An Action Research Perspective of Making Connections between Science and Mathematics in a Science Methods Course.

Autor/inn/en	McGinnis, J. Randy; Roth-McDuffie, Amy; Parker, Carolyn
Titel	An Action Research Perspective of Making Connections between Science and Mathematics in a Science Methods Course.
Quelle	(1999), (22 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Action Research; Elementary Education; Higher Education; Interdisciplinary Approach; Mathematics Teachers; Preservice Teacher Education; Science Instruction + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Projektforschung; Elementarunterricht; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Mathematics; Teacher; Teachers; Mathematik; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Lehramtsstudiengang; Lehrerausbildung; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht
Abstract	This study documents and interprets the efforts made by one elementary science methods professor to make connections between mathematics and science in an elementary science methods course. This is an action research study using an N of one (a case study) from the theoretical stance of symbolic interaction. Participants in this study include the course professor, a co-researcher, and the 30 teacher candidates in the course. Special focus is on six teacher candidates participating in a National Science Foundation funded undergraduate teacher preparation program designed to produce specialist mathematics and science upper elementary/middle level teachers and on three elementary education majors with concentrations in mathematics or science. Discussion focuses on the researchers' reflections as prompted by a comparison of the performance of the special teacher candidates' and the other teacher candidate participants. A key implication from this study is the assertion that while all participants benefited from the teaching innovation to blend mathematics and science in the methods course, the teacher candidates participating in the specialist program were particularly receptive to and accomplished in making connections between mathematics and science. The authors believe that they benefited preferentially due to their prior experience in content specialist classes in which the professors emphasized connections between the two disciplines. However, the authors also advise caution in implementing this innovation in all contexts. A major finding is that teacher candidates are inclined to construct visions of the role of mathematics and science when making connections, which specialists in the disciplines might find problematic. (Author/DDR)
Anmerkungen	For full text: http://www.towson.edu/csme/mctp/Research/AETS99Paper.htm.
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC