Two Cultures? : Let's Make Yoghurt!

Cultivating Science Teachers as Part of the Scientific Community
updated November 14, 2002

Scientist	Science Teacher
Focus on narrow topic	Expose naive children to wide range of topics
Daily attention to same question	Daily changes in information to convey
Continuous revisiting (Re-searching)	Pressing on to new topic to "cover"
Many hours devoted to same work	43 -90 minutes per segment-fixed and frequently interrupted
Chain of command based on experience	One experienced leader w/ 20-40 inexperienced students 3-6 times a day and every year
Seeks questions	Perceives need to have "the answer"
Thrives on mystery	Uncomfortable with mystery
Basics become hidden	Basics must be kept explicit
Experience grows through work in the narrow subject	Experience grows through teaching, classroom management, etc., not subject matter Experiences teaching "the same thing" year after year get teachers further removed from the minds of their students, who are new every year
Math/analysis performed almost daily	Math/analysis a "unit" in science content
Has helpers (post-docs, students, lab techs)	One their own
Has equipment and supplies	VERY rare tho some centers provide loaner trunks
Has a telephone, computer, internet access	Rarely functions (uses own cell phone for emergencies)

Mythical Thinking from the Teacher's POV

"Scientists are smarter than me" Scientists just have more experience conducting research and dealing with day-to-day failures along the way.
"My kids can't do this" Teachers don't feel competent getting the work accomplished.
"Experimenting is chaotic and dangerous" Most of experimentation time is PLANNING, calibrating and analyzing. Data collection is only part of the process.
Research is looking up information from secondary and tertiary sources (less jargon). Experimentation has, as a component, literature searches/reviews.
An experiment is a lab exercise done once and "considered complete" once data are collected. An experiment is a coordinated series of procedures designed to provide data that can be analyzed for refining the question and conducting more refined inquiries.Viginia SOL description of Investigate and Understand

Interested in Teaching? Here's how a teacher describes the features of teaching.

What do science students believe about scientific research?

A scientist is

A good science teacher

enables students to do hands-on learning
likes science
cares about students and the science
connects science and math

Survey on attitudes about science teaching qualities
Perspective of a preservice secondary science teacher
A Teacher-Leader's POV (former President of NABT)
NABT Standards for Biology Teachers (under revision)
NAS on Science Teaching Reconsidered
NSTA
Access Excellence

Many teachers do not know any scientists.

We (scientists) are experienced in methods of experimentation, they (teachers) are inexperienced in skills and methods of experimentation and theory development. We (scientists) are naive in classroom management and running ALL aspects of a science class. (Teachers rarely have any assistance.) In interactions with teachers, please convey respect, nurture, encourage, break down steps, connect basics to the vanguard research you conduct.

Collegial argumentation intimidates teachers.

Read the NSES and your state and district standards and POS. Ask teachers how they address (they use the term "cover") particular topics. "Think safety" down the road for their naive and inexperienced students. Teachers of science are not stupid.

Volunteer to visit a teacher and help out sometime--especially volunteer to do scut-work like entering grades (allowable if you are not a parent of a child in that school) and/or setting/up/ cleaning up lab materials/stations

Visit with stuff for students to try out --- microfuge tubes, dyes and/or simple chemicals that react with each other, an ice bucket (note I am a biologist). Here are quick links to DNA extractions that's really easy.

Bring Parafilm and let the students stretch out small squares. Even high school students find this to be wild.

Bring micropipettes (old ones that are not radioactive or have been used w/ virus-cultures)

Position Statement PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE STANDARDS FOR SCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATORS
Paul Grobstein (Bryn Mawr) Science and Humanities: Two Cultures? The Scientist/Teacher
NSF's GK-12 Initiative. Provides support for upper-level undergrads, grad students and post-docs to conduct their research and serve school systems in the classroom or district office.
Bloom's Taxonomy Teachers have been teaching science in the upper (surface) realms; scientists operate in the lower (deeper, higher order, "critical" thinking skills) realms.
For scientists considering pre-college teaching...

Questions and comments to Toby Horn