Maricopa Colleges Awarded Funding to Improve Science Teaching, Learning
The Maricopa Community Colleges' National Center for Teacher Education (NCTE) received its fifth year of funding from the National Science Foundation to complete a $2.1 million project to finalize and disseminate materials to boost teacher's abilities to teach science.
The Communication in Science Inquiry Project (CISIP) will help teachers' instructional capacity to teach science, resulting in increased students' knowledge of science and capacity to talk and write scientifically.
"Teachers who use the CISIP program say their teaching is better, the students are more organized, they learn science at a deeper level, and write stronger scientific explanations supported by evidence," said Michael Lang, CISIP Principle Investigator. "Our classroom research data supports their claims of improved teaching and better student learning." Based at the NCTE, the program was created in partnership with Dr. Dale Baker at the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at Arizona State University and public schools.
Through CISIP, teachers learn how to create inclusive scientific classroom discussion communities that mirror the scientific inquiry, talking, and writing used by scientists. CISIP prepares students to transition into high school and college, and then into the workforce through engagement with a rigorous science curriculum through inquiry and scientific argumentation.
CISIP is designed to contribute to increasing the number and quality of Arizona's future scientists, technicians, and engineers by impacting the capacity of teachers to instruct students how to learn science and communicate scientifically.
Teams of English and science faculty from area middle schools and high schools in Phoenix and Tempe are currently participating in the final field test of the professional development program. Said Jan O'Malley, science teacher at Corona Del Sol High School, "Joining the CISIP professional development program was the smartest decision I have made in many years." At Mountain Point High School, science teacher Meredith Morrissey commented about how CISIP tools are useful for students of all abilities in science and English classrooms. "My class averages have increased a full letter grade," she said.
Lang said the National Center for Teacher Education is currently seeking strategic partners in Arizona and across the United States to disseminate the professional development program to schools. All professional development materials are based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0353469.
For information about the CISIP professional development materials contact Michael Lang, Director of Science Programs, at the National Center for Teacher Education. Email: mike.lang@domail.maricopa.edu | Phone: 480.731.8057 |
