Moving Next Generation Science Standards into Practice: A Middle School Ecology Unit and Teacher Professional Development Model

学校和教师在实现新标准中描述的将核心跨学科科学思想与科学和工程实践相结合的雄心勃勃的目标方面面临着前所未有的挑战。美国自然历史博物馆(AMNH)将与康涅狄格大学(UConn)和劳伦斯科学馆(The Hall)合作，开发一个中学生态单元和相关的教师专业发展，以帮助高需求和城市中学生，包括英语学习者，理解这些想法和相关实践。教师将通过与课程直接相关的专业发展得到支持，专业发展旨在发展他们的科学内容知识以及如何教授课程的知识。该项目建立在现有AMNH资源的基础上，这些资源包括由扫盲战略支持的视频和文本段落、用于规划和开展调查的在线互动数据工具、以及对这些资源用于教师专业发展和课堂学生的先前研究。除了为直接参与的学校、教师和学生提供服务外，该项目的交付成果还包括生态单元、教师专业发展、评估工具以及设计与NGSS相关的综合科学项目的模型。课程单元将仿照生物科学课程研究(BSCS)5E模式，该模式将使用5个阶段(参与、探索、解释、阐述和评估)，让学生完成以下五个主题中的每一个：生态群落、食物网、河流生态系统、斑马贻贝入侵和监测人类影响。教师将参加为期12天的专业发展，介绍该计划的教学方法(5E模式)及其如何反映NGSS，教师有大量时间学习科学，尝试活动，学习如何促进该计划，作为评估的一部分，提供对该计划的反馈，并反思他们的实践。课程和教师专业发展的初步方法将在第一年设计，然后在第二至第四年通过注重课程发展和衡量学生和教师成绩的形成性评估反复修订和评估。评估将评估教师科学和教学知识对学生知识增长的贡献。为该项目开发的评价结果和评估工具将为今后的功效研究奠定基础。该项目是通过NSF的DRK-12计划资助的相对较少的项目之一，该计划直接解决了对NGSS相关学习资源的需求。该项目的学习资源、评估工具和设计NGSS相关综合科学计划的模型将通过专业出版物、会议和研讨会演示文稿分享，并与积极开发新资源将NGSS付诸实践的组织联系。

Schools and teachers face unprecedented challenges in meeting the ambitious goals of integrating core interdisciplinary science ideas with science and engineering practices as described in new standards. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in collaboration with the University of Connecticut (UConn), and the Lawrence Hall of Science (the Hall), will develop a middle school ecology unit and related teacher professional development that will help high-need and urban middle school students, including English Language Learners, understand these ideas and related practices. Teachers will be supported through professional development that is directly linked to the curriculum and is designed to develop their science content knowledge as well as their knowledge of how to teach the curriculum. The project builds on existing AMNH resources that include video and text passages supported with literacy strategies, online interactive data tools to plan and carry out investigations, and prior research on these resources used with teachers in professional development and with students in classrooms. In addition to serving the schools, teachers and students who directly participate, the project's deliverables include the ecology unit, teacher professional development, assessment tools, and a model for designing such comprehensives science programs that relate to NGSS. The curriculum unit will be modeled after the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E model that will use the 5 Phases (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) for students to work through with each of five themes: Ecological Communities, Food Webs, A River Ecosystem, Zebra Mussel Invasion, and Monitoring Human Impact. Teachers will participate in 12 days of professional development that will introduce the program's pedagogical approach (the 5E model) and how it reflects NGSS, with teachers having significant time to learn the science, try out the activities, learn how to facilitate the program, provide feedback on the program as part of the evaluation, and reflect on their practice. The initial approach to the curriculum and teacher professional development will be designed in Year 1 and then iteratively revised and evaluated in Years 2-4 through formative evaluation that focuses on curriculum PD, and measures of student and teacher outcomes. The evaluation will assess the contribution of teacher science and pedagogical knowledge to increases in student knowledge. The evaluation findings and assessment tools developed for the project will provide the foundation for a future efficacy study. The project is one of a relatively small number of projects funded through NSF's DRK-12 program that directly addresses the need for NGSS-related learning resources. The project's learning resources, assessment tools, and model for designing NGSS-related and comprehensive science programs will be shared through professional publications, conference and workshop presentations, and liaison with organizations active in developing new resources bring NGSS into practice.