First Advisor

William Becker

Date of Publication

Summer 11-20-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Teaching (M.S.T.) in General Science

Department

Science Teaching

Language

English

Subjects

Preschool teachers -- Training of, Science -- Study and teaching, Early childhood education, Children -- Life skills guides

DOI

10.15760/etd.5960

Physical Description

1 online resource (viii, 85 pages)

Abstract

As technology and our world understanding develop, we will need citizens who are able to ask and answer questions that have not been thought of yet. Currently, high school and college graduates entering the workforce demonstrate a gap in their ability to develop unique solutions and fill the current technology-driven jobs. To address this gap, science needs to be prioritized early in children's lives. The focus of this research was to analyze a science training program that would help pre-school teachers better understand Mind in the Making life skills, the nature of science, science practices, and improve their self-efficacy integrating science education into their classrooms and curriculum. Seventy-one teachers enrolled in two three-day, professional development trainings that were conducted over three, five-hour sessions approximately one month apart.

During that training the teachers learned hands-on activities for young children that introduced life and physical science content. They were also given the task of developing and implementing a science-based lesson for their students and then analyzing it with other participants.

The information from the lesson plans was collected for analysis. After the last training the teachers were given a pre/post retrospective survey to measure effective outcomes. The results from the lesson plans and surveys indicate that the trainings helped improve the teachers' understanding of Mind in the Making, the nature of science, and science practices. The results also show that the teachers felt more comfortable integrating science education into their classrooms and curriculum.

Rights

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Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/23428

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