The Iowa Chautauqua Program was developed in 1983 with support from national Chautauqua funds from NSF which were awarded to NSTA to study an inexpensive in-service model for stimulating reform in K-12 science classrooms. In Iowa the Chautauqua effort has focused upon STS materials and strategies with primary attention directed to teachers in grades 4 through 9. The program began with 30 teachers enrolled in a program in one center and expanded to 230 teachers enrolled in five centers across the state during the 1989-90 year. To date, 1,500 teachers have been enrolled during the 1983-90 interim.After the initial year the Iowa Utility Association (IUA) sought out the project for additional support. During the three years of the NSF grant to NSTA, the IUA support was three times greater. After three years the NSTA Chautauqua Program was terminated.However, NSF support has continued with a grant to The University of Iowa. Further, three EESA summer grants have also supported the Iowa program. An outline of the Iowa Chautauqua In-Service model is included as Figure 1. STS in Iowa is defined as materials and strategies teachers devise as a new context for their exisitng programs. To be considered STS the materials developed must have ten basic features. These include:1. The identification of problems with local interest and impact; 2. The use of local resources (human and material) to locate information that can be used in problem resolution; 3. The active involvement of students in seeking information that can be applied to solve real-life problems;4. The extension of learning going beyond the class period, the classroom, the school; 5. A focus upon the impact of science on each individual student; 6. A view that science content is not something that exists for students to master on tests; 7. A de-emphasis upon process skills per se just because they represent glamorized skills of practicing scientists;8. An emphasis upon career awareness --especially careers related to science and technology; 9. Opportunities for students to perform in citizenship roles as they attempt to resolve issues they have identified;10. Identification of ways that science and technology are likely to impact the future. A major component in the Iowa ChautauquaProgram is assessment. One aspect of the assessment effort is the effect of STS on students. Five domains of science education proposed by Yager and McCormack(1) are used to assess student growth by the use of pre-and post assessment instruments in each domain.
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 SdenceITechnoJogy/Society etton« underway allover 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 fol/ow-up snon course some months later for sharing the results of the STS eftorts. This model is proposed as one with value for other states interested in a model for in-service worlc with elementary school teachers.
Several upper elementary teachers enrolled in a year-long staff development effort which included preparation of STS modules, teaching them, and assessing their success with students in five domains for goals and assessment. Twelve Lead Teachers for the program agreed to participate in a special controlled experiment where STS strategies were utilized with one section and traditional concept-organized strategies in another section. Results are presented and contrasted for students enrolled in an STS section and others in a non-STS section . Resultsshow no advantages for students in STS sections in terms of concept mastery. However, there are significant advantages for the STS approach in terms of students' gro wth in proce ss skill s, applications of science concepts and processes to new situations, creativity skills (inclUding quantity and quality of questions generated, causes suggested, and consequences predicted), and development of more positive attitudes (toward science classes, teachers, and careers). STS instruction results in dramatic improvement in attitude toward science for female students. Evidence is provided which illustrates the advantages for STS as an approach to learning science in the elementary school.
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