Use of a Mentored Creative Writing Project to Improve the Geology Education of Preservice Elementary Teachers

Abstract

The Earth Science Storybook Project is being conducted with Brigham Young University's (BYU) Physical Science 110B (PS 110B) class, which is introductory geology for Elementary Education majors. Under the project, preservice elementary teachers in PS 110B are mentored by university geology faculty and geology graduate students as they author children's storybooks in earth science. The storybooks are then illustrated and made available to practicing teachers for classroom use. This is done by an interdisciplinary collaborative effort between the BYU Geology Department and the BYU Visual Arts Department, which is providing senior illustration students to illustrate the storybooks at a relatively low cost. The goal is to use the mentored writing experience as a means of improving geology content knowledge for preservice elementary teachers and fostering their positive attitudes and self-efficacy toward learning and teaching science. These goals are being assessed by (1) quantitative analysis of the PS 110B class exam scores of storybook authors versus a control group of PS 110B students in the same class who are not storybook authors; (2) a pre- and post-class Attitude Toward Science Survey; and (3) a geology teaching self-efficacy instrument. The results of the project have been positive and indicate that when preservice teachers in a science class are given an opportunity to experience personal mentoring from the teaching faculty they do experience a shift toward a more positive attitude toward science.