The Impact of Summer Research Experience for Science Teachers on Classroom Instruction
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The Impact of Summer Research Experience for Science Teachers on Classroom Instruction T. Sen1, D. R. Baker1, and R. J. Culbertson2 1 Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, U.S.A. 2 Physics Department, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, U.S.A. ABSTRACT More than 100 science and mathematics teachers have participated in the ASU Math and Science Teaching Fellows program for summers in 2007-2010 at Arizona State University. The goal of the program was to expose the teachers to the real world of science and help them transfer the experience into the classroom. The teachers spend the mornings in small groups in assigned research laboratories and afternoons in whole group interactive sessions. During the afternoon sessions the teachers worked on a poster presentation and a classroom unit integrating the research experience. The present study focuses on the impact of the research experiences on the teachers' classrooms and the differences between a larger and longer program (37 teachers for 5 weeks in 2009) and a smaller and shorter program (8 teachers for 4 weeks in 2010). The lesson plans were coded based on a rubric. The posters were coded using qualitative analysis software. The scores on the lesson plans and the frequency of codes on transfer to classroom were higher in 2010 compared to those in 2009. The results indicate that the research experience program had a better impact on transfer to school curriculum with a smaller cohort of teachers. This implies that future research experience programs should be designed for smaller groups of teachers. INTRODUCTION Research experience for teachers has become a popular program in the advent of reform efforts in science education from as early as 1988. Research experiences have been provided in different scientific laboratories and field based science research labs throughout the U.S.A. Most of these programs involve teachers in conducting scientific research during the summer. The literature on research experience for teachers reveals that most of the studies done so far are based on self-reports of teachers by means of teacher interviews and surveys or questionnaires [1-5]. The goal of this study is to assess the activities of the teachers during the research program in order to get a better idea of the impact of the program on classroom implementation. Not much has been found in terms of transfer of such research experiences in the classrooms. None of the studies that have been done so far have compared a smaller group of participants to a larger group of participants of the same program. The ASU Mathematics and Science Teaching Fellows (MSTF) program was designed to give teachers from urban and rural areas in a southwestern state of U.S.A a better understanding of real scientific research and enhance their understanding of content, pedagogy, and the nature of science. The program ran for three years with a cohort of 37 to 40 teachers and was extended for a fourth year for a smaller cohort of 8 teachers. The purpose of this st
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