Case-Based Questions

Prepared by Mark A. Templin, University of Toledo

CASE 1.A

Students and faculty at your college organize a panel discussion session to share views of the past, present, and future of teaching as seen through teachers' eyes. The panel consists of five elementary school teachers from several local school districts.

Each elementary or middle grades methods student is invited to attend, and most methods instructors have assigned a 1-2 page reflection paper to ensure that methods students will engage actively in the panel session.

When you reflect on the session, you perceive that panel participants have several different perspectives on the role of science in elementary education and its place in the curriculum. For example, one teacher (Teacher A) said,

The students in our K-4 building scored very low on state tests. The principal and teachers at our school got together and we decided to focus on basic skills. This meant that the "minor subjects," like science, would get less attention.

Teacher A justified this choice by saying,

This was the right thing for our building because science assessments don't begin until grade five and children much younger than fifth graders don't understand science anyway; I mean, there are so many facts to remember and our students get confused with them.

Another teacher (Teacher B) described a different set of decisions. She said,

The students in our school didn't score well either, but we decided that it was a mistake not to teach science. We decided to organize the curriculum around questions that students might find interesting. This allows us to save teaching time by integrating the curriculum across subjects.

A third teacher (Teacher C) expressed a different set of events and concerns. He said,

Our district administration didn't like the scores, so they decided to invest in training and materials for a comprehensive curriculum package that features a sequence of direct instruction lessons in each subject and at each grade level.

When a methods student asked him what he thought of this approach he said,

I like it because it takes the "guess-work" out of teaching. There aren't a lot of materials to set up and all you have to do to prepare is study the instructional sequence and read the script. The required assignments have rubrics to make it easy to evaluate students. This approach makes my teaching much simpler because everything is there waiting for me.

In the process of writing your reflection paper, you think about the following questions.

1		What are the primary features of Project Based Science? Which teacher's statements are most consistent with it and why? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.1)
2		What kinds of tasks would Teacher B's students engage in? How would these tasks differ from the tasks that might be assigned to the students of Teachers A and C? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.2)
3		Teacher A did not think it was necessary for young learners to learn science. Why should young learners learn science? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.4)
4		Teacher C reported that direct instruction didn't require him to set up many materials and that almost all aspects of teaching and learning were specified up front, before enactment in the classroom. Summarize national science education goals and analyze the fit between direct instruction, as Teacher C described, and these goals. (Chapter Learning Performance 1.5)
5		If teacher B uses a form of Project Based Science, what additional national goals can be met or met better as compared to Teacher C's direct instruction curriculum? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.6)

CASE 1.B

A first grade teacher, Renee Nelson, wants to improve her science teaching. After asking several other teachers for ideas, she decides to teach the following unit: "What's in the solar system?" Each week she intends to present two planets to the class so the students can compare and contrast them. Students will keep a notebook of worksheet style pages where they will record the planets' names, diameters, periods of rotation, periods of revolution, average surface temperatures, and several other pieces of information. As a culminating activity, she plans to have the class build a model solar system using Styrofoam balls and other materials.

6		Consider whether the unit Renee has developed is Project Based Science or process science. What features make you think it is one or the other? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.1, 1.2)
7		To what extent is the unit Renee developed consistent with helping students understand the nature of science? What features are present and what features are missing? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.3)
8		In what ways is this unit consistent and not consistent with national science education goals? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.5)
9		What would be the likely benefits to her students if Renee developed a unit that was more consistent with Project Based Science? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.6)
10		Renee hesitates to develop investigations with her first graders because she believes they have not yet acquired the necessary higher order thinking skills. What would you say to convince Renee that her students can benefit from being involved in investigations? (Chapter Learning Performance 1.4)