Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Standards-Based Earth Systems Education Course for Middle School Teachers

Abstract

An Earth System Science (ESS) framework was used to integrate Earth, life and physical science topics in the development of a series of courses for in-service and pre-service middle school science teachers in South Carolina.The first of these courses was an integrated, thematic, standards- and inquiry-based course was pilot-tested with a group of practicing middle school science teachers and was found to be effective in terms of increasing knowledge of Earth System Science, influencing teachers to employ inquiry-based instructional strategies in their classrooms more often than before the start of the course, and influencing teachers to be more likely to employ authentic assessment strategies in their classrooms. These outcomes demonstrate that it is possible to employ modern pedagogical practices effectively in an ESS framework. The use of this course model could be implemented widely in both pre- and in-service science courses for Earth Science teachers.