1
University of Pittsburgh School of Education — Department of Instruction & Learning — I&L 2845 —
I&L 2845 – Practicum in Secondary Science 2
Fall 2013
(2 credits)
Practicum in Secondary Science 2 is a 2-credit course offered during weeks 3-7 of fall term (October 16 – December 11). Throughout this course, interns will participate in their primary field assignment:
- 20 hours/week (spread over five days) in a secondary science classroom setting.
Assignments and discussions within the practicum course will be designed to help interns reflect on key components of their practice. We will focus specifically on classroom routines, student-student and student-teacher interactions, and discursive strategies that support productive engagement in science learning activities. Three performance assignments will enable the intern to demonstrate emerging skills related to selecting/designing cognitively demanding tasks, supporting students’ engagement in those tasks, and reflecting productively on the instruction and learning that occurred.
SCHEDULE
October 16 – December 11
Wednesday 3:30-4:20 PMRoom 4300 WW Posvar Hall
COURSE INSTRUCTOR
Faculty
1
University of Pittsburgh School of Education — Department of Instruction & Learning — I&L 2845 —
Dr. Jennifer L. Cartier
5523 WW Posvar Hall
412-648-7248 (office)
412-661-0141 (home)
412-215-6511 (cell)
1
University of Pittsburgh School of Education — Department of Instruction & Learning — I&L 2845 —
Because the MAT program includes significant off-campus time commitments for students, the science program faculty hold office hours by appointment. This enables us to best meet the needs of students (interns) with complex schedules!
SPECIFIC GOALS
Through participation in and completion of learning activities and assignments within this course, interns should -
Goal / Level of Mastery Expected / Related Product or Performance / Related Standards- Select and/or design high cognitive demand tasks that provide opportunities for all learners to engage in science and engineering practices (SEPs).
PDE 430 1a, 2b
- Select and/or design high cognitive demand tasks that provide opportunities for all students to develop understanding of core science ideas.
PDE 430 1a
- Plan lessons that explicitly connect to PA standards, CCS, and NGSS.
PDE 430 1c, 3b
- Develop clear and specific learning goals for each lesson.
- Develop clear, specific, and measurable objectives for each lesson. Objectives are aligned to the lesson learning goals.
PDE430 1g
- Adequately anticipate students’ engagement in the lesson. Anticipation includes: consideration of students’ relevant prior experience and knowledge; description of possible stumbling blocks; description of key building block skills or ideas students are likely to bring; questions and other appropriate strategies for eliciting and building on students’ knowledge and experience at all stages of the lesson.
PDE 430 1d
- Plan grouping strategies purposefully to maximize students’ opportunities to engage in the lesson and learn from peers.
- Design and/or select sufficient and effective tools to support student engagement in the lesson. This includes note-taking frameworks, physical models, charts and other organizers to capture classroom discourse, etc.
PDE 430 1d, 1e
- Plan to incorporate technological tools to enable students to access, organize, visualize, and communicate information as appropriate.
PDE 430 1e
- Plan a lesson launch that includes: (1) clear information about the purpose of the main activity/ies in the lesson; (2) explicit connections to prior lessons/knowledge; (3) explicit expectations for students’ work (e.g. where to acquire materials, with whom to work, how much time will be provided, what students will turn in, etc.).
- Plan to monitor and support student thinking and engagement throughout the main lesson task/s by (1) purposeful questioning; (2) redirecting; (3) use of tools/scaffolds, etc. Explicitly connects anticipated student ideas and challenges to specific support strategies.
- Plan a lesson close that includes: (1) summary of key learning goals; (2) foreshadowing of next steps (how the next lesson will build on what was accomplished in the current lesson).
- Utilize formative assessment strategies at various stages of the lesson (e.g. a monitoring tool, an exit slip) to gather data about students’ achievement of the lesson objectives.
PDE 430 1g
- Articulate the relationships between aspects of instructional design and the influence those aspects will have on student activity and reasoning.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance
- Participate in regular planning and reflection with other members of a professional learning community.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / NSTA 6b
- Articulate how instructional plans and practices should be altered in response to feedback from a peer or evidence from an instructional enactment (e.g. reflection, observation notes, student work products, etc.).
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance
- Maintain the cognitive demand of tasks throughout instructional enactment.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / NSTA 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 5c
PDE430 3a
- Support respectful and productive interactions among students throughout instruction. Strategies include questioning techniques, prompting revoicing and elaborating, “tossing”, assigning competence, etc.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / NSTA 2a
PDE430 2c, g, 3e, f
- Establish and communicate norms and expectations for students that are developmentally appropriate and foster students’ SEL and cognitive development.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / PDE430 2a, c, e
- Provide consistent and fair information to students regarding their achievement of agreed-upon norms and expectations. Enforce fair and appropriate consequences.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / PDE430 2d, 3g
- Utilize sufficient and effective tools to support student engagement in the lesson. This includes note-taking frameworks, physical models, charts and other organizers to capture classroom discourse, etc.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / NSTA 2a, 2b, 3b, 5c
PDE430 3i
- Incorporate technological tools to enable students to access, organize, visualize, and communicate information as appropriate.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / NSTA 2a, 2b, 3b, 5c
- Effectively launch tasks by: (1) providing clear information about the purpose of the main activity/ies in the lesson; (2) explicitly connecting to prior lessons/knowledge; (3) communicating explicit expectations for students’ work (e.g. where to acquire materials, with whom to work, how much time will be provided, what students will turn in, etc.).
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / PDE430 3c
- Monitor and support student thinking and engagement throughout the main lesson task/s by (1) purposeful questioning; (2) redirecting; (3) use of tools/scaffolds, etc. Explicitly connects anticipated student ideas and challenges to specific support strategies.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / NSTA 2a, 2b, 2c
- Close the lesson by: (1) providing or prompting a summary of key learning goals; (2) foreshadowing of next steps (how the next lesson will build on what was accomplished in the current lesson).
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / PDE430 3c
- Utilize formative assessment strategies at various stages of the lesson (e.g. a monitoring tool, an exit slip) to gather data about students’ achievement of the lesson objectives.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance / NSTA 2c, 3c
PDE430 3g, h
- Foster, support, and guide a short discussion or “exchange” between students about an issue or topic.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance
- Recognize whether assumptions made during planning about the relation between instructional design and student activity and reasoning hold true.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance
- Articulate how instructional plans and practices should be altered in response to feedback from an instructional experience.
Field Supervisor and Mentor teacher feedback on Daily Teaching Performance
POLICIES
Disability/Special Needs.
We want to fully include persons with disabilities or special needs in our classrooms. If a student requires special circumstances to enable his/her participation in the course, he/she should talk to the instructor as soon as possible.
Important NOTE TO STUDENTS:
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.
Participation.
The members of the science education faculty at Pitt believe that learning is mediated through social interactions within communities. As such, our participation is necessary both for our own learning and that of others. Therefore, students are expected to attend all classes, arrive on time, and be prepared to participate in respectful ways. The “norms” of participation will be negotiated among the members of the learning community, but there are some “up-front” norms about which we feel strongly:
- First, as much as possible—we know that enthusiastic discussions can become “messy”—please lend your attention to others when they are talking.
- Second, try to monitor your participation so that you are both making contributions and making space for your colleagues to be heard as well.
- Third, no “side conversations.” If you have something to add to the discussion, please do so in a public forum (either by speaking up to the whole class or posting on the class Discussion Board).
- Finally, please refrain from using your cell phone or laptop to check e-mail, text, or surf the internet during class. Please be present within the learning environment.
Academic Integrity.
Students in this course will be expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh's Policy on Academic Integrity (a link is provided on our Blackboard site). Any student suspected of violating this obligation for any reason during the semester will be required to participate in the procedural process, initiated at the instructor level, as outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. This may include, but is not limited to, the confiscation of the examination (or written work) of any individual suspected of violating University Policy.
The School of Education Academic Integrity policy can be found on pg. 19 of the New Student Handbook (linked through Blackboard).
Please note the following academic integrity issues related to plagiarism are especially relevant within the context of this program—
- You may not represent ideas, text, or other products/work that was created by others as being your own.
- This means that you must provide appropriate and complete citations when incorporating ideas of others.Moreover, you should put the ideas of others into your own words when incorporating them into documents. Even so, it is appropriate to cite the source of the idea (honor intellectual ownership).
- It is common (and acceptable) practice for teachers to use lesson plans and materials that have been developed by others (published in texts or online, written by classmates or mentor teachers, etc.). When drawing from these resources in work submitted for a course, please be explicit about which elements are original and which are adapted or copied from other sources. If you are in doubt about the appropriateness of using pre-published work or materials designed by others, please consult your course instructor.
- This also means that you may not represent yourself as having contributed to a project when you have in fact not done so.
- Related to this, you may not allow another class member to represent him/herself as a fully contributing partner on a group project if you have knowledge that his/her contributions were minimal or nonexistent.
- Finally, you may not submit work that you have submitted previously (in other courses or professional contexts) to fulfill the requirements of a course without obtaining express permission from the instructor(s).
Department of Instruction & Learning (DIL) Student Grievance Procedures.
The purpose of grievance procedures is to ensure the rights and responsibilities of faculty and students in their relationships with each other. The rights and responsibilities of faculty and students are described in the University’s Academic Integrity Guidelines at:
(These are also linked through Blackboard.)
When a student in DIL believes that a faculty member has not met his or her obligations (as an instructor or in another capacity) as described in the Academic Integrity Guidelines, the student should follow the procedure described in the Guidelines by (1) first trying to resolve the matter with the faculty member directly[1]; (2) then, if needed, attempting to resolve the matter through conversations with the chair/associate chair of the department; (2) if needed, next talking to the associate dean of the school; and (4) if needed, filing a written statement of charges with the school-level academic integrity officer.
The more specific procedure for student grievances within DIL is as follows:
- The student should talk to the faculty member to attempt to resolve the matter.
- If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the student should talk to the relevant program coordinator (if the issue concerns a class) or his or her advisor. The Secondary Science program coordinator is Dr. Ellen Ansell. The Instructional Team Leader is Dr. Jennifer Cartier.
- If the matter remains unresolved, the student should talk to the associate chair of DIL (currently Dr. Crawford).
- If needed, the student should next talk to the SOE associate dean of students (currently Dr. Gallagher). If the matter still remains unresolved, the student should file a written statement of charges with the dean’s designated Academic Integrity Administrative Officer (currently Dr. Gallagher).
Sexual Harassment.
The University of Pittsburgh is committed to the maintenance of a community free from all forms of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment violates University policy as well as state, federal, and local laws. It is neither permitted nor condoned. It is also a violation of the University of Pittsburgh’s policy against sexual harassment for any employee or student at the University of Pittsburgh to attempt in any way to retaliate against a person who makes a claim of sexual harassment. Any individual, who, after thorough investigation and an informal or formal hearing, is found to have violated the University’s policy against sexual harassment, will be subject to disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, reprimand, suspension, termination, or expulsion. Any disciplinary action taken will depend upon the severity of the offense. For more information, see the Web site:
The University of Pittsburgh policy for reporting sexual harassment is also described on the University website:
G-grades.
If unforeseen events (such as major illness) prevent a student from timely completion of course work, he/she may request a meeting with the instructor to discuss the possibility of earning a “G” grade for the term. If both student and instructor agree to the “G” grade, they collaboratively write a document that describes exactly what the student needs to do to complete the required course work and the time frame within which he/she must do so.
“G” grades are rarely given and only in unusual circumstances.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The federal government’s policies governing educational loans stipulate that a student must be making good progress toward his/her degree in order to continue to be eligible for financial assistance. “Good progress” is measured in part by the student’s completion of at lest 2/3 of all credits for which he/she is registered. Thus, receiving a “G” grade—which indicates that the course has NOT been completed—may negatively impact a student’s ability to receive federally-subsidized loans.
Classroom Recordings.
To ensure the free and open discussions of ideas, students may NOT record classroom lectures, discussions, and/or activities without the advance written permission of the instructor, and any such recording properly approved in advance can be used solely for the student’s own private study.
ASSIGNMENTS
Students will complete 3 assignments during this course:
1
University of Pittsburgh School of Education — Department of Instruction & Learning — I&L 2845 —
Instructional Performance 1 – Lead a Discussion
Instructional Performance 2 – Teach a Technology-Enhanced Lesson
Instructional Performance 3 – Lead a Discussion
Rubrics for each assignment will be provided. All assignments will be graded on an Honors/Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis.
GRADES
Final Course Grade will be based upon three components:
Total Points / Percentage of Final GradeProfessionalism
(on-time submission of assignments, attendance, participation) / 15 / 20
Instructional Performance assignments / 30 / 40
Performance in the field site / 30 / 40
Professionalism Rubric
Submissions / Attendance / Participation5 / All assignments submitted on time. / Present and on time for all class sessions. / Consistently engaged according to learning community norms. Prepared for class sessions.
3 / 1 assignment submitted late. / Present at all sessions. Late for one or two sessions. / Occasionally disengaged or unprepared, but usually participating according to agreed-upon norms.
1 / 1 or more assignments submitted late. / Habitually late or missed 1 class session. / Frequently disengaged or unprepared.
0 / 1 or more assignments not submitted. / Missed more than 1 class session. / Almost never engaged in the learning community.
Written Assignments
Detailed rubrics will be provided for assignments. Each assignment score (using the rubric) will be translated into a 10-point final score. For example
If the Instructional Performance 1 rubric has a maximum of 80 points and a student obtains a score of 67, his translated score will be 8.375.
Thus, students may earn a maximum of 30 points on the written assignments.
Field Performance
Students will receive an overall grade on the field component of the Practicum at the end of the term. This grade will be determined by the Field Supervisor in consultation with the Mentor teacher. Again, a detailed rubric will be provided.