UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Secondary Teacher Education Program Fall 2006 |
Professor Allan Feldman 230 Furcolo Hall, 545-1570, afeldman@educ.umass.edu |
COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is designed to prepare pre-service middle and high school science teachers to become competent professionals who can guide and facilitate classroom interactions to meet the learning needs of diverse populations of students. The purposes, problems, issues, strategies, and materials in the teaching of science at the middle and high school levels will be examined critically through classroom discussions, individual and group work, field experiences, class projects, and peer teaching. Students in this course will be expected to be active participants in constructivist-fashioned lessons where best practices in secondary teaching are modeled and to participate in debriefing sessions held to analyze the elements needed for success in teaching, learning, and assessing school mathematics. |
COURSE OBJECTIVES 1.To understand the nature of science, and in particular, the nature of scientific models and their relation to science teaching and learning. 2.To understand and recognize that students construct their own understanding of scientific concepts. 3.To become familiar with current national and state educational reform efforts including the National Science Education Standards, the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, and the Massachusetts Science and Technology Curriculum Framework, and to use these standards in lesson and unit planning. 4.To explore the issues of multiculturalism in science education, including issues of cultural diversity, class and gender, and students with special needs. 5.To develop and implement lessons that use student-centered forms of instruction such as cooperative group work, inquiry, the use of writing in science, and methods of teaching for conceptual change. 6.To develop and implement forms of assessment including rubrics, performance assessments, and portfolios. 7.To use the science laboratory as a site for inquiry and exploration. 8.To introduce you to the uses of technology in secondary science instruction. 9.To become familiar with resources for science education including professional associations such as the National Science Teachers Association and discipline specific associations, and the research literature. 10. To provide a model of teaching that will allow you to become critically conscious of your assumptions about teaching and learning science, and to teach in such a way that the method of the course is part of the substance of the class. 11. Finally it is the objective of the course to communicate that teaching is intellectual work, that it requires a dedication to and a love of our subject matter, a respect and caring for our students, a concern for equity, and a moral imperative for excellence in our teaching. |
Link to WebCT: http://webct.oit.umass.edu
Link to TK-20: https://umass.tk20.com
| Date |
Readings, Assignments, Topics |
| 9/11 |
Introduction to the course (Prepracticum follows Methods class) |
| 9/18 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Part I: Science learning and Lesson Planning (TK20 training follows at 7pm) |
| 9/25 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Pt. II: Science learning as inquiry (Prepracticum follows Methods class) |
| 10/2 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Pt. III: Science and literacy |
| 10/11 |
NOTE: Class meets on Wednesday |
| 10/16 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Part V: Using technology to teach science |
| 10/23 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Part V: Science in the community (Prepracticum follows Methods class) |
| 10/30 |
Methods of Assessing Student Learning, Part I: Formative Assessment |
|
11/6 |
Methods of Assessing Student Learning, Part II: Summative Assessment ) |
|
11/13 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Part IV: Issues of Diversity and Gender in Science and the Science Classroom |
| 11/20 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Part VI: The Laboratory and Lab Safety |
| 11/27 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Part VII: The Nature of Science |
| 12/4 |
Methods of Science Teaching, Part VIII: Classroom Management (Prepracticum follows Methods class) |
| 12/11 |
Course Closure |