Scholarship in Science Education

Overview & Synopsis

Science education reform efforts set expectations for K-12 education to produce scientifically literate individuals. Implicit in this reform is the need for preservice teachers to be engaged in learning that builds their knowledge, understanding, and ability toward good science teaching. In this paper, I describe some of the experiences in science education for preservice elementary teachers and their reactions to the activities as indicated by their responses on an exit survey. The preservice teachers assess the effectiveness of each activity based on their expectations of the course, and the extent to which the activities are reproducible in elementary classrooms. (Contains 1 table.)