Rita Hagevik

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the 2003 Science Teacher Preparation Standards for NCATE Accreditation or State Approval

The 2003 National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation (NSTA-SSTP) were developed to provide guidelines and expectations for science teacher preparation programs. This article is the fourth in a special JSTE series on accreditation written to assist science teacher educators in meeting the NSTA-SSTP. In this article, the authors discuss pedagogical content knowledge and how this is expressed in the NSTA-SSTP. Included are competencies and examples needed for a science teacher preparation program to document developing pedagogical content knowledge in preservice science teachers.

Alignment of the 2003 NSTA Standards for Science Teacher Preparation with the NCATE Assessment System

The 2003 National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation (NSTA-SSTP) were developed to provide guidelines and expectations for science teacher preparation programs. This article is the second in a special JSTE series on accreditation written to assist science teacher educators in meeting the NSTA-SSTP and to answer questions that may arise such as: What are the requirements for NSTA science teacher preparation program recognition? How are the 2003 NSTA-SSTP aligned with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education assessments? In this article, the authors focus on the three themes that science teacher preparation programs must address: content, pedagogy, and student learning. Included is a description of the priorities of the review process and the minimum competencies needed for a science teacher preparation program to be nationally recognized.

Using Performance-Based Assessments to Prepare Safe Science Teachers

Standard 9 of the National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation is designed to ensure that science teacher preparation programs provide preservice science teachers with the knowledge and skills to understand and successfully engage students in a safe and ethical manner. This standard contains four components describing science teachers’ legal and ethical responsibilities, appropriate use of instructional materials (chemicals in particular), emergency procedures and safety equipment, and guidelines for proper use of living organisms in the classroom. In this article, we describe the requirements of Standard 9 and provide guidance on assessments that can be used to present evidence for preservice teachers’ competence in each of the four components.

Understanding and Using the 2003 NSTA Science Teacher Preparation Standards for NCATE Accreditation or State Approval

It is likely that if you are a science teacher educator at a college or university with ateacher preparation program, you will be involved at some point in your career inthe accreditation process for the science teacher education program. The accred-itation process can seem long, effortful, and even complicated at times. This briefarticle is the first in a series for the Journal of Science Teacher Education that isaimed at helping science teacher educators navigate the process of accreditation.The authors of this series are members of the National Science Teachers Association(NSTA) Audit Team whose primary responsibility is to evaluate program reports,assure alignment to the 2003 NSTA Science Teacher Preparation Standards, anddetermine NSTA program recognition. This first installment of the series providesan overview of accreditation and an introduction to understanding and using the

Situated Learning in Environmental Education: Using Geospatial Technologies with Preservice Secondary Teachers

Current national reform recommendations in the United States have largely neglected nature study and place-based learning as an explicit component of scientific content and literacy. The role of nature study needs to be expanded in both science instruction and science teacher preparation. One way to do this is to use a curriculum grounded in nature study and ideally contextualized in the local environment to address a number of current reform movements in science education. This chapter describes how situated learning using Geospatial Information Technologies (GIT) in preservice teacher education courses can be used to study the environment. GIT has become more prevalent in our everyday lives and is commonly used in natural resources management. Web-based applications such as Google Earth allow easy-to-use access to all types of environmental data. Nature study and GIT were used in preservice science teacher courses on campus and through field experience courses offered at Ossabaw Island in Georgia, Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, and in Brazil. It was found that through collaborative learning communities, students became immersed in the natural world and were able to investigate their own questions. GIT helped students to visually see and analyze relationships in the environment. Through discourse, collaboration, and shared experiences, the teachers were able to apply what they had learned to their own science classrooms.