Professional Development/Outreach

QUEST: Quality Elementary Science Teaching is an elementary teacher professional development program as well as a summer science academy for elementary-age students. The project focuses on promoting success for ALL learners in science, through the use of formative assessment, inquiry-based instruction, and principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The project is funded through a grant from the Missouri Department of Higher Education's Improving Teacher Quality grants program.

A TIME for Phyics First -Leadership in Freshman Physics is a research and teacher enhancement project funded through the NSF Math and Science Partnerships Program. Through this project, participants and university faculty gain an expanded range of leadership expertise, content knowledge and pedagogical proficiency to share with others, as they become resources and catalysts for reform in science education at the secondary and post-secondary institutional levels. Ultimately, the overall goal is a significant increase in student achievement in science and science coursework.

Lawson Elementary, Walker Elementary, and Brown Elementary in the Hazelwood School District have been funded through the MU Partnership for Educational Renewal to form teacher study-groups to implement formative assessment in science. Workshops were held during the 2007-2008 school year.

Pierremont Elementary School in the Parkway School District received funding for the 2008-2009 school year through the MU Partnership for Educational Renewal. Workshops with teachers focus on implementing "seamless assessment" in science instruction.

The Math and Science Institute for Beginning Teachers is designed to give teachers in their first few years of teaching the support and resources they need to remain in the teaching profession and improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science in Missouri.

Past Research Projects

Improving Undergraduate Non-Majors' Understanding of the Nature of Science
This study, funded through the MU Research Council, focused on developing faculty expertise in teaching about the nature of science and improvement of scientific literacy. A paper about this work was shared at a poster session at AAPT.

An Exploratory Study of Integration of Explicit and Reflective Nature of Science Instruction in a Physical Science Content Course for Teachers
This study, funded in part by a Research Council Grant, investigated nature of science instruction in a large-enrollment lecture-and-lab course designed for preservice teachers. A paper from this project was presented at NARST.

Examining Assessment Practices in a Physical Science Content Course for Preservice Elementary Teachers
This action research project, funded by a Dr. Richard Wallace Research Incentive Grant, focused on the use of classroom assessment techniques to guide instruction and improve student learning. Members of the action-based research team included two faculty members of the course, two graduate teaching assistants, and an undergraduate researcher. A manuscript was published in the Journal of Physics Teacher Education.

Enhancing Preservice Elementary Teachers' Understanding of the Nature of Science: An Intervention Study
This study, funded by a Research Council Grant, investigated integration of instruction on the nature of science across Phase I and Phase II of the Teacher Development Program at MU. Preservice teachers' understandings of the nature of science were assessed during both their content and pedagogy courses. A paper from this project was presented at NARST.

Preservice Secondary Science Teachers Views of Evolution and the Nature of Science
This study, supported by the Southwest Bell Center for Science Education, investigates the relationship between preservice teachers' understandings of the nature of science and their concerns about teaching evolution. A paper from this project was presented at NARST.

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Field Experiences With Science Specialists
This study, conducted as a research internship with graduate student Tina Varma, is a naturalistic inquiry designed to explore the perceptions of prospective elementary teachers in a field experience with elementary science specialists. A manuscript from this project was published in the Journal of Science Teacher Education.