INTRODUCTION

Current recommendations in science education highlight the notion that students must experience science in ways that echo the experiences of scientists in order to develop proficiency in that discipline (NGSS Lead States, 2013; NRC, 2012). In this way, K-12 teachers must move beyond simply focusing on content to providing students with opportunities to think, feel, act, and behave as scientists do as the work to construct understandings about the natural world through disciplinary engagement. These features of disciplinary engagement include the cultural aspects of science – the knowledge, practices, habits of mind, and affect that scientists must attend to in order to their work within a scientific community of practice (See Figure 1) (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Pickering, 1995). If K-12 students are to experience aspects of the culture of science in the classroom, then it stands to reason that science teachers should have a clear understanding of what science, as a cultural endeavor, entails. Yet most science teachers have had limited exposure to or experiences with the scientific community, and therefore may not have full knowledge or understanding of the culture of science and this is particularly true for many elementary teachers (Trygstad et al., 2013). One possible way to provide such understanding for K-12 teachers is through Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) professional development programs, programs in which teachers are situated within a scientific community of practice for a time to work shoulder-to-shoulder with research scientists. In addition to supporting teachers’ understanding of and participation in science, a central goal of RET programs is to influence change in teachers’ classroom practice.

Examining Elementary Teachers’ Participation in a Research Experience for Teachers Program

Shannon Lee Gooden Florida State University

Why Focus on Elementary Teachers?

REFERENCES

Aflalo, E. (2014). Advancing the perceptions of the nature of science (NOS): Integrating teaching the NOS in a science content course. Research in Science & Technological Education, 32(3), 298-317. Czerniak, C. M., & Mentzer, G. (2013). Early Childhood Science: A Call for Action. School Science and Mathematics, 113(4), 157-158. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press. National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Pickering, A. (1995). The mangle of practice: Time, agency, and science. University of Chicago Press. Trygstad, P. J., Smith, P. S., Banilower, E. R., & Nelson, M. M. (2013). The Status of Elementary Science Education: Are We Ready for the Next Generation Science Standards?. Chapel Hill, NC: Horizon Research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

•  Thank you to Jose Sanchez, Roxanne Hughes, and the Center for Integrating Research and Learning (CIRL) staff for their continued support and for allowing me to work closely with the RET program over the last several years.

•  Thank you to the RET teacher participants of this study who allowed me constant access to their thinking, their time, and their experiences during the 2017 RET Program.

•  Thank you to the RET mentor scientists at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, particularly Bob Goddard, Jianyi Jiang, and Yang Wang, for allowing me to observe their work and interactions with the 2017 RET participants.

•  Thank you to Sherry Southerland and my dissertation committee members at Florida State University for their guidance and commitment to my success throughout this project.

This work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and is supported by National Science Foundation DMR-1157490

METHODS

RET at the Mag Lab

Figure 1. Aspects of science as a cultural endeavor: Science-as-practice dimensions, habits of mind, and epistemic affect. Opposite: Carrie polishes cross-sectional samples of Bi-2212 wire

High quality science education during the elementary years provides students with opportunities to develop critical processing and problem-solving skills, disciplinary practices, and habits of mind inherent to the scientific community before concepts in science learning may become too daunting or complex (Czerniak & Mentzer, 2013).

Ava and Carrie working with their research mentor, Dr. Jiang, at the MagLab

Yet, despite its importance, science teaching is often minimized in elementary school. One possible reason for this is that K-5 teachers are often unprepared to teach science in meaningful ways due to inadequate science teaching preparation, underdeveloped science content knowledge, and a lack of personal experience with scientific research (Aflalo, 2014).

RET programs are fertile contexts to support K-5 teachers in becoming more confident and comfortable with science and the work of scientists by immersing them in hands-on research while working elbow-to-elbow with experts. The hope, then, is that such exposure will translate to their classroom teaching practice in meaningful ways.

The 2017 RET teacher cohort. K-12 teachers may come from across the U.S. to participate in cutting-edge research (Photo credit: Jose Sanchez)

The RET at the MagLab runs for six weeks each summer and culminates in a research poster presentation at the conclusion of the program. During their time here, K-12 teachers work in pairs with a mentor scientist on some aspect of research that is ongoing at the MagLab. Additionally, the teachers participate in multiple meetings each week to share science lessons, discuss their experiences in their labs, and learn new approaches to science teaching through workshops presented by CIRL staff.

Research Questions

•  What aspects of the culture of science and the community of science are elementary teachers experiencing in a Research Experience for Teachers?

•  How do elementary teachers come to understand and take up these aspects in

their RET experiences?

•  In what ways might these experiences within the community and culture of science influence elementary teachers’ classroom practices for teaching science?

Study Participants

This research takes a qualitative, naturalistic approach to develop in-depth case studies for each participant (n=4) within this study. The goal of this research is to better understand the individual experiences of these elementary teachers as they participate in scientific work through enculturation in a research community during their time in the RET program.

Ava •  Majored in Elementary Education •  Elementary K-6 Certified (FL) •  16-20 years teaching experience •  Teaches at a Title 1 School

Carrie •  Majored in Outdoor Education •  Elementary/ESE/Gifted Certified (FL) •  11-15 years teaching experience

Lynette •  Majored in Special Education •  ESE/Elem/PreK-P/PreK-D Cert. (FL) •  6-10 years teaching experience •  Teaches at a Title 1 School

Miranda •  Majored in Elementary Education •  Elementary/ECE Certified (NC) •  11-15 years teaching experience •  Teaches at a Title 1 School

Data Sources & Collection

Two RET participants work with their research mentor on the scanning electron microscope

Observations and Field Notes

Participant & Mentor Interviews

Science Teaching Practices

NEXT STEPS

Some preliminary reflections from the elementary teacher RET participants suggest that they each left the MagLab feeling more confident and enthusiastic about teaching science in the coming school year. In addition to analyzing the current data for aspects of teachers’ experiences with the culture and community of science, next steps include conducting follow-up observations and interviews within the elementary participants’ classroom contexts in order to gain a better understanding of the ways in which the RET program might influence their teaching practice.