KSTF Young Scholars Research Fellows

Supporting Change Through Teacher Preparation 

The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the effectiveness (and limitations) of a program designed for the preparation of high school science teachers named Get Real! Science. This program is intentionally designed to better prepare science teachers who are committed to and able to use the teaching practices recommended by researchers and professional organizations to achieve greater science literacy for all students. Some of the features of the Get Real! program include supportive, uncommon opportunities for the participants to 1) learn science and scientific inquiry by conducting an investigation as learners; 2) develop commitments, confidence and competence with reform-based science teaching through out-of-school teaching experiences such as running a summer camp; and 3) reflect on their experiences and be publicly recognized as competent teachers. The innovative practices of the Get Real! program offer science educators direction as to how to better prepare science teachers to nurture their students' deep understandings of science . To adopt a new approach to science teacher preparation, however, science educators need to be convinced that it is really worth it, and the best way to do so is to show them concrete results - namely, evidence of the impact of innovative teacher preparation elements.

The focus of the proposed research project is on characterizing what kind of science teacher the graduates of the Get Real! program are today, and what most contributed to this outcome. I will include all willing Get Real! Science graduates (up to 27) in the study so as to avoid questions about bias in the selection of participants. I plan to create a 10-15 page "profile" for each available Get Real! graduate that identifies:
(a) the extent to which this graduate is committed and able to use teaching practices recommended by researchers and professional organizations (as identified in the National Science Education Standards), and
(b) how their science content knowledge, experiences in the Get Real! program, and the context of their first teaching experiences, affected them.
Information to create these profiles will be obtained through the combination of: selected artifacts (student work) from the Get Real! program, a survey of the graduate's (beginning science teacher's) priorities and practices, an analysis of a video-taped lesson, an interview with the graduate and an interview with a colleague. The video taped lesson and survey will be analyzed first along six primary scales including propositional and procedural knowledge. These data will be used to characterize initial evidence of a graduate's strengths and weaknesses with respect to reform-based teaching, and will be used to focus and individualize the probes used in a following interview. Analyses will be conducted within and across graduate profiles.

Besides providing rigorous empirical evidence for the impact of the Get Real! program, these profiles also will constitute a valuable foundation for my future research beyond a Knowles Fellowship. Based on these profiles, I plan to later select a subset of Get Real! graduates (those presenting the most interesting "stories") as subjects for more in-depth case-studies. This follow-up research will not only shed further light on the value and limitations of specific features of the Get Real! program, but more generally help us understand what kinds of challenges are encountered by novice science teachers and what teacher preparation programs and support systems we can put in place to support their growth into effective science teachers. Improving the preparation of future science teachers can be one of the most powerful ways to advance the mission of the Knowles Foundation to improve our country's science education. I am confident this study will contribute significantly toward that goal.