Preservice elementary teachers' critique of instructional materials for science

Abstract

Science teachers must adapt curriculum materials, so preservice teachers must develop beginning proficiency with this authentic task of teaching. What criteria do they use when they critique these materials in preparation for adapting them, when they develop the criteria themselves and when they are given a set of criteria from which to choose? These results indicate that the 20 participating preservice elementary teachers held a sophisticated set of criteria for critiquing instructional materials; for example, they paid attention to scientific inquiry and instructional goals. In some cases, providing options from which they could select as a part of the instructional approach taken in the class allowed the preservice teachers to engage in substantive critique of the instructional materials along criteria not prominent in their initial set. Even with explicit support, however, the preservice teachers did not engage in substantive critique about how scientific content is represented. Furthermore, they typically describe inquiry as important to incorporate to promote student interest, not to engage students in genuine scientific activity. It is concluded that critique activities used in science methods courses should be authentic and scaffolded to be optimally effective. Critique along especially challenging dimensions needs systematic, explicit, and perhaps more consistent support.

Developing preservice elementary teachers' knowledge and practices through modeling‐centered scientific inquiry

“…While this third study was not a continuation of the second, it nonetheless provided a context in which to explore promising approaches for effective teacher education that could add to my prior findings. Preparing preservice teachers to effectively use curriculum materials is an important issue (Davis, 2006) as curriculum materials play a significant role in both shaping elementary science instruction and guiding beginning teachers (Ball & Feiman-Nemser, 1988;Grossman & Thompson, 2004;Kauffman, Johnson, Kardos, Lui, & Peske, 2002;Mulholland & Wallace, 2005). Unfortunately, many of the current materials are of poor quality (Kesidou & Roseman, 2002;Stern & Roseman, 2004).…”

The development of preservice elementary teachers' curricular role identity for science teaching

“…Nonetheless, just as teacher education experiences can support preservice teachers to negotiate these ideas and learn to teach inquiry-oriented science (Crawford, 1999;Windschitl, 2003), so too can they support preservice teachers' learning to critique and adapt science curriculum materials (Davis, 2006). To put these abilities to use and develop robust pedagogical design capacity (Brown, 2002, in press), preservice teachers must develop a teaching identity in which the active use of science curriculum materials is valued and perceived as role appropriate.…”

“…Through our work as elementary science teacher educators and science curriculum developers, we have investigated how preservice elementary teachers use and learn from science curriculum materials (Davis, 2006;Dietz & Davis, in press;Forbes & Davis, in press). We have found Remillard's (2005) model of the teacher -curriculum relationship useful.…”

“…While a substantial amount of research has focused on in-service teachers' use of science and mathematics curriculum materials (Collopy, 2003;Enyedy & Goldberg, 2004;Fishman, Marx, Best, & Tal, 2003;Lloyd, 1999;Pintó, 2004;Remillard, 1999;Remillard & Bryans, 2004;Roehrig & Kruse, 2005;Schneider et al, 2005), only recently has research begun to explore preservice elementary teachers' use of and learning from science curriculum materials (Davis, 2006;Dietz & Davis, in press;Schwarz et al, in press). The results presented here extend this research by examining preservice elementary teachers' relationships with science curriculum materials through the lens of identity.…”

Practice‐Based Measures of Elementary Science Teachers' Content Knowledge for Teaching: Initial Item Development and Validity Evidence

“…Novice science teachers tend to be unaware of students' ideas; when they do start to notice students' ideas, they tend to focus on more basic features like the concreteness or accuracy of these ideas (Schneider & Plasman, 2011). As science teachers gain experience, they are more likely to begin to consider how to build on students' prior ideas during instruction, how to link students' ideas to scientific ideas, and why students might find certain ideas conceptually difficult to learn-all significant content challenges that arise in the course of teaching in this area (Meyer, 2004;Schneider & Plasman, 2011).To develop students' ideas about key scientific concepts, research has also pointed to the importance of determining which instructional strategies and resources would be most beneficial for addressing specific student outcomes; this selection usually occurs through the critical analysis and use of curriculum materials (Davis, 2006;Davis & Smithey, 2009). In particular, research has suggested the importance of ensuring that science teachers can fluently discern which instructional resources to use to target specific learning goals, to provide insight into student thinking, and to address specific student challenges (Carlsen, 1991;Schneider & Plasman, 2011).…”