This project involves scientists and teacher educators at Vanderbilt University in a program to restructure the natural science component of Vanderbilt's elementary teacher preparation program. New science courses for education and liberal arts students will be designed, and the laboratory experience in these courses will be integrated with the science methods course. Fifteen "consultant" teachers from grades 4-6 in area schools will assist with the preparation of science units and video materials, and the project will use videodisc technology to integrate filmed classroom examples into the laboratories for the basic science courses and into the science methods course. These teachers will also serve as cooperating teachers for practicum and student teacher placements to ensure a coordinated experience from the basic science courses to the classroom applications. Curricula and video matherials will be made available to other teacher preparation institutions throughout Tennessee through the Center of Excellence for the Enrichment of Science and Mathematics Education. The cost sharing will be thirty-eight percent of the National Science Foundation award.
