NGSS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES AND CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS IN GEOSCIENCE COURSES FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

SUNY Oneonta’s curriculum in Adolescence Education Earth Science (AEES) comprises 32-34 credits of geoscience courses, of which 8 are specifically designed for pre-service teachers. Geoscience courses adequately address Disciplinary Core Ideas. However 6 of the credits within our major also address NGSS Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts in addition to Disciplinary Core Ideas. The relevant courses are ESCI 210 Earth Materials (4 credits) and ESCI 315 Laboratory Techniques in Earth Science (2 credits). The geoscience requirements in the AEES major mirror those in the liberal arts Earth Science major, enabling pre-service teachers to double major which enhances departmental FTEs.

The Earth Materials class incorporates elements of mineralogy and hand sample petrology with an emphasis on interpreting processes of formation from observable textures and mineralogies (NGSS empirical basis for scientific knowledge and several Crosscutting Concepts). The course includes field trips that challenge students to describe and interpret outcrops. Topics in Earth Materials address multiple NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas, Cross-Cutting Concepts and Science and Engineering Practices, such as patterns, systems, and stability and change. ESCI 215 was created to streamline the typical mineralogy-petrology sequence because the education component of the AEES curriculum is credit heavy.

Laboratory Techniques in Earth Science serves as a bridge between the geoscience and education parts of the curriculum. Pre-service teachers deepen their understanding of specific geoscience concepts through peer teaching of hands-on laboratory experiences. Students are introduced to model-based learning as well as the use of models in the process of science. Our pre-service teachers design and test physical models of Earth processes as aids in pedagogy. The modeling component of ESCI 315 directly addresses NGSS Science and Engineering Practices.

Class activities and laboratory experiences in ESCI 215 and ESCI 315 reference New York State’s P-12 Science Learning Standards, which are a state-specific adaptation of NGSS. Both courses emphasize NGSS themes for the middle and high school grade bands. Connections to the state standards are explicitly demonstrated for the pre-service teachers in these classes.