Robert E. Yager

Beginning Teachers: Beliefs and Classroom Actions

The current national priority for systemic approaches to the reform of science and mathematics education has led to unprecedented interest in research on the efficacy of science and mathematics teacher preparation programs. In response to this priority, a focus on collaborative approaches to educational reform and to research on educational reform resulted in a national collaborative research consortium of insitutions of higher education. The consortium was formed to investigate the following question about secondary science teacher education: What are the perceptions, beliefs, and classroom performances of beginning secondary teachers as related to their philosophies of teaching and their content pedagogical skills? The research design and instrumentation yielded detailed descriptions that elicited knowledge and beliefs held by beginning teachers about science, the nature of teaching and learning, and their philosophy of teaching. An analysis of video portfolios of beginning teachers provided classroom-based evidence of their performance in both subject matter and pedagogical dimensions of teaching. Among the findings from this 3-year exploratory study were that teachers graduated from their teacher preparation programs with a range of knowledge and beliefs about: how teachers should interact with subject content and processes, what teachers should be doing in the classroom, what students should be doing in the classroom, philosophies of teaching, and how they perceived themselves as classroom teachers. Beginning teachers described their practices as very student-centered. Observations of these teaching practices contrasted starkly with teacher beliefs: While teachers professed student-centered beliefs, they behaved in teacher-centered ways. Undertaking intensive, collaborative studies such as the one described in this article, is the beginning of efforts through which the science and mathematics education communities can strive to address the needs of students, teachers, teacher educators, and other stakeholders working to establish a common vision for excellent instruction and systemic, long-lasting reform.

Scope, Sequence and Coordination: The Iowa Project, A National Reform Effort in the USA.

The Scope, Sequence and Coordination (SS&C) project is a major reform initiative in the United States conceived by the National Science Teachers Association with major funding by the National Science Foundation. This is a report of the Iowa Project, a broad effort of many stockholders in 20 school districts, where a science-technology-society approach was emphasized through a constructivist philosophy of learning and teaching. Results indicated the successes of SS&C in four areas: (1) SS&C teachers are more confident to teach science and they better understand the nature of science and technology than do control teachers. (2) SS&C teachers can use teaching strategies that reflect a constructivist view of learning, and conduct action research projects related to effective teaching. (3) Students achieve significantly better in SS&C courses than they do in traditional textbookoriented courses. (4) Historically disenfranchised groups of learners, such as low ability students and females, are especially well s...

The History and Future of Science Education Reform.

Every society has struggled with the problem of how to prepare the next generation. Societies generally support an education system that prepares learners for life, work, and further specialization at the next academic level; societies refine the system over time to better meet those goals. In the first 150 years of U.S. history, forty major education reform efforts occurred (Hurd 1991)-all designed for a new game: to make schools and learning more immediately practical and useful by reflecting the culture of the time. In the late 1950s, Soviet space exploits resulted in massive reforms-a new game-in U.S. school science that were drastically different from past reforms. The reforms of the late 1950s and 1960s were led by scientists whose aim was to change the game so that all learners would experience and know the science that scientists know and practice the skills scientists use to understand the objects and events that make up the natural universe. Scientists in the various disciplines sought to produce visions of the big ideas of their disciplines that could provide the frameworks for new courses in schools.

Trends in science education: some observations of exemplary programmes in the United States

The National Science Teachers Association in the United States undertook a major new project in 1982‐a Search for Excellence in Science Education. For the first year Project Synthesis desired state descriptions were used as criteria for searches conducted in each state. Subsequently, new task forces were at work defining excellence and developing search criteria from a variety of views. A total of 104 exemplary programmes have been selected to date. An analysis of the Focus on Excellence monographs reveals some national trends in school science. These major trends include: (1) significant involvement of local communities in programme development and instruction; (2) science/technology/society as a curriculum focus; (3) laboratories defined as the real world; and (4) a focus first on qualitative considerations and later on quantitative ones. These trends are discussed, analysed and exemplified with the exemplary programmes identified across the United States.

The Crisis in Biology Education.

Robert E. Yager is professor of science education and director of the Science Education Center at the University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242. He holds a B.A. in biology from University of Northern Iowa, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Iowa. He has directed 100 NSF institutes and special projects, authored 200 research reports, and served on numerous committees, task forces, and boards. He received NABTs Special Citation for Leadership in 1970, NSTAs Robert H. Carleton Award in 1977, and an Iowa Science Teachers Outstanding Service Award in 1977. He has served as president of several organizations, including NABT (1970-71), and is currently president of NSTA. Each historical period is unique, but some are more significant than others in affecting the future. The current time for biology education is indeed unique and appears to be one of those signficant points where the future of the discipline is endangered. There is urgency in the problems that confront us-urgency that causes many to describe the current situation as one of crisis. But, a crisis can be a turning point. Action can be taken to use this turning point to benefit the profession. Or, lack of action can result in a downward spiral and further deterioration. A greater understanding of our problems-perhaps the reasons for them-can assist us in controlling change and revitalizing biological education. This article is divided into three major sections. The first is a review of biology education for the past 32 years. The 1950 starting point is not an arbitrary one; the changes that followed were far more significant than any that occurred during the preceding three decades. During these three decades (1920-50) biology became a common offering in American secondary schools. The second section of the article deals with the results of one of the most costly and elaborate educational assessment programs ever undertaken in the U.S. The assessment began in 1976 as a response to major criticism and concern for the great public support of science education which followed the launching of the Soviet Sputnik in 1957. The third section is an attempt to identify solutions to problems and to plan for the year 2000. The historical perspective from the first part and the data provided by the assessments in the second part are used in seeking solutions for the remaining years of this century.

Comparison of Student Learning Outcomes in Middle School Science Classes with an STS Approach and a Typical Textbook Dominated Approach.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether Science, Technology, and Society (STS) learning increases student concept mastery, general science achievement, use of concepts in new situations, and attitudes toward science in middle school classrooms. The study involved two teachers and fifty-two students in grades 6 through 8. Two sections of middle school science were taught by two longtime teachers where one used an STS approach and the other retained a typical use of the textbook as a class organizer. Each teacher administered the same pre- and post-assessments. Major findings indicated that middle school students experiencing the STS format with constructivist teaching practices: (1) learned basic concepts as well as students who studied them directly from the textbook, (2) achieved as much general concept mastery as students who studied in a textbook dominated way, (3) applied science concepts in new situations better than students who studied science in a more traditional way, (4) developed more positive attitudes about science, (5) exhibited creativity skills that were more individual and occurred more often, and (6) learned and used science at home and in the community more than students in the typical textbook dominated section. Further, the STS approach coincided well with the kind of teaching across the curriculum that is (recommended as) central to teaching in middle schools.

Success of a Professional-Development Model in Assisting Teachers to Change Their Teaching to Match the More Emphasis Conditions Urged in the National Science Education Standards

Lead teachers were a major part of a staff-development program first offered in 1983 for science teachers in Iowa. Later, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) reform project called Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) involved 20 school districts and worked annually with new teachers involved during the 7-year funding period, 1990–1997. Eight lead teachers, who provided assistance to staff teams, were studied in 1998 and 2000 to determine how their teaching practices changed during the 3 years following funding. The results indicated that the eight teachers have continued to grow in terms of constructivist strategies beyond the funding period and in ways illustrating that the kind of teaching advocated by the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996).

Accomplishing the Visions for Professional Development of Teachers Advocated in the National Science Education Standards.

The National Science Education Standards include suggested visions for changing staff development programs for preparing new teachers and working with inservice teachers. Analyzing the visions for the most successful programs precedes the identification of programs that best match the NSES visions. The National Science Teachers Association is publishing a new monograph that identifies 16 model programs that approach the visions while also providing actual evidence of the successes experienced. This manuscript is an attempt to provide a setting and a rationale for the national search and for informing science teacher educators in the features of the best programs nominated after a 4-year search. Instead of only describing science teacher education programs for new and inservice teachers, actual evidence establishing their validity is offered. Perhaps the examples will be more useful if the framework and procedures used in their selections are shared with Association for Science Teacher Education members.

The Iowa Chautauqua Program: A Model for Improving Science in the Elementary School.

The Iowa Chautauqua Program has been a force in Iowa for the past seven years as K-12 teachers have planned and used 20 day modules which illustrate the Science/Technology/Society efforts underway all over the world. Basic to the in-service model are: (a) a two week experience with STS teaching and learning that includes planning a five-day STS module, (b) a two and one-half day fall short course which includes other teachers from the schools of the summer participants, (c) planning and using a 20 day STS module with a pre-post assessment programs, and (d) a follow-up short course some months later for sharing the results of the STS efforts. This model is proposed as one with value for other states interested in a model for in-service work with elementary school teachers.

Science Teacher Education: A Program with a Theoretical and Pragmatic Rationale.

Penick and Yager show how research and practice can be blended to produce a powerful preservice science teacher education program. The University of Iowa program includes intensive field ex periences at a variety of levels, small group seminars, and a series of oppor tunities for teacher self-evaluation. Orig inally developed with funding for a ten- year period from the National Science Foundation, this program is now fully self-supporting, visible within the uni versity, and successful in terms of stu dent performance.