Fostering Scientific Thinking by Prospective Teachers in a Course That Integrates Physics and Literacy Learning.

We designed a physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers to foster aspects of scientific thinking recommended in reform documents. Because the elementary school curriculum focuses heavily on literacy, we also explicitly integrated physics and literacy learning in this course. By integrating physics and literacy learning, we mean learning to speak clearly, listen closely, write coherently, read with comprehension, and make and critique media resources competently in physics contexts. Thus a major focus of our efforts has been designing activities and assignments that build literacy skills while engaging prospective teachers in scientific thinking. The National Research Council (2007) suggested that students who are proficient in science (a) know, use, and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world; (b) generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations; (c) understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge; and (d) participate productively in scientific practices and discourse. In this paper, we discuss prospective teachers' perceptions of ways they have developed their abilities to think scientifically in this course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]