Janice Koch

The Effect of a Mentoring Model for Elementary Science Professional Development

This study describes an elementary science model of professional development through mentoring by university science education professors working with teachers at a private elementary school in a regional city in Queensland, Australia. A cross-cultural collaboration involving professors from the United States and Australia resulted in the socially constructed image of the science education mentor. While there is no generic model for elementary science mentoring, results of data collection reveal that (a) one-to-one mentoring has short-term implications for implementing constructivist science teaching practices; (b) successful mentoring models include facilitating the understanding of science content, exploring elementary science pedagogical content knowledge through modeling, and off-site professional development workshops; and (c) understanding and working from the predispositions of the teachers is an essential component of effective professional development.

Integrating Literacy and Science for English Language Learners: From Learning-to-Read to Reading-to-Learn.

ABSTRACT The authors examined the impact of 2 subsequent, longitudinal interdisciplinary interventions for 58 Hispanic English language learners (ELLs): (a) Grade 5 science with English language/reading embedded (i.e., science intervention) and (b) K–3 English language/reading with science embedded (i.e., language/reading intervention). Results revealed that (a) in the science intervention treatment ELLs outperformed their counterparts in English-reading fluency, knowledge of word meaning, and science and reading achievement; (b) in the language/reading intervention treatment ELLs continued to develop faster than their peers in English oracy, reading fluency, and comprehension; (c) ELLs benefited more from the science intervention if they received the prior language/reading intervention. We conclude that for ELLs, the integration of science and English language/reading should primarily focus on reading in elementary grades and science in Grade 5.

A Meeting of Two Cultures

In this chapter, we explore the experiences of two science teacher educators participating in a Binational Fulbright Commission Teacher Training Initiative with eight public school secondary science teachers from Cairo, Egypt and neighboring communities who came to the United States to study science teacher education. In the first part of the chapter, we examine the preparatory nature of the program. We then identify and analyze the key players in this science education initiative in terms of their assumptions about teacher education, science, and cultural difference. The last section of this chapter describes the reflexive nature of the relationships between teacher educators and the participants in the context of a binational program. The chapter is guided by the following questions: (1) What assumptions were made about the visitors before they arrived? (2) How did perceived cultural differences inform the structure of the program? (3) How did actual cultural differences transform the science methods course? (4) How were the teacher educators transformed by this experience?