Using "Science Friday" to Promote Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Science Teaching Self-Efficacy
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Start Date
1-4-2024
End Date
1-4-2024
Description
Developing the science teaching self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers has long been a concern for teacher educators (Palmer, 2006). Many pre-service teachers report negative science experiences in high school and often lack confience in their skills to teach science (Kazempout, 2014; Palmer, 2006). In the current age of the NGSS and their expounding impacts throughout K-12 education, addressing low self-efficacy in teaching science needs to be prioritized in the preparation of elementary teachers as it has been linked to avoidance of inquiry science and the increased use of teacher-centered strategies such as textbook driven worksheets (Palmer, 2006). Implementing a practice-based approach witin a science methods course has been the power to positively impact the science teaching self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers (Flores, 2015). Designing and implementing a performance based final as a culminating experience within an elementary science methods course is an example of such as practice-based approach. In addition to submitting an elementary science lesson plan with all the accoutrements, pre-service elementary teachers planned, rehearse, revised, and facilitated a "Science Friday" event in partnership with a local elementary school. This "Science Friday" event included six classrooms, two from each grade (Grade 3-5), where the pre-service elementary teachers facilitated a science lesson as a 4-station activity included an anchoring phenomenon, as least one hands-on, minds-on activity, and an engineering task. The constraints with this "Science Friday" event where that the final lesson had to be aligned with a given science content standard from the Menor Teacher, and that the lesson could only be 60 minutes in total length, from open to close. PST feedback was immediately collected after the culmination of the "Science Friday" event. All the pre-service elementary teachers who participated in the performance final found the "Science Friday" experience to be a "value added" experience that positively impacted their perception of their science teaching self-efficacy. Organizational and logistical details of this innovative approach to an elementary scienc methods course will be shared with presentation attendees.
Using "Science Friday" to Promote Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Science Teaching Self-Efficacy
Developing the science teaching self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers has long been a concern for teacher educators (Palmer, 2006). Many pre-service teachers report negative science experiences in high school and often lack confience in their skills to teach science (Kazempout, 2014; Palmer, 2006). In the current age of the NGSS and their expounding impacts throughout K-12 education, addressing low self-efficacy in teaching science needs to be prioritized in the preparation of elementary teachers as it has been linked to avoidance of inquiry science and the increased use of teacher-centered strategies such as textbook driven worksheets (Palmer, 2006). Implementing a practice-based approach witin a science methods course has been the power to positively impact the science teaching self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers (Flores, 2015). Designing and implementing a performance based final as a culminating experience within an elementary science methods course is an example of such as practice-based approach. In addition to submitting an elementary science lesson plan with all the accoutrements, pre-service elementary teachers planned, rehearse, revised, and facilitated a "Science Friday" event in partnership with a local elementary school. This "Science Friday" event included six classrooms, two from each grade (Grade 3-5), where the pre-service elementary teachers facilitated a science lesson as a 4-station activity included an anchoring phenomenon, as least one hands-on, minds-on activity, and an engineering task. The constraints with this "Science Friday" event where that the final lesson had to be aligned with a given science content standard from the Menor Teacher, and that the lesson could only be 60 minutes in total length, from open to close. PST feedback was immediately collected after the culmination of the "Science Friday" event. All the pre-service elementary teachers who participated in the performance final found the "Science Friday" experience to be a "value added" experience that positively impacted their perception of their science teaching self-efficacy. Organizational and logistical details of this innovative approach to an elementary scienc methods course will be shared with presentation attendees.
