Designing and Teaching the Elementary Science Methods Course

<p>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. </p><p><em>Designing and Teaching the Elementary Science Methods Course</em> 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. </p>