USE OF CASE-STUDIES TO UNDERSTAND THE DEVELOPMENT AND DYNAMICS OF SCIENTIST-TEACHER PARTNERSHIPS

Scientist-teacher partnerships bring individuals from different work-environment cultures together to achieve mutual goals, make decisions, exchange ideas, and contribute resources (Gomez et al, 1990.) Partnerships between K-12 teachers and scientists are becoming more common as scientific research and education grow more intertwined and interdisciplinary. Since the cultures of science and teaching have often stressed individualism over collaboration, building collegial partnerships between these two cultures is challenging.

CATTS (Collaboration to Advance Teaching Technology and Science) is an NSF GK-12 fellowship program that builds partnerships between graduate and undergraduate CATTS fellows and K-12 teachers. We used case-studies to investigate the evolution of these partnerships and to determine the attributes of effective partnerships. Data were obtained through classroom observations, journals, surveys, and interviews with fellows and teachers. The data were analyzed and cross-correlated to identify common patterns among partnerships that lead to their success or failure.

Since individual personalities play an important role in partnership development, there is no single model that can predict the outcome of a particular partnership. Still, the case-studies revealed several major barriers to partnership formation and patterns related to partnership evolution. Communication posed the greatest challenge, especially when the roles and responsibilities of the teacher and fellow lacked clear definition. Although partnership goals often evolved over time, partnerships functioned best when there were concrete goals at the onset. Partnerships were most effective when the teacher and fellow planned together, felt as though their presence and contributions were appreciated and respected, and felt as though they had both something to learn from, and to teach, their partner. Individuals’ flexibility in redefining roles, goals, and expectations was also an important factor. Our findings about scientist-teacher partnerships have implications for developing more productive scientific collaborations in the context of CATTS, as well as in the realms of research, education, industry, and policy. We will discuss how program design influences partnership outcomes.