2006
Project: Exploratorium’s Teacher Institute (TI)
Authors: Judy Hirabayashi, Laura Stokes
With assistance of: Susan Hanson, Allison Murray
Type: Report
Publication: June 2006
The Place and Role of the Exploratorium’s Teacher Institute in Strengthening the Teaching of Science (pdf, 56 pages)
Abstract
San Francisco’s Exploratorium is a hands-on, interactive science museum whose mission is to foster deep understandings of scientific inquiry and transform science education. The Exploratorium’s Teacher Institute (TI) has been offering professional development programs for middle and high school science teachers for twenty years. The purpose of this report is to shed light on the distinctive role and place of the TI in contributing to the improvement of science teaching in the schools.
The report shows that:
- TI programs enrich teachers’ science content knowledge, strengthen their classroom practice, provide them with inexpensive resources that reflect authentic science, and help them form professional identity and enjoy membership in professional community.
- What teachers gain in TI programs helps their districts put science standards into practice.
The report offers a conceptual framework for understanding the ways in which an informal science-rich institution that is outside the education system can help strengthen science teaching within the system in ways the system is not able to do for its teachers. It has a five-page Executive Summary.
Intended Audience
Science-Technology-Engineering-Math (STEM) Education Leaders, Teachers, School and District Administrators, Funders, and general public.
Disclaimer
Any and all errors are claimed by the authors of this document, Inverness Research, Inc.
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