Visiting scholar discusses disconnect between science content, teaching science
“Knowledge for versus knowledge about teaching: Specialized physical science content courses for teachers”
- Tuesday, Oct. 25
- 2-3:30 p.m.
- Aderhold Hall Room 201
While there is consensus that teachers need different and specialized kinds of content knowledge for teaching, there are often limited connections between the courses in which prospective teachers learn science and the courses in which they are taught to teach science. In this talk, Deborah Hanuscin will present on a project that promotes collaborative work between physicists and science educators. Working together, physicists and science educators develop curricula and model pedagogical strategies that are taught explicitly to prospective teachers in their methods coursework. The curricula and instruction attend to specialized knowledge areas such as that of student difficulties and misconceptions. In addition to discussing the project, Hanuscin will describe the tensions between equipping prospective teachers with the science knowledge they need for teaching science as opposed to the knowledge they need about teaching.
Hanuscin is a former elementary teacher and museum educator. She received her PhD in curriculum and instruction (science education) from Indiana University with a minor in physics education completed as a visiting graduate student at the University of Washington. She is professor of science education at the University of Missouri, where she holds a joint appointment in the Department of Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum and the Department of Physics & Astronomy. She is a recipient of the ASTE Science Educator of the Year award and has also had her work recognized twice by NSTA’s annual Research Worth Reading initiative. Hanuscin directs the NSF-funded Quality Elementary Science Teaching (QuEST) project, which is studying a practicum-based professional development model and its effects on teacher and student learning. She is also the NARST liaison to NSTA (NARST board) and ASTE PD committee director/board member.