The speaker lets a small plastic vial fall to the floor and tosses out a simple question along with it: What caused the vial to drop? 鈥淕ravity,鈥� his audience responds instinctively. And what, he asks them, is gravity? This time, the answers come more slowly and with less certainty. He singles out one response: 鈥淕ravity,鈥� the speaker says to laughter from the room, 鈥渋s what pulls objects to the Earth.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 some real circular reasoning here,鈥� he adds.
The audience on this day is not an elementary or secondary school class, but a roomful of science teachers from around the country, who have gathered here for a meeting of the National Science Teachers Association. They鈥檝e come to hear Bill Robertson, a writer and one-time curriculum developer, talk about a familiar topic: How can they improve their understanding of core science concepts when they鈥檙e expected to have such expertise already?
For years, educators and researchers have seen teachers at all grade levels attempt to upgrade their grasp of physics, chemistry, and biology, from basic theories to complex material. Now, the pressure on schools and instructors to improve science instruction is likely to intensify, with approaching federal requirements on states to test students in science and for instructors to become 鈥渉ighly qualified鈥� in the subjects they teach.
The sponsors of the conference believe Mr. Robertson is one of those people who can help. Over the past few years, he鈥檚 written a series of books aimed at encouraging K-12 teachers to enhance their understanding of science, on such basic concepts as sound, light, and energy. This particular session is on force and motion.
His books, published by the NSTA under the title, Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It, ask instructors to divest themselves of a few myths. One is that science topics are invariably hard to understand. Not so, if teachers can grasp the underlying concepts behind them, Mr. Robertson says. A second is that educators can teach science without understanding it. Teachers need to have a mastery of the fundamental principles behind the science they cover, the writer says鈥攏ot just an ability to recite facts.
鈥淵ou demand that it makes sense,鈥� Mr. Robertson tells the teachers, in talking about gravity. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when you鈥檙e going to get a degree of understanding.鈥�
Educators and others have decried the lack of subject-matter expertise among science teachers for years, though opinions vary on what contributes most to those shortcomings. Many agree that the problem stems partly from instructors teaching outside their fields because of the budgetary limits or staffing needs of their districts.
鈥淲e used to joke, 鈥楧on鈥檛 hum when you鈥檙e walking down the hallways鈥攕omeone will turn you into a music teacher,鈥� 鈥� said Gerald F. Wheeler, a former high school science instructor who is now the executive director of the NSTA, based in Arlington, Va. But there is a consequence to having so many 鈥渄raftees鈥� in teaching science classes, Mr. Wheeler notes, particularly when such subjects as physics, chemistry, and biology have a lot of dissimilar material, much of it not easy to master.
鈥淐ontent knowledge is the hole in the dike,鈥� Mr. Wheeler said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the top issues in succeeding in science reform.鈥�
A Major, and Minor, Problem
Teachers, like students, cannot know what they were never taught. Nearly 20 percent of high school science teachers nationwide lack even a minor in their main teaching field, according to a 2000 report by the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century. That report, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, also found that 56 percent of high school students taking physical-science courses were being taught by out-of-field teachers. Twenty-seven percent of high school students taking math, by comparison, fell into that category.
Of the teachers who get in touch with Mr. Robertson, a majority are seeking help in physics, he says. Recent research seems to bear out that need. According to a 2002 report by Horizon Research Inc., only 56 percent of high school physics teachers have taken six or more college courses in their subjects, compared with 67 percent of chemistry and 92 percent of biology instructors. Another report by Horizon found that at the elementary level, fewer than one-third of teachers believed they were well-qualified to teach each of the science disciplines.
After listening to teachers describe their subject-matter shortcomings, Mr. Robertson became convinced that many had not been taught scientific concepts the right way, in high school or college. Too often, precollegiate teachers and college professors cram in as much complex material as possible, too quickly, in his view, rather than going slowly enough so that students can master core content, which will have broad application later on.
For Mr. Robertson, that is not simply an abstract belief. To this day, he remembers his embarrassment years ago, as a master鈥檚-degree candidate in physics, when he was handed an exam and forced to admit to his professor that he didn鈥檛 know a basic formula鈥攐ne he should have understood years before.
鈥淗e looked at me and said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e a physics major?鈥� 鈥� Mr. Robertson recalled.
The teachers attending Mr. Robertson鈥檚 sessions in Indianapolis last month arrived with different goals. Lisa Yeager, who teaches biology and earth science at Henderson County High School in Kentucky, attended the writer鈥檚 second workshop, on understanding air, water, and weather. She already was familiar with several of the concepts Mr. Robertson spoke about, such as high- and low-pressure systems and the Coriolis force, the push caused by the Earth鈥檚 rotation, which affects winds and the atmosphere.
But she also gained insight into other topics her students routinely quiz her on, such as why weather systems move in and out of a region. 鈥淚 feel like my major weakness is in meteorology,鈥� she said.
Ms. Yeager, who works in the 7,100-student Henderson County district, believes many teachers long to improve in different areas within science, but are reluctant to seek help. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 that they don鈥檛 know where to look for information,鈥� said Ms. Yeager, who has an undergraduate degrees in education and biology. 鈥淪o many are so embarrassed to ask.鈥�
Going to the Source
Others arrived at Mr. Robertson鈥檚 sessions with different needs. Chrissy Terrill taught mostly biology and physical science to 9th graders during her first three years in the profession. This year, she鈥檚 teaching 8th grade science for the first time, which means she has to cover a broader range of material, including chemistry and physics. Trying to keep up with that subject matter鈥攁nd put it in understandable language for students鈥攈as been a challenge.
鈥淚 had memorized it, but I might not be able to explain it at the level I needed to,鈥� said Ms. Terrill, who teaches in the 16,000-student Lakota district in Liberty Township, Ohio. When she needs tutoring on those topics, she sometimes heads for the library or Internet sites, or consults with chemistry or physics teachers in the district.
Some education officials say the key to helping teachers like Ms. Terrill lies in improving the quality of teachers鈥� colleges. In a 2002 report to Congress, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige contended that the teacher-college system was 鈥渂roken,鈥� and that greater emphasis needed to be put on giving future K-12 instructors subject-matter knowledge, rather than simply training on how to guide a class.
Although many training institutions are making strides, said Carolyn Snowbarger, a senior policy adviser in the Education Department on teacher-quality issues, some have been slow to make changes. 鈥淎t the elementary level, [they] need to make certain teachers are getting adequate content knowledge,鈥� she said.
Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, the federal No Child Left Behind Act will require states to test students annually in science at least once in grades 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12. The law also calls for teachers of core subjects to be 鈥渉ighly qualified鈥� by the end of the 2005-06 academic year. The Education Department earlier this year said that states could allow teachers to attain that status by showing subject-matter competence in a general science field, or a specific one, such as biology, chemistry, or physics.
Many teachers apparently are interested in elevating their knowledge of science, if the seven professional-development workshops the Education Department staged last year are reliable indicators. Those sessions, which are expected to continue this year, drew 1,400 teachers, with a 7,000-person waiting list, Ms. Snowbarger said. What鈥檚 more, the department has set up professional-development links, including subject-matter training, on its Web site, a feature that is drawing 2,000 hits a day, she said.
How and What to Teach
Some leaders in higher education say colleges are making the right kinds of changes to help produce teachers who are better-informed.
Mary Brabeck, the dean of New York University鈥檚 Steinhardt school of education, said more institutions are forming stronger links between their teacher-training programs and colleges of science. Her own school is bringing together faculty members from those two academic areas to find ways of helping teachers improve their science expertise.
鈥淕enerally, there has to be a better conversation,鈥� she said.
Ms. Brabeck, who chairs the board of directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teaching Education, based in Washington, says that getting knowledgeable college graduates interested in science teaching is difficult from the outset.
Of 561 master鈥檚 students and undergraduates to complete NYU鈥檚 teaching program in 2003, only 3 percent were planning to teach science. Students with expertise in that subject tend to head for private-industry jobs, Ms. Brabeck said, in a familiar lament of teacher-college officials. 鈥淵ou have a lot more options that pay a lot more and have a lot more prestige,鈥� she added.
鈥楴ot a Negative鈥�
Congress took a step toward addressing some financial needs this year by increasing the amount of federal student-loan forgiveness for teachers in math, science, and special education from $5,000 to $17,500, if they work in high-poverty schools for at least five years.
Meanwhile, school districts can do more, Mr. Robertson says, by devoting time and money to teachers seeking to improve their content skill through college classes or workshops. Most teachers, he believes, are more than willing to acknowledge when they need outside help.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 find that teachers are embarrassed about it,鈥� the author said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a negative. They鈥檙e [saying], there鈥檚 a resource out there.鈥�
