Sharing Science: Characteristics of Effective Scientist-Teacher Interactions

Abstract

Despite national guidelines to reform K-12 science education, our students are not learning science any better. Conducted under the auspices of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a symposium examined several programs where professional scientists interact with classroom teachers to improve science education. Symposium participants described their projects and discussed the factors that contribute or detract from each project's success. The events of this symposium are critically analyzed. Four themes emerged as issues that affect the successful implementation and continuation of science education reform projects: scientific literacy as a primary goal, personal characteristics and commitment of project partners, curricular change built on social and developmental goals, and the incentive/reward structures in universities and school systems. This review of the emergent themes places the opinions of the symposium participants into the larger context of a growing science education research literature to inform others about synergy between professional scientists and classroom teachers. Our aim is to help others learn about the characteristics of effective partnerships to improve science education.

Moving beyond GK–12

“…Outreach programs do raise awareness on the campus for the need to connect higher-education and K–12 schools, but these projects are often limited in scope, with little time spent by the scientist in the classroom, effectively eliminating the establishment of a true partnership between scientist and teacher. Scientists who volunteer for outreach activities view these as ancillary to their primary university responsibilities, and report that lack of flexibility in scheduling, time constraints, and the absence of university value placed on this volunteer work detracts from significant time devoted to work with schools (Pelaez and Gonzalez, 2002). …”

Investigation of Science Faculty with Education Specialties within the Largest University System in the United States

“…Most scientists who are situated in a college or university are engaged in undergraduate teaching, either in classrooms or laboratories, and as such are continually called to join in undergraduate science education reform. In addition, the call for scientists to be involved in K–12 science education has been apparent since the 1980s in the following ways: within professional scientific organizations (e.g., American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993), as part of school university partnership programs (e.g., Alberts, 1994; Bower, 2001; Pelaez and Gonzalez, 2002; Dolan and Tanner, 2005), in the context of graduate training programs (e.g., National Science Foundation [NSF] GK–12), within science departments (e.g., NSF, 1996; McWilliam et al , 2008; Woodin et al , 2010), and at the level of broader impacts within individual NSF research grants. Basic research scientists are apparently being asked to engage in discussions between the sciences and a range of disciplines informing the field of science education, such as cognitive science, developmental psychology, cultural diversity, and education.…”

What Good Is a Scientist in the Classroom? Participant Outcomes and Program Design Features for a Short-Duration Science Outreach Intervention in K–12 Classrooms

“…Although both audiences and presenters are reported to be enthusiastic about their participation (Hood, 1994;Koehler et al, 1999;Swim, 1999), most of the published literature consists of outreach program descriptions and advice from experienced program developers (Hood, 1994;Koehler et al, 1999;Munn et al, 1999;Swim, 1999;DeLooper et al, 2000;Evans et al, 2001;Pelaez and Gonzalez, 2002;Dolan et al, 2004;Halford, 2005). These descriptions provide valuable information from experienced practitioners, especially in helping to improve program delivery, but many of the claims made are not supported by evidence gathered using methodologically sound research and evaluation approaches.…”