| Title |
Description |
Funding
Source |
Partner
Institutions |
Director
Name |
| " Learning Progressions to Support Science Teaching and Learning |
Learning progressions are descriptions of increasingly sophisticated ways of thinking about or understanding a topic (National Research Council, 2007). They have the potential to significantly impact students science learningboth by influencing instructional and curricular decisions and by guiding classroom formative assessment practices. Yet, despite this promise, there are still very few examples of empirically-validated learning progressions in science, particularly at the elementary level, and strategies for using assessment items to provide meaningful diagnoses of student thinking with respect to learning progressions remain elusive.
Project Status: Current |
IMSEP |
University of Colorado, Boulder |
Alicia C. Alonzo
Assistant Professor of Science Education
University of Iowa
|
| Developing Measures of Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge |
This research aims to a) develop measures of teachers
pedagogical content knowledge for teaching two biology
topics-photosynthesis and heredity-at grades 9 to 10, b)
empirically test the validity and reliability of the
measures, and c) refine the measures. The measures will
take two different forms: a) rubric-type measure (i.e.,
both holistic and analytic rubrics) and b) survey-type
measure (i.e., paper and pencil type test). The major
purpose of this research is to provide a means to gauge
teachers PCK growth and its contribution to student
achievement.
Project Status: Current |
Iowa Measurement and Research Fund |
|
Soonhye Park
Assistant professor
University of Iowa
319-335-5592
|
| EMPOWERR |
EMPOWERR is a three-year (2008-2011) MSP grant funded for $447,831 through Title II A funds administered by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa. It delivers over 100 hours per year of mathematics content and Lesson Study training to the entire mathematics-teaching staffs at three GWAEA elementary schools (about 60 teachers). IMSEP funding allows the project to grow in scope and to include more teachers than are currently budgeted for through the MSP funds.
Project Status: Current |
IMSEP |
Grant Wood Area Education Agency |
Walter Seaman
Associate Professor of Mathematics and Associate Professor of Teaching & Learning
University of Iowa
319-335-0795
|
| Exemplary Science Programs (ESP) |
This is an effort in cooperation with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) to describe K-12 programs that have achieved the More Emphasis conditions of the National Standards. A dozen Iowa teachers have been cited as exemplary.
Project Status: Current |
National Science Teachers Association |
|
Robert E. Yager
Professor of Science Education
University of Iowa
319-335-1189
|
| Helping Iowa Teachers Promote Critical Thinking and Inquiry in Science and Literacy in K-8 Classrooms |
This project is a three-year professional development project for teachers that will promote their students critical thinking and inquiry skills through embedding language practices into K-8 science classrooms. The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach, a scientifically-based research approach, will be introduced to K-8 science teachers. Professional assistance and training will be provided to help these teachers implement the SWH in their classrooms. Teachers will participate in a long-term professional development program carefully designed to improve their content knowledge, teaching skills and understanding of how to embed language practices as critical components of inquiry.
Project Status: Current |
Iowa Department of Education - Math Science Partnership |
Iowa State University, Area Education Agency 13, school districts in rural western Iowa. |
Brian Hand
Professor
University of Iowa
319-335-5324
|
| Improving Iowa High School Biology Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge |
This exploratory project is to support Iowa high school
science teachers to improve their pedagogical content
knowledge (PCK) through two avenues: a) providing
systematic professional development (PD) programs and b)
using a web-based video analysis tool (VAT). The PDs focus
on two major aspects of PCK: a) understanding of student
misconceptions and learning difficulties in learning a
particular science concept and b) understanding of teaching
strategies to address those misconceptions and difficulties
during instruction. Also, the VAT is used to stimulate self-
reflection of and collaborative reflection between teachers
since reflection is a critical vehicle for PCK
development.
Project Status: Current |
Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership |
|
Soonhye Park
Assistant professor
University of Iowa
319-335-5592
|
| Iowa Chautauqua |
A program at the UI that assists K-12 Iowa teachers to
improve their teaching in ways advocated by the National
Science Education Standards. It opens with a three week
summer workshop and continues for two academic years with
a 3 day short course in the Fall and a similar one each
year in the Spring.
Project Status: Current |
National Science Foundation |
|
Robert E. Yager
Professor of Science Education
University of Iowa
319-335-1189
|
| Iowa Chautauqua for Korean Teachers |
A similar program as offered for Iowa teachers that enrolls 20 to 40 Korean teachers and matches them with Iowa teachers; cultural exchanges and a focus on diversity and other features.
Project Status: Current |
Korean Government |
|
Robert E. Yager
Professor of Science Education
University of Iowa
319-335-1189
|
| Iowa IMPPACT (Investigating the Meaningfulness of Pre-service Programs Across the Continuum of Teaching) |
A research effort designed to determine the impact of features of teacher education programs on future science teachers. The effort includes the following four Cohorts for five years: 1) persons entering a program; 2) persons completing a program; 3) persons completing 1-4 years of teaching; and 4) persons teaching five plus years.
Project Status: Current |
National Science Foundation |
Syracuse University
North Carolina State University |
Robert E. Yager
Professor of Science Education
University of Iowa
319-335-1189
|
| Pre-candidate teachers' teacher identity formation |
This research is to investigate the identity formation of
pre-candidate teachers who are science, engineering and
mathematics (SEM) undergraduates while they are taking an
introductory math and science teaching course. The
participants are those who are willing to explore teaching
profession as their future career even though they major
in SEM. The major research questions are: a) How do pre-
candidate teachers characterize their teacher identities?
b) What factors influence their identity formation? Gees
(1996) four interrelated ways to view identity guides this
research design, data collection, data analysis and the
interpretation of the data.
Project Status: Current |
US Department of Education, Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant |
University of Toledo |
Soonhye Park
Assistant professor
University of Iowa
319-335-5592
|
| Science and Mathematics Avenues to Renewed Teachers and Students (SMARTS) |
SMARTS is a 3 - year 2005-2008 IDE MSP grant, providing 42
K-6 teachers and their administrators mathematics and
science content and pedagogy PD. The staff includes three UI
faculty and eight Grant Wood AEA content specialists.
Activities include:
i. Summer Institutes
ii. Ongoing academic year Lesson-Study Groups (10 teams
complete full one lesson study cycle/semester along with
reports, with SMARTS funding substitutes)
iii. Research lessons illustrating inquiry-based instruction
iv. On-site implementation assistance from SMARTS staff
v. Four academic seminars throughout the school year
vi. Online discussion groups via a web board
vii. Sharing learning at annual Spring Symposium.
Project Status: Current |
IDE |
University of Iowa, Grant Wood Area Education Agency |
Walter Seaman and John Dunkhase
Assoc. Prof. of Math and Clinical Assoc. Prof T&L
University of Iowa
319-335-0795
|
| Summer Camps for Taiwan Students |
Twenty Middle School Students from Taiwan spend two weeks on the UI field campus and ecological sites. Students work on projects designed to improve the environment and to experience science learning as envisioned in the National Standards.
Project Status: Current |
Taiwan Government |
|
Robert E. Yager
Professor of Science Education
University of Iowa
319-335-1189
|
| Traversing Parallel Lines: A Long Distance Pilot Partnership to Articulate Geometric Problem Solving for Students and Enable Action Research for Teachers |
Guided by two expert high school geometry teachers, two
classes of students (one in Iowa and one in Boston) will
discuss geometric concepts through distance education
technologies. The goal of this project is to link writing
and mathematics and investigate the effect of language on
understanding and performance in mathematics. The research
team is cross-disciplinary: one professor of mathematics,
one professor of English, two teachers, and sixty in two
very different geographic areas.
Project Status: Current |
IMSEP |
Colleague at Revere High School, Revere, MA, Colleague at
City or West High School, Iowa City, IA, Colleague at
American College Testing (ACT), Intra-university between
disciplines at University of Iowa
|
Bonnie Sunstein
Professor of English and Education
University of Iowa
319-335-5607
|
| When Science and Literacy Meet: Creating Support for Teachers Implementing Writing in the Science Classroom |
This project supports K-12 teacher implementation of
writing to learn strategies in the classroom. The objective
is to produce two books and a professional development
manual designed. The goal is to strengthen classroom
instruction through writing to learn strategies. The first
book will focus on the elementary classroom (K-6) and the
second on secondary settings (grades 7-12). Each book will
undergo a rigorous process of field-testing, revision, and
re-testing in rural, suburban, and urban settings that reach
both pre-service and in-service professionals. The
professional development manual will support professional
development consultants to assist teachers using the books
and strategies.
Project Status: Current |
National Science Foundation - Teacher Professional Continuum |
Iowa State University, Area Education Agency 13, Ohio State
University, University of Miami (Ohio), California State
University, Asset Organization (Pittsburgh) |
Brian Hand
Professor
University of Iowa
319-335-5324
|
