Exposing Engineering Graduate Students To A Constructivist Approach To Teaching Elementary And Middle School Science

Training and competency are essential attributes of teachers at any societal level; however, most college professors are trained in a technical area instead of the art and science of teaching. Knowing a student's learning style, developmental level, strengths, and weaknesses will help to educate that student in a meaningful way; at the college level, these factors are historically overlooked. Using the microcosm of the engineering departments at the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus, this paper will explore the effects of an education course (EDTE 701 Special Topics in Teaching Science) that is part of an NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K12 Education program. This class is taken by engineering and computer science graduate students that are prospective faculty. It includes practicum teaching experiences in elementary and middle school grade classrooms. The course is compared to the college-wide teaching assistant training and any professional training received by the faculty. The recipients of the various training methods are self-assessed on the basis of competency questions regarding their understanding of their students and teaching itself as opposed to the discipline being taught. This paper will compare these results and will discuss the applicability of teacher training aimed at teaching the elementary grade levels to teaching courses at the higher university level.