Transforming Undergraduate Science Teaching
Social Constructivist Perspectives
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 3. April 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
484 pages
978-0-8204-5293-7 (ISBN)
Description
This book comes at a time when epistemological reform is sweeping through the global community of science education. Since the 1970s, the theories of knowing embodied in the teaching activities of school science teachers have been undergoing a major transformation toward more learner-sensitive standpoints. But undergraduate science teaching, the breeding ground of teachers of school science, has remained largely teacher-centered in many lecture theaters and laboratories. Little wonder that newly graduated science teachers arrive in school science classrooms ill prepared to practice learner-sensitive teaching. Thus, the motivating force behind this book is to expedite the process of epistemological reform of undergraduate science teaching, to align it with the reform goals of the science education community. The knowledge gained from this unique collection of studies can be extended to science courses for all students, those going on directly into science, those planning to become K-12 teachers of science, and those in allied fields as well.
More details
Persons
The Editors: Peter C. Taylor is a tenured Senior Lecturer at the Science and Mathematics Education Centre and Key Centre for School Science and Mathematics at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia. In 1994 he received the AERA Outstanding Paper Award from the Special Interest Group of the Study of Learning Environments. In 1997 he received the coveted NARST Early Career Research Award. He has more than 165 publications on science and mathematics education research.
Penny J. Gilmer, a biochemist and science educator, is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University. In 1999 she received an Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology Award from the Tenth International Conference on College Teaching and Learning. She has co-edited two monographs: Science in the Elementary School Classroom: Portraits of Action Research and Meaningful Science: Teachers Doing Inquiry + Teaching Science.
Kenneth Tobin, Professor of Science Education at University of Pennsylvania, is internationally known for his research in the teaching and learning of science. His current focus is on the issues in teaching and learning of science in urban areas. He edited The Practice of Constructivism in Science Education and co-edited the International Handbook of Science Education and Windows into Science Classrooms: Problems Associated with Higher-Level Cognitive Learning.
Content
Contents: Peter C. Taylor/Penny J. Gilmer/Kenneth Tobin: Kenneth Tobin: Preface: Introducing Transformations - Peter C. Taylor: On Being Impressed by College Teaching - Craig Bowen: From Connections to Survival: Diane's Experiences in the Chemistry Classroom - Noelle Griffiths: What Does that Word Mean? The Importance of Language in Learning Biology - Hedy Moscovici: Dynamics of Power in Teaching University Biology: Influence on Student Learning - Kathryn Scantlebury: A Feminist Pedagogy in Undergraduate Science: Conflicting Concepts? - Wolff-Michael Roth/Kenneth Tobin: College Physics Teaching: From Boundary Work to Border Crossing and Community Building - Abdullah O. Abbas/Kenneth A. Goldsby/Penny J. Gilmer: Promoting Active Learning in a University Chemistry Class: Metaphors as Referents for Teachers' Roles and Actions - Rosalind Humerick: Effective Strategies for Active Learning in the Small Chemistry Classroom or Laboratory - Harold B. White III: Confronting Undergraduate Dualism with Problem-Based Learning - Susan Mattson: What It Means to Achieve: Negotiating Assessment in a Biology Course - Sabitra Brush: Team Teaching in a Restructured Physical Science Course - Carol Briscoe: Evolution of a University Biology Teacher's Classroom Interactions - Kenneth Tobin: Learning to Teach Science Using the Internet to Connect Communities of Learners - Ben Cunningham: How Do I Express, Communicate, and Have Legitimated as Valid Knowledge the Spiritual Qualities in My Educational Journey? - Margarita Cuervo: Spirituality in the Classroom - Mark Campbell Williams: Dreams in University Computing Education: A Heuristic Self-Study - Penny J. Gilmer: Opalescence at the Triple Point: Teaching, Research, and Service.