Brenda Brand

Using Self-Efficacy as a Construct for Evaluating Science and Mathematics Methods Courses

The focus of this study was elementary preservice teachers’ development as effective teachers of science and mathematics as influenced by their participation in elementary science and mathematics methods courses. Preservice teachers’ reports of factors that influenced their perception of their teaching abilities were analyzed according to Bandura’s (1994) 4 sources of efficacy: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and stress reduction. This investigation allowed the researchers to evaluate the courses based on these sources. The analysis indicated all 4 sources influenced preservice teachers’ teaching self-efficacy beliefs, with mastery experiences considered the most influential. Embedded within discussions of mastery experiences were references to the other sources of efficacy, which suggest an interrelationship between mastery experiences and the other sources.

Enhancing Teachers’ Application of Inquiry‐Based Strategies Using a Constructivist Sociocultural Professional Development Model

This two‐year school‐wide initiative to improve teachers’ pedagogical skills in inquiry‐based science instruction using a constructivist sociocultural professional development model involved 30 elementary teachers from one school, three university faculty, and two central office content supervisors. Research was conducted for investigating the impact of the professional development activities on teachers’ practices, documenting changes in their philosophies, instruction, and the learning environment. This report includes teachers’ accounts of philosophical as well as instructional changes and how these changes shaped the learning environment. For the teachers in this study, examining their teaching practices in learner‐centered collaborative group settings encouraged them to critically analyze their instructional practices, challenging their preconceived ideas on inquiry‐based strategies. Additionally, other factors affecting teachers’ understanding and use of inquiry‐based strategies were highlighted, such as self‐efficacy beliefs, prior experiences as students in science classrooms, teacher preparation programs, and expectations due to federal, state, and local mandates. These factors were discussed and reconciled, as they constructed new understandings and adapted their strategies to become more student‐centered and inquiry‐based.

Interdisciplinary curriculum: an abandoned concept?

Because present initiatives guiding educational decision-making place a high emphasis on accountability, there was a need to explore the educational value of the literacy and science education courses’ joint interdisciplinary focus for elementary education. With current research alluding to time constraints, scripted curriculum, and memorization dominating teachers’ decisions about instruction, it seemed important to gain insight into the practical nature of the interdisciplinary method with former students. Former pre-service teachers in their first years of teaching were surveyed. The goal was to find out how the interdisciplinary strategies influenced their instruction and students’ learning, and if they were continuing to meaningfully chunk their curriculum. Twenty-five of the forty former pre-service teachers returned the survey. These first-year teachers reported making cross-curricular connections and articulated a range of benefits for their students. However, they also discussed hindrances to their attempts at making cross-curricular connections, including state and local mandates, time constraints, and dilemmas related to being a first-year teacher. The findings from this study could prove valuable to teacher educators in elementary education programs, as well as to those involved in planning and facilitating professional development activities for elementary school teachers.

Sociocultural Consciousness and Science Teacher Education

Historically, the US cord of assimilating differences occurred through stratifying and also harboring economic and political power resulting in the marginalization of certain segments of the population. Consequently, marginalized groups were left with the challenge of sustaining their lives in an environment where declared norms isolated and devalued them and their cultures. Messages of inferiority surfaced and were reinforced in stereotypes depicting these groups in a negative light, which further disadvantaged them. To achieve in spite of the difficulties, individuals belonging to these marginalized groups must overcome the social constraints imposed upon their identities, which is dependent upon the resources that are available to them. This is especially true for students. Their lack of identity with the significant images represented in the curriculum such as science can influence their thoughts about their value and their potential to achieve and make a contribution. The nature of this conflict must be understood in terms of its history and impact on society and schooling which is defined as sociocultural consciousness. Sociocultural consciousness is the crux of culturally responsive pedagogy which takes into account the diverse needs of students as influenced by culture.

Work in progress — Initial identification of program components leading to retention of women in a pre-engineering high school program, and an undergraduate engineering program

This paper presents preliminary results from an NSF-sponsored project, Why Women Stay: An Investigation of Two Successful Programs. Our initial findings from interviews conducted with high school level students, (both males and females) and college age female students are revealing some of the reasons why girls and young women are staying in engineering programs. We are seeing the positive program components are those that directly contributed to creating a supportive stress-free environment, which made the technical applications accessible and technical skill acquisition possible. Girls in the high school program and the women in the college program noted the inclusive team-oriented and mutual goal-oriented engineering experiences through team design projects as those critical to their successes. In comparison, the male high-school students focused more on mastery experiences and technical/engineering skill acquisition. Goal-oriented engineering rather than content oriented learning benefited all of the students. Preliminary analysis of all interviews indicates that in order to retain women in engineering, programs must be designed to support women in stress-reduction including overcoming negative social perceptions about their ability to participate (inclusion) and succeed in engineering, and give them confidence to tackle technical/engineering challenges that they will encounter.