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| About BSCS > Frequently Asked Questions | |||||||||||||||||
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get an examination copy of one of your books? How can I request information or subscribe to your e-Letter? How are your science programs different from others on the market? How do I contact Kendall/Hunt? How do I contact Glencoe? What is the BSCS 5E Instructional Model? What are the National Science Education Standards? What are the Benchmarks for Science Literacy? What is inquiry-based learning? What is constructivism? What is the BSCS curriculum development process? What is conceptual biology? What is collaborative learning? Where can I get an examination copy of one of your books? Please contact the appropriate publisher. How can I request information or subscribe to your e-Letter? Please contact us at info@bscs.org with any questions you might have. To subscribe to our eLetter, click here! How are your science programs different from others on the market? BSCS curricula stress inquiry-based science education--that students learn best when they are actively engaged with subject matter rather than listening passively to a teacher's lecture. In other words, students learn science best by doing science, not hearing about it. How do I contact Kendall/Hunt? Contact Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company at: 4050 Westmark Drive P.O. Box 1840 Dubuque, Iowa 52004-1840 (800) KH-BOOKS (542-6657) http://www.kendallhunt.com How do I contact Glencoe? Contact Glencoe/McGraw-Hill at: 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 (800) 334-7344 (customer service) http://www.glencoe.com What is the BSCS 5E Instructional Model? Many of BSCS's programs use an instructional model characterized by the 5 Es: engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. Each E represents part of the process of helping students sequence their learning experiences to construct their understanding of concepts. First, students are engaged by an event or question related to the concept that the teacher plans to introduce. Then the students participate in one or more activities to explore the concept. This exploration provides students with a common set of experiences from which they can initiate the development of their understanding. In the explain phase, the teacher clarifies the concept and defines relevant vocabulary. Then the students elaborate and build on their understanding of the concept by applying it to new situations. Finally, the students complete activities that will help them and the teacher evaluate their understanding of the concept. This 5-E model is based on a constructivist philosophy of learning (Trowbridge & Bybee, 1990). What are the National Science Education Standards? The National Science Education Standards define the science and skills that all students should know and be able to do and provide guidelines for assessing the degree to which students have learned that content and mastered those skills. The Standards detail the teaching strategies, professional development and support necessary to deliver high-quality science education to all students. The Standards also describe policies needed to bring coordination, consistency and coherence to science-education programs. The vision of the Standards states that all students, regardless of age, sex, cultural background, disabilities, aspirations or interest and motivation in science, should have opportunities to attain high levels of scientific literacy. The Standards are based on the premise that learning science is something that students do, not something that is done to them. The Standards envision an active learning process in which students
The Benchmarks for Science Literacy, a publication released in 1993 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), specifies what all students should know or be able to do in science, mathematics and technology by the end of grades 2, 5, 8 and 12. It is a companion report to Science for All Americans, a document outlining science education reform that answered the question, "What should the substance and character of science, mathematics and technology education be for today's children entering tomorrow's world?" Both the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy are consistent with the approach BSCS has used to develop curricula since 1958. Both documents have guided the development of new programs such as BSCS Science T.R.A.C.S., a modular elementary program designed to give students every opportunity to meet the standards established at the national level. What is inquiry-based learning? BSCS programs replace rote memorization as a traditional goal of learning with an emphasis on thoughtful inquiry and decision making. That approach encourages students to view science as an ongoing, relevant process of learning, as well as a body of currently available information and theories. Students come to understand and appreciate the tentative nature of science and the continuing importance to and impact on their lives. What is constructivism? A major tenet of the constructivist philosophy (Trowbridge & Bybee, 1990) is that we all have experiences from which we build (or construct) knowledge. Yet, in a classroom, attempting to help each student construct knowledge based on his or her previous experiences can be a challenging task. The BSCS 5-E Instructional Model provides a solution to this challenge. What is the BSCS curriculum development process? We write and produce new curricular materials by using a proven process that has been refined continually since 1958. For each project, we form an advisory committee to ensure that the new materials are pedagogically sound and the content is accurate and appropriate. Then, teams of scientists and teachers develop programs that are field-tested, revised and evaluated for effectiveness. Following the commercial release of a new program, we continue to collect feedback from the field for further revisions; we serve as a source of information about the program, support numerous workshops and other implementation efforts and retain an active interest in the program. What is conceptual biology? Conceptual biology refers to a level of understanding much deeper than the superficial understanding that typically results from the didactic presentation of facts and memorization. When students understand biology content conceptually, they can apply their knowledge in new situations, organize information from different sources into a coherent explanation and retain the major ideas of biology long after they have left high school. What is collaborative learning? BSCS programs use collaborative learning because of its power to promote student learning and conceptual development. We use the term "collaborative learning" rather than "cooperative learning" because students develop the skills of true collaboration discussion, debate, constructive critique, building on others' ideas, writing, drawing and otherwise representing thoughts and ideas as well as the social skills associated in "getting along with others." (We acknowledge that true cooperative learning includes the elements of collaboration discussed above, but it is often misrepresented as emphasizing social behaviorlopment.) |
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