Best and Desirable Practices of Science Teaching: A Brief Overview

(Under development; last revised 11/04/2009, cjw.)

by Carl J. Wenning, Education Specialist
Physics Teacher Education Program
Illinois State University

It is expected (perhaps unreasonably?) that some, perhaps, many of the following teaching practices have been touched on in your C&I 212, 214, and 216 courses, as well as you PSY 110 and 215 courses. The general practices of science teaching are based both on research (Best Practices) and experience (Desirable Practices). They are stated here as a review, or at least as a statement of what it is that you should know upon entering this course.

BEST PRACTICES: The following pedagogical practices can be said to be truly best practice according to How Students Learn. The empirical evidence that supports their use is substantial.

Not included in the above list, but should have been, is Cooperative Learning, the process of having students work together under a specific framework for achieving a common goal that cannot be achieved without the involvement of all students.

In general, experience has shown that the so called DESIREABLE PRACTICES of teaching (e.g., believed by the majority of teacher educators to be associated with improved student learning, but for which only a limited - not overwhelming - amount of empirical research evidence exits) take many forms, but the underlying principles usually include the following:

Science education research has contributed several additional key findings very relevant to science teaching and learning:

For information on some of the above areas, see Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1991) Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 47. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.