NSF Funds Provided to UMass Amherst for Online Program for Middle School Science Teachers

Oct. 21, 2003

AMHERST, Mass. – The School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has received a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support the development, implementation, and assessment of a model, Web-based licensing program for middle school science teachers.

A collaboration with UMass Lowell, the project will provide an online master of education degree with a concentration in science education. The program meets national and Massachusetts standards and leads to professional licensure for general science teachers (Grades 5-8) who live in the state. It will serve both urban and rural middle school teachers by enabling them to study science content and pedagogy in depth, and to research and assess distance learning technologies and teaching methodologies, all online.

"These resources are helping the Schools of Education on the Amherst and Lowell campuses to reinvigorate our efforts to train high-quality science teachers for all Massachusetts children," said Andrew Effrat, dean of the School of Education at UMass Amherst. "The program increases the number of classroom teachers licensed in science education, an area in which the shortage is particularly pronounced."

The project is under the direction of Kathleen S. Davis, associate professor of education on the UMass Amherst campus. Co-directors are Stephen Schneider, professor of astronomy at UMass Amherst, and Anita Greenwood, associate professor of education at UMass Lowell.

Each online course developed for Science Education Online will incorporate and adapt what is known about best practices for teaching science. Aided by kits of materials developed by the course instructors, participants will engage in a variety of guided and open-ended inquiries as the primary means of developing their understanding of the concepts. Threaded discussions, electronic journals, e-mail and document-sharing options will allow for high levels of interaction among participants and with the instructors. Courses will be designed and taught by teams comprised of UMass faculty and expert public school science teachers.

"We have found the online medium to be effective for other subject areas, and we are eager to extend this application to improve the teaching of science," commented Donald E. Pierson, dean of the Graduate School of Education at UMass Lowell.

The first group of 30 teachers from urban and rural districts in Massachusetts begins its two-year program in the spring of 2004. Their studies will be financed by the grant. A second group begins in 2005. Additional groups will start each following fall semester, beginning in September 2005, but will be supported by tuition.

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