Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

February 27, 2004

Teacher ed program should help meet state demand

Joanne Olson and Michael Clough watch a videotape of a student enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching program in science education. The program features a condensed timeline to graduation, a focus on research and practice, and a self-evaluation component. Photo by Bob Elbert.

by Kevin Brown
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack may want to consult with College of Education faculty in the Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education for tips on how to entice Iowans back to the tall-corn state. Among those returning Iowans are a genetist, wildlife ecologist and aerospace engineer. They all have a common goal -- to be science teachers.

Joanne Olson and Michael Clough, assistant professors of curriculum and instruction and the driving forces behind the revamped secondary and elementary science education programs for the college, said two Californians also are among the incoming class in an innovative Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T) program in science education.

Features of the revamped program include a condensed graduation timeline, a focus on research and practice, and a self-evaluation program that reinforces overall teaching skills.

"The new science-teacher preparation and research initiatives serve the people of Iowa by meeting the great need for highly effective science teachers -- a need that will only increase as the state faces a greater number of retiring science teachers -- especially in rural school districts," Clough said.

The one-year-plus-one-summer program is designed to help students with undergraduate science degrees become effective teachers in one year, instead of the traditional two. They are eligible to teach the fall after they graduate.

"The program is attractive for all students, but particularly those with families who are making a career change," Clough said. "It lessens the financial hardship."

During the creative component of the master's program, the students research and critique their own teaching practices.

"M.A.T. students will study education literature, prepare a researchable question regarding their own teaching, collect data, analyze that data and present their findings," Olson said. "The first M.A.T. cohort group is now beginning this process.

"At this point in the program, they are comfortable audio and videotaping themselves while teaching, and assessing their individual teaching strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. From this, they will learn how to research their practices, improve their teaching and better articulate their research-based decision-making."

Another unique quality of the M.A.T. program, according to Clough, is a "tightly coordinated series of four science methods courses tied to extensive school-based field experiences, and a required course in effectively teaching the nature of science."

"While all science education reform documents call for students to understand the nature of science, few teacher-education programs require course work that prepares teachers to address this important area," he said. "Knowing what science is and how it works, and why science ideas appear counter-intuitive, is essential for understanding much science content and the important role that science plays in society."

Science teachers who complete this program will be "prepared to thrive and stay in the profession," Olson and Clough stress. In fact, one aspect of their research is to determine the effectiveness of the new M.A.T., as well as recently restructured undergraduate science teacher preparation programs.

To do that, they will stay in long-term contact with the program's graduates and do extensive research on them to see how teacher education programs can produce teachers who have compelling research-based rationales for their classroom decisions and implement effective teaching practices.

Olson and Clough have applied for grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to conduct this research. They will learn in April whether their proposal will be funded.

The complexities of teaching
Not all policymakers are convinced that teacher education makes a difference in preparing effective teachers, Clough said.

"Some believe you can put anyone in the classroom who has a strong content background and desire to work with students. Effective teaching is very complex and largely counter-intuitive, demanding much more than simply presenting information in a clear and logical sequence," he said.

Olson noted that many science teachers leave the profession early because they have not been well prepared to understand the complexities of learning and teaching science.

"Teachers make numerous critical decisions each day working with children. A strong foundation in educational research is crucial for making decisions that are proactive rather than simply reactive," she said.

To illustrate that point, Clough and Olson offer this example: A teacher is trying to help students understand that mass is conserved in a chemical reaction. However, students typically believe that when a gas is formed in a chemical reaction, the mass of the products will be less than the reactants because gases have less mass than solids and liquids.

"The evidence is so overwhelming that the intuitive response, to simply tell students the correct answer, doesn't change students' deeply held ideas," Clough said. "Asked the same question in a different context, students will resort back to their commonsense ideas."

"Studies show that when you ask teachers what their teaching goals are, the answers come easily -- foster problem-solving, communication and critical-thinking skills," Olson said. "Ask those same teachers how to promote those goals, and they often struggle."

"The program is attractive for all students, but particularly those with families who are making a career change."

Teaching is too complex to expect one or a few strategies used in isolation to make a significant difference in student learning, Clough said.

"Teaching isn't an 'if, then' scenario. It doesn't work that way," he said. "It's looking at the whole picture. For example, how should I phrase my question? How much time should I wait for students to answer? How can I encourage students to risk telling me their thinking about this concept? What activities and materials are most appropriate given the students with whom I am working?"

Olson and Clough's bottom line on effective teaching: It's complex. They intend to show that science education graduates must learn to "research themselves to become reflective practitioners."