The Restructuring at SUNY Cortland of Science, Mathematics, and Pedagogy Experiences for K-6 Pre-Teachers

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During the past academic year, fourteen faculty from the sciences, mathematics and education departments at SUNY Cortland participated in an NSF Development Grant. During this project, course outlines were developed for a restructured math/science/pedigogy/composition program for K- 6 pre-teachers, SUNY Cortland has the largest elementary teacher preparation program in the State of New York. The proposed project would develop the curriculum and instructional materials to implement a 27 cr. hr, block of experiences. in addition to the fourteen SUNY Cortland staff, science/math faculty from five regional Community colleges would be involved in the curriculum development and implementation phases of the proposed project, A research/assessment team from Cornell University would evaluate all aspects of the project. The Level One block contains content courses specifically designed for the K-6 pre-teachers and will be taught utilizing a conceptual change approach, Composition 101 will be taught in conjunction with the Level One Science course. Pedagogy courses in both science and math will be taught in conjunction with the Level One content courses. In both pedagogy courses, the pre-teachers will be involved in experiences with elementary school-aged students. The Level Two block is an integrated and interdisciplinary math/science experience in which students will be introduced to problem solving strategies and will utilize the strategies to investigate six significant real world science problems, The mathematical concepts will be developed through the context of science content, During the Level Two block, pre-teachers will work with elementary-aged children in a math/science lab setting. In a culminating math/science experience, the pre-teachers will participate in a Science, Technology and Society (STS) block in which they will be engaged in conducing real world STS research under the guidance of a faculty facilitator and a business/industry mentor. Each c urricular block will be pilot tested three times before the curriculum is integrated Into the academic program of the host institution and that of the five satellite campuses.