education.
Observers have a list of characteristics that they rate 04 (never occurred to being very descriptive).

RTOP is found to have a high inter-rater reliability.
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For NSEUS, all observations take place during site visits .
Interviews
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Faculty interviews focus on their experiences related
to developing and teaching the science course.
In-service elementary school teacher interviews
focus on the purpose and rationale for teaching the
observed lesson and how it relates to other lessons
recently taught in science.
Student focus group interviews of 5-6 students
ascertain students’ opinions about the science
course, science, and science education.
All interviews take place during site visits conducted
during the middle of the semester.
Content Representation & Professional
and Pedagogical Experience Repertoire
(CoRe & PaP-eR)
CoPA (CoRe & PaP-eR) is used to capture
and portray pedagogical content
knowledge (PCK)
•
PCK - knowledge related to ways to best
formulate and present specific concepts of a
subject so that they are comprehensible to
others (in particular, students)
Context Beliefs About Teaching Science
(CBATS)
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Survey instrument is designed to assess teachers’ beliefs
about the potential influence of specific environmental
factors on their science teaching behaviors (Lumpe,
Haney, & Czerniak, 2000).
For each of 26 environmental factors, teachers are
asked to rate:
•
•
How much they agree that the factor would enable
them to be an effective teacher of science from
Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree
How likely it is that the factor will occur in their school
from Very Likely to Very Unlikely
Science Content Assessment
(SCA)
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Content achievement measure for undergraduate
university science course students
Science content assessed as a post-test only
Criterion-based rubric measures are used to
compare scores across courses and disciplines
Content questions are devised to explore students’
reasoning while they are using the scientific
knowledge gained in the courses.
SCA
(cont.)
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Questions are open-ended with a distinguishing
feature of applying the recently-learned concepts in
a new context.
Questions require that the students recognize
relevant facts and concepts and their
interrelationships which should be generalized to their
knowledge of theories and principles.
Students should rethink their conceptual schema,
and find associations among relevant concepts by
inductive and deductive reasoning.