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Student understanding of biological representations has not been well studied. Yet, we know that to be efficient problem solvers in evolutionary biology and systematics, college students must develop expertise in thinking with a particular type of representation, phylogenetic trees. The purpose of this study was to understand how undergraduates make sense of phylogenetic representations presented in a plant systematics course designed to promote student tree thinking expertise. The primary data sources were two-tiered pre/posttests and interviews with key informants. Using observations and document analysis as supporting data, we identified multiple misconceptions within students' knowledge of systematics not previously identified in the literature. Relying upon these misconceptions, students developed alternative types of reasoning that interfered with interpreting and using trees. We constructed a classification of student reasoning and identified a suite of varying levels of approaches that went beyond misreading the topology of phylogenetic trees to include the persistent use of nonevolutionary reasoning to address phylogenetic problems. We categorized student reasoning as extraneous, ecological, morphological, branch influenced, tree shape influenced, node influenced, limited phylogenetic, and phylogenetic. By better understanding our students reasoning by qualitative assessments, these findings have implications for curriculum, instruction, and assessment strategies. (Contains 8 figures and 1 table.)

The increasing need for communicating science to the public suggests that future scientists and science educators should be educated in science outreach and trained to communicate with lay audiences. We present a recently developed novel graduate course, which trains students in outreach efforts aimed to increase the public's understanding of science and of the role of science in our daily lives. In this course, the students, with the help of expert faculty mentors, prepare lay-language presentations about science-related topics of their choice and take the presentations to adult venues in the community. This article provides a detailed description of the course and its impact on the students and the audiences, and it discusses challenges encountered and lessons learned that will support others interested in attempting such a program. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

In 2003 the University of Missouri (with the aid of US National Science Foundation funding) initiated an alternative certification program (CAP) to address the well-documented need in the US for increasing the quantity and quality of mathematics and science teachers for the middle and secondary levels. Nationwide current certification programs do not provide the quality and quantity of mathematics and science teachers needed in schools. As a result most American states have begun to experiment with ACPs as a way to address the shortage of math and science teachers. To evaluate the success of this program, we collected data from ACP participants regarding perceived preparation, self efficacy, and outcome expectancy at three time points in the program. State standards for beginning teachers were used to construct a perceived preparation instrument. Analysis of data suggests that over time, ACP participants exhibited an increasingly positive view toward their preparation for classroom teaching, as well as increased self efficacy. However, there was little change in the students' outcome expectancy over time. In this article we share details of the unique ACP program and we describe steps taken to collect and evaluate a project data set. Our work provides useful guidance to researchers and practitioners in the field of science and mathematics teacher education.

The authors engage students in inquiry-based learning by presenting laboratory exercises as mini-journal articles that mirror the format of a scientific journal article, including a title, authors, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and citations. Students develop and carry out their follow-up investigation, then present their findings in the form of their own mini-journal. Mini-journals replace traditional cookbook laboratories with a format that more directly encourages scientific practice. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

The authors engaged nonscience majors enrolled in an integrated science course with a prototype activity designed to change their mindset from cookbook to inquiry science. This article describes the activity, the Warm Little Pond, which helped students develop essential understanding of basic statistics, significant figures, and the idea that scientific knowledge is a constructed model of reality. (Contains 4 figures.)

Science education doctoral programs often fail to address a critical piece--the explicit attention to the preparation of future science teacher educators. In this article, we argue that, in addition to developing skills and a knowledge base for research, doctoral students must be given the opportunity to observe, practice, and reflect on the pedagogical knowledge necessary to instruct science teachers. In particular, we contend that the construct of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) can be adapted to the context of knowledge for teaching science teachers. We use the PCK construct to propose a model for the development of knowledge for teaching science teachers, grounded in our experiences as doctoral students and faculty mentors. We end by recommending a vision for doctoral preparation and a new standard to be included in the ASTE Professional Knowledge Standards for Science Teacher Educators.

The purpose of this study was to understand one case of undergraduate inquiry-based instruction through the words and actions of students and instructors. The data sources included fieldnotes from 16 of 29 classes, two sets of student and instructor interviews (beginning and end of the semester), and a collection of artifacts, such as the laboratory manual, lecture handouts, and the course syllabus. The participants for this study included four faculty instructors and two purposively selected student groups, totaling eight students. We found the instructors' two course goals, (a) teaching students how scientists do science and (b) using an interdisciplinary approach to develop students' content knowledge of the big ideas in science, were consistent with our observations and the students' descriptions of their experience in the course. However, we observed, and the students also noted, an important feature of the course that the instructors did not describe as a course goal was its reliance on the social nature of learning. This telling case demonstrates that inquiry-based instruction is achievable in undergraduate science education. Implications are discussed for college science instructors interested in inquiry teaching.

The purposes of this study were to (a) gain an understanding of the views of inquiry held by faculty members involved in undergraduate science teaching and (b) describe the challenges, constraints, and opportunities that they perceived in designing and teaching inquiry-based laboratories. Participants included 19 college professors, representing both life and physical science disciplines, from (a) 2-year community college, (b) small, private nonprofit liberal arts college, (c) public master's granting university, and (d) public doctoral/research extensive university. We collected data through semistructured interviews and applied an iterative data analysis process. College science faculty members held a "full and open inquiry" view, seeing classroom inquiry as time consuming, unstructured, and student directed. They believed that inquiry was more appropriate for upper level science majors than for introductory or nonscience majors. Although faculty members valued inquiry, they perceived limitations of time, class size, student motivation, and student ability. These limitations, coupled with their view of inquiry, constrained them from implementing inquiry-based laboratories. Our proposed inquiry continuum represents a broader view of inquiry that recognizes the interaction between two dimensions of inquiry: (a) the degree of inquiry and (b) the level of student directedness, and provides for a range of inquiry-based classroom activities.

In this paper I examine the phenomenon of university teachers as researchers in their own classrooms. I use examples of three research teams in which we studied: (1) student response to a science and society course; (2) teacher and student perceptions of inquiry in a physics course; and (3) teaching and learning about the nature of science in an elementary science pedagogy course. In addition to describing each study, I compare their purposes, researcher roles, and actions taken. I use these comparisons to address the ideological clashes and dilemmas of ownership, action, and quality that arise in this kind of research. Finally, I comment upon the significance of university teachers as researchers for themselves, their institutions, and the research community.

The purpose of this study was to understand how the professor, teaching assistant, and students experienced inquiry-based science instruction in an undergraduate physics course designed for elementary education majors. During the teaching of a 6-week electricity unit, the professor faced several challenges: knowing when and how to tell the scientifically accurate answer, deciding when and how to introduce scientific terminology, and doing inquiry vs. testing. The professor and the teaching assistant also experienced several tensions. Their orientations to science teaching differed in terms of their science learning goals, beliefs about teaching and learning, and beliefs about assessment. The students experienced frustration with the inquiry approach related to their views of learning, their need as learners to get the right answer, and the disconnect they felt between the inquiry approach and the assessment used in the course. During the course they were also building their views of inquiry and their visions of themselves as future teachers. We analyze the conflicts experienced by the professor and among the professor, teaching assistant and students in terms of three orientations to science teaching: didactic, discovery, and guided inquiry. Finally, we discuss implications for building a guided inquiry orientation in science content courses for future teachers.

Because various definitions of inquiry exist in the science education literature and in classroom practice, elementary science methods students and instructors face dilemmas during the study of inquiry. Using field notes, instructor anecdotal notes, student products, and course artifacts, science methods course instructors created fictional journal entries to represent the experiences of both the instructors and students during instruction on inquiry. Identified dilemmas were varying definitions of inquiry, the struggle to provide sufficient inquiry-based science-learning experiences, perceived time constraints, determining how much course time should be slated for science instruction versus pedagogy instruction, instructors' and students' lack of inquiry-based learning experiences, grade versus trust issues, and students' science phobia. Instructors' attempts at dealing with these dilemmas included using analogies, increased field-experience time, modeling, and detailed rubrics.

Seeks to understand how one preservice elementary teacher's experiences within the context of reflective science-teacher education influenced the development of professional knowledge. Contains 36 references. (DDR)

Investigates preservice elementary teachers' theories about science teaching and learning through their reflections on integrated media case-based instruction. Constructs a profile of the teachers' images of themselves as future science teachers. Contains 43 references. (DDR)

Compares the way preservice elementary teachers build knowledge and beliefs to the way learners build science knowledge. Describes a reconceptualization of an elementary science methods course consistent with this assumption about science teaching. Contains 22 references. (DDR)

Outlines the authors' experiences with designing and teaching a course on the nature of science to science education graduate students. Addresses questions on the creation of a new university course, the design of the course syllabus, and the transformation of the syllabus into instruction. (AIM)

Addresses the current professional development techniques of science educators. Questions whether a course in 'Research in Science Teacher Education' is needed at the doctoral level. Determines that doctoral programs need to be aligned with the knowledge base of science teachers. (MVL)