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SEQUENCE OF EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES
FOR PARTICIPATING GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

ASSUMPTIONS

·      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.

CRDG ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

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.

COMPONENTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES FOR FELLOWS

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

February 2000

 

Develop an action plan for K–12 involvement

February 2000

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 ministrators to discuss possible K–12 activities, identify and agree on responsibilities, negotiate time and commitments February–March 2000
Work with evaluators to determine appropriate indicators of impact.     Ongoing

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.

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