The Earth Science Storybook Project: Building Content Knowledge and Teaching Confidence in Preservice Teachers

地球科学故事书项目地球科学故事书项目是一个试点项目，其前提是当前的科学教育改革必须以教师教育为重点。该项目发展了一个过程，大学教师可以作为职前教师的积极导师，促进教师的良好专业发展。该项目为职前教师提供了研究和撰写地球科学方面基于标准的儿童文学（故事书）的机会，并验证了创造性技能的使用将是一种有意义的学习经历，有助于教师获得更成功的专业发展。地球科学家帮助职前教师创造科学合理的产品，教授州和国家K-4年级标准所要求的概念。这些地球科学家与参与者一起设计简单的实验，这些实验将被包含在故事书中，旨在促进K-4课程的科学调查。强调实验的设计和实施，让参与的职前教师和K-4学生对科学的实践方式有了一个粗略的了解。在杨百翰大学（Brigham Young University），小学教育专业的学生在研究一个特定的地球科学主题并写一本关于这个主题的短篇故事书时，会受到指导。潜在的故事书主题取自国家和州科学教育标准，适合K-4年级的儿童。参与的职前教师在创作故事书的整个过程中都得到指导，以促进对科学探究的积极态度的发展，并增强科学教学内容知识。这些故事书将配有专业插图。随着该项目继续通过试点阶段，它将重点放在将故事书传播到当地学区。本署会评估故事书对教师和学生的影响，以及它们在促进地区四年级学生发展内容知识方面的成效。

The Earth Science Storybook ProjectThe Earth Science Storybook Project is a pilot project based upon the premise that current reform efforts in science education must have a focus on teacher education. The project develops a process whereby university faculty can serve as positive mentors to preservice teachers and foster sound professional development for teachers. The project presents preservice teachers the opportunity to research and write standards-based children's literature (storybooks) in earth science and test the idea that use of creative skills will be a meaningful learning experience leading to a more successful degree of professional development for teachers. Earth scientists help the preservice teachers to create scientifically sound products that teach concepts required by state and national standards for the K-4 grade levels. These geoscientists work with the participants to design simple experiments that will be included in the storybook narratives designed to promote scientific investigation in K-4 classes. The emphasis on the design and implementation of experiments gives the participating preservice teachers and K-4 students a glimpse of the way science is practiced. Elementary education majors enrolled in an introductory geology class at Brigham Young University are mentored as they research a specific earth science topic and write a short storybook on that topic. Potential storybook topics are taken from national and state science education standards and are appropriate for children at the K-4 level. Participating preservice teachers are mentored throughout the process of creating their storybooks in order to foster development of positive attitudes toward scientific inquiry and enhanced pedagogical content knowledge in science. The storybooks will be professionally illustrated. As the project continues past the pilot stage, it will focus on dissemination of the storybooks into a local school district. Assessment of the storybooks themselves will be conducted in terms of their affective outcomes on teachers and students and their effectiveness in fostering development of content knowledge for K-4 students at the district level.