ChemTeach: An Innovative Program to Prepare Prospective Chemistry and Physics Teachers

1. ChemTeach: An Innovative Program to Prepare Prospective Chemistry and Physics Teachers Carol Fry Bohlin ~ California State University, Fresno Professor and Director, Mathematics & Science Teacher Initiative Gerald Bodily ~ Fowler High School; Doctoral Student, CSUF/UCD __________________________________________ Building PRIME Partnerships for Teacher Recruitment and Retention in Math and Science Monterey, CA • 6 March 2009

2. Beginnings... Impetus Goal: To strengthen the chemistry and/or physics knowledge of... current teachers without credential in chemistry or physics career changers who have at least a bachelor’s degree to prepare them to pass the CSET–Chemistry or Physics Funding – MSTI-Fresno (CSU Chancellor’s Office)

3. Recruitment–The Power of the Press

4. Information Session

5. Web Site

6. Program Components 10 month program: 21 June 2008-April 2009 Optional university credit (NatSci) available at $60/unit 6-hour laboratory session every other Saturday (Modeling Instruction) Web-supported home study component Online activities and discussion forums Support through Moodle by online instructors (master teachers) Online and face-to-face assessments CSET and credential application fees covered by MSTI and TRP Students will take CSET on May 15 and/or on July 18, 2009

7. Modeling Instruction Modeling Instruction has been guided by a Modeling Theory of Physics Instruction, the focus of educational research by David Hestenes and collaborators since 1980. Implementation through Modeling Workshops for high school teachers was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation from 1989 to 2005. Modeling Instruction in Physics was designated in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the seven best K-12 educational technology programs out of 134 programs evaluated.Modeling Instruction in Physics was designated in 2001 by the U.S. Department of Education as one of two exemplary programs in K-12 Science Education out of 27 programs evaluated.

8. What Do We Mean by Model? ...with explicit statements of the relationships between these representations

9. Multiple Representations ...with explicit statements describing relationships

10. I - Model Development While in cooperative groups, students... • design and perform experiments, • use computers to collect and analyze data, • formulate functional relationship between variables, and • evaluate “fit” to data.

11. Sample Moodle EntryFebruary 7, 2009 ChemTeach Lab Day at Fowler High School8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.Reaction Dynamics, Part 2 • We continued to examine the implications of the reversibility of reactions. Since … • We discussed video clips and data of the solubility of calcium hydroxide (determined by conductivity vs. mass added). • We created exchange rules for the Equilibrium Game that would model some common types of changes. For example, …solubility equilibrium (solid-dissolved), phase change equilibrium (gas-liquid and solid-liquid), gas-phase reaction equilibrium (all reaction constituents in the gas phase), solution-phase reaction equilibrium (all reaction constituents in solution) • We learned how to predict the direction a reaction mixture would proceed to gain equilibrium... • We discussed Le Chatlier's Principle and why it works. We found the affect of each 'stressor' (such as a change in pressure or concentration of one constituent) could be predicted based on the net affect of how it changes the forward and/or reverse reaction rates. • We also learned to describe the equilibrium position using the empirically derived value, Keq, the equilibrium constant. This value is specific … • So the new equilibrium concentrations could be calculated (with some patience!) using a modification of our BCA table, the ICE (Initial, Change, Equilibrium) table, in combination with the expression for Keq...

12. Questions?....