Introduction
Welcome to this Methods course for teaching science & technology in elementary schools! It is intended to help beginning teachers learn some teaching approaches for science and technology education and, to some extent, learn more about science and technology. Additionally, because we recognize that 'becoming' a teacher is a career-long endeavour, this course also emphasizes encouraging teachers to continually develop professionally.
Course Description
This course is organized around the three 'domains' specified in the curriculum for Science & Technology, Grades 1-8 (OMET, 1998, p4):
Note that, in the Ontario curriculum, every unit has three Overall Expectations that are listed in the above order. These are then followed, in every unit, by several Specific Expectations of each of the above types.
With little exaggeration, the Ontario elementary S&T curriculum is very demanding of students and teachers. To assist you in accomplishing its challenging goals, you are strongly advised to make use of the many resources available through the course WWW site:
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/~lbencze/elem_scitech.html
Of special importance to you may be the several Web sites linked to the course site that contain resources specifically keyed to the Ontario elementary science and technology curriculum. While you may want to purchase the resource Science Is (referenced below), the internet now contains many up-to-date resources. As well, there are numerous school district-produced resources now available.
There are 18 hours of class time - i.e., six three-hour classes - reserved for this course. There will be three classes prior to each 'block' of teaching practice. For convenience, the Fall classes emphasize teaching and learning of 'content'; i.e., Concepts and Relationships (as described above). Teachers in schools tend to emphasize these two domains. The Winter classes, on the other hand, will focus on the Skills domain, something that traditionally gets less formal attention. The overall schedule for this course is, as follows:
Course Intro &
Acknowledging Kids' Ideas Developing Skills of
Inquiry & Communication Student-teachers will be
introduced to and gain practice with activities that may
help elementary students develop skills in conducting
scientific inquiries. Class: Samuel Hearne on Jan.
11, 2001 Explaining 'Concepts
& Relationships' to Students Developing Skills of
Design & Communication 'Content'
Micro-lesson & Planning to Teach 'Process'
Micro-teaching & Planning to Teach
After a brief introduction to the course, students
will be introduced to and get to practise activities they
can use to encourage students to express their current
understandings of concepts and relationships.
Class: Samuel Hearne on Sept 19, 2000
This class will emphasize lesson planning and, in
particular, teaching students about laws, theories &
inventions of S&T, along with ideas how these ideas
apply to the world beyond the school.
Class: Samuel Hearne on Sept. 26, 2000
Student-teachers will be introduced to and gain
practice with activities that may help elementary students
develop skills in conducting invention projects.
Class: Samuel Hearne on Jan. 23, 2001
In this class, student-teachers will have an
opportunity to conduct (in pairs) a short 'content' lesson
with a small group of children and gain the benefit of
suggestions for improvement from peers just prior to
beginning the first 'block' of teaching practice.
Class: Samuel Hearne (or another school) on Oct. 12,
2000
In this class, student-teachers will have an
opportunity to conduct (in pairs) a short 'process' lesson
with a small group of children and gain the benefit of
suggestions for improvement from peers just prior to
beginning the second 'block' of teaching practice.
Class: Samuel Hearne (or another school) on Feb. 6,
2001
Please bring to all classes your copy of the Ontario guidelines for Science & Technology, Grades 1-8 (OMET, 1998).
Student Assessment & Evaluation
This course is one portion of the Curriculum & Instruction (C&I) credit for students enrolled in the Primary/Junior (EDU !420) and Junior/Intermediate (EDU 1450) teacher education programme. Also included in the C&I course are Mathematics, Language Arts, Social Studies, Art, Music, and PHE. Each of these courses are weighted equally when arriving at each student's mark for their respective C&I course (i.e., EDU 1420 or 1450).
For this Science component of the Curriculum & Instruction course, your mark will be determined as follows:
VALUE East Option
Assignments There are several aspects of the East
Option version of the Initial Teacher Education programme
that carry value for all subjects (like this Science &
Technology course) in Curriculum & Instruction. These
general assignments include: i)
Professionalism
(15%), ii)
Portfolio
I (20%), iii)
Portfolio
II (10%), and Journal (10%). Please
refer to corresponding handouts from the East Option
Coordinator describing these assignments. (CLICK) In-class
Science & Technology Assignments There will be some
small-group assignments in each of the classes other than
the ones in which micro-teaching will occur. These will must
be submitted at the end of class for assessment. Major Course
Assignments
Some Course Resources
Recommended Book
There are no required texts for the course. There are, instead, several handouts. As well, numerous resources are available via the course WWW site. However, many student teachers may wish to order a copy of the following resource, which we can arrange to have shipped by a local supplier:
Resources & References
There are, additionally, several books in the OISE/UT library that may help:
In addition, you are encouraged to access the numerous resources available through the resource pages on my Web site; i.e., http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/~lbencze/resources.htm and http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/~lbencze/E.site.resources.html