Science & Technology Education for Elementary School Teaching

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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:

 

2000

 

2001

Course Intro & Acknowledging Kids' Ideas
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

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
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

Developing Skills of Design & Communication
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

'Content' Micro-lesson & Planning to Teach
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

'Process' Micro-teaching & Planning to Teach
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:

ITEM & DESCRIPTION

 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)

 

 

 

55%

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.

 

 

 

10%

Major Course Assignments

  • Micro-lesson Assignment: During the third class (Oct. 12), present a short lesson on a topic of interest to you to a small group of elementary children and then e-mail your lesson plan by Oct. 16. NOTE: A list of equipment & materials you will need for this lesson must be e-mailed to me by Oct. 9 (value = 10/35)
  • Research on Kids' Ideas: Student teachers are expected to find out from children in a school what they already know or can do regarding a topic of interest to the student teacher (value = 10/35);
  • Micro-lesson Assignment: During the sixth class (Feb. 6), present a short lesson on a topic of interest to you to a small group of elementary children and then e-mail your lesson plan by Feb. 12. NOTE: A list of equipment & materials you will need for this lesson must be e-mailed to me by Feb. 4 (value = 15/35).

 

 

 

 

 

 

35%

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