The
Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Science Teaching UNT
Project
Director:
Dr. Jim
Roberts, Professor of Physics and Material Science and Director of the
Center for Nonlinear Science UNT
General Program Description Participants
will be recruited form high minority schools to learn science content in
an environment that engages them in hands-on activities to allow them to
develop their understanding of how scientific and technological devices
work. Participants will be taught how to design lesson plans, make
models for demonstration and to incorporate the most effective teaching
models for teaching science.
Anticipated Impact of Project During the
summer of 2006 over sixty-eight teachers participated in he program.
Their impact should be transferred to their schools and we will see the
results soon. Part of the summer sessions of 2008 will be used to
explore the impact through participant/teacher discussions. We shall
modify our plans according to what we learn, if need be. Over 50
teachers along with their students will be impacted to better understand
science and especially physics and how to better prepare students in
their teaching role.
EARTH
SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT WILL BE A MAJOR THEME OF THE PROGRAM
The need for qualified
science teachers, especially in physics, is extremely high among the
under represented populations. This program is designed to attack this
need through the use of modules and exercises that are designed to be
user friendly with “hands-on” capabilities. The materials will be
available in both English and Spanish. With the large Hispanic
population in the state of Texas, it becomes necessary to reduce the
barriers to access science as much as possible.
Assessment: (1) A Science Processing Skills
Test will be administered to determine a base of reference. The
instrument is designed to determine the degree of use of the scientific
method in solving problems and making an analysis of the results. (2) A
knowledge content test over physics topics that are milestones in
discovery will be given to determine the level of mastery of physics
topics. The instrument consists of 100 questions over physics topics
that represent important discoveries in science. Questions over time and
motion, energy sources, potential and kinetic energy, simple
electricity, atomic structure and other items that reflect some
knowledge of physics and related topics: (3) Each activity will have a
pretest that precedes the activity. A post- test will be given
thereafter. The pre test will be used to set a level of understanding of
what remediation is needed. There are ten questions on each test used to
set a level of understanding of what remediation is needed in the
specific activities. Each test is reviewed by the Project Directors to
determine the specific nature of the remediation and training needed.
These tests will serve as a reference to provide direction for future
programs in the area of science/physics.
Teachers who work in the
area schools will be recruited into the program to act as both
participants and mentor teachers for the other teachers who are new in
the program. The area teachers who have participated in the programs in
the past will be recruited in limited number to serve as mentor models.
The two Project
Directors will provide pedagogy training (Dr. Crocker) and knowledge
content in physics (Dr. Roberts). Other members of the staff will be
responsible for helping carry out the mission of the project. The
assistant teachers chosen have experience in pedagogy and knowledge
content. Dr. Crocker will supervise the pedagogy component and Dr.
Roberts will supervise the knowledge content personnel.
Several high-needs LEAs
have been identified and teachers from those agencies recruited into the
program. Specifically, teachers not teaching in the academic subjects or
grade levels that the teachers were trained to teach, or for which there
is a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or
temporary certification or licensing are being targeted.
Without the help of the
ISDs providing the teachers for the program and, in many instances
allowing teachers to be out of the classroom to attend professional
meetings, the program could not be highly successful. Space to conduct
some of the activities has been offered and in the past provided to
allow the teachers to reduce the distance of travel. These
"contributions" to the program are most helpful in implementing the
program activities and leading to its success.
The staff chosen to
implement the program is highly qualified and each has a track record
that is outstanding. We anticipate that this expertise will be
invaluable in making the program achieve its desired objectives.
Part of the training will
take place in 15 days of activities with over 90 contact hours during
summer 2008. These activities will be preceded with activities in the
fall of 2007 in Saturday class meetings of 6 hours each for 40+ hours
with mandatory attendance at fall 2007 CAST meeting. The program is
continuing into spring 2008 and will be finalized in summer 2008. At
that time a full accounting can be made of the implementation of the
total program.
Most of the teachers who
participated in the program earlier expressed a change in the way they
approach science teaching. Follow-up sessions with the group in fall
2006 indicate that a renewed interest exists in the teachers as
evidenced by better participation and sharing of new ideas generated in
their classrooms after the intervention. A web site has been set up to
share ideas across the group and with anyone else who wants to access
the site. Some teachers who previously had made no contributions have
provided modules and activities that can be included on the web sites.
The knowledge gained in
earlier phases will be used to build a better set of program activities
for future activities. New insights exist among the staff concerning the
needs of K−12 teachers and students through the experiences in the
present program.
The higher education
personnel who have participated in the program now show a better
appreciation of what the needs are to produce qualified teachers of
science in the area who can understand better vertical integration of
the sciences and to guarantee that lower and higher grade levels can
appreciate what each group is doing and what each group's needs are.
These previous “vertical integration” of the sciences seems to provide a
smoother transition for the teachers in the lower to upper grade levels.
Goals and Objectives:
• Skills will be developed in the physics
experiments
• Data gathering and analysis using a number
of experiments will be taught.
• The scientific method will be stressed in
all activities.
• Students will learn conceptual science and
physics at heightened levels.
• Skills will be developed in correlating the
TEKS with what is to be taught.
• The participant teachers will be taught the
preparation of special experiments that will motivate and inform the
students with an emphasis on the use of information located at web sites
on the Internet.
• Outcomes of significantly enhanced teacher
practices customized in Physics for high school students of distinct
pedagogical needs due to economically, culturally, ethnically, and
linguistically distinct characteristics of students.
• Teachers teaching out of field will be
encouraged to enter the program
• Earth science and its role in enhancing the
knowledge base and understanding of our environment will be promoted.
Physics
Department - University of North Texas
