Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Science - Softcover

Konicek-Moran, Richard; Keeley, Page

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938946103 ISBN 13: 9781938946103

Publisher: Corwin, 2015

Synopsis

What do you get when you bring together two of NSTA’s bestselling authors to ponder ways to deepen students’ conceptual understanding of science? A fascinating combination of deep thinking about science teaching, field-tested strategies you can use in your classroom immediately, and personal vignettes all educators can relate to and apply themselves. Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Science is by Richard Konicek-Moran, a researcher and professor who wrote the Everyday Science Mysteries series, and Page Keeley, a practitioner and teacher educator who writes the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series. Written in an appealing, conversational style, this new book •explores where science education has been and where it’s going; •emphasizes how knowing the history and nature of science can help you engage in teaching for conceptual understanding and conceptual change; •stresses the importance of formative assessment as a pathway to conceptual change; and •provides a bridge between research and practice. This is the kind of thought-provoking book that can truly change the way you teach. Whether you read each chapter in sequence or start by browsing the topics in the vignettes, Konicek-Moran and Keeley will make you think―really think―about the major goal of science education in the 21st century: to help students understand science at the conceptual level so they can see its connections to other fields, other concepts, and their own lives.

About this title

About the Authors

Dr. Richard (Dick) Konicek-Moran is a professor emeritus from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, a former middle school science teacher, and K–12 science district curriculum coordinator, involved in science education for the last 60 years. He is the author of the Everyday Science Mysteries series published by NSTA Press, and has been a life member of NSTA since 1968. Dick and his wife Kathleen, an internationally known botanical illustrator, have been volunteers with the Everglades National Park for the past 15 years and more recently for the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Coral Gables, Florida.

Page Keeley is the senior science program director at the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA). She directs projects in the areas of leadership, professional development, standards and research on learning, formative assessment, and mentoring and coaching, and consults with school districts and organizations nationally. She has been the principal investigator on three NSF-funded projects: the Northern New England Co-Mentoring Network, a school-based mentoring program that supported science and mathematics professional learning communities for middle and high school mentors and new teachers; Curriculum Topic Study- A Systematic Approach to Utilizing National Standards and Cognitive Research; and PRISMS- Phenomena and Representations for Instruction of Science in Middle School, a National Digital Library collection of Web resources aligned to standards and reviewed for instructional quality. In addition she is a co-PI on two statewide projects: Science Content, Conceptual Change, and Collaboration (SC4), a state MSP focused on conceptual change teaching in the physical sciences for K–8 teachers and a National SemiConductor Foundation grant on Linking Science, Inquiry, and Language Literacy (L-SILL). Keeley is the author of ten nationally published books, including four books in the Curriculum Topic Study series (Corwin Press), four volumes in the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science: 25 Formative Assessment Probes series (NSTA Press), Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning (Corwin and NSTA Press), and Mathematics Formative Assessment: 50 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning (in press). 

Keeley taught middle and high school science for 15 years. At that time she was an active teacher leader at the state and national level. She received the Presidential Award for excellence in Secondary Science Teaching in 1992 and the Milken National Educator Award in 1993. She has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Maine, is a Cohort 1 Fellow in the National Academy for Science and Mathematics Education Leadership, served as a science literacy leader for the AAAS/Project 2061 Professional Development Program, and has served on several national advisory boards. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences and served as the 63rd President of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) for the 2008-09 term.

Edition details

• Publisher: Corwin
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1938946103
• ISBN 13: 9781938946103
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248