ELE 5660 - THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
dr. michael b. leyden - 206 BUZZARD BLDG
581-5728 -- (o)
345-2326 -- (h)
E-MAIL: cfmbl@eiu.edu
UNIT THEME:
Educator as Creator of Effective Educational Environments: Integrating
students, subjects, strategies, and societies.
Catalogue Description:
ELE 5660: The Science Curriculum in the Elementary School ( 3
s.h. ). ( Short Title: Sci Cur / El Sch )
Course Description:
A study of the objectives; content; strategies; methods and materials
needed to design effective content and process oriented curriculums.
Course Purpose:
This course allows teachers to analyze their present science curriculum
in light of current methods and philosophies and technologies. They will then design
lessons using these new strategies.
Course Rationale:
This course is important for the self-contained classroom teacher who
must teach all subjects. Knowledge in the science is expanding exponentially but is a
subject that is least taught in the elementary grades. ELE 5660 helps teachers build their
confidence as learners so they can pass this enthusiasm for learning on to their students.
Outcomes for all ELE classes:
- develop a desire of lifelong learning in students and personally display one's own desire
for lifelong learning, including self-evaluation skills.
- demonstrate good communication skills
- demonstrate / exhibit sensitivity to students feelings
- design instruction to develop and utilize the cognitive processes by which students learn
- demonstrate knowledge of facts, and an understanding of fundamental principles, ideas,
and relationships among the various knowledge domains.
- demonstrate knowledge of past and present developments, issues, research, and social
- influences in the field of education.
Outcomes specific to this course:
- Demonstrate a commitment to life long learning.
- Analyze current curricular, instructional, and legal issues in Education.
- Synthesize knowledge gained from published research in Education on
curricular, instructional, and legal issues.
- Engage in reflective inquiry about program and practice.
- Design programs, curriculum, and strategies based on the current body of
professional research and best practices.
- Identify and explain philosophical, sociological, and psychological
perceptive / models that undergird curricular and instructional approaches.
- Articulate and defend one's own philosophical, sociological, and
psychological perspectives.
- Assess, plan, implement, and evaluate curriculum and instructional programs.
- Apply knowledge gained from publications and research in education to current
curricular, instructional, and legal issues.
- Design programs, curriculum, and strategies based on current body of professional
research and best practice.
LEARNING MODEL:
Personal Systems; Information-Processing
Methods of Instruction:
Inquiry / Constructivism --- Demonstration --- Peer Teaching
Cooperative Learning --- Class Discussion
Text:
Abruscato, J.; Teaching Children Science; 3rd edition --- Allyn & Bacon; 1992
Bibliography
Extensive readings on Piaget are involved with Assignments 1-2-3-4. Consult each project for specific references.
Supplemental Materials:
Students will spend about 25% of the course accessing and evaluating materials found on
the Internet. They will revise these ideas to meet their own classroom needs.
Course Requirement and Grading:
Grading will be done by contract.
Those earning an (A) must complete the required projects; 3 optional assignments and
complete an investigation of their choice from the list of "science research topics."
Those earning a (B) must complete the required projects and 2 optional assignments.
Tentative requirements - subject to change ( august 1995 )
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Catalog Description
ELE 5660: Science Curriculum in the Elementary School:
A study of contemporary curriculum theory and practice, and the development
of curriculum units
2. Outline of the Course
I. Orientation; course objectives ( 1 wk )
Examining the history and trends in curriculum development based on learning
theory.
II. Research and Evaluation of Curricula ( 5 wks )
Using the materials in the curriculum library and those found on the Internet,
students will examine the scope and sequence of various programs, and
evaluate their appropriateness in terms of --
- their grade level
the extent they reflect outcomes desired by these programs:
* Goals 2000
* Illinois State Goals / IGAP
* Project 2061
- their ability to be modified to the teacher's own classroom use.
( 1 ) the Electronic Classroom - an Introduction ( 1 wk )
( 2 ) The World Wide Web (1 wk)
( 3 ) Search Engines / Conducting Research ( 3 wks )
III. Contemporary Curriculum Theory / Practice ( 4 wks )
Students will participate in a variety of classroom activities which reflect
content and methods espoused by science educators. These will be lessons
designed in accordance to these models of instruction:
( 1 ) the learning cycle - ( 1 week )
( 2 ) process science - ( 1 week )
( 3 ) discrepant events - ( 1 week )
( 4 ) environmental education - ( 1 week )
( 5 ) alternative assessment - ( 1 week )
IV. Pragmatic Curriculum Design ( 5 wks )
Students will design units / lessons that are blend the content and methods
that were studied in the first two sections of the course and will be
implemented in their own classes.