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Laura Yoder (MA Non-Licensure in Science Education)

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Research Poster Abstract:

TEACHING OUTSIDE YOUR FIELD OF EXPERTISE: HOW DO BIOLOGY TEACHERS APPROACH ASTRONOMY INSTRUCTION?
   
Science teachers are faced with many challenges in the classroom. A very real issue in the education of science is teaching outside ones’ field of expertise. This research showed how content novices performed outside of their expertise. Biology graduate students enrolled in a science education program at the University of North Carolina Pembroke were asked to partake in an astronomy test based on common misconceptions and were then interviewed regarding the process to showcase misconceptions. They completed a subset of the Astronomy Diagnostic Test (ADT) and examined their ADT test results before being interviewed. As expected a majority of these science education students held common misconceptions in Astronomy. The interview showed that these teachers would be willing to overcome their misconceptions to successfully teach outside their field if needed. It was also noted that unless an incentive was provided, a majority of these individuals would not take course work outside their field of study. More research needs to be done in different subject areas to exhibit possible underlying commonalities between cross-disciplinary instruction.

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Updated: Tuesday, May 1, 2012

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