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Discussion: Science Instructional Materials for Middle School: Informing Future Initiatives

dates: 8/10/1999 - 9/3/1999
description: This forum focused on science instructional materials at the middle school level. The feedback gained through the forum will be valuable to NSF as they are currently considering an initiative for science instructional materials development for middle school.

This forum was moderated by Joni Falk, and LSC-Net staff will provide a summary for the community. NSF program officers will be interested in following the discussion and we welcome their participation and queries as well.

Contributions to the forum addressed the following questions, as well as more general issues:

  1. Your reviews: What instructional materials have you used for middle school science? What is your take on their strengths and weaknesses?

  2. Identifying needs: In considering a new initiative for curriculum development, what do you think teachers and administrators want/need in instructional materials to provide high-quality science education to their students?

  3. Subject, format, and design perspective: Should new curriculum materials for middle school be in earth, life, and physical science, or multidisciplinary, or interdisciplinary? Should they be all modular or year long? Should they be integrated across subject domains? Should they have texts that go along with the activities, as the high school programs have? Would you recommend a social/societal context, a historical context, or a traditional one?

  4. Barriers: What are the primary barriers to implementing such a curriculum (teacher certification/training, facitlities, materials)?

This discussion began on August 10th and ended on September 3rd.

The summary report, a collaborative product of the discussants, is now available.

Sort messages by:   thread  | date  | author 
08/10/99 - 09:49 Welcome to the Forum: Science Instructional Materi... Falk, Joni
08/12/99 - 07:14 Welcome, let's begin Falk, Joni
08/12/99 - 11:32 Response from Gail Paulin-DESERT project Paulin, Gail
08/13/99 - 11:38 "Non-official" perspectives welcome! Falk, Joni
08/13/99 - 03:41 MS curriculum reply from Mary Kay Swanson Falk, Joni
08/13/99 - 08:32 Gail Paulin's Comments Hays, Scott
08/14/99 - 10:59 Middle School Science Curriculum West, Janie
08/16/99 - 11:19 MS discussion Paulin, Gail
08/16/99 - 11:23 Middle School Curriculum Valadez, Jerry
08/16/99 - 11:24 Re: request for your input Graber, Vicki
08/16/99 - 11:52 Brief reply Dow, Peter
08/16/99 - 03:43 Middle School Science Archer, Tom
08/17/99 - 09:45 Reply from Barbara Fitzsimmons Fitzsimmons, Barbara
08/17/99 - 01:25 Middle School Science DeFronzo, Ron
08/18/99 - 12:24 Questions for forum Robin, Miriam
08/18/99 - 01:38 midddle school curriculum bmarganoff @notes.rbs.org
08/20/99 - 11:00 have you tried it yourself? Sullivan, Barbara
08/23/99 - 07:26 Questions? Hays, Scott
08/25/99 - 11:49 Role of Volunteer Scientists from the Private Sect... nsfemc2 @aol.com
08/27/99 - 02:30 The volunteer aspect raised in the last post may b... Dinko, Richard
08/27/99 - 11:29 Middle School Science Curriculum Gregg, Linda
08/29/99 - 12:25 From: Rick Vanosdall,Mesa Public Schools Falk, Joni
08/30/99 - 09:52 materials review, implementation barriers McCary, Mack
08/30/99 - 11:15 Real World Earth Science, etc? Dinko, Richard
08/30/99 - 02:26 Preparation of middle school teachers Long, Mary
08/31/99 - 07:43 Final Thoughts (maybe) Hays, Scott
09/03/99 - 01:19 Thank you for your insights Snyder, Susan
09/03/99 - 02:14 In Closing Falk, Joni
09/09/99 - 05:34 LATE RESPONSE: POSTED 9/9/1999 rjanigi @muse.sfusd.edu
09/17/99 - 12:01 LATE RESPONSE: POSTED 9/17/1999 klane @patriot.dsdk12.net