EDUCATION
COMPONENT
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SEQUENCE
OF EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES
FOR PARTICIPATING GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
·
Participating graduate and undergraduate students
have little experience with standards-based, inquiry instruction in K–12
classrooms as specified in the:
·
National Science Education Standards (1996) for
content, teaching, professional development, and assessment;
·
Hawaii Content and Performance Standards (1999) for
grade appropriate content;
·
Hawaii Strategic Plan for Standards-based Reform.
·
A series of immersion experiences will prepare
participating graduate and undergraduate students with the knowledge and skills
necessary to support ongoing efforts in improving science education by the
Hawaii Department of Education.
·
Participation of the graduate and undergraduate
fellows in K–12 education will add value to the current improvement efforts in
science education.
·
Graduate and undergraduate fellows will devote 15
hours per week to projects in K–12 education.
·
A science and an education mentor will be assigned to
work with and advise the graduate and undergraduate fellows.
Though
the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) staff members are
involved in and responsible for achieving all five objectives of the project,
they are specifically responsible for Objective 2—train selected graduate and
undergraduate fellows in current science education reform efforts including
national and state standards for science education, multiple ways of learning,
multidimensional assessment, teaching through inquiry, etc. to help bridge the
gap between science and science education.
The
CRDG provides staff who serve as advisors/mentors to the graduate and
undergraduate fellows as they carry out their activities in the schools.
The
CRDG provides technical support to the project as graduate and undergraduate
students carry out their activities in schools.
The
CRDG staff are responsible for designing and conducting the evaluation of the
impact of project activities on learners at all levels.
There
are three components designed to ensure the success of the graduate and
undergraduate fellows work in K–12 education. Each of the components focuses
on the themes specified in the proposal: learning processes, knowledge
transfer/curriculum development, and uses of technology. The three proposed
components are:
·
Courses/Seminars
·
In-school classroom observations at University
Laboratory School and other selected schools
·
Science and Education Advisors/Mentors
I. Seminar Series
**VIEW the Spring 2000 seminar schedule**
**VIEW the Fall 2000 seminar schedule**
**VIEW the Spring 2001 seminar schedule**
CRDG
staff provides a series of courses/seminars that introduce the participating
graduate and undergraduate fellows to current reform efforts in science
education.
Part
1:
The initial set of experiences is designed to immerse participants in
experiential learning focused on inquiry teaching and learning. This portion
uses inquiry sequences from the Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching
(FAST) program to demonstrate different kinds of inquiry teaching and learning
strategies. Investigations are drawn from the physical science and ecology
strands of FAST. These experiences are used to introduce fellows to the National
Science Education Standards for content, teaching, professional development, and
assessment. The interpretation and adaptation of the national standards in the
Hawaii context are exemplified in the Department of Education’s Content and
Performance Standards (1999) and the Strategic Plan for Standards-based Reform.
Since all teachers in Hawaii are to be held accountable for implementing the
content and strategies specified in these documents, it is imperative that the
activities to be carried out by the fellows in K–12 education in this project
be supportive of the Department’s current and future efforts. Estimated time
for this component is 3–5 days.
Part 2: The second component is intended to build on the first part through reflection and discussion of the following topics. Selection of topics is determined by the fellows in consultation with their project advisors. Seminars are supported by project experiences and background readings. Seminars are scheduled twice monthly for the duration of the project.
·
National
and state standards for science education
·
Inquiry/constructivist teaching and learning;
effective questioning strategies
·
Teaching
as facilitating vs disseminating knowledge
·
Developing thinking skills and habits of mind
·
Dealing with preconceptions/misconceptions
·
Learning
styles and their implications for learning, teaching, and assessment
·
Cooperative learning strategies
·
Theory of multiple intelligences
·
Effective use of technology in teaching and learning
·
Assessment integrated with instruction;
multidimensional assessment
·
Concept maps (constructing, for instruction, for
assessment)
·
Classroom management
·
Designing science lessons for diverse learners
including those with special needs
·
Strategies for including all students in science
education
·
Working with students in project research
·
Working with adult learners
·
Other
topics as identified
Part
3:
Conducting safe and effective classroom/field activities. We anticipate
that fellows will choose to involve students in field trips related to their
research and/or engage students as co-researchers in collecting, analyzing, and
making sense of data. It is imperative that the fellows understand and practice
safety in all aspects of work with students. This course includes policies,
regulations, procedures, and logistics of engaging students in laboratory/field
trips/work. It also includes relevant policies on ethical treatment of animals.
The role of CRDG staff, fellows, and cooperating teachers in handling the
logistics of field trips/work is explicitly described.
Estimated
time for this component is one day, repeated as needed.
II.
In-school classroom observations at University Laboratory School
The
University Laboratory School with its diverse student population representing a
cross-section of the State’s multicultural and socioeconomic diversity is a
part of the CRDG. The K–12 school provides easily accessible classrooms where
standards-based science instruction is carried on every day. The ULS is on the
UH Manoa campus and classrooms are open to all visitors for observation and even
participation. CRDG/ULS provides opportunities for fellows to make site visits
in elementary-, middle-, and high-school science classes to
·
help fellows determine the grade levels they would
most like to work with;
·
observe standards-based, inquiry instruction with
real students representative of those they may work with;.
·
practice working with students in a safe, supportive
environment before engaging in activities with learners in other schools.
Support
includes strategies for
·
Preconferencing with teachers
·
Instruments for classroom observations
·
Post conference with teachers
Use
of ULS in this and other ways will be determined by the fellows in consultation
with their project advisors. Other cooperating schools are also used to fulfill
training objectives.
Science and Education
Advisors/Mentors
Spring
2000
The advisors/mentors work with each fellow to
Task/Event | Timeline |
Determine the area of research engaged in. Island location of the research | Dan Gruner (dgruner@hawaii.edu):
Ants Candace Felling (felling@hawaii.edu): Koa Laura Rodman (rodman@hawaii.edu) Fish E. Baumgartner (erinbaum@hawaii.edu): Fish |
Grade level appropriateness/relevance of the content of the research |
|
Develop
an action plan for K–12 involvement |
|
Identify
possible K–12 involvement with · Teachers (content background development, lesson plan preparation, etc) · Co-teaching with collaborating teachers · Student research projects · Classroom teaching of lessons related to research · Conducting field trips for students and/or teachers · Student involvement in research · Other involvement to be determined |
February–March 2000 |
Identify interested schools beginning with those represented by the steering committee | February 2000 |
Meet with teachers and ad |
February–March 2000 |
Work with evaluators to determine appropriate indicators of impact. | |
LOGISTICAL
SUPPORT
The
CRDG staff provides technical support to the project in several ways.
·
Point
of contact for teacher or school requests for fellow assignment
·
Screen
applications and inform requesting parties of project decisions regarding their
requests
·
Serve
as brokers matching proposed activities of the fellows in K–12 education with
schools, teachers, and students appropriate to the area of research and the
interests of both the fellow and the schools
·
Assist
in negotiating roles and responsibilities
·
Work
with teachers and fellows to organize and coordinate schedules for active
involvement of fellows in schools.
A
typical scenario includes meeting with the requesting teacher and administrator
to coordinate instruction that closely aligns with the HCPS, teacher and school
goals for instruction, and fellows’ interests. An initial series of sessions
might introduce students and their teacher to the research problem under
investigation by the fellow and the strategies being used to understand it.
Further planning with the teacher and students will focus on how to develop
student/teacher knowledge and involvement or how to engage students in the
ongoing work of the fellow’s research. A product of student and/or teacher
learning will also be included. This might be evidence of student learning in an
activity, project, or paper. For teachers it may mean evidence of inclusion in
lessons with students. Participating teachers must agree to participate in the
evaluation activities of the project.
Where
field-based instruction is to include K–12 students, CRDG staff provides the
logistic support for arranging for site access, busing, equipment, scheduling,
required permissions, and other details necessary to make the event(s) happen
and be both safe and successful.