Becoming a Better Science Teacher

Elizabeth Hammerman is a dedicated science educator and consultant. Her professional background includes teaching science at the middle school and high school levels and over 20 years of experience teaching university science education courses and co-directing funded grant projects. She has done extensive professional development with teachers in the field, specializing in curriculum development and implementation, performance assessment, and effective teaching and learning. The need for high-quality professional development programs and materials in science education became apparent throughout the many projects and professional relationships with teachers who were eager to increase their knowledge base, skills, and confidence for teaching science more effectively. Hammerman has co-authored a book on performance assessment in science and authored a database of science assessment tasks. She has published articles, presented programs at national conferences, consulted nationally, and developed curriculum and assessments for cutting-edge school districts and commercial products.Since relocating to North Carolina in 1999, Hammerman has been a math/science consultant for a consortium of seven county school systems, has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in teacher education and science education, served as director of education and professional development for Virtual Learning Systems, and worked as a consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. She is actively involved in professional development and continues to work on a series of professional development books for science education for Corwin Press.

• ForewordPrefaceIntroductionPart 1. Creating a Vision for Science Education1. On the Shoulders of Giants2. Defining High Quality Science TeachingPart 2. Giant Steps to High Quality Teaching3. The Role of Science Standards4. Creating a Context for Meaningful Learning5. Methods, Strategies, and Best Practices for High Quality Instruction6. Tools for Thinking and Meaning7. Assessments to Guide Instruction8. Safe, Supportive and Challenging Environments for Learning9. Eight Steps to High Quality and Student Achievement

"The major strengths of this book are dealing with standards and making practical connections to assessment and teaching, and the excellent examples throughout and their practicality. A very exciting and user-friendly text."