The World in a River: Redesigning an entry level Earth Science course for Pre-Service Elementary Teachers through authentic investigations in a local watershed

改进本科STEM教育计划的“学生参与学习”轨道的这个探索设计项目旨在彻底重新设计入门级地球科学课程的教学方式，这是所有小学职前教师的要求。 在这样做的过程中，该项目将有助于生成与小学STEM教育中的国家关键问题相关的知识，即为小学教师提供知识，信心和技能，让早期学习者参与科学经验，为他们打开自然现象的奇迹世界。 研究表明，小学教师教育的学生通常缺乏强大的科学内容知识，对科学和科学过程的性质了解有限，对自己学习和教授科学的能力信心有限。 此外，小学和幼儿教师的自我效能感，能力和教学科学的兴趣水平低，这些态度是众所周知的影响教师的课堂科学教学和花费的时间教科学。 重新设计的地球科学课程将在下一代科学标准（NGSS）的框架内开发，并将使有抱负的教师体验做科学的做法，同时也学习如何访问和解释互联网上的环境数据。 总体主题将是地球系统的过程，例如在一个单一的流流域;每个单元将与学生可以在现场和网上进行的观察相联系。 该项目的目标有三个方面：提高学生的学习和技能发展，增强这些未来教师对他们教授科学的能力的信心，并增加他们学习科学的动力。该项目将制定一项战略，用于向职前教师教授地球科学，该战略是基于地点的，实践的和技术丰富的。 它将涉及带学生到外地收集真实的数据，以及使用观测站，如特拉华州环境观测系统和NSF克里斯蒂娜河流域临界区观测站的数据，作为实地考察活动和课堂/实验室教学之间的桥梁。使用基于设计的方法-迭代设计，制定，分析和重新设计周期-将允许项目团队测试和评估这些基于研究的教学方法和课程修改对职前教师学习的影响。 它还将为非专业地球科学教学的教育研究提供信息，以及对职前教师如何学习和参与这些概念的更广泛理解。 该项目要求从几乎与标准地球科学教科书和课程相反的角度来接近小学教师所期望的地球科学内容知识，通过遵循单一地球系统的故事弧（分水岭）来反转标准课程的广泛调查特征。 在重新设想的课程结束时，预计将取得以下学习成果：学生将了解NGSS所强调的地球系统内的关键过程，能够访问，绘制和绘制在线环境数据，能够设计和实施基本的科学调查，更多地参与和了解科学实践，并对科学教学更加舒适。 该团队将使用基于设计的方法来改进课程，迭代设计，制定，分析和重新设计周期。在为期三年的项目期间，该项目将采用准实验设计，其中新设计的课程的结果将与特拉华州大学的小班和大班的传统格式课程的结果进行比较。 从这个项目产生的方法和调查结果有可能是有益的其他机构谁希望实施一个类似的计划，利用丰富的资源，其具体的地方背景，以丰富的教学和学习经验的职前小学教师和他们未来的学生。 罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划为该项目提供共同资助，以表彰其与诺伊斯努力的更广泛的教师准备目标保持一致。

This Exploration & Design project, of the Engaged Student Learning track of the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program seeks to completely redesign the way teaching and learning occurs in the entry level Earth Science course that is required of all elementary pre-service teachers. In doing so, this project will assist in generating knowledge related to a national critical issue in elementary school STEM education, that of providing elementary teachers with the knowledge, confidence and skill to engage early learners in experiences in science that open the world of wonder of natural phenomena to them. Studies have shown that elementary teacher education students typically lack strong scientific content knowledge, have a limited understanding of the nature of science and scientific processes, and have limited confidence in their ability to learn and teach science. Furthermore, elementary and early childhood teachers report low-levels of self-efficacy, competency, and interest in teaching science; these attitudes are known to impact teachers'classroom science instruction and the amount of time spent teaching science. The redesigned Earth Science course will be developed within the framework of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and will allow aspiring teachers to experience the practice of doing science, while also learning how to access and interpret environmental data on the Internet. The overarching theme will be Earth system processes as exemplified within a single stream watershed; each unit will be tied to observations the students can make in the field and online. The goal of this project is threefold: to increase student learning and skill development, bolster the confidence of these future teachers in their ability to teach science, and increase their motivation to learn science. This project will develop a strategy for teaching Earth Science to pre-service teachers that is place-based, hands-on, and technologically enriched. It will involve taking students to the field to collect authentic data, as well as using data from observatories such as the Delaware Environmental Observing System and the NSF Christina River Basin Critical Zone Observatory, as a bridge between fieldwork activity and classroom/lab instruction. Using a design-based approach - with iterative design, enactment, analysis, and redesign cycles - will allow the project team to test and evaluate the impact of these research-based pedagogical approaches and curriculum modifications on pre-service teacher learning. It will also inform educational research on Earth Science instruction for non-majors, as well as broader understandings of how pre-service teachers learn and engage with these concepts. The project requires approaching the Earth Science content knowledge expected of elementary teachers from almost the opposite perspective of that represented in the standard Earth Science textbooks and curriculum, inverting the broad survey character of the standard course by following the story arc of a single Earth system, a watershed. By the end of the re-envisioned course, the following learning outcomes are expected: students will understand key processes within the Earth system as emphasized by the NGSS, be able to access, plot, and map online environmental data, be able to design and implement a basic scientific investigation, be more engaged with and aware of the set of practices that are science, and be more comfortable with teaching science. The team will use a design-based approach to curriculum improvement, with iterative design, enactment, analysis, and redesign cycles. During the three-year term of the project, the project will employ a quasi-experimental design where the outcomes of the newly designed course will be compared with the outcomes of the traditional-format course for both small classes and a large class at the University of Delaware. The approaches and findings emanating from this project have the potential to be of benefit to other institutions who wish to implement a similar program using the rich resources of their specific local context to enrich the teaching and learning experience of pre-service elementary teachers and their future students. The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program is providing co-funding for this project in recognition of its alignment with the broader teacher preparation goals of the Noyce effort.