Integrated Science Courses for Elementary Education and Non-Science Majors

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Interdisciplinary (99) This is a 3-year curriculum adaptation and implementation project that focuses on a set of 4 new science courses (three 4-credit hour courses and a 1 credit-hour project-based capstone seminar) for elementary-education and non-science majors at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Chicago-area Community Colleges (CCs). The new courses are based on guiding principles, and incorporate elements, that derive from the rich literature on science teaching and learning and the overarching goals of national and local standards. These courses are resulting from collaborations between UIC and the CCs, among faculties in UIC's Colleges of Education and Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the CCs, among specialists in different sciences, and between K-12 teachers and college faculty. The courses are enhanced by adapting and implementing elements of the innovative set of courses developed by faculty at the University of Michigan at Dearborn. Three elements of the UMD program are being adapted: inquiry labs, assessment practices, and emphases in capstone course. The quality and impact of the project is being assessed by gathering and analyzing data on (1) faculty views on the adaptation and implementation of these courses, (2) fit between planned and enacted curriculum and pedagogy, and (3) student learning.