Program to Improve the Science Curriculum in Elementary School (PISCES): Workshops to Develop Oklahoma Teachers

罗伯特·霍华德博士是塔尔萨大学化学系的主席，也是小学高质量科学教学的积极支持者。霍华德博士为塔尔萨附近地区的小学教师组织并举办了几次教师提升研讨会，他还计划为整个俄克拉荷马州的小学教师举办为期三年的系列研讨会。准备不足的教师将获得为期五周的讲习班经验，在此期间，他们将接触到典型的教学材料和基于探究的教学方法的最新方法。教师将根据这些经过验证的教学材料制定自己的课程计划，并在实习环境中为孩子们授课。接下来的夏天，这些教师将接受一个更高级的为期五周的研讨会，为他们在自己的学区担任首席教师做准备。拟议的讲习班将在俄克拉荷马州培养一支由150名训练有素的领导教师组成的骨干队伍。这些教师中的每一位都将有能力在他们自己的学校和学区促成变革。利用教师作为其他教师的培训者和导师是实现科学教学广泛改进的一种非常有效的手段。接收院校承担的费用占NSF资助金额的127%。

Dr. Robert Howard is the Chairman of the Chemistry Department of the University of Tulsa, and an active proponent of high quality science instruction in elementary schools. Dr. Howard has organized and conducted several teacher enhancement workshops for elementary teachers from the region adjacent to Tulsa, and he has planned a three-year series of workshops for elementary teachers across the entire state of Oklahoma. Underprepared teachers will be offered a five-week workshop experience, during which they will be exposed to exemplary instructional materials and the most current approaches to inquiry-based teaching methods. The teachers will develop their own lesson plans based on these proven instructional materials, and will conduct classes for children in a practicum setting. The following summer these same teachers will have a more advanced five-week workshop that will prepare them to act as lead teachers in their home school districts. The proposed workshops will create a cadre of 150 trained leader teachers across Oklahoma. Each of these teachers will be capable of catalyzing change in their own schools and school districts. The use of teachers as trainers and mentors of other teachers is a highly effective means of effecting broadly-based improvements in science instruction. The cost sharing by the host institution amounts to 127% of the NSF support.