Integrating Mathematics and the Sciences in Teacher Education Programs

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A committed group of thirteen people from thirteen institutions if reforming our own teacher preparation courses, making them student-centered, inquiry based, and aligned with the national K-12 science standards. The team includes mathematicians, science educators, and scientists, all developing and giving courses for pre-service teachers. The three institutions (a research university, a technical/community college, and a historically black university) include students from a variety of SES's (socio-economic starting points). We integrate the pre-service courses for elementary teachers with each other and with mathematics. We progress towards our goals through specific initiatives targeted to the needs of each campus, course, and faculty member. Big Projects, where students design and conduct their own investigations over a period of weeks, are becoming self-sustaining and are exported to other courses and other campuses. One pair of physical science and biology courses is being thoroughly integrated in content and pedagogy, with instructors in one course teaching in the other, and with joint staff meetings. A summer retreat and some cross-disciplinary teaching will facilitate integration of mathematics and science at all three campuses. Our research on the successful treatment of the Nature of Science in one of our courses will support curriculum development in other courses. A laboratory manual is under contract with a commercial publisher, and we are seriously negotiating with another for a full textbook package. We will also disseminate our findings through workshops and publications, addressed to scientists, science educators, and university faculty in other disciplines.