Attitudes Beliefs and Content Knowledge Are today s teachers prepared to teach science In partial fulfillment of PHY590 Master Project Edward A Von Iderstein Department of Physics SUNY Buffalo State College 1300 Elmwood Ave Buffalo NY 14222 evoniderstein yahoo com Acknowledgment This manuscript was prepared in partial fulfillment of requirements for PHY690 Masters Project at SUNY Buffalo State College under the guidance of Dr Dan MacIsaac ABSTRACT This study shows the different challenges that face today s science teachers Both primary and secondary science educators must approach the science classroom differently than their predecessors Cultural diversity advances in technology and new state and federal legislation are among many new issues that science teachers must overcome These factors can affect the attitude of pre service teachers A pre post survey of 28 post baccalaureate students who are or will be HS physics teachers during June through August 2003 independent of gender and cultural background variables is evaluated to compare attitude and beliefs toward teaching math and science obtaining content knowledge and efficacy over an intensive summer physics and science education course 1 INTRODUCTION All teachers must teach science However the method of science education is going to differ between the age levels Both the primary and secondary educators need to be prepared to teach this subject The process one must undergo to be fully qualified will differ depending upon each teacher s discipline Obviously the approach for each level will be different due to the cognitive stage of the students Unfortunately recent trends in science education leave one to wonder if teacher candidates have the proper preparation for teaching science According to the U S Department of Education the number of qualified math and science teachers has dropped dramatically since 1990 In 2000 61 of high schools and 48 of middle schools had difficulty filling science teacher positions with qualified applicants National Science Teachers Association 2000 There are many reasons for this growing shortage of qualified teachers Very few college undergraduates are pursuing a career in science education 20 of science and mathematics undergraduates reflect on a career in education though only 5 complete teacher candidacy programs U S Department of Education 2000 Many undergraduates considering a career path in science education drop their science major by their junior year These students continue on to teaching careers in non science disciplines Seymour and Hewitt 1997 Moreover college graduates that complete teaching programs in science and math consider teaching for temporary positions U S Department of Education 2000 Even teachers who stay in the profession may 2 contribute to this problem by transferring to other districts whereby are replacing one vacancy with another Ingersoll 2003 Another problem with taking steps to resolve this crisis is not only finding teachers but qualified and competent teachers Most undergraduates who are successful in science content assessments choose to pursue fields other than teaching These students with higher test scores and grade point averages prefer careers in research and technology to education Shugart and Hounshell 1995 This trend will always be very difficult to overcome Furthermore 32 of math and science teachers do not have degrees in their field U S Department of Education 2000 Most of these teachers have non science certifications used to fill vacancies in their school districts This occurrence is particularly common in middle school and low income public high schools The K 12 qualified math and science teacher shortage perpetuates a vicious cycle in that poor K 12 preparation discourages students from pursuing careers in those disciplines including K 12 teaching Moin Dorfield and Schunn 2005 Gafney and Weiner 1995 This is a disturbing thought Low achieving students in math and science will have negative attitudes toward these subjects This negative feeling can lead to lower scores and averages and diminishing scientific understanding Shugart and Hounshell 1995 This pessimistic attitude and low level of understanding can lead to continuously declining test scores and scientific understanding Students are not the only group who suffers from negative feelings toward science Many teachers especially those who struggled with science as a 3 student carry poor attitudes toward science themselves and pass these on to their students These views on science from educators may have come from poor instruction they themselves received as students Thus reinforcing the vicious cycle we see in science education For teachers to overcome these negative attitudes their instructors must turn these ideas into positive learning experiences McGinnis et al 2002 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Many of today s teachers especially elementary teachers have the ability and necessary background to be effective science teachers Many teachers will tell you they teach the way they were taught In the case of science how many of these teachers did not receive adequate instruction as a student In order to deal with these issues this paper will address the following questions 1 Does increased content knowledge improve attitudes toward science 2 When given instruction specifically designed to improve teachers skills in science education how do attitudes toward teaching science change METHODOLOGY In this study I examined the pre post test scores of two graduate level summer immersion classes which ran concurrently in the summer of 2003 at State University of New York College at Buffalo These classes were designed 4 for the current elementary teacher and teacher candidate to assist them in becoming proficient in teachers of physics One course Physics 507 Teaching Mechanics for K 8 Teachers is listed as a physics course and gives the students a better understanding of physics and the nature of science The other course Education 671 Constructing Science Understanding focuses on effective teaching methods for science and compares elementary age students understanding of scientific principles Both courses offer a view of physics which is foreign to many students They are based on a more qualitative and conceptual curriculum than a traditional university level physics course which deals with mathematical and quantitative analysis To minimize sources of error these classes were chosen specifically because of their
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