First, while we have always had a
public school science resource expert on our team, we have substantially
changed our approach in how she presents the necessary information to
our participants. For example, our first two workshop groups were high
in their praise for our presenters as modelers of good hands-on science
teaching practioners, but were unanimous in their resentment of being
lectured to on how to teach, how to organize lesson plans, multiple
intelligence theory, etc. In subsequent workshops, our science resource
specialist changed her approach to de-emphasize lecturing, brain theory,
etc. and took a more interactive, practical approach to disseminating the
information to our audience. After a brief presentation by the specialist,
which outlined some theory and also her expectations for the group's
final presentations, she served more as a facilitator and mentor for the
participants. As they met in grade-level groups after each unit to do
their lesson planning, she oversaw their progress and helped them develop
charts to insure that their lesson plans incorporated as many of the
multiple intelligences as possible. In short, professional classroom
teachers do not want to be lectured to, especially on topics such as
constructivism --- they want to practice, not be preached to!
Second, the teachers who have participated in our intensive four-week
summer workshops (Project ARTIST) have become very effective leaders in
several ways. Many have shared or teamed with peers to incorporate their
space science knowledge and activities into more than just their own
classroom; many have inserviced peers at faculty gatherings. Others have
returned to present at subsequent workshops, since our philosophy is to
have the classroom practitioners share their methods and experiences with
their peers alongside the scientists providing the content. Many of the
teachers have become talented presenters of our materials at local, state,
and national conventions --- to both their peers and to scientists.
Several have received compliments and feedback at national meetings from
audience members who have seen them at previous conventions and came back
for a third or fourth presentation. These experiences cannot help but
impact these teachers as leaders in their own districts and schools.
Several have also been published in NSTA journals, have received local
science teaching awards, have transferred to science-only teaching positions
in their schools, serve on advisory boards for other science education
programs, and have been chosen to attend national science education meetings.
Nancy Lebofsky
Steward Observatory
Larry Lebofsky
Lunar and Planetary Lab
Project ARTIST (Astronomy-Related Teacher Inservice Training)
University of Arizona
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