Tag Archives: curriculum materials

NCAL in the news

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An article in this week’s Lincoln Journal Star highlights the work we’re doing as part of the National Center for Agricultural Literacy.  This initial phase of the center’s life will lay the foundation for longer-term work to support nationwide K-12 science and ag literacy efforts in partnership with the Agriculture in the Classroom program.  We’re looking forward to our upcoming summer program linking high school science teachers with IANR researchers to produce science instructional materials grounded in ag and natural resource topics and issues.

Invited Talk at the International Conference on New Teacher Competencies

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imageEarly this month I had the opportunity to travel to Enschede in the Netherlands to give an invited talk at the International Conference on New Teacher Competencies.  The conference was held at the University of Twente and was sponsored by DoCenter, Center for Knowledge Creation on Teacher Development and Curriculum Design, and SLO (National Institute for Curriculum Development in The Netherlands).  Through my talk, entitled ‘Supporting teachers use of curriculum materials for science: Empirically-grounded perspectives on teachers’ curriculum design competencies’, I was able to share conceptual foundations and research findings from our work with elementary teachers to use instructional materials for science in the PIESC3, RAES, and MoHSES projects.   It was a great opportunity to learn from others similarly interested in instructional design, teacher design teams, and supporting teachers to use curriculum materials effectively.  Thank you to Jules Pieters, Joke Voogt, Adam Handelzalts, Nienke Nieveen, Maaike Heitink, and Sandra Schele for being wonderful hosts and making the trip both productive and enjoyable.

Visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science

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IMG_0559This month, I was invited to the Lawrence Hall of Science where I gave an invited talk to the FOSS team.  While attending AERA in San Francisco, graduate students Mandy Biggers, Laura Zangori, and I made the trip to Berkeley to share research and programming from RAES-Iowa project and learn more about the work being conducted by the FOSS group.  Thanks to Kathy Long for inviting us and making it such an enjoyable visit.

Article published in Journal of Science Teacher Education

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A paper was just published in the February issue of the Journal of Science Teacher Education. The mixed-methods study highlights the importance of teacher-level factors in preservice elementary teachers‘ adaptation of elementary science curriculum materials, particularly their field placement settings.

Forbes, C.T. (2013). Curriculum-dependent and curriculum-independent factors in preservice elementary teachers’ adaptation of science curriculum materials for inquiry-based science. Journal of Science Teacher Education (24)1, 179-197.

The results presented in the article are part of a larger study of preservice elementary teachers’ learning to use science curriculum materials to teach science as inquiry. This work informs our present work on the PIESC3, RAES, and MoHSES projects.

Article published in Science and Children

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sc1201_48_1_smallA paper from the PIESC3 group has just been published in the September issue of Science and Children. The article outlines and describes accessible strategies for modifying existing science lessons and curriculum materials to better engage students in ‘science as inquiry‘ and scientific practices.

Zangori, L., Forbes, C., & Biggers, M. (2012). This is inquiry…right? Strategies for effectively adapting elementary science lessons. Science and Children, 50(1), 48-53.

These strategies have been developed, used, and refined through almost 10 years of work with both preservice and inservice elementary teachers as part of the CASES and PIESC3 project research. We are excited to share them with many more teachers through Science and Children!

2012 Forbes Group presentations

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We have been busy this past winter and spring presenting empirical research from the PIESC3 project at NARST, AERA, and two invited talks in Germany. Recent presentations include:

Biggers, M., Forbes, C.T., & Zangori, L. (2012, April). Elementary teachers’ curriculum design and pedagogical reasoning for supporting students’ comparison and evaluation of evidence-based explanations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, BC.

Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2012, April). Investigating essential characteristics of scientific practices in elementary science learning environments: The Practices of Science Observation Protocol (P-SOP). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, BC, April 13-17.

Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2012, April). Toward an empirically-based learning progression: Defining progress variables and measurable levels of elementary teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for science. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, BC.

Aguirre-Mendez, C., Promyod, N., Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2012, March). Characteristics of scientifically-oriented questions and the nature of inquiry in elementary classrooms: A multiple-case study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

Biggers, M. & Forbes, C.T. (2012, March). Elementary teachers’ ideas about, planning for, and implementation of learner-guided and teacher-guided inquiry. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

Biggers, M., Zangori, L., & Forbes, C.T., (2012, March). Exploring scientific explanations: Promoting students’ sense-making in elementary classrooms. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2012, March). Elementary teachers’ enactment of science curriculum materials: Investigating early learners’ engagement in scientific practices. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

Pinney, B., Suh, J-K., Tseng, C-M., Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2012, March). Dichotomous inquiry practices: Characterizing teaching practice based on essential features of inquiry. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

Zangori, L. & Forbes, C.T., (2012, March). Learning to support elementary students’ scientific reasoning: Preservice elementary teachers and the evidence-explanation continuum. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

Forbes, C.T. (2012, February). Fostering sense-making in K-8 science learning environments through curriculum and instruction: An evolving research agenda. Invited presentation at the University of Münster (WWU-Münster), Münster, Germany. Sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Forbes, C.T. (2012, January). Fostering sense-making in K-8 science learning environments through curriculum and instruction: An evolving research agenda. Invited presentation at the University of Essen (NWU-Essen), Essen, Germany. Sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Article published in Science Education

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A manuscript from my dissertation study has been published in the September issue of Science Education. This article extends previous published findings from a larger study of preservice elementary teachers‘ adaptation of science curriculum materials. I report findings that explore explore preservice teachers’ reasoning about the use of science curriculum materials to engage early learners in science-as-inquiry.

Forbes, C.T. (2011). Preservice elementary teachers’ adaptation of science curriculum materials for inquiry-based elementary science. Science Education, 95(5), 927-955.

Article published in Teaching and Teacher Education

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A paper from the CASES group at the University of Michigan has just been published in the May issue of Teaching and Teacher Education. The study investigates how two elementary teachers develop narratives about their use and adaptation of science curriculum materials that can serve as educative supports for colleagues.

Davis, E.A., Beyer, C., Forbes, C.T., & Stevens, S. (2011). Understanding pedagogical design capacity through teachers’ narratives. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(4), 797-810.

Article published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching

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A paper from my dissertation study has just been published in the September issue of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. The study focuses on preservice elementary teachers’ adaptation of science curriculum materials. Specifically, we investigated the ways in which these preservice teachers adapt existing elementary science curriculum materials, whether or not they are able to adapt individual lessons to be more inquiry-based, and relationships between the curriculum materials, their curriculum design decisions, and curriculum design outcomes.

Forbes, C.T. & Davis, E.A. (2010). Curriculum design for inquiry: Preservice elementary teachers’ mobilization and adaptation of science curriculum materials. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(7), 365-387.

PIESC3 project funded

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The PIESC3 (Promoting Inquiry-based Elementary Science through Collaborative Curriculum Co-Construction) project has been funded by the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust and University of Iowa. The project involves a quasi-experimental, non-randomized two group pre-/post- repeated measures research design, as well as in-depth case studies, over two years to investigate the effectiveness of the PIESC3 professional development program for elementary (K-5) teachers and to learn more about how elementary teachers use existing science curriculum materials to plan and engage in inquiry-based science. This project will be carried out in collaboration with the Davenport Community School District (DCS) and Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency.