Penny L. Hammrich

Cooperative controversy challenges elementary teacher candidates’ conceptions of the “nature of science”

One ideal instructional strategy for examining elementary teacher candidates’ conceptions of the nature of science is cooperative controversy. This strategy forces students to actively engage in a debate of two opposing sides of an issue. Thirty-seven upper-level elementary education majors at an urban University participated in the cooperative controversy lesson. Results show that before the cooperative controversy lesson, a majority 27(73%) of the students felt that the nature of science was fact based. After participating in the cooperative controversy exercise, a majority 22(60%) of the students felt that the nature of science was a combination of factual information and belief.

Sisters in Science: Teachers' Reflective Dialogue on Confronting the Gender Gap.

Sisters in Science, like many other programs aimed at fostering girls’ interest and achievement in science, is designed to encourage more girls and woment to prepare for the careers in math, science, and technology that will dominate the 21st century. One of the foci of Sisters in Science was on the role of teachers as decisiomnakers in promoting science literacy for all students. The overall goal was to familiarize teachers with reform initiatives in science education and to chart their progress as change agents of gender equity in the classroom. Twenty-one teachers from seven different schools located in Philadelphia’s inner city participated in the program during the 1997–1998 academic year. This paper reports on teachers’ reflections and dialogue concerning their conception changes of teaching and mathematics as they confront the issue of equitable practice.

Two Cultures of Teacher Preparation: Effects on Teacher Candidates' World View.

The present study investigates the observations that teacher candidates majoring in elementary education exhibit a world view very different from teacher candidates majoring in a science discipline while obtaining teacher certification in elementary education. Teacher candidates from two different elementary teacher preparation programs were asked to describe their experiences in two different discipline courses, one in which they do very well and one in which they generally do less well. Analysis of the papers revealed the presence of two distinct world views among the teacher candidates with regard to education and the learning of different discipline courses. Many of the attitudes inherent in these world views appear to have their roots in early experiences in and out of school. Implications for elementary science teaching and teacher education are discussed.