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PSED 446/546 The Teaching of Science in Secondary Schools |
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Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:20-5:35pm
Meeting Place: 117 Gessner
Instructor: Robert A. Cohen
|
PSED 446/546 The Teaching of Science in Secondary Schools |
|---|
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:20-5:35pm
Meeting Place: 117 Gessner
Instructor: Robert A. Cohen
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| Similar Courses Elsewhere | |
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| Frequently Asked Questions about becoming a science teacher | |
| Student Teaching Candidate Evaluation Form (web version and printable version) | |
| Description of Action Research Activity | |
| Pennsylvania Science and Technology Standards (final form/January 5, 2002; requires Acrobat Viewer) | |
| National Science Education Standards (NSES) from the National Academy of Science (NAS) |
"Good science teaching is not how many answers you know,
but how you behave when the students don't know the answer"
(Robert Cohen)
"The fatal pedagogical error [is] to throw answers, like stones, at
the heads of those who have not yet asked the questions."
(Paul Tillich, 1886-1965, as quoted by Julian Weissglass on page 59 of
Exploring Elementary Mathematics, 1979, W.H.Freeman & Co.)
"It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know than
to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate. "
(Rachel Carson, 1956, The Sense of Wonder, p. 45)
"'Cheshire Puss,...Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where--' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat."
(Lewis Carroll, 1865, Alice in Wonderland,
Chapter 6)
Resource Avenues
Links identified with a red ball are must-reads. 
Links identified with a yellow ball
are recommended.
Links identified with a green ball are
optional.
Project 2061
Science Text Central
offers reviews of science textbooks.
The Textbook League
reviews middle and high school textbooks.
Review of
Biological Instructional Materials (from the American
Institute of Biological Sciences)
If you intend to teach physics or physical science, read what
John
L. Hubisz concluded (note: this review does not discuss
Introductory Physical Science, which received
favorable reviews, because it did not meet the cut-off for percent of market volume)
Read what physicist Richard Feynman thought about textbooks (in 1964) in his
Judging Books by Their Covers
Most Widely Used High School Physics Textbooks
(a 2001 survey by the American Institute of Physics)
Research Matters - to the science teacher
Trends in International Mathematics
and Science Study (TIMSS) (also see TIMSS site)
Don't forget about prior knowledge; check out the ENC
page on misconceptions.
The National Science Board publishes
Science and Engineering Indicators (see, for example, the
2006 publication),
within which they report on public attitudes and understanding,
including public knowledge of science and technology (see, for example, the 2006 report).
Read Science
and Safety, a PDF document (requires Acrobat Reader) from the Council of State Science
Supervisors (CSSS)
Read the NSTA Position Statements on Safety and
School Science Instruction
and Liability
of Science Educators, which list guidelines for teachers and school districts (biology
teachers can also read NABT's statement on the
Role of
Laboratory and Field Instruction in Biology Education)
If you plan on using animals in your classroom,
Flinn Scientific
has numerous resources on Science Safety
The NSTA provided
middle school
and
high school
safety information in a past edition of Science Class (distributed through
e-mail; to sign up for delivery, click
here).
The Laboratory Safety Institute has a bunch of resources
and information; click on "Free" for safety contracts, checklists, etc.
Laboratory Safety page
accompanying The Sourcebook for Teaching Science.
An NBC News
report on chemicals in the classroom.
NYC
Science Safety Manual (K-12) (requires free registration)
Slides from my Safety in Science in-class presentation
According to the APS (see second paragraph)
According to the physicist Richard Feynman
(via the Friends of Tuva website)
Ten Myths of Science
(by William McComas)
How do we
know that protons, electrons and quarks really exist? (A discussion of reality vs. science by Bill Robertson,
author of the Stop Faking it! series)
UniSci attempts to answer why science is so important
(and, in the process, tries to first define it)
Why Earth Science (a video by the American Geological
Institute)
Nature of Science
Unifying Themes
Personal and Societal Impacts
Before you begin, check out my introduction to the issue
The Talk.Origins Archive is
a collection of writings about the issue, most of which were posted
on the talk.origins newsgroup (see their
Welcome page).
Once you finish reading the selections for both evolution and creation science/intelligent
design, read through the Talk Origins list of
Frequently
Asked Questions and its TalkDesigns page,
which is dedicated to the Intelligent Design debate.
The Syracuse University physics department has a course that examines
the issue. The course has a web page listing related
links, some of which are repeated below.
Take a look at NSTA's
policy statement on the teaching of evolution
and AAPT's statement on the
teaching of
evolution and cosmology.
/
Teaching About
Evolution and the Nature of Science (National Academy of Science;
available via National Academy Press)
/
The
Creation Controversy & the Science Classroom (NSTA press;
I have a copy you can borrow) equips you to tackle the
hard questions about evolution. It offers effective strategies for
dealing with common creationism arguments and explores the underlying
religious beliefs.
The National Center
for Science Education is devoted to defending the teaching of
evolution in the public schools.
The University of California Museum of Paleontology has
a very good introduction to evolution.
The American Institute of Biological
Sciences has a page on Teaching
Resources (look near the bottom for resources on teaching evolution) and a page on
Policy Issues
related to teaching evolution
Good Science, Bad
Science: Teaching Evolution in the States (by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation)
provides a report card on how well states have addressed evolution in their standards.
ENSI (Evolution and the Nature
of Science Institutes) has lessons related to evolution (including
nature of science, origin of life and DNA)
Definition of
What is Intelligent Design by the Discovery Institute.
The site also provides a comparison of the term with creationism
An alternate viewpoint is provided by
www.creationism.org.
They define
Creation Science
(and related terms) and compare that with
Intelligent
Design. The site also provides several links to creation research sites.
Expelled (the movie by Ben Stein alleging that
Intelligent Design is a threat to the scientific mainstream and that is why it isn't being accepted as science;
see also Expelled Exposed, which critiques made in Expelled)
After reading some of the popular arguments against evolution, you might want to
check out the arguments creationists should
NOT use, put together by the Answers in Genesis
organization.
The Center
for Scientific Creation provides a book containing the evidence
for Creation (click on the book Contents and Technical Questions)
The APS bulletin "Physics Today" has published the following two articles:
The July 2002 issue Scientific American published an article entitled
15 Answers
to Creationist Nonsense
There are books in the ESU library for evolution. For example,
check out "Abusing Science: The Case Against
Creationism" by Philip Kitcher (1982) which was written in response
to "Evolution: The Fossils say NO!" by Duane T. Gish (1978)
The Answers in Genesis organizatiion
has a webpage of responses
to the anti-creationist books.
Some arguments (not necessarily valid; see if you can spot the
problems) I have compiled describing the debate (and some frequently
asked questions about it) from the point of view of someone in favor
of evolution
The Turkish author Harun
Yayha has written several books on this issue. Unlike many of the other
anti-evolution sources, Harun Yayha provides an Islamic viewpoint.
The Discovery Institute has a
critique of
PBS's
Evolution series
There are books in the ESU library for creation science. For
example, check out "Evolution: The Fossils say NO!" by Duane T. Gish (1978).
The Answers in Genesis organizatiion
also has a page of responses
to the anti-creationist books.
Some arguments (not necessarily valid; see if you can spot the
problems) I have compiled describing the debate (and some frequently
asked questions about it) from the point of view of someone in favor
of creationism
What do we really want students to know and be able to do? or Do you
know the way to Pittsburgh?, a story illustrating the need to clearly define standards.
Pennsylvania Science and Technology
Standards (final form/January 5, 2002; requires Acrobat Viewer)
Grade 8
and
Grade 11
PA Science Assessment Anchors Standards (2007 draft; requires Acrobat Viewer)
National Science Education
Standards (NSES) from the National Academy of Science (NAS)
Overview of content standards
5-8 Content
Standards
9-12 Content
Standards
Micro-units developed by NSTA as part of their
Scope, Sequence and Coordination (SS&C) project
Science Education for Everyone:
Why and What? by James Trefil (George Mason University), in Liberal Education, Vol. 94, No. 1
Slides from my Scientific
Inquiry and the PA K-12 Standards presentation
Standards
and Frameworks from other states
Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS); formerly "Third International
Mathematics and Science Study"
The Learning
Cycle Approach to Science Instruction (From Research Matters -- to the Science Teacher, No. 9701, Jan 2,
1997)
Constructivism and 5-E/7-E Model
(Miami Museum of Science)
Understanding by Design
(compare with the Learning Cycle, particularly the W.H.E.R.E. model)
Reformed Teaching
Observation Protocol
See NSTA's position
statement on the use of labs
See The Benezet Centre
devoted to an emphasis on reasoning skills (math emphasis but related to science)
See
Introduction:
Chapter 1 of the Addendum
to the NSES.
Science Inquiry:
Chapter 2 of the Addendum
to the NSES.
Making the Case for Inquiry:
Chapter 6 of the Addendum
to the NSES.
NSTA Position Statement on Inquiry
Addressing resistance
to inquiry-oriented science instruction (take a look at Table 1, which shows how some common
inquiry-oriented activities are typically misinterpreted, and the six research-based claims
for inquiry-oriented instruction)
Where's the evidence that active learning works?
(by Joel Michael, published in the journal Advances in Physiology Education)
See Science as Inquiry in the Secondary
Setting (NSTA Press; can be read online by clicking "Contents" tab)
Chapter 3 of the Addendum
to the NSES.
Levels of Inquiry
Is any of this taking place in real schools? Find out in
Chapter 5 (Strengths and Weaknesses of Mathematics and Science Lessons) of
Looking
Inside the Classroom (Horizon Research).
What does this look like in a lesson plan? Check out NWREL's Task Matrix.
What does this look like in a textbook? Check out the NSTA's
Stop Faking It!
series (physics); notice how exploration comes before explanation.
Other inquiry links: see Inquiry in Mathematics
and Science (Internet Jones)
Other inquiry links: see The Question is the Answer
(asking meaningful questions) by Jamie McKenzie
Assessment Presentation from class (PowerPoint)
Assessing Inquiry:
Chapter 4 of the Addendum
to the NSES.
Nature of Science Questionnaire
Performance Assessment Links in Science (PALS)
provides examples of ways to assess the National Science Education
Standards (and, in so doing, examples of inquiry-oriented activities)
NWREL has Scoring Rubrics
for inquiry-oriented tasks.
Check out Gene Glass' Straight Talk to Teachers about writing
and scoring tests.
Released items from other states (EDinformatics)
Check out the web site of the Inclusion in Science Education
for Students with Disabilities Society and their list of Teaching Strategies. A good summary
is provided here.
See the paper on Special Education Terms for guidance.
Suggestions for dealing with Deaf and Hard-of-hearing students in math and science class (by a deaf math teacher)
Frequently Asked Questions list put together by PSED346
participants
Chapter
7 of the Addendum to the NSES.
Schoolwide and Classroom Discipline
(Characteristics of schools, classrooms and teachers with well-behaved students; from Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory)
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