A Capstone Course in Investigative Science for Pre-Service Elementary Teachers

Western Washington University, Bellingham WA

Investigators

Abstract

Interdisciplinary (99) The National Science Education Standards, developed by the National Research Council, and the Essential Academic Learning Requirements, developed by Washington State Commission on Student Learning both demand that students learn science in an investigative format. Elementary teachers are generally poorly prepared to develop or even to implement innovative science investigations. This project is developing a "capstone" course in investigative science specifically for pre-service elementary teachers. It is intended to complement prior student experience in formal science courses and draw upon that experience. The course is a "thematic" interdisciplinary experience with the theme varying according to the preference of the specific instructor. A theme successful in an experimental trial was "water." Its physical and chemical characteristics were investigated and related to the roles water plays in geology and biology. Students work in a "directed discovery" mode in a generally open-ended format; there is no specific block of subject matter to be presented. Rather, students establish experiment objectives, design appropriate experiments, run the experiments, and critique and compare results. University science faculty serve as guides and coaches. It is the intent of the course to induce greater confidence, competence, and interest in the teaching of investigative science. The effort is an adaptation of NSF supported projects at the University of Wyoming and Cal State- San Marcos. The interdisciplinary and thematic nature of the course is intended to serve as a model format for their own work with elementary students and to demonstrate the conceptual relationships among the sciences which most will have studied as discrete bodies of information. The effort is being coordinated with community colleges from which many of our students come.