1. Developing a set of
introductory science courses
for pre-service teachers
A (possibly premature) success
story
Presenter: Anne Egger
Central Washington University

2. What’s the problem?
• Elementary education
majors in science methods
courses report liking
science until they got to
high school/college
• The science courses they
take fulfill Gen Ed
requirements = intro
courses
• These tend to be taught as
large lectures +/-
disconnected labs
• Yet we expect them to eventually teach
hands-on, inquiry-based, process-oriented
science in their own classrooms

3. The solution is already out there.
• Many institutions
already offer
introductory science
courses geared
towards elementary
education majors
that…
– Incorporate pedagogy
with content
– Model the teaching
methods we want
future teachers to use
• No need to reinvent the wheel at CWU, but we
do need to change the tires on an 18-wheeler.

4. A little background: SCED
• Science
Education
department
• 7 FTT faculty
• 6 joint appts:
– 2 chemistry
– 2 biology
– 1 physics
– 1 geology
• All teach content
courses in
disciplines and
science education
courses

5. A little background: Physics
• Mike Jackson talked about CWU’s intro
physics sequence
• Includes PHYS 106, Physics Inquiry,
specifically for elementary ed majors
• Taught by Bruce Palmquist, SCED/PHYS

6. What we did
• Decided as a department that developing a set of intro
science courses for elementary ed majors was a
priority
• Talked to chairs of El Ed, Biology, Chemistry, Physics,
Geology
• Started writing an internal proposal to the provost
• Shared it with department chairs, who expressed
concerns: FTEs, WLUs, fees, etc.
• Revised proposal to include more numbers and to
make case for a full-time lecturer or faculty member
• Shared it with the department chairs and department
curriculum committees, who gave more feedback
• Revised the proposal to incorporate concerns and
contingencies and eventually got signatures from all
• Presented the proposal to the Dean of the College of
the Sciences, who…

7. Funded a new full-time, tenure
track position!
It worked!

8. Of course, we haven’t started to
develop the courses yet, much less
teach them, but…
What the heck did we say in that
proposal? Why did it work?

9. Goals that match university, college,
and department strategic plans
• Utilize best practices derived from research on
learning (e.g. Bransford et al., 1999; National
Research Council, 2012) in designing
introductory science courses;
• Provide opportunities for future teachers to
fulfill their natural science general education
requirements through courses that build their
content knowledge, their ability to engage in
inquiry, and their confidence in teaching
science;
• Build a community of faculty who are engaged
in teaching science using high-impact practices
(Kuh, 2008).

10. Pointed out
that our
competitors
were
already
doing it

11. Used numbers to show we were serious
(and did our homework)

12. Got buy-in at multiple levels
• Department chairs and curriculum committees
• Other faculty interested in teaching
• Elementary education programs
• University curriculum committee
• Dean could hardly
say no – it fit right
in to bigger plans

13. Tasks that remain
• Write and submit proposals for courses to
meet Gen Ed requirements
• Develop courses
– Explore existing curricula, particularly at WWU
• Develop advising strategy to get students
to take the courses
• Eventually – reach out to colleges where
students transfer from

14. Ultimate (subversive) goal:
To transform all introductory
science courses in the university
to this format