Faculty Fellow:
Pamela Cantrell
Course:
CI 364/365
Science in the Elementary School

Course Description:
Materials, procedures, & classical techniques in the teaching of science to children, K-8. Practicum includes observation, classroom organization and management, planning, & teaching elementary science lessons.

Improvements to the Course:
As NCATE standards move teacher education toward preparing teachers to document student learning in more formal and varied ways, modeling strategies for accomplishing this task in teacher education courses is no longer an option. Pam's goal for this combined science methods/ practicum course is for students to use technology to document their own learning as they move from learning the teaching strategies for science, to preparing effective lessons, and then on to the actual teaching of these lessons in an elementary classroom. The course will have an ongoing WebCT component that will allow each student to have his/her own home page file. Students will document their progress through the course using digital camera equipment and reflective writing. From the video clips, they will edit and produce a five-minute segment of their best teaching in the classroom. Digital still shots will also be used to capture highlights of their progress through the course. In effect, they will produce a brief reflective journal that includes video and still images. This journal will be uploaded to their WebCT home page and will be viewable to everyone in the class. A best practices for teaching science CD will be created and made available to each student.