Investigating Learning Progression Modules in Integrated Science Content Courses for Preservice Elementary Teachers

This project aims to serve the national interest by supporting highly effective pre-kindergarten through sixth grade (PK-6) STEM teaching through improved preservice elementary teacher STEM education. Many elementary teachers—while certainly capable of high-quality science teaching—often do not have a strong background or sense of self-efficacy in science and have limited opportunities to work with PK-6 students’ developing science ideas in their teacher preparation programs.

Additionally, 2- and 4-year college and university-based faculty who teach science content courses as part of preservice elementary teacher certification programs have limited opportunities to collaborate and consider how to best support preservice elementary teachers in their respective contexts. This IUSE Engaged Student Learning Track 1 project intends to adapt three research-based learning progressions (LPs) into six learning progression-based modules—LPMs.

The LPs are representations of how students’ science ideas may increase in sophistication with instruction. The LPMs are to be implemented in two required and sequential integrated science courses to (a) support preservice teachers in developing their own science ideas and (b) scaffold their attention to PK-6 students’ thinking about science. Additionally, the project team intends to host two mini-conferences for 2- and 4-year Michigan STEM and science teacher educators to provide an environment in which to co-learn about supporting preservice elementary teachers in the context of recent changes to state certification standards.

The project has three specific objectives. One is to develop, implement, and evaluate six LPMs in two integrated science courses for preservice elementary teachers. A second intent is to develop, host, and identify impacts of two mini-conferences as a context in which to share findings and materials of this project.

The mini-conferences are also intended to engage post-secondary STEM and science teacher education faculty from 2- and 4-year institutions to seek solutions to common issues related to supporting preservice elementary teachers’ STEM learning. Finally, the project aims to use quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate if and how LPMs impact preservice elementary teachers’ science understandings.

The research is designed to also investigate if and how preservice elementary teachers take up ideas from the LPMs during episodes of microteaching in their subsequent elementary science teaching methods class. While LPs have been previously researched in the context of preservice methods courses, they have not been implemented nor researched in the context of undergraduate science (content) courses.

The research and evaluation included in this project has strong potential to advance knowledge about preservice elementary teachers’ science education and support highly effective PK-6 STEM teaching through improved preservice elementary teacher STEM education. Dissemination of project research findings and materials to local, state, and national contexts is expected to occur through publication of research articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations, and a special page devoted to this NSF-funded project on the Education Department webpage of Alma College and through social media.

The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.