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started 25 December, 2008, Jose Bonner

**Let's Get The Data!**

 * Part 1:** I would like to hear from as many teachers as possible about their experiences teaching science. This information will help bolster our recommendations for specific reforms in our schools and in state and national educational policies. There are a number of reports that make specific recommendations for change, but few include the voices of the teachers themselves. I think we really need teachers' input. To provide your input on the Big Questions, please go to [|GetTheData.html].

This was best phrased by Michal Kreiselman as: **What needs to be included in a large-scale research?** Her list is items A and B below. I have added a few more topics. I fully expect that this will produce considerably more than one research project.
 * Part 2: Information we need to obtain**


 * It is likely that many studies on these issues have been performed and published. Those of us who know of such studies, please provide citations (and URLs if they exist).**

Our collaborative knowledge level is undoubtedly very high, given our numbers. What I don't know, many others do. For issues raised below, we will likely require significant discussion. It may be a useful strategy to create a new page for each discussion, with a link from the item on the list.


 * A. what has been lost and is now missing in our students ?**
 * How much is it about skills not taught,
 * About self-worth not fulfilled, or exaggerated?
 * How much is it about quality of teaching?
 * Parents involvement in the formal education?
 * About continuity of messages, curriculum and personal care all the way from K to 12 and higher?
 * Sense of community belonging?
 * On professional development, teacher incentives (Merit pay?!)?
 * On physical health?
 * How much is it dependent on budget?


 * B. Profiles of various groups of students**
 * by grades in our courses
 * by socioeconomic status (as much as we are allowed to know)
 * by gender
 * by age
 * by students' professional aspirations


 * C. Culture and expectations**
 * school student culture (e.g. it's not "cool" to excel academically)
 * relationship of school to "real life"
 * societal culture (e.g. the nutty belief that it's OK to be bad at math, and the nuttier belief that "girls can't do math")
 * school administrative/teacher culture (these may be different -- are they?)
 * larger-scale educational culture (state superintendents, Congressional mandates, etc)
 * Different cultures in science departments, vs education departments, vs teachers, vs school administrators; shouldn't we all be on the same page?


 * D. Resources**
 * funding (also mentioned above, in A)
 * textbooks (are any of them adequate?)
 * kit-based science (better, but still insufficient)
 * online resources


 * E. Teaching strategies**
 * when is lecturing OK?
 * when does Inquiry work?
 * what the heck is Inquiry, anyway? It is fundamentally different in many research labs than it is portrayed in many of the Educational Journals.
 * how often do students engage in authentic scientific thinking, vs memorizing?
 * do analogies help or hinder? (the chair of our Astronomy department has decided never to use them again, concluding that they hinder)


 * F. Assessment**
 * when is it actually useful?
 * when is it an impediment to teaching?
 * what is the impact of high-stakes testing?
 * if there must be annual testing, how should the results be used?


 * G. Teacher training**
 * are short-term professional development sessions useful?
 * are PD sessions useful if they do not address the actual stuff we're teaching?
 * are PD sessions useful if they provide a kit we can use for a topic (do they help us with other topics)?
 * how useful is PD from scientists, vs schools of education, vs free-lance consultants vs the guy off the street?
 * why aren't more scientists involved in working with schools to improve science teaching?
 * why are University science courses for pre-service teachers so bad? (is this actually true?)
 * are pre-service Education courses out of synch with science courses? Do they provide conflicting messages? (I think that in elementary science, they do)