A Process Approach to Science, SCED 401, is a class taken by prospective elementary teachers. All students in the course have taken introductory laboratory classes in biology, geology and physical science. Faculty from the respective home departments teach these earlier classes. The Science Education department teaches A Process Approach to Science. The faculty who teach this course have degrees in science and science education. The content of the class is interdisciplinary, pulling from students' previous classroom and lived experiences.

Students earn three semester hours of science credit for this course. The Science Education department offers multiple sections of the course each semester, with 150-175 students enrolling each year.

Many elementary teachers dislike science, lack confidence in their science knowledge, and/or do not know how to teach science effectively. In contrast, the most effective elementary school science teachers like science. They have an accurate understanding of major science concepts and processes. These teachers also feel confident in their ability to learn science. Finally, they teach science using an age appropriate inquiry based approach. A Process Approach to Science exists to help prospective elementary school teachers develop these attributes.

We specifically structure this class to help prospective elementary teachers: like science, better understand the nature of science, and develop their abilities at identifying, defining and solving problems the way scientists do.

The course approaches the above goals from multiple directions. The most important thing we do is model exemplary teaching practices for elementary teachers to understand. Students spend the vast majority of class time doing hands-on elementary science activities. Most of the science units students complete require multiple weeks of class time. This provides time for students to explore their thinking about topics, as well as apply new knowledge in different situations.

Activities are open-ended and inquiry based. Curriculum materials are often classic elementary activities, the type of things students are most likely to see and do when they are teachers. During a semester, an observer would see students exploring things like pendulums, mystery powders, batteries & bulbs, and pillbugs. The same observer would also see butterflies hatching, students experimenting with lights and shadows, and cleaning a simulated oil spill.

The course's curriculum also helps us approach our goals. Most of the course's units include companion readings or assignments relating the unit to important science education ideas. Thus, early in the course students read about the advantages of hands-on, minds-on science. Course discussion then relates hands-on science to the activities students just finished. Students see that "hands-on" (a term they are familiar with) does not always translate to "minds-on," and begin understanding the specific things their instructors do to create hands-on, minds-on science units.

Similarly, students complete a unit introducing elementary school chemistry, while explicitly learning about the nature of science. Eventually, students must try to determine the contents of an unknown white powder. At the same time, though, they read about the nature of science. Being open-ended and investigation oriented, this unit provides many chances for the instructors to point out parallels between the things students are doing and the nature of science.

Another example: after completing a Floating & Sinking unit, we introduce students to Piaget's work and broad distinctions between the concepts of abstract and concrete ideas. Students have an assignment parallel to this unit when they interview elementary aged children regarding their ability to conserve (one of Piaget's broad thinking structures). We help our students to see that if their students lack the ability to conserve some quantities, the students will be unable to acquire a deep understanding of the concepts of density and buoyancy. At the same time this happens, however, class activities and readings help our students better understand the same concepts.

Finally, technology as an aid to science learning is not slighted in this class. Besides weekly use of e-mail, students also leave the class having "surfed" the web during at least two assignments. They also search for science and educational resources using the Educational Resources Instructional Clearinghouse (ERIC) on CD-ROM.
 
 

By the end of the semester students will be able to demonstrate proficiency in the following:

1. Describe attributes of elementary teachers who like science.

2. Generate researchable science questions.

3. Describe or devise procedures to answer scientific questions.

4. Critically examine/critique scientific procedures.

5. Interpret results of scientific investigations.

6. Describe how science differs from other disciplines (nature of science).

7. Describe how science relates to other subjects.

8. Explain what "hands-on minds-on" science is.

9. Give an example of how process and content can be taught within hands-on minds-on science activities.

10. Explain the implications of Piagetian theory to student learning in elementary science.

11. Demonstrate an understanding of a few basic principles in the life, physical and earth sciences.

12. Describe connections between science and everyday life.

13. Demonstrate e-mail and web browsing proficiency.
 
 

Since it is very difficult to accurately assess the course's goals we have decided to collaborate to construct department-wide, performance based, summative assessments for the course. Research on current assessment practices guide our thinking about assessment. First, the things that are graded should have some intrinsic value; students should learn something by doing the assignment, irrespective of grades. Second, a wide variety of assignments is a better reflection of students' abilities and development than a small number of similar assignments. Third, effort should "count," without discounting natural talent or the need to nevertheless show minimum competencies to pass the course. Fourth, clear writing and proper grammar always "count" as do in class oral reports. Fifth, there are certain things that students should be able to do when they leave this class.

Currently, all students start the course by writing a science autobiography. The purpose of this assignment is to get them to think about their own elementary science experiences (or lack thereof), their attitudes towards science, how they best learn science and how they define science. For many, this is the first time that they have thought about science as anything other than a collection of facts.

Hands-on minds-on science units often end with performance tasks and oral reports. In class assessments are consistent with modes of instruction and course goals. Science content and ideas about the nature of science are represented on all quizzes. For example, quiz questions include having students build circuits, determine the contents of an unknown mystery powder, and give possible reasons for discrepant data collected in an experiment.

Students design and conduct experiments at different times throughout the semester. They perform consumer product testing. Through controlled experiments they determine which household products are "best." Reports are written and shared orally. With our help they must also create researchable questions, devise repeatable procedures, collect and analyze data, write reports and share results. These independent investigations count more than other assignments toward the student's final grade.

Students conduct Piagetian interviews with elementary aged children. As they analyze results of the interviews, they realize that some science content they need to know as teachers is not intellectually suitable for young children.

In order for them to begin appreciating the impact of science around them, students read and review articles and science related television shows.

Complete descriptions of assignments, syllabi, schedules and resource lists are on our websites (www.csulb.edu/~acolburn or www.csulb.edu/~lhenriqu).
 
 

Alan Colburn, Assistant Professor: This is Dr. Colburn's sixth semester teaching SCED 401. Dr. Colburn co-developed faculty workshops at CSULB dealing with assessment strategies. With Dr. Henriques, he presented assessment based workshops at the California Science Teachers Association. He developed and evaluated performance based assessment tasks for the American College Testing Services. He also edited items for Iowa Testing Projects.

Laura Henriques, Full-time Lecturer: Dr. Henriques has taught SCED 401 six times as well. She co-developed the "Test as you teach: Better assessment for small classes" faculty workshops with Dr. Colburn. She was a researcher with the Iowa Assessment Project, a consultant for American College Testing Services, and Profiles, Inc. She wrote integrated assessment modules for Science Links, an integrated science text.

Joanne Olson, Part-time Lecturer: This is Ms. Olson's first semester teaching SCED 401. Almost finished with her doctoral studies in science education, she has taken numerous courses in assessment and evaluation techniques. In addition, she has led several workshops on assessment both at the K-12 level and the university level.

Linda Hagerty, Part-time Lecturer: Ms. Hagerty is teaching SCED 401 for the first time this semester. As a master teacher in the CA schools she acquired vast experience developing, implementing & evaluating authentic assessment within the school setting. While at UMass Dartmouth she worked with the Science Education Resource Center training districts in the Alternative Assessment Toolkit. All consulting inservices included assessment techniques.
 
 

There are always part-time faculty hired to teach sections of SCED 401. This can lead to discrepancies in expectations and measurement of course objectives. Students are aware of potential differences between instructors; a common set of outcomes and a common assessment battery will alleviate this problem without requiring lock-step teaching methods.

The list of stated course objectives is new this year. The two full-time faculty compiled the list at the start of the 1997-98 academic year. The rationale for creating a shared list of outcomes was to help create continuity and equivalence between the multiple sections offered. The next logical step would be to create an end of course assessment package that is aligned with the course goals.

We already have several projects throughout the semester which address some of our learning objectives (see above). It is our intention to continue developing them as they help the instructors know what students have learned and can do during the semester. These on-going assessment strategies are diverse in nature, allowing students' strengths to be highlighted.

In place of a written final exam, we interview each student individually to assess their learning. In the past, these have been informal and lacked consistency across instructors. Through this grant the four current instructors will work together to create authentic tasks to be completed by all students at the end of the semester. We will pilot a variety of performance based assessment tasks during the spring 1998 exit interviews. Results will be analyzed to determine the most effective tasks which will then be fully incorporated in the fall semester. Departmental approval will then incorporate the assessment into the SCED 401 guidelines. Some possible projects might include:

collections of real data from experiments which students will interpret and critique;

flawed experimental designs which students will correct;

using the internet to find resources;

doing science activities, describing which processes are involved; and

creating concept maps related to major scientific ideas.

Creating these performance tasks will take time for collaboration which is not easily accomplished with multiple faculty (part-time faculty are not on campus daily). It will also require field testing tasks as well as acquisition of materials. In order to field test tasks, we will likely develop multiple tasks for a single objective. These can be tested during the semester in individual sections of SCED 401, revised and then used during the exit interview for the other sections.
 
 

We anticipate the exit interview becoming a standardized method of summative assessment across the multiple sections of SCED 401 offered each semester. This will provide consistency and ensure rigor within each section. It will establish benchmarks for the course which will guide new instructors.

Common exit interview procedures will allow instructors to clearly establish student mastery of course objectives. A key feature of this approach is the opportunity for individual instructors to teach using their own personal style while having their students reach commonly agreed upon standards.

Students across sections will be able to study together as they have a common set of goals to achieve. Having clearly stated course objectives, students know what is expected of them. Furthermore, these assessments will match the mode of instruction provided during class, making the assessments authentic and meaningful. In this way, course goals, instructional strategies and assessment techniques all inform each other providing a cohesive learning experience.
 
 

We are requesting financial support for overload salary for each of the four faculty members teaching SCED 401 this spring. We are also requesting a small amount of money for materials required for the assessment.

Faculty support 4 x $1,500 $6,000

Materials $ 500 $ 500

Total requested $6,500