Project Teach Evolution

在这个项目中，密苏里大学生物系和教育系的教职员工和他们的研究生合作开发了一门课程--《教学进化论》，面向该州未来的初中和高中教师。尤其令人感兴趣的是那些在农村或小城镇教书的人，他们往往是该地区唯一的科学教师或生物教师，而准备不足和外部压力共同阻碍了他们处理这一基本科学概念。正在对教师进行调查，以评估他们的需求，包括教学知识和教学方法，以便课程尽可能直接地满足这些需求。利用公认的“向后设计”的教育实践，团队根据调查结果指定学习目标，制定评估目标是否达到的措施，然后制定课程结构，以包括将产生预期学习结果的活动。这门课程的学生包括职前生物教育学生、回到大学获得替代教师资格认证的研究生，以及寻求加强其学科知识的在职教师。经验的多样性在他们之间产生了丰富的对话。本课程包括进化论的社会和哲学影响的各个方面，以及对这门学科教学带来的挑战的讨论。一旦接受培训，新教师就会成为一个名为MoEvolves Network的虚拟社区的一部分，在这个社区中，他们可以在网上与其他面临类似情况的人分享他们的挑战、成功和教学技巧。由于有效的中学教师对学生思维定势的影响，教学进化课程及其支持网络将对密苏里州郊区的科学素养产生不成比例的影响。

In this project faculty members from the Biology and Education Departments and their graduate students at the University of Missouri have collaborated to develop a course, "Teach Evolution," offered to future middle- and high-school teachers in the state. Of particular interest are those who teach in rural or small-town districts, where they are often the only science teacher or biology teacher in the district, and where inadequate preparation and outside pressure combine to discourage them from tackling this fundamental scientific concept. The teachers are being surveyed to assess their needs, both content knowledge and pedagogy, so that the course addresses those needs as directly as possible. Using the accepted educational practice of "backwards design," the team specifies the learning goals as drawn from the results of the survey, measures are developed to assess whether the goals are being met, and the structure of the course is then developed to include activities that will develop the desired learning outcomes. Students in the course include pre-service biology education students, graduate students returning to the University to earn alternative teacher certification, and in-service teachers seeking to strengthen their content knowledge. The diversity of experience generates a rich conversation among them. Included in the course are aspects of the social and philosophical impact of evolution and discussion of the challenges those bring to the teaching of the subject. Once trained, the new teachers become part of a virtual community, the MoEvolves Network, in which they can share on line their challenges, successes, and teaching tips with others facing similar circumstances. Because of the influence of effective secondary school teachers on the mind-sets of their students, the Teach Evolution course and its support network will have a disproportionate influence on science literacy in exurban Missouri.