SCI 764 THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE

COURSE OVERVIEW:  This course is designed to prepare both Science (6-9) and Biology/Chemistry (9-12) licensure students for the effective teaching of science.  While acknowledging the developmental differences in students in the middle grades and those in the secondary schools, the purpose of this course is to demonstrate that the teaching of science embodies a repertoire of skills that can be learned, and that these skills can be used effectively at both the middle school and the secondary school level.  These skills can enable science teachers to help students achieve three basic goals: 1) to understand the processes of scientific thinking, or inquiry, 2) to learn facts that are needed in understanding the concepts , generalizations and unifying themes of science, and 3) to form values and attitudes consistent with scientific inquiry that can be applied not only to the solution of the problems of science, but to questions that humans ask about themselves, their condition, and their environment. 

Upon completion of this course, the prospective teacher is expected to understand that the teaching of science is a reflective process that involves applying and adapting educational theories and teaching strategies in the constantly changing environment of the classroom; that the public school classroom is a mosaic composed of individuals with different cultural, developmental, attitudinal, and motivational backgrounds; that science cannot be taught in isolation from other academic areas or from individual, technological, or societal issues that confront or will confront her students; that the teacher must be forever a student, seeking ways to improve her professional skills and to increase and update her scientific knowledge; and that she must serve as a good role model for her students as a good citizen, an effective leader, and as both a helpful guide and curious learner in all areas of the pursuit of knowledge. 

TOPICS COVERED:

• N.C. Science Standard Course of Study and Grade Level Competencies k-12
• Licensure requirements - Praxis and Basic Technology Competencies for Educators
• Prepare a bulletin Board
• Carl Sagan - The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
• Nova - Hunt for Alien Worlds
• Benchmarks for Science Literacy - Project
• Plan a lesson that presents the facts about a particular health issue and its prevention, at a level suitable for you area of licensure.
• Construct or find at least one Concept Map that would be useful in your teaching
• Submit two weeks of lesson plans for instruction on flowering plants
• A consideration of popular materials concerning the nature of science.  Evaluate handouts for use of scientific concepts
• Prepare an aid to help a visually-impaired student "read" a diagram of a laboratory set-up or drawing in a laboratory manual
• Design an investigative laboratory that is appropriate to your area
• Name a game, model, kit, etc. that you might use in your teaching
• Prepare lesson plans for teaching abut a controversial issue for your grade and subject
• Prepare folders for the following skills
• Using and Teaching the Metric System
• Making Solutions
• Adjusting and Cleaning Microscopes
• Caring for Models, Microscopic Slides, and Preserved Specimens
• Culturing and Maintaining Living Organisms in the Classroom: Proper Release or Disposal
• Obtaining and/or Improvising Supplies and equipment

• Describe a field trip you could take with a class that you might teach
• Write a 20 item test reflecting a variety of questioning techniques
• Submit a resume that you might use in a job application   

PROJECTS, OBSERVATIONS, AND PRESENTATIONS:

• All lesson plans that you submit must take into account state-approved competencies for your area of licensure and they must be suitable to the grade level(s) in which you wish to be licensed
• Classroom Observations:  We attempt to place each Methods student in an appropriate classroom for at least two hours per week.
• Prepare a list of equipment and supplies needed to safely and effectively teach three classes of 25 pupils the labs you have planned during the semester. 
• Prepare an organized file of all materials you have collected during the semester
• Watch and write a review of at least one Hollywood film that depicts either a science subject or the teaching profession.