Results from a national needs assessment survey advertised through science teacher networks with the title "Polar Education--Teacher Input Needed" showed that the majority (90%) of teachers that responded are teaching about polar topics or polar regions. We received 508 responses from elementary to post-secondary teachers across the…

Background: China has great student participation in STEM education. Chinese society has a progressive and positive attitude towards STEM as it is considered to provide more opportunities in life. Teachers play a vital role in the success of any STEM program in K-12 schools. However, teachers are facing instructional challenges because of the…

Specialized science courses (SSCs) integrate content knowledge (CK) with pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and prepare pre-service teachers (PSTs) for reform-oriented teaching. Studies of individual SSCs report positive short-term outcomes, including an increase in self-efficacy and CK. However, few studies explore the longer-term impact of SSCs…

The "2018 Teacher Prep Review" examines the results of rating 567 traditional graduate programs, 129 alternative route programs, and 18 residencies preparing both elementary and secondary teachers. The Review includes recommendations for programs to make changes to improve the quality of teachers entering the profession and highlights…

This technical report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the American Instructional Resources Surveys (AIRS) that were administered to principals and teachers in spring 2019 via RAND's American Educator Panels. The AIRS focused on instructional resources used and supported in English language arts,…

Proposes a model of teacher knowledge situated in school science teaching that is the synthesis of a number of models, metaphors, and notions. Uses this model to examine the ways in which science teachers design and implement science lessons. Indicates that the model is sufficiently robust enough to provide simple and rapid yet effective and…

Examines ways in which knowledge might be captured, articulated, and portrayed to others. Develops an approach to articulation and portrayal based on what is called the CoRe (Content Representation), which represents the particular content/topic of the science teaching, and PaP-eRs (Pedagogical and Professional experience Repertoire), which…

The essays in this book are about values that are being used to drive science instruction in remarkable ways. The essays are divided into three sections. The first section contains two essays about science kits and determines the problem that the rest of the book addresses. The essays in the second section offer a glimpse of what five teachers see…

Presents a paper based on the Northwest Region Presidential Address given at the Manchester Metropolitan University that makes the plea that science should be at the top of the science teacher's agenda. Asserts that learning is a continuing process for both teachers and pupils. (JRH)

Reports on a study that examined the level of instructional use of the Internet among science teachers involved in an inservice professional-development project (n=90). Finds that classroom access, instructional experience using the Internet with students, availability of resource support, and number of teacher users at school are the best…

Investigates the five most common reasons teachers give for not involving students in hands-on classroom activities: too much work, too chaotic, lack of teacher science content knowledge, incompatibility with the curriculum, and lack of materials. Provides strategies for avoiding these excuses. (DDR)

Reports on the use of a HyperCard-based tool by preservice teachers to create and modify concept maps about science- related subject matter. Data gathered from interviews, journals, and concept maps indicate that the concept-mapping tool was easy to use and allowed teachers to organize their cognitive frameworks into more powerful integrated…

Explores the reasons why we learn science. Asserts that 'wonder' incorporates three important dimensions: wondering about, wondering at, and wondering whether. Suggests that the system fails to trust students to learn and expects teachers to 'know it all' before beginning to teach. (Author/MM)

This evaluation of mini-conferences conducted for Alabama teachers who completed training in the 1996 Summer Space Orientation for Professional Educators (SOPE) examines the effectiveness of follow-up sessions for teachers (N=69) and provides baseline data on teachers' knowledge of and attitudes toward teaching science. Conclusions about the 1996…

Describes a support program, the DATA project of Queen's University in Belfast, which was devised to develop student teachers' abilities to teach astronomy with emphasis on the promotion of student teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. (Author/KHR)