Graduate Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form
for Courses Numbered 6000 and Higher
Note: Before completing this form, please carefully read the accompanying instructions.
Submission guidelines are posted to the GCC Web site: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/gcc/index.cfm
1. Course prefix and number:
SCIE 6310
2. Date:
11/23/2011
3. Requested action:
New Course
X
Revision of Active Course
Revision & Unbanking of a Banked Course
Renumbering of an Existing Course from
from
to
#
X
Required
#
Elective
4. Method(s) of delivery (check all boxes that apply for both current/proposed and expected
future delivery methods within the next three years):
Current or
Proposed Delivery
Method(s):
Expected
Future Delivery
Method(s):
On-campus (face to face)
Distance Course (face to face off campus)
X
Online (delivery of 50% or more of the instruction is offered online)
X
5. Justification (must cite accreditation and/or assessment by the graduate faculty) for new course
or course revision or course renumbering:
The Science Faculty in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Instructional Technology Education
recognized the need to revise the existing course to better prepare science teachers to meet newly revised
standards. Graduate faculty approved the revisions proposed for this course. The revised course is aligned
with “Standards” for science content, teaching, and science teacher professional development and with
“Research” pertaining to the teaching and learning of science, all set forth in National Research Council
(NRC) publications.
 National Science Education Standards, published by the NRC (Science Teaching Standards A-F;
Physical, Life, and Earth and Space Science Content Standards, Grades 9-12; and Standards for
Professional Development for Science Teachers, Standard A-D).
 How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom, published by the NRC (research-based guidelines for
science teaching developed by cognitive science researchers investigating how students come to learn
science).
1
Revised 04-06-11 and posted fall of 2011
The proposed course is designed to enable practicing science teachers to meet the vision set forth in the
North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards. The following standards are emphasized:
STANDARD I: Teachers demonstrate leadership (viz., lead in their classrooms & advocate for schools and
students)
STANDARD II: Teachers establish a respectful classroom environment for a diverse population of students
(viz., embraces diversity in the school community & world, treats students as individuals & adapts
teaching to benefit students with special needs)
STANDARD III: Teachers know the content they teach (viz., align instruction with NC-Essential Science
Standards, recognized the interconnections of content areas, & make instruction relevant to students)
STANDARD IV: Teachers facilitate learning for their students (viz., know the ways learning takes place
and intellectual level of students, plan instruction appropriate for students, use a variety of methods to
address content, integrate and use technology help students develop critical thinking & problem-solving
skills, help students develop leadership qualities, & uses a variety of methods to assess students’
learning.)
STANDARD V: Teachers reflect on their practice (viz., analyze student learning)
The desire of the Science Education Faculty to promote science teacher learning and the learning of their
students guided the design of the revised SCIE 6310 course. Key features of the course include the use of
“educative curriculum materials” (Davis & Krajcik, 2010) to promote science teachers’ and their students’
learning and the emphasis on teaching in ways that enable students to progress from naïve to progressively
more sophisticated science knowledge and reasoning, a concept know as “learning progressions” (NRC,
2007, Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8). Shifting the focus from
day-to-day planning to coherent science teaching within and across grade levels is aided by science
teachers’ use of “Strand Maps” (see the Atlas of Science Literacy, published by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science). Furthermore, promoting teachers’ recognition that K-12 students are
diverse in needs, characteristics, and abilities is a fundamental feature of the proposed course. Advancing
science teachers’ awareness of this diversity and refining their ability to adapt science instruction to the
needs of diverse and special needs learners is critical to developing scientific literacy for all students (as
outlined in STANDARD II of the National Science Education Standards published by the NRC).
6. Course description exactly as it should appear in the next catalog:
6310. Advanced Methods in Science Teaching and Learning (3) P: SCIE 6020, 6030. Analysis and
application of standards- and research-based practices to improve science teaching and learning for regular,
diverse and special needs students.
7. If this is a course revision, briefly describe the requested change:
The change insures science teachers’ use of “Standards” for identifying the content of the science they
teach and “Research-Based” methods for planning and teaching in ways that facilitate students’
development of advanced level understanding of science principles and practices and is responsive to
students’ diverse and special needs.
8. Course credit:
Lecture Hours
3
3
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
Lab
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Studio
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Practicum
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Internship
Weekly
OR
Per Term
Credit Hours
s.h.
Other (e.g., independent study) Please explain.
Total Credit Hours
s.h.
s.h.
3
s.h.
2
Revised 04-06-11 and posted fall of 2011
25
9. Anticipated annual student enrollment:
10. Changes in degree hours of your programs:
Degree(s)/Program(s)
Changes in Degree Hours
MAEd Science Education
None
11. Affected degrees or academic programs, other than your programs:
Degree(s)/Program(s)
Changes in Degree Hours
None
12. Overlapping or duplication with affected units or programs:
X Not applicable
Documentation of notification to the affected academic degree programs is
attached.
13. Council for Teacher Education (CTE) approval (for courses affecting teacher education):
Not applicable
X
Applicable and CTE has given their approval.
14. University Service-Learning Committee (USLC) approval:
X Not applicable
Applicable and USLC has given their approval.
15. Statements of support:
a. Staff
X Current staff is adequate
Additional staff is needed (describe needs in the box below):
b. Facilities
X Current facilities are adequate
Additional facilities are needed (describe needs in the box below):
c. Library
X
Initial library resources are adequate
Initial resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief explanation and an
estimate for the cost of acquisition of required initial resources):
d. Unit computer resources
X
Unit computer resources are adequate
Additional unit computer resources are needed (in the box below, give a brief
explanation and an estimate for the cost of acquisition):
3
Revised 04-06-11 and posted fall of 2011
e. ITCS resources
X
ITCS resources are not needed
The following ITCS resources are needed (put a check beside each need):
Mainframe computer system
Statistical services
Network connections
Computer lab for students
Software
Approval from the Director of ITCS attached
16. Course information (see: Graduate Curriculum and Program Development Manual for
instructions):
a. Textbook(s) and/or readings: author(s), name, publication date, publisher, and
city/state/country. Include ISBN (when applicable).
Donovan, M.S., & Bransford, J.D. (2004). How students learn: Science in the classroom. Washington,
DC: National Research Council. [ISBN: 0309089492]
National Research Council (2011). A framework for K-12 science education. Washington, DC: National
Academies Press. [ISBN: NA]
National Research Council (2007). Taking science to school: Teaching and learning science in grades
K-8. Committee on Science Learning, Kindergarten Through Eighth Grade. Richard A. Duschl, Heidi
A. Schweingruber, and Andrew W. Schouse, Editors. Board on Science Education, Center for
Education. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National
Academies Press. {ISBN: 0309102057]
b. Course objectives for the course (student – centered, behavioral focus)
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Articulate and put into practice a vision for science content, teaching, learning, and assessment that
reflects state, national, and research-based content, teaching and diversity standards;
2. Identify, implement, and evaluate the key principles of the new science of learning and describe
their implications for science instruction with traditional, diverse, and special needs students, and
3. Develop and field test standards- and research-based science curriculum materials that are aligned
with state and national standards, that reflect the principles found in the new science of learning and
provide appropriate accommodations for diverse and special needs students.
c. Course topic outline
1.
2.
3.
How Students Learn—Results from Cognitive Science Research
Teaching for Learning and Understanding among all Students
Diverse and Special Needs Students: Who are they and what ways are available to science teachers
to accommodate special learning needs?
4. Traditional & Research-Based Teaching—Inquiry, Guided Inquiry & The Response to Intervention
Model
5. Inquiry in Science Teaching and Scientific Inquiry—1st and 2nd Hand Investigations & Guided
Inquiry and the Role of Inquiry with Diverse and Special Needs Students
6. Model-Based Reasoning—The Promise, Pitfalls, and Provisions
7. Principles of Learning—Theory into Practice & Practice into Theory
8. Teaching To Standards—What They Are & How They Direct Science Teaching
9. Prior Knowledge and Learning—What Students Know and Believe
10. Learning Progressions—From Naïve to Scientific Understanding for All Students
11. Reform of Science Teaching Practice—Building, Field-Testing & Presenting a Unit of Instruction
4
Revised 04-06-11 and posted fall of 2011
d. List of course assignments, weighting of each assignment, and grading/evaluation system
for determining a grade







Guided Reading Questions & Discussion Participation (12 pts.) [Objective 1]
Prior Experience as a Science Student & Teacher (8 pts.) [Objective 1]
Roadmap for Science Learning & Teaching (15 pts.) [Objective 2]
Case Study 1: Students’ Prior Knowledge of Science (15 pts.) [Objective 2]
Case Study 2: Students’ Learning for Understanding (15 pts.) [Objective 2]
Case Study 3: Assessing & Modifying Instruction for Special Needs Students (15 pts.) [Objective 2]
Standards- & Research-Based Science Curriculum Unit: Presentation to School/District/State Science
Faculty (20 pts.) [Objective 3]
Grading Scale (100 pts):
A = 93-100%
B = 85-92%
C = 77-84%
F = below 77
5
Revised 04-06-11 and posted fall of 2011