Concluding Remarks for Paper Set

The NSTA standards for science teacher preparation are described by ten broad categories. It is necessary that new science teachers gain applicable knowledge and appreciation of each of the ten aspects of science teaching. Without competency in and subscription to these NSTA standards, new teachers will not successfully teach all students for understanding and application utilizing a broad vision of science.

Science for All is a demanding goal. Many changes are needed in the education of science teachers if this goal is to be achieved. These changes include requiring increased sophistication in attitudes, professional knowledge, and skills in both teaching and interpersonal interactions. It is essential that science educators lead others in the science education community in giving substance and positive action to this goal.

A web-based, hyperlinked format is better suited to convey this message than a linear presentation format. The flexibility of electronic publishing, including the use of various colors, shapes, arrows and positions on the page, not only allows the reader choices associated with the order of the presentation of information, but it allows important explicit and implicit messages to be conveyed. We see these messages as being crucial to the reform of science teacher preparation programs.

We believe a non-linear, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) inclusive model better reflects the challenges and consequences involved in science teaching. The drafted, linear model builds on the existing bifurcation of content and pedagogy within the university structure. Content has traditionally been taught in colleges of science while pedagogy has been the focus of instruction in colleges of education. However, this structure does not recognize the complexities of science teaching and obscures them from prospective teachers of science. Active learning involves confronting prospective teachers with conflicts in this bifurcation. Developing science literacy and the ability to transform this knowledge into learning opportunities requires more than an understanding of content and pedagogy. It requires an understanding of their intersection. Teachers prepared in a system where the walls between content and pedagogy, and therefore the existing barriers between the colleges of science and education, have become permeable will be better prepared to make informed decisions about the content and pedagogy of their science teaching.