BSCS at 50 Years: Building Partnerships to Improve Science Teaching & Learning

Abstract

Teaching biology is an exciting profession. There are few things more satisfying than seeing enthusiasm in the faces of our students as they explore and make sense of the natural world around them. But teaching biology well is a difficult task. I know. I started my career in the biology classroom. And based on the successes and challenges that I experienced, I left the high school classroom with the commitment to improve the preparation of future science teachers. I want teaching biology well to become the rule rather than the exception. I want students to have the opportunity to do science rather than merely memorize the content of science created by others. Not that teaching teachers is any easier than teaching students. In fact, my time as a university science educator and the director of the Center for Science Teaching and Learning at Northern Arizona University (NAU) has made me even more vividly aware of the complexity of teaching. If reforming science teaching was as simple as placing exceptional teachers in instructional settings with students, we would have realized the vision of reform long ago. But it's not that simple. To help all students experience science content that is rigorous, filled with opportunity to engage in scientific exploration, built within a community of learners, and linked to the world around us, more parts of the teaching equation need to be addressed. Science teaching is part of a system. Schools are made of subsystems, including departments, athletic teams, and academic-interest and service clubs. These subsystems all compete for student (and teacher!) time and attention. Schools are also impacted by other systems. Curriculum materials, school policies, accountability measures, and personal beliefs and actions all influence schools and have bearing on resource allocation and classroom practice. Recognizing science education as part of a system is critical if we hope to change the way science is taught. When the systems and subsystems work at cross purposes, it is difficult to accomplish any goal. When the systems and subsystems work in concert, however, there is a synergy of effort. The resulting accomplishments are greater than the resources invested, so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In working with teachers and schools today, I am acutely aware how infrequently educational systems work together to support exemplary science teaching. Realistically, this shouldn't be surprising. To bring systems into alignment takes forethought and an investment of time, resources, hard work, and belief that the desired change will positively impact students. On my more cynical days, I often label the effort involved in fostering such change as job security. There is certainly more than enough work to go around for everyone for a long time! But on my more optimistic days, I know that the challenges of reform represent opportunities to seek a synergy of effort with others; to advocate and influence change, one teacher and one school at a time. Colleges and universities are part of the system of schooling. Through academic programs, higher education provides teachers with science content knowledge, instruction in science teaching methods, and programs that result in teacher certification, in-service enrichment, or advanced degrees. But higher education alone cannot tackle the issue of science education reform. It takes many groups with similar commitments to share in the work with us. It takes partners who can combine their insights, energies, and resources with ours to accomplish these goals. For us, BSCS has become that partner. What does it mean to be in a partnership? There are at least four elements that are critical to success: common vision, strategic resource allocation, complementary support, and continuous learning. I would like to use a current professional development/ research project to illustrate the power of the BSCS/NAU partnership in meeting the needs of science teachers and learners and show how we can together accomplish more than we could have individually. …