The purpose of this study was to examine teaching assistants' conceptions of the nature of teaching after they were taught a pedagogical strategy directly related to their subject matter. Four teaching assistants who taught the Biology 1201 laboratories at the University of Minnesota participated in this study which included participating in 16…

This article describes a strategy for instructing graduate teaching assistants and presents results on how the program influenced their conceptions of teaching science. The discipline-specific seminar was designed to help teaching assistants learn how to effectively communicate biology content to undergraduate students, and aimed at increasing…

This study attempted to explore the relationship between elementary teacher candidates' conceptions of the nature of science and their consequent conceptions of teaching science. In order to measure patterns and trends in how elementary teacher candidates define the nature of science and the teaching of science, an open-ended qualitative…

Reports on an effort to improve articulation between science and education at Temple University. Describes the implementation of the cooperative controversy strategy into elementary science methods courses. Contains 26 references. (DDR)

This paper describes a model for utilizing national science reform initiatives in an elementary science methods course. By focusing particularly on Project 2061 benchmarks, the reform movement initiated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), teacher candidates were able to successfully analyze, integrate, and utilize…

This digest provides an overview of the Head Start on Science (HSS) program which is designed to encourage the science literacy of preschool children in Head Start programs and to improve the capacity of Head Start teachers, assistants, and parents. The overall goal of the HSS program is threefold: (1) to broaden HSS participants' science…

This paper describes the changes K-8 teachers made in their conceptions of science, teaching, and learning as they participated in a year-long professional development program. The program was based on principles reflected in the national science education reform initiatives, and focused on the role of teachers as decision makers in promoting…