INTEGRATIVE LEARNING IN A CONTENT COURSE: DEVELOPING FUTURE TEACHER UNDERSTANDING OF CORE CONCEPTS AND SCIENCE PRACTICES

The recent publication “A Framework for K-12 Science Education” by the National Research Council (2012) emphasizes three critical dimensions that should guide teaching, learning, and assessment of science: science practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. To prepare teachers to meet the expectations outlined in this framework, UIC has developed a series of interdisciplinary science content courses. One of these courses, Physical Systems in Earth and Space Science (Physical Systems), integrates core concepts from both Earth and physical science (see Ebey-Honeycutt, 2012). Physical Systems places an emphasis on integrative learning by not only addressing connections between physics, astronomy, and Earth science, but also integrating practices and crosscutting concepts into the story of these sciences.

Using the Physical Systems curriculum as a model, we discuss how science practices can be integrated into courses aimed at pre-service teachers. Examples of practices outlined in the K-12 Framework include: asking questions; developing and using models; analyzing and interpreting data; and constructing explanations.

The final project of the course highlights this integration. Students are given the choice of seven science narratives. They are prompted to explore not only what the scientist discovered but also how the scientist used science practices to construct a hypothesis and gather supporting evidence. Students are required to submit both a report and a graphic novel. The students used their graphic novel to illustrate their narratives with relevant scientific plots, graphs, and maps.