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| Vol. 17, No. 2 | Sept. 11, 1997 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 2 | Sept. 11, 1997 |
Nearly two dozen elementary and middle school educators from across the state of Delaware gathered at the University during the summer to take part in an innovative summer program designed to provide elementary school teachers with the skills necessary to teach science.
The two-week program, "Summer Institute for Science Understanding: SISU '97," offered participants four graduate credits for successfully completing the course.
SISU is the outgrowth of a project that started two years ago when the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $5.5 million to San Diego State University (SDSU) to select 24, three-member teams nationwide for training in science education.
"The purpose of the training was for the groups to disseminate cutting-edge constructivist pedagogy," said David Onn, physics and astronomy. "We also will be using the associated simulation software that has been developed at SDSU."
According to Onn, constructivist pedagogy depends upon a conceptual change model that builds on a learner's prior knowledge. Following the elicitation of this prior knowledge, it provides hands-on activities that focus upon and challenge the learner, providing opportunities to reconstruct new understanding and knowledge in a socially secure environment.
Joining Onn in completing the three-week training course at SDSU last summer were Mary Anne Wells, a physics teacher at Christiana High School, and Aletha Ramseur, a graduate student at the University and a former teacher at New Castle Middle School.
This summer, the original team was joined by graduate student Pamela Perdue to conduct the two-week course that ran in June.
Participants in the workshops at Delaware, which ran from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., found themselves involved in what Onn described as "a total immersion, hands-on exploration of various scientific principles, "including floating, sinking, density, buoyancy, static electricity, current electricity, magnetism and electromagnetism.
For example, one afternoon in a fairly large room in Harrington Commons, a group of learners were sitting at a small table, working on a problem dealing with magnetism. The premise of the experiment was that each magnet was capable of holding one metal washer, about one-half inch in diameter.
If this one-to-one ratio between magnets and washers held true, according to the students taking part in the experiment, it would stand to reason that two magnets, stacked together, should be capable of holding two washers.
What the students found, was that one magnet was actually capable of holding not one, but four washers, and that two magnets did indeed hold a total of eight washers.
Not only was the original premise incorrect, but with further experimentation, the students learned that the holding power of the magnets decreased as extra magnets were added.
Each team was required to draw a prediction graph based on their experiments and, like lab students everywhere, they were required to write up their findings in a report.
Such experiments can be used in the classroom to involve students actively in science education. Tonyea Mead, a science coalition specialist for the Milford School District, said she supported the constructivist approach noting that she seems to actively engage students in the learning practice.
"Students that have not achieved as well as others are now doing better in the classroom," Mead said. "They are finally feeling successful, and as a result, their self-esteem rises."
Mead said she plans to take the lessons learned during the SISU workshops back to her district, and to share what she has learned with other teachers.
Connie Fannin, a science specialist for the Indian River School District, said she recognized the need for teacher training as a basis for getting students and their parents involved in learning science.
"We need content if we are going to teach content," Fannin said. "This program will make us more comfortable teaching science."
While the SISU program served as a valuable learning experience for the students enrolled in the course, it also proved to be an unusual teaching opportunity.
Perdue, who graduated from the University in 1995 with a B.A. in mechanical engineering, recently returned from a stint as a processing engineer with W. L. Gore Associates to pursue a master's degree in education while earning her Delaware teaching certification.
"It has been a positive experience, and I really agreed with the pedagogy being used here," she said. ""I learned so much from interacting with the other teachers."
Perdue said the course will help teachers prepare for meeting standards that will be required of students in years to come.
Ramseur, who brings 17 years of teaching experience at New Castle Middle School to the SISU program, said she is committed to the belief that elementary teachers need the strongest possible content background if they are to effective in teaching science to today's students.
"It really is a long-term process," Ramseur said. "The SISU program will help strengthen science education tremendously."
Wells, said the SISU program will bring educators a significant step closer to meet the content needs in the area of physics and science. She called the SISU experience a positive one for both teachers and students.
"The group has been an absolute pleasure to work with, because they are so interested and enthusiastic," Wells said. "Because of their enthusiasm for science, we have been able to make a great deal of progress."
While educators at many levels have been heavily involved in SISU, the program also has received considerable support from area business and professional leaders.
Jack Collette, who works at Central Research for the Du Pont Co., was a member of the Science Framework Committee that wrote the current science standards for Delaware school students.
"It became clear that at the elementary grade level we had created a gap between the standards and what was being taught," Collette said. "There is a real need to provide teachers with the skills necessary to teach science."
Through an additional $5.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, school districts throughout the state will get science kits that can serve up to 30 students for an eight-week period.
Rachel Wood, director of the Science Coalition of Delaware, who served on the Science Framework Commission as teacher co-chair, said SISU '97 is the beginning of a five-year professional development plan for teachers.
According to Onn, the program will offer at least two levels of courses next summer, a beginner's session and another for those paticipants who would like to return.
-Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Robert Cohen
