High school physics teachers,
Imagine: what if you could earn a Master's degree taking physics content
and pedagogy courses especially designed for TEACHERS, and with guidelines
such as these. How would you like it? How much of an improvement would it
be on YOUR graduate degree program?
And college/university faculty: How do you like these guidelines? Do they
seem conducive to an effective graduate degree program for teachers?
I ask because these are the guidelines for our new summer graduate program
for high school physics teachers, at Arizona State University.
Cheers,
Jane Jackson
GUIDELINES FOR COURSES:
Teaching Associates assist faculty in course design, development
and conduct as needed. The Teaching Associates are outstanding,
experienced inservice physics teachers who are thoroughly
versed in the methods and objectives of Modeling Instruction.
Their responsibilities include:
advise faculty on course level and pace and on specific
course objectives.
help with course design and selection of instructional
materials. This includes a survey (with help from staff)
of suitable instructional resources, including websites.
help organize and manage teacher work in collaborative
groups.
provide faculty with objective feedback on teacher needs.
Course design. The ultimate target for the MNS program is not the
teachers themselves but their students. Therefore each course
addresses the subject at a level which prepares teachers to entice and
inform their students. The teachers are engaged in activities and
projects that they can set up for their students. As the standard high
school curriculum does not include "contemporary physics," teachers
need the material developed in a modular form that can be used for
extracurricular projects and interest groups or in advanced enrichment
courses for seniors. In the long run, this serves to prepare teachers for
sorely needed content reform of high school science. Such reform, as
advocated by AAAS Project 2061, will never be achieved without
preparing the teachers.
Teaching Guidelines. Faculty who teach MNS courses agree to
support the objectives of the project and adhere to the
following teaching guidelines.
-- Selection of topics is influenced by preferences and needs
of the teachers.
-- Assignments adapt course material to instructional modules
that teachers can use with their own students.
-- Level-Subjects are addressed at the level of a Scientific
American article, although some use of algebra, calculus and
vectors may be appropriate.
-- Modeling Teachers are involved in explicit formulation and
analysis of the models inherent in the subject matter.
-- Collaborative learning: Teacher expertise in collaborative
learning is exploited in the design and conduct of class
activities, experiments, discussions and presentations.
-- Lecturing is limited in favor of discussion and
collaborative learning.
-- Laboratory experience acquaints teachers with operation
and use of modern scientific instruments such as lasers and
the electron microscope.
---------------------
Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331 <http://modeling.asu.edu>