Designing and Teaching the Elementary Science Methods Course (Teaching and Learning in Science Series)

What do aspiring and practicing elementary science teacher education faculty need to know as they plan and carry out instruction for future elementary science teachers? This scholarly and practical guide for science teacher educators outlines the theory, principles, and strategies needed, and provides classroom examples anchored to those principles. The theoretical and empirical foundations are supported by scholarship in the field, and the practical examples are derived from activities, lessons, and units field-tested in the authors’ elementary science methods courses.

Designing and Teaching the Elementary Science Methods Course is grounded in the theoretical framework of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), which describes how teachers transform subject matter knowledge into viable instruction in their discipline. Chapters on science methods students as learners, the science methods course curriculum, instructional strategies, methods course assessment, and the field experience help readers develop their PCK for teaching prospective elementary science teachers. "Activities that Work" and "Tools for Teaching the Methods Course" provide useful examples for putting this knowledge into action in the elementary science methods course.

Contents:

Perspectives on science teacher learning 
The context for elementary science teacher preparation 
Orientations to teaching science teachers 
Understanding the elementary science methods student 
Curriculum and resources for elementary science teacher education 
Instructional strategies for the elementary science methods course 
Assessment strategies for the elementary methods course 
Field experiences in elementary science methods.