|
|
|
Project Summary
In February 2006 Dr. David McIlroy, Department of Physics, and Dr. John Davis, College of Education, were awarded a three-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The overall goal of this program is to improve the communication skills and teaching ability of graduate students in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering, while increasing inquiry-based science being taught in rural elementary schools (grades 4-6) in north Idaho.
Each supporting objective is designed to address a specific challenge:
1. Improve graduate Fellow communication through training, practice, and experience.
2. Develop graduate Fellow teaching skills through training and practical teaching experience.
3. Strengthen Teacher's knowledge and confidence teaching inquiry-based science, including preparation for Idaho's science achievement test, by pairing them with Fellows.
4. Help grade 4-6 students learn more about physical science, and all sciences in general, by engaging them in grade-appropriate inquiry-based activities.
During each year, ten graduate Fellows become "visiting scientists" in ten different 4th, 5th or 6th grade classrooms. A new cohort of Fellows is selected each year. The Fellows' responsibilities include:
- lesson planning and delivery;
- production of large equipment for demonstrating science concepts (for example, a pulley stand where students can raise themselves up easily while sitting in a seat);
- supporting their partner teachers in learning science and math concepts;
- communicating their growth and development in relation to the goals of the project through weekly online journaling; and
- having fun teaching science to elementary children.
Conceptual Diagram of GK-12 Program
|
| |
|