Research and Teaching: Project-Based Instruction with Future STEM Educators--An Interdisciplinary Approach

Autor/in	Wilhelm, Jennifer
Titel	Research and Teaching: Project-Based Instruction with Future STEM Educators--An Interdisciplinary Approach
Quelle	In: Journal of College Science Teaching, 43 (2014) 4, S.80-90 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0047-231X
Schlagwörter	Graduate Study; Graduate Students; Active Learning; Student Projects; STEM Education; Interdisciplinary Approach; Preservice Teachers; Mathematics; Sciences; Comprehension; Group Activities; Spatial Ability; Lunar Research; Astronomy; Mixed Methods Research + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Studentin; Aktives Lernen; Schulprojekt; STEM; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Mathematik; Science; Wissenschaft; Verstehen; Verständnis; Gruppenaktivität; Räumliches Vorstellungsvermögen; Astronomie
Abstract	This study documented the means by which STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) educators experienced the mathematics and science associated with understanding lunar phenomena. The article reports how well STEM education graduate students interacted with projectbased materials as they engaged in interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Research questions pursued were: (a) How will students' spatial mathematics and scientific understandings develop as they engage in a contextualized, technology-rich, project-based environment? and (b) How will the students' group projects affect their understanding of lunar related concepts? A mixedmethods approach was used with this semester-long design study to expose how focused project work facilitated spatial understanding. Significant gains were made on lunar-related concepts that had been previously resistant to conceptual change (lunar motion and effect of lunar phase with location change). An implication of this study suggests that technologies (i.e., Stellarium, online blogging with Australia, and Geometer's Sketchpad) facilitated students' project progress, aided students' understanding of how perspective matters in terms of Earthly sky viewing, and deepened students' understanding on domains that included spatial reasoning. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	National Science Teachers Association. 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000. Tel: 800-722-6782; Fax: 703-243-3924; e-mail: membership@nsta.org; Web site: http://www.nsta.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10