Sustainable Intellectual Growth of Elementary School Teachers in Science Content and in Science Pedagogical Content

Authors: Linda Beardsley, David Carraher, Sue Doubler, Judah L. Schwartz, Roger G. Tobin, John Zuman

The hypotheses we sought to explore were:

1. Teachers' attitudes and practices can be greatly improved through a limited set of highly interactive courses targeted on the teachers' intellectual growth, focused on a few "big ideas" and aimed at modeling effective processes of scientific investigation, scientific reasoning, scientific communication, and science pedagogy.


2. An effective program can be developed by close and ongoing collaboration among university science faculty, education researchers, cognitive psychologists and course developers, informed by multiple perspectives and diverse expertise.


3. Through involvement in such a program, teachers can become science education leaders in their schools, districts, and beyond.