Combining Programs to Benefit Current and Future K-12 Science Teachers

Many institutions have one or more summer programs to benefit in-service teachers. Some institutions are now starting to offer discipline-specific pedagogy classes for future teachers. At the University of Arkansas we have found a way to combine these two programs to provide an especially rich environment for pre-service and in-service professional development. We pair in each lab group an in-service teacher, who has expertise in the classroom, with a pre-service teacher, who has more recent content knowledge. We do team-building activities with these pairs, and pay careful attention to acknowledging each member's expertise. Assignments are constructed to allow the pairs to learn from each other as well as from the instructor, who serves as more of a facilitator. After the first learning year for the instructor, both groups see the class as extremely valuable, and the instructor finds it an extremely rewarding experience. Details, evaluations and how to avoid what went wrong the first year will be discussed.