Earth Science for Elementary Education Majors: Role in the Program

Page prepared for SERC by Dr. Barry Bickmore of Brigham Young University.

A discussion of the design and implementation of a earth science course for elementary education majors at Brigham Young University, created by Dr. Barry Bickmore.

A description of this course and its goals is available.

What Role Does this Course Play in Teacher Preparation?

I see three main areas where a course like mine can play a role with respect to teacher preparation.
  1. A course like this should help the students become firmly grounded in the content so they can explain it to others.
  2. Such a course should also help the students adopt a more positive attitude toward science, which is often passed on to elementary students.
  3. It should also give the students a chance to build confidence in their ability to teach science.
  4. Finally, such a course should help the students feel comfortable handling conflicts, such as science-religion conflicts, that they may have to address with elementary students or their parents.

How does the Course Address Each Role?

The course addresses these roles in the following ways.
  1. They are expected to learn a certain amount of content, and are tested on their ability to remember, apply, and explain it.
  2. I make every effort to connect science to what my students are interested in--teaching children. The mini-lesson project, for example, lets them have a real-world experience that helps them see they need to have a solid background in science to teach elementary school. I also list relevant state and national standards at the beginning of many of their lab assignments.
  3. The mini-lesson project also addresses the need to build confidence in pre-service teachers. There is no better confidence builder than doing something in the real world.
  4. I have developed and tested a method called "Science as Storytelling" for teaching the nature of science. With this approach, the students are able to come out with a more sophisticated view of the nature of science. But in addition, the program helps them understand WHY scientists rule out supernatural explanations, and come to terms with the fact that, as a consequence, it is inevitable that scientific theories will sometimes conflict with various religious viewpoints. This helps them relax about the whole thing.

How do Students Integrate Learning & Teaching?

As I said above, they go out and teach in an elementary school. This is done one grade at a time (i.e., all of my students who are teaching 4th grade content show up at a certain time at the school), in a science-fair type of format. Elementary students in that grade are split up into groups and dispersed among the stations, and then we rotate the groups every 6 minutes or so. Therefore, my students are able to teach their mini-lessons multiple times.

How does the Course Transition Pre-service Teachers into the Classroom?

Same as above.

How is the Course Content Aligned with the National Science Education Standards?

At present, the course is not as aligned with the National Science Education Standards as it should be. Really, I just took a gander at the standards and picked the chapters in the textbook that seemed to cover most of that ground. However, I will be on leave this Fall semester, and one of my goals is to redesign the course completely around the standards.

How does the Course Meet Certification Requirements?

Pre-service elementary teachers are required to take some lab-based science classes, and this fills that requirement.

What Challenges have been Encountered in Teaching this Course? How have they been Resolved?

First, many of the students in this type of major come in with very poor attitudes toward science. Second, this problem is exacerbated by the fact that many of their major classes are extremely easy, so in comparison, a science course might seem like it is run by Adolf Hitler. How can I keep from making their attitudes toward science from getting even worse (or maybe make them better), while still maintaining some reasonable level of rigor?

I address these problems, and have had some success at resolving them, by 1) making it very plain to the students how this course is connected with their chosen profession, and 2) helping them honestly come to terms with science-religion conflicts that may be a basis for some of their poor attitudes. When I can accomplish those two things, attitudes improve, and the students are willing to put more effort into the class.