Striking a Balance Between Innovation and Standards: A Study of Teachers Implementing Project-Based Approaches to Teaching Science

This research reports on the efforts of six middle school and high school science teachers in a public school district in New York City to balance innovative teaching methods and strategies with the New York State Learning Standards and Regents requirements. More specifically, this research examines the factors that influenced the implementation of project-based approaches to teaching and learning science. Observations of meetings and classrooms, and collection of artifacts such as curricula, project planners, demographic profiles, student work, and test results served as the primary data sources that were triangulated and related to current theory on project-based learning in science. Four teachers embraced aspects of project-based learning in science and two rejected most aspects of teaching project-based learning in science. Implications for science professional development are discussed.     

专业化发展视域下高校思想政治理论课教师队伍建设研究

专业化发展能增强高校思想政治理论课教师的职业认同感、归属感与思想政治理论课的教学效果。当前,在高校思想政治理论课教师队伍建设中,普遍存在规范科学的管理机制缺乏、结构不合理、教师教学科研整体水平偏低、部分教师职业道德素质缺失等问题,我们可通过建立教师任职资格准入制度、建立健全培训体系、加强思想政治理论课学科建设、建立思想政治理论课教学科研机构、健全管理机制、落实保障措施来积极推动高校思想政治理论课教师专业化发展。     

A Project-Based Approach to Statistics and Data Science

Abstract

In an increasingly data-driven world, facility with statistics is more important than ever for our students. At institutions without a statistician, it often falls to the mathematics faculty to teach statistics courses. This paper presents a model that a mathematician asked to teach statistics can follow. This model entails connecting with faculty from numerous departments on campus to develop a list of topics, building a repository of real-world datasets from these faculty, and creating projects where students interface with these datasets to write lab reports aimed at consumers of statistics in other disciplines. The end result is students who are well prepared for interdisciplinary research, who are accustomed to coping with the idiosyncrasies of real data, and who have sharpened their technical writing and speaking skills.     

美国新版K-12科学教育框架对我国基础教育阶段科学教育的启示

新版K-12科学教育框架的出台表明美国拉开了新一轮科学教育改革的序幕。美国新版K-12科学教育框架主要特点:聚焦于核心概念的科学教学、工程与科学相提并论、知行合一的"实践"和整体化设计。结合我国当前基础教育阶段科学教学存在的问题,阐释了我们应该从美国新版K-12科学教育框架借鉴的教学改革理念与做法。     

高校青年教师专业发展途径探析

针对当前高校青年教师专业发展在岗前培训、青年导师制、继续教育、教学反思等方面存在的问题,对高校青年教师专业发展途径进行探讨。     

Improvement Science as a Promising Alternative to Barriers in Improving STEM Teacher Quality through Professional Development

STEM teaching occurs within national and state policy contexts that are constantly shifting in terms of standards and accountability due to the current and intense focus on students’ STEM outcomes. In the last two decades, federal legislation as well as common standards movements increasingly influence what and how STEM teachers instruct their students. Improvement science in education (ISE) has recently emerged as a new method of addressing many of the issues that impact teacher teaching and STEM teacher quality. ISE is a context-focused process improvement approach targeted at school improvement. This article explores three main barriers between STEM teacher professional development and student learning, and focuses on ISE as a promising alternative to current forms of STEM teacher professional development.     

我国科学教师专业发展阶段及途径初探

目前,我国科学教师专业发展还处于探索阶段,既没有统一的标准,也缺乏相应的鉴定制度,存在着诸多问题。文章结合我国科学教师专业发展现状,对我国科学教师专业发展的阶段及具体途径进行初步探讨。     

河北省小学科学骨干教师专业发展现状调查

采用问卷调查对参加河北省"国培计划"的小学科学骨干教师的专业发展现状进行了调查。调查结果表明:河北省小学科学骨干教师年富力强,整体教龄较长,但科学教龄较短;大多数教师专业学科背景缺乏,专业知识结构与能力存在缺陷;专业发展途径不够完善,缺乏专业发展规划指导;教学科研能力薄弱,参加学术会议和培训机会相对较少。针对此种状况提出了促进小学科学教师专业发展的若干建议。     

Effective Professional Development in Science and Mathematics Education: Teachers' and Facilitators' Views

This study compares the views of teachers and professional development facilitators about effective professional development (PD). We analyzed interviews with 72 teacher participants and 23 PD facilitators involved in nine science and mathematics PD projects. The teachers' themes for characterizing effective PD included classroom application, teacher as learner, and teacher networking. Similarly, the PD facilitators discussed effective PD as having classroom application and experiences for teachers as learners. In addition, PD facilitators shared the need to develop collegial relationships with teachers and improve teacher knowledge. These views correspond to some of the standards and recommendations described in policy and research documents on effective PD. Criteria of effective PD in these documents that the participants did not mention included: (1) challenging teachers' content and pedagogical content knowledge with transformative learning experiences, (2) encouraging teacher leadership for sustained support, and (3) focusing on student learning by instructing teachers on how to use student data to inform their teaching practice. Our findings have implications for designing PD that reflects the criteria of standards-based reform.     

自然科学教育中的性别差异

传统上，人们一直认为女性在自然科学方面的能力和发展不及男性。20世纪90年代中期，美国一些学者在布朗大学进行了一次关于“自然科学教育中的性别差异“的调查，并在这一调查研究基础上，对于如何在自然科学教育中贯穿一种性别视角提出建议。本文主要介绍这一研究成果，以期启发国内的相应研究与实践。     

美国实施“优秀科学教师专业标准”经验述评

美国一向把科学教育看做提高国家竞争力的重要基础,高度关注科学教师的质量。建立专业标准是提高教师质量的基础和前提。联邦政府在长期支持"国家教学专业标准委员会"建立优秀科学教学专业标准并认证优秀科学教师的基础上,近年又在教育发展战略上强调"只有优秀的教师才能培养优秀的学生,高素质的教师队伍是保证教育质量的关键",并从政策上和经费投入上提出"投资卓越教学",推广优秀科学教师实践,借以加强科学教师队伍建设,进而促进整个教育质量提高。本文旨在解读分析美国"国家教学专业标准委员会"开发的优秀科学教师专业标准的准则、内容、特点,从而为我国试行教师专业标准提供可资借鉴的经验。     

教育叙事研究——引领教师专业成长的快捷之路

随着教育叙事研究受到当今教育界的广泛关注,教育叙事研究对教师专业发展所起的作用也浮出水面。通过对教育叙事研究以及教师专业发展的界定入手,进而谈论了教育叙事研究对教师专业发展的促进作用：它促使教师的角色转换,提升了教育教学的实践性;促进教师树立问题意识;促进教师对教育教学不断反思;促成教师间的团队意识。最后,提出教育叙事研究是教师专业成长的快捷之路。     

Characteristics of Science Teachers Who Incorporate Web-Based Teaching

This study concerns the characterisation and classification of the way junior high school science teachers incorporate Web-based learning environment and materials into their teaching. About 60 science teachers from nine junior high schools in the northern part of Israel took part in an extended professional development (PD) program. The study, which applied the qualitative interpretative methodology, involved multiple sources of data, including field notes of observations in the PD meetings and class observations, interviews with teachers and principals, and teachers artifacts. Based on their professional growth and beliefs about implementation of Web-based teaching, four basic types of science teachers were identified: the initiator and pathfinder, the follower and conformist, the avoider, and the antagonist. Provided with long-term support, these teachers elevated their specific Web-related qualifications. In particular, they improved the development of Web-based, learner-directed material. The level of success in assimilating Web-based learning in science classes was influenced by the quality and cohesion of the school's teacher team and their principal's care and involvement.     

Large‐scale interventions in science education: The road to utopia?

This article provides commentary on the five articles in this issue on large‐scale interventions in science education for diverse student groups in varied educational settings. Using these articles as a point of departure, I discuss three challenges to science education research and practice. The first concerns the changed meaning of science education reform over the past two decades. The science education research and development community must be aware of the shifting policy and public awareness context of their work and react accordingly if it wishes for its work to make a difference in the lives of teachers and students. The second addresses the importance of teacher professional development and the role that well‐designed and internally valid research plays in developing knowledge in this area. The third discusses the chaotic and contradictory nature of educational policy in this country and argues that our field needs to align our research work with the ways in which real and impactful decisions are made about education in general and science education in particular. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 420–427, 2012     

美国国家层面教师专业标准述评

本文在介绍美国国家层面的教师专业标准产生与发展的背景的基础上,对美国国家层面两个具有影响力的标准:“国家专业教学标准”及“社会学科教师专业标准”进行了解析。最后,作者就建立我国的教师专业标准提出了几点建议。     

The Impact of a State Systemic Initiative on U.S. Science Teachers and Students

This study investigated the extent to which a State Systemic Initiative (SSI), a National Science Foundation program designed to improve science education across an entire state, implemented in the United States, could reform science education. Impacts that were measured included teachers' instructional practices, professional community, influence of the SSI on school policy, external influences on science instruction, and family involvement. In addition, students' views of instructional practice, school community and family involvement were measured. A retrospective comparative design was used to collect survey data from 46 middle schools; 23 that had significant amounts of contact with the SSI and 23 matched schools that had little to no contact with the SSI. The results suggested there were important differences favoring schools whose science teachers had participated in the SSI. Included were differences in the use of standards-based instruction, and external influences on science instruction teachers' influence on policy. No differences between the two groups were found for professional community or family involvement. For students, significant differences were only found for access to standards-based instruction. Results imply that SSIs can help change specific aspects of the system, but broader impacts are more difficult to achieve.     

K-12 access to internet: Securing the legal framework

While many people in government, education, and industry have lauded the potential educational value of Internet access for students in grades K-12, there is as yet no legal or regulatory framework within which this new medium is being offered to students. The Communications Policy Forum, a nonpartisan project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, recently convened a roundtable to discuss some of the legal issues that arise when K-12 schools provide Internet access to their students. Approximately 15 people, representing carriers who provide connections to the Internet, schools or school systems who are connected to the Internet, and legal experts with expertise in this and related areas, met to discuss questions of legal liability as this new medium enters an educational setting for minors. The following attempts to capture the major issues, suggestions, and directions for further collaborative efforts raised during the course of that discussion. In brief, the group identified statutory language aimed at other types of electronic communication that may offer some guidance; was briefed on a host of state laws that could be used to prosecute providers of certain materials found on the Internet; and concluded that there is no case law that clearly applies to this setting. The discussion revealed an interest in anticipating issues and developing responses before problems arose, and the need for shared approaches to allow carriers to move forward in serving and expanding this field. Members of the group offered to pursue these issues jointly and agreed upon a handful of concrete steps for further exploration and discussion.     

《环境科学教育》课程的教学设想与实践

论述了环境科学教育的重要性及开设环境科学教育课程的设想与实践。     

Understanding primary teachers’ professional learning and practice: an activity theory lens

In this study, the author reports on the professional learning of three primary teachers who engaged in three cycles of collaborative action research over a three-year period from 2013 to 2016. Case study was chosen as a methodology to gain insight into the context of the teachers’ work as they interacted with others and adopted multiple tools. Data collection and analysis were on-going over a three-year period, using several sources, including classroom observations, interviews, portraits and teacher-created multimedia artefacts. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and its activity system unit of analysis (subject, object, tools, norms, community and division of labour) was used by the author to describe changes in the professional learning of the three teachers, the contradictions or tensions they addressed, and how they transformed the aspects of their professional knowledge and classroom practice.     

从课程开发到课程领导：高职教师项目课程实施策略探索﹡

从教师专业发展的视角,针对部分高职教师参与课程开发的动力不足的问题,论证了课程资源建设与教师专业发展之间的正相关性关系,提出了高职教师采取主动参与课程开发、开展教研进行研究反思以及合力打造课程团队等策略,可以通过从入门--成长--熟练--专家的专业发展的四个阶段,逐步完成从课程开发者成长为课程领导者的过渡,而这也是教师专业发展成熟的重要标志。