Andrew Yee
October 3rd 04, 01:19 AM
Public Affairs
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
For more information, contact:
David Aguilar, Director of Public Affairs
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: 617-495-7462 Fax: 617-495-7468
Christine Pulliam
Public Affairs Specialist
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: 617-495-7463, Fax: 617-495-7016
For Release: Friday, October 1, 2004
Release No.: 04-30
Testing How Well Science Teachers Know What They Teach
Cambridge, MA -- The National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $2.4
million grant to the Science Education Department (SED) of the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The grant will fund the
department's Misconception Oriented Standards-based Assessment Resource for
Teachers (MOSART) project.
The Foundation awarded the grant through its Math and Science Partnership (MSP)
program, whose goal is to strengthen K-12 science and mathematics education in
support of "No Child Left Behind."
MOSART is part of SED's continuing effort to improve science education
throughout the country by determining the best ways of instructing both teachers
and students. The goal of Project MOSART is to improve teachers' professional
development by designing methods for testing their understanding of science
topics that they will be covering in their classrooms.
"We will look at a question that has concerned a lot of people: what is the
contribution of a teacher's scientific knowledge to the gains their students
undergo? We will try to measure the influence of professional development
courses on teacher knowledge and, more importantly, on the conceptual gains of
those teachers' students," says Dr. Philip Sadler, the principal investigator
for MOSART and director of SED.
MSP Institutes, which are affiliated with the Foundation's MSP Program, and
other professional development programs for teachers, need to evaluate the
science understanding of participants. By measuring the ability of science
teachers to comprehend subjects listed within national science education
standards, these programs aim to improve the overall quality of classroom
instruction. One teacher reaches many students, so improved teacher development
programs can impact thousands of students nationwide.
The MOSART team will develop tests to assess the degree to which teachers
possess the knowledge and understanding required by national standards.
Those same test questions will prove useful to students as well. "Many people
think that if students pass tests like the Massachusetts MCAS, they can handle
college. However, about half of the students who pass the tests end up needing
remedial classes. We will construct new kinds of tests that allow students to
test themselves and see if they're ready for college science courses," says Sadler.
MOSART is a direct outgrowth of Sadler's earlier efforts, including the video "A
Private Universe," which revealed that astronomical preconceptions are
remarkably tenacious even among highly educated Harvard graduates. In that
video, Harvard University students filmed on commencement day were unable to
provide a correct explanation for the cause of the Earth's seasons.
Sadler's awards include the 2002 Thomas J. Brennan Award from the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific and a 1999 award from the Journal of Research in Science
Teaching.
Other SED members of the MOSART team include Hal Coyle, Cindy Crockett and Bruce
Ward.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists,
organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate
fate of the universe.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
For more information, contact:
David Aguilar, Director of Public Affairs
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: 617-495-7462 Fax: 617-495-7468
Christine Pulliam
Public Affairs Specialist
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Phone: 617-495-7463, Fax: 617-495-7016
For Release: Friday, October 1, 2004
Release No.: 04-30
Testing How Well Science Teachers Know What They Teach
Cambridge, MA -- The National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $2.4
million grant to the Science Education Department (SED) of the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The grant will fund the
department's Misconception Oriented Standards-based Assessment Resource for
Teachers (MOSART) project.
The Foundation awarded the grant through its Math and Science Partnership (MSP)
program, whose goal is to strengthen K-12 science and mathematics education in
support of "No Child Left Behind."
MOSART is part of SED's continuing effort to improve science education
throughout the country by determining the best ways of instructing both teachers
and students. The goal of Project MOSART is to improve teachers' professional
development by designing methods for testing their understanding of science
topics that they will be covering in their classrooms.
"We will look at a question that has concerned a lot of people: what is the
contribution of a teacher's scientific knowledge to the gains their students
undergo? We will try to measure the influence of professional development
courses on teacher knowledge and, more importantly, on the conceptual gains of
those teachers' students," says Dr. Philip Sadler, the principal investigator
for MOSART and director of SED.
MSP Institutes, which are affiliated with the Foundation's MSP Program, and
other professional development programs for teachers, need to evaluate the
science understanding of participants. By measuring the ability of science
teachers to comprehend subjects listed within national science education
standards, these programs aim to improve the overall quality of classroom
instruction. One teacher reaches many students, so improved teacher development
programs can impact thousands of students nationwide.
The MOSART team will develop tests to assess the degree to which teachers
possess the knowledge and understanding required by national standards.
Those same test questions will prove useful to students as well. "Many people
think that if students pass tests like the Massachusetts MCAS, they can handle
college. However, about half of the students who pass the tests end up needing
remedial classes. We will construct new kinds of tests that allow students to
test themselves and see if they're ready for college science courses," says Sadler.
MOSART is a direct outgrowth of Sadler's earlier efforts, including the video "A
Private Universe," which revealed that astronomical preconceptions are
remarkably tenacious even among highly educated Harvard graduates. In that
video, Harvard University students filmed on commencement day were unable to
provide a correct explanation for the cause of the Earth's seasons.
Sadler's awards include the 2002 Thomas J. Brennan Award from the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific and a 1999 award from the Journal of Research in Science
Teaching.
Other SED members of the MOSART team include Hal Coyle, Cindy Crockett and Bruce
Ward.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists,
organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate
fate of the universe.