Designing and Teaching the Elementary Science Methods Course

What do aspiring and practicing elementary science teacher education faculty need to know as they plan and carry out instruction for future elementary science teachers? This scholarly and practical guide for science teacher educators outlines the theory, principles, and strategies needed, and provides classroom examples anchored to those principles. The theoretical and empirical foundations are supported by scholarship in the field, and the practical examples are derived from activities, lessons, and units field-tested in the authors’ elementary science methods courses.

Designing and Teaching the Elementary Science Methods Course is grounded in the theoretical framework of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), which describes how teachers transform subject matter knowledge into viable instruction in their discipline. Chapters on science methods students as learners, the science methods course curriculum, instructional strategies, methods course assessment, and the field experience help readers develop their PCK for teaching prospective elementary science teachers. "Activities that Work" and "Tools for Teaching the Methods Course" provide useful examples for putting this knowledge into action in the elementary science methods course.

Sandra K. Abell is Curators’ Professor of Science Education at the University of Missouri, US, where she directs the university’s Science Education Center.

Ken Appleton is semi-retired as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Central Queensland University, Australia.

Deborah L. Hanuscin is Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at the University of Missouri, US, where she holds a joint appointment in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and Department of Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum.