Boston Energy in Science Teaching (BEST)

波士顿科学教学中的能量(BEST)项目是第二阶段的MSP，它探索使用科学的组织原则之一--能量，作为扩展和研究教师深入的概念理解如何转化为学生更深入地参与、阐述和学习科学的工具。这种对能源的创新关注将使伙伴关系能够研究如何利用基本的组织原则(例如，能源、模型、规模、系统和恒定/变化)来更好地从小学到本科教授科学。最佳伙伴关系由马萨诸塞大学波士顿分校(UMB)、波士顿公立学校(BPS)、东北大学(NEU)和罗克斯伯里社区学院(RCC)组成。教育发展中心(EDC)和UMB进行最好的教育研究，莱斯利大学的项目评估研究小组提供独立的项目评估。最好的项目研究概念驱动的专业发展与学科驱动的专业发展是否以及在多大程度上提高了3-8年级的科学教师和大学教职员工对概念的理解、教学的性质、学生和/或教职员工与教师的互动以及他们对自己研究的思考。最好的行动理论证明了这样一个假设，即为了理解世界是如何运行的，人们需要对科学的基本概念有深刻的理解，需要广泛的科学观察基础，以及多维度和连贯的学习方法。然而，它承认，目前的科学课程、课程材料和大学科学系主要是组织成单一的科学学科。教师和学生，特别是中级(3-8年级)的教师和学生，正在重新教授和重新学习学科筒仓中相同的概念。这些概念上的脱节和孤立的教学方式未能利用学生与生俱来的好奇心，以及他们日常体验的现实世界中的联系。与此同时，科学和技术的巨大进步最近产生于对“跨学科”或“跨学科”研究的新强调。因此，最佳伙伴关系的努力假设，通过重新强调跨越所有科学学科的基本概念，可以为教师和他们的学生在科学学习方面取得类似的进展。该伙伴关系扩展和修改了其第一阶段的两个成功战略，即情景内容课程(CCC)和科学中的协作辅导和学习(CCLS)，利用能源这一主题，整合了弥漫在科学中的基本概念，以发展从小学到本科的更好的科学教学。最好的愿景是：STEM高等教育教职员工人数不断增长，与K-12教师在科学教育改革中并肩工作；波士顿教师对科学的组织原则及其与学科课程的联系有深刻的认识；来自各种背景的学生进入和保留在波士顿科学伙伴关系支持的STEM管道中。该伙伴关系的目标是：1)更好地了解增加教师知识如何提高学生的成绩和研究为什么最佳模式有效；2)增加教师对科学的理解，从而提高教师在教授现有课程时的效率和效力；3)让各学科的高等教育教职员工深入讨论跨学科研究和科学教育，以便在STEM教育中引发新的研究方向和中心机构变革，以及4)提高学生对中等年级科学的兴趣和成就。最好的项目将产生一种创新的教学方法，融合了能源主题、科学教育硕士学位、日益壮大的强大科学教育工作者社区、为大学教职员工和教师提供的高效和创新的专业发展模式，并将传播到其他大学-学校地区合作伙伴关系，以及对教与学的重大研究。

The Boston Energy in Science Teaching (BEST) project is a Phase II MSP that explores the use of one of the organizing principles of science, Energy, as a vehicle to extend and research how teacher in-depth conceptual understanding translates into deeper student engagement, exposition and learning of science. This innovative focus on Energy will allow the Partnership to examine how fundamental organizing principles (e.g., energy, models, scale, systems, and constancy/change) can be used to better teach science at the elementary through the undergraduate level. The BEST Partnership is comprised of the University of Massachusetts-Boston (UMB), the Boston Public Schools (BPS), Northeastern University (NEU), and Roxbury Community College (RCC). The Educational Development Center (EDC) and UMB conduct the BEST educational research and the Program Evaluation Research Group at Lesley University provides the independent project evaluation. The BEST project researches whether and to what extent participation in concept-driven vs. discipline-driven professional development improves grade 3-8 science teachers and university faculty members conceptual understanding, the nature of their instruction, the outcomes of their students, and/or faculty members' interactions with teachers, as well as their thinking about their own research.The BEST theory of action exemplifies the hypothesis that in order to understand how the world works, people require a deep understanding of the fundamental concepts of science, a broad base of scientific observations, and a multi-dimensional and coherent approach to learning. It recognizes, however, that current science curricula, course materials, and university science departments are predominantly organized into single scientific disciplines. Teachers and students, especially at the intermediate level (grades 3-8), are re-teaching and re-learning the same concepts within disciplinary silos. These conceptual disconnects and the segregated way of teaching fail to take advantage of the innate curiosity students bring to learning and the real-world connections that they experience daily. At the same time, huge advances in science and technology have recently resulted from a new emphasis on "interdisciplinary" or "cross-disciplinary" research. Therefore, the BEST Partnership effort hypothesizes that similar advances in science learning can be made for teachers and their students through a new emphasis on the foundational concepts that straddle all science disciplines. The Partnership extends and modifies two of its Phase I successful strategies, Contextualized Content Courses (CCC) and Collaborative Coaching and Learning in Science (CCLS), by using Energy, a theme that integrates the fundamental concepts that pervade science, to develop better teaching of science at elementary through undergraduate levels. The BEST vision is one of a growing community of STEM higher education faculty that works side-by-side with K-12 teachers in science education reform; Boston teachers having a deep sense of the organizing principles of science and their connection to disciplinary curricula; and students from all backgrounds entering and remaining in the STEM pipeline supported by the Boston Science Partnership. The goals of this Partnership are to 1) better understand how increasing teacher knowledge increases student achievement and research why the BEST model is effective, 2) increase teacher understanding of science and therefore teacher efficiency and effectiveness at teaching existing curricula, 3) engage disciplinary higher education faculty in a deep discussion of cross-disciplinary research and science education in order to spark new research directions and center institutional changes in STEM education, and 4) increase student interest and achievement in science in the intermediate grades. The BEST project will result in an innovative instructional approach integrating the theme of Energy, a science education masters degree, a growing community of strong science educators, a highly effective and innovative professional development model for both college faculty and teachers which will be disseminated to other university-school district partnerships, and significant research on teaching and learning.