Teaching the Teachers: Key to Improving  
by Connie Young
Teacher education is making headlines today as never before. As baby-boomer teachers retire, school enrollment increases, and teacher-pupil rations shrink, the demand for teachers is expected to mushroom. According to U.S. Department of Education data, schools will need to hire some 2.5 million new teachers over the next decade.
On the job, these teachers will face the ongoing challenge of keeping up-to-date on technological advances and finding ways to help students understand and apply complex math and science principles. Yet apparently few teachers feel competent in this area. A National Center for Education Statistics survey found that only one in five teachers report feeling well-prepared to integrate technology in their teaching methods.
In response to concerns about teacher shortages and the quality of teaching in Colorado schools, the State Legislature last year passed Senate Bill 154, requiring state universities and colleges to ensure their teacher preparation programs can be completed within four years. Historically, most future teachers have spent about four years studying for their baccalaureate degrees and an additional year completing their student teaching and education courses.
In the thick of it all sits Colorado State's College of Natural Sciences, which graduates about 50 prospective mathematics and science teachers each year and supports a myriad of programs aimed at improving the quality of K-12 education.
"The charge to the university was to allow students to finish in a shorter amount of time, so the student who wants to teach physics, for instance, could do it in four years with a total of 120 credit hours," explained mathematics Professor Ben Manvel, who chairs a science education committee assembled to respond to the legislation.
The question of how to comply with this legislation has been weighing heavily on the minds of College of Natural Sciences' faculty and administrators concerned about maintaining high standards for graduates. On teacher licensing exams that assess science knowledge, Colorado State students have had pass rates of 87 percent over the past three years, compared with 80 percent statewide. 
Currently, students working toward a teacher's license earn their bachelor's degree in an approved area of study and, on top of that, complete professional teacher license requirements. All told, College of Natural Sciences education majors have taken between 140 and 145 credits to complete all required courses. In trimming the courses to fit the four-year limit, that total will drop to 120 credits, a decrease of about 15 percent.
Many faculty expressed concern that the smaller number of science classes would be insufficient to properly educate students in disciplines like physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. As College of Natural Sciences Associate Dean Tom Sneider explained, this requirement initially stymied faculty and administrators. 
"The departments were faced with a quandary," Sneider said. "Before, we were educating these students to become teachers while also giving them strong training in a specific discipline. We had to ask ourselves, 'How do we respond to this new requirement?' "
In an attempt to respond to the legislation, the College chose to modify an existing Bachelor of Science in physical sciences by adding concentrations in bioscience, chemical science, earth science, general science, and physical science. Though the earth science concentration degree will be issued by the College of Natural Sciences, the associated curriculum will be designed in cooperation with the College of Natural Resources. The current mathematics major with education concentration already fits within 120 credit hours and therefore remains unchanged.
Each department in the College has been charged with selecting and, in some cases, redesigning the courses necessary for each of the endorsement areas. The School of Education is designing the education components of new education curriculum.
Like many decisions, the one to reconfigure this degree involved some trade-offs. Students who pursue physics education, for example, will end up taking fewer courses in that discipline. For that reason, they will not earn a physics degree, but a natural science degree with a physics concentration. Also, individuals who later want to apply to graduate school or enter a non-teaching position requiring a bachelor's degree in a specific science may need to take additional courses. 
Still, the natural science degree will offer an introduction to several areas of science with some depth in one. This approach should be useful when it comes to teaching these subjects, Manvel said.
"I think most will consider the outcome fairly successful," he said.
Under the legislation, control for teacher training programs now is shared by the State Board of Education and Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE). CCHE also has responsibility for evaluating and approving teacher education programs statewide, though the education department still is responsible for issuing teacher licenses. 
Institutions must comply with the law by July 1, 2000, and be re-evaluated by the CCHE by July 1, 2001. 
In addition to reducing teacher preparation time, the bill also legislated several new requirements for teacher candidates. Among those mandates are the ability to demonstrate various educational skills including skills in engaging a student's parents as "learning partners," integrating technology into age-appropriate instruction methods, teaching in ways that meet individual student's needs, and adjusting instructional practices to stimulate student progress. The responsibility for ensuring that these criteria are 
met falls under the University's School of Education.
Science Teacher Preparation On Track
The College of Natural Sciences recognized long ago the need to adequately train current and future teachers of science and math and has developed many programs to do just that. For example, the mathematics, physics, and chemistry departments each have a faculty member who works with prospective teachers to improve the quality of science and math education. The biology department plans to hire an education faculty member this semester.
Assistant professor of mathematics Kelly Chappell fills the educator role in her department, where she advocates using a variety of methods to explain complex concepts.
"Many students have experienced only one method of teaching, the lecture style," Chappell said. 
But presenting the information in more than one way and showing students how to solve problems with more than one method increases the chances they will learn, understand, and retain the material, she said. Chappell puts this concept to work in an introductory calculus class for engineering and physical science majors that emphasizes understanding of concepts before moving on to procedures.
"I show how to solve math problems, such as derivatives, in three different ways - algebraically, numerically, and geometrically," she said. "Also, though I'm still in front of the class at the board, I try to have more interaction with students."
Her approach seems to be paying off. Students in classes taught by Chappell, calculus coordinator Darel Hardy, and faculty using similar approaches have scored better on common exams than their counterparts in other classes. The marks have been comparatively higher on concept questions and equal if not better on procedural questions, she said.
"They were taught the 'why' of math, but they also did better on the 'how,' " she remarked. 
During a four-week math education workshop at Fort Collins High School, Chappell encourages teachers and student teachers to use multiple approaches and interactive methods with their students. Called "Mid Math," the workshop pairs each college student with an on-the-job teacher/mentor. Mid Math is offered through Colorado State's Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (CSMATE), which works with teachers and students to improve the state of science and math education.
"We ask our math education students to design lesson plans that provide lots of ways of learning," Chappell said. "One way just isn't good enough."
Helping students become good teachers is one of CSMATE's objectives, said interim co-director Judith Hannah.
"We would like CSMATE to establish more classes with a 'learn-by-doing' approach," she explained. "The trick is to get students thinking about and being actively engaged in the learning process, not just passively taking in information."
Vicky Jordan works at CSMATE, where she teaches a science methods course and supervises student teachers using national and state science standards for promoting education reform. Colorado State's willingness to work with school districts sets a good example for other universities.
"Rather than hiding in an 'ivory tower,' Colorado State is helping to lead the way in science education reform," Jordan offered.
Attracting nontechnical students to the sciences and supplying them with the skills to understand technical data is of growing importance, Hannah stated. 
"A few generations ago, having little scientific knowledge was less of a problem," she said. "But today, voters are asked to make decisions about issues like water diversions, hazardous waste, pollution, and nuclear power plants, all of which are rooted in science."
But not everyone recognizes the value of science competency.
"Unfortunately, when many college students take an introduction to biology class, it may be the last science course they ever take," Hannah said. "We'd like to change that."
So would Colorado State's Center for Life Sciences.
Directed by former Natural Sciences associate dean Tom Gorell and housed at Aylesworth Hall, the center is funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which seeks to increase the number of biomedical researchers by increasing student diversity in undergraduate research and attracting new students to the life sciences. The center offers various workshops and outreach services for K-12 school teachers and students. 
One key to adequately serving teachers is to get advice from teachers themselves, Gorell said. That's why he hired veteran school teachers Vicky Jordan, who does double-duty at CSMATE, and Jean Carpenter. Both teachers work part-time at the center and lend the "real-world" perspective gained through classroom experience. 
Carpenter puts this perspective to use through an honors biology class in which Colorado State students learn and practice teaching techniques in elementary school classrooms. 
Reaction to this kind of field experience has been very positive, Carpenter said. After making a classroom presentation about photosynthesis, one Colorado State student commented, "The students now know why plants are green, what chemicals they use to produce food, and why plants are essential for our world. I hope our presentation was worthwhile for the elementary students; I know it was worthwhile for me."
Carpenter is the "bridge" between Colorado State resources and classroom teachers, she said.
"A lot of faculty and students want a connection with teachers, but they don't have the time to seek them out," Carpenter said. "This gives them a way to do it." 
The Center for Life Sciences plans to hire two Teachers in Residence next year.
Looking to the Future
Meanwhile, the College of Natural Sciences continues to seek ways to expand its education program. For example, Associate Dean Sneider and colleagues at other institutions are seeking funding for a Rocky Mountain Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education. Through this consortium, Colorado State, University of Northern Colorado, Metropolitan State College, University of Colorado, University of Southern Colorado, Front Range Community College, Aims Community College, and Pueblo Community College would establish a cross-institutional master's degree in science, mathematics, and technology education for school administrators. Students could take specialized courses from any of the educational institutions, which would share programs and resources. The proposal also would establish a doctoral degree in science, mathematics, and technology education that would involve a dissertation on the effectiveness of various teaching methods.
So while teacher education makes headlines nationwide, it also makes the "dean's list" of priorities at the College of Natural Sciences. According to CSMATE Interim Co-Director Christine Jones, that's where this important issue belongs.
"If science is a 'way of knowing,' " she said, "we all need to know."