Non Traditional Pre-Service Teacher Experiences as Assistant Professional Development Trainers and as Scientific Research Apprentice

Authors: Josefina Arce, Milagros Bravo, Bernadette Delgado

Educators and experts in the education field have identified research experiences as an important component of science and mathematics teacher preparation (e.g., Zollman, 2003).  However, many math and science (MS) teacher preparation programs (TPP) lack apprenticeship in research, most particularly in the real work environment of a mathematician or scientist (Tobias & Greenberg, 1999). Moreover, many TPP programs include few real-life experiences of any kind, beyond those provided in the courses, especially those that can enrich their professional development by providing diverse experiences. The National Science Teachers Association's Standards for Science Teacher Preparation (NSTA, 2003) state that: "To show that they are prepared in content, teachers of science must demonstrate that they understand research and can successfully design, conduct, report and evaluate investigations in science."  It has been evidenced that apprenticeship in research, and other real-life experiences, in the context of inquiry-based learning, deepens students' understanding of science (National Research Council, 2001) and enhances the commitment of pre-service teachers to their discipline (Raphael et al., 1999).

To tackle these limitations, the Puerto Rico Math and Science Partnership (PRMSP; AlACiMa for its Spanish acronym), a comprehensive MSP, developed various kinds of interventions for pre-service teachers to enhance their preparation experiences. AlACiMa is a partnership formed by four units of the University of Puerto Rico with the PR public education system (PR Department of Education). Its mission is to enhance MS learning by offering a comprehensive and systemic support program to MS in-service and pre-service teachers so they would become experts in the content area they teach and in the use of research-based educational practices. This presentation focuses on two of the interventions for pre-service teachers: (1) a summer scientific research apprenticeship program, and (2) a professional development (PD) trainer assistantship program.

The AlACiMa scientific research apprenticeship program involved a research experience in a laboratory, during a summer long (or longer) period, under direct supervision of research faculty in MS departments or of researchers in non academic settings. This experience also entailed interactions with the researchers' graduate research assistants, some of which acted as the pre-service teacher co-mentors. At the end of the summer experience, the pre-service teachers are required to make an oral presentation of their work in front of peers and participant MS professors. One hundred thirty six pre-service students have participated in this experience. The PD trainer assistantship entailed a pre-service teacher assigned to PD trainers (about 90 college professors and exemplary teachers) to collaborate with them in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the PD activities for MS teachers from 310 K-12 schools. The assistant trainers were also assigned to provide support to teachers, who were in charge of the 28 Professional Math and Science Resource Centers (PMSRC).  These PMSRC provided curricular materials and equipment to MS teachers and are the sites in which the PD activities were carried out. Both the research apprenticeship and the PD trainer assistantship were elective extra-curricular activities for the pre-service teachers, since it was not part of their TPP regular curricula.