Course Description
Improvement of instructional competencies of teachers of science in middle and secondary schools. Includes preparation in the planning and implementation of instructional strategies.
Athena Title
Strat for Mid Sec Sch Sci Teac
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ESCI 7040E
Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fallOffered summer semester every odd-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
***The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary. By the end of the course, the learner should be able to: 1. Develop skills as a reflective practitioner and demonstrate these skills through the analysis of critical incidents, video cases, the writing/analysis of case narratives, and the examination of metaphors. 2. Demonstrate a variety of teaching strategies that incorporate the processes and content of middle and secondary school science. 3. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of science and how this is evidenced in the science classroom. 4. Identify major controversial issues in science teaching and convey specific ways to deal with these issues in the science classroom. 5. Demonstrate knowledge in the provision of individual differences of learners (e.g., culturally, linguistically, the non-reader, generational poverty students). 6. Develop creative science teaching activities that use inquiry-based strategies. 7. Demonstrate an understanding of ways to use the laboratory and outdoor learning environment as vehicles for science teaching and learning. 8. Compare and contrast various traditional and nontraditional strategies of assessment of student learning in science.
Topical Outline
Nature of science Science/technology/society/environment strategies Controversial issues in science Science in the outdoor learning environment Multicultural science teaching and learning Alternative conceptions in science Teaching science BY inquiry Teaching science AS inquiry Using the laboratory to promote science inquiry Using computers and electronic technology to promote student inquiry Assessing students' work