Nick Eastmond

Elements of improvement in secondary science teacher preparation

ConclusionThere are strong indications that the courses developed under the Teacher Preparation Project at Utah State University are providing new dimensions to the education of prospective science teachers and liberal art students who select a science emphasis at the undergraduate level. To date, the courses have institutional support in both staffing and funding that should keep them in place in the coming years. Clearly, the project made adjustments along the way, learning from early mistakes, and building team rapport and commitment required to bring about the completion of the project.Certain issues have been raised and resolved to some extent. Mixing liberal arts majors with secondary science teaching majors appears to be good for the integrative course, bringing diversity of background and viewpoint into the class. The kinds of teaching behaviors in evidence in these classes require high expectations for student performance but also a willingness on the part of the professor to stand back and let the student explore or to allow a discussion to run. This is clearly a more facilitative and less directive teaching role than is expected for most undergraduate courses. Finally, one can expect to get mixed reactions from students, positive about their newfound independence but, for some at least, a lack of tolerance for ambiguity and some discomfort at having a new (and sometimes threatening) set of grading procedures thrust upon them. In the USU Teacher Preparation Project, these decisions have charted a course of action for the future-a course derived from cognitive psychology principles requiring growth on the part of both faculty and students.

Ethical Angles on Service Learning

As with any human endeavor, ethical conflicts easily arise in a service learning setting. Service learning requires negotiating many of these potential pitfalls but may be worth the effort on the part of faculty and students. While service learning can occur at all levels of education, this article concentrates on examples involving higher education and the ethical considerations that must be taken into account when using service learning as a form of pedagogy. Five ethical dilemmas are proposed and potential solutions discussed.

Educational Evaluation: The Future

Scenario: An evaluators dilemma-February 2010. Barry Duvall leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. The multi-colors of the computer screen reflected on the glass pane. Thinking over his day at work, he had spent his time well. As a federal government evaluator of foreign language programs, he had responsibility for closely monitoring over 100 projects. A decade ago, that would have been impossible, at least with the level of detail Barry had available. With the current procedures, he did much of his work from the computer terminal in front of him.