A Way to Build Confidence

If you have ever taught in an elementary or middle school you are familiar with the teacher who is teaching science but really doesn’t want to. This article describes a course offered in a ... See More

If you have ever taught in an elementary or middle school you are familiar with the teacher who is teaching science but really doesn’t want to. This article describes a course offered in a California University called ‘A Process Approach to Science’. The goal of this course is to not only change attitudes about teaching science but to also change student’s abilities in science activities with the goal to build confidence. The article describes how students in this course learn to overcome their reluctance to teach science. The model they use seems to be an effective approach but only time in the classroom will tell if it is a lasting cure.

The Blender Approach to Processing Science

Many elementary preservice teachers dread having to teach science. Whether it be a lingering fear, lack of background, or a combination of attitude and aptitude ineptness, these individuals... See More

Many elementary preservice teachers dread having to teach science. Whether it be a lingering fear, lack of background, or a combination of attitude and aptitude ineptness, these individuals might benefit from a science class that will teach content while modeling appropriate best practices and pedagogical methods that students can use when they graduate to their own classrooms. The course described here is not a science methods class. Rather it is a science course for non-science majors, and the expectation is that each participant has already had separate courses in life, physical and earth science. As a result of this particular science class, preservice teachers develop science-research skills by investigating variables embedded in scientific questions. The article provides several examples of how to blend pedagogy and content. For example, in order to understand Piaget’s work with younger students and their abilities to move from concrete to abstract thinking, preservice students work with the concepts of density, buoyancy and volume as they view video clips of children modeling Piagetian thought. As a science methods instructor, I felt that the course (as described) sounded very much like a typical science methods course for elementary teachers.