SRI International Launches Study of Science Teachers' Reasoning and Problem-Solving Skills

NSF-Funded Project Aims to Improve Teacher Learning Experiences and Student Outcomes

MENLO PARK, California – April 12, 2004 – SRI International, an independent research and development organization, announced today that its Center for Technology in Learning has received a $1.35 million, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study high school life sciences teachers' instructional decision-making and problem-solving processes. The project is funded by the NSF's Teacher Professional Continuum program, which strives to improve, through informed research, the quality and coherence of teachers' learning experiences.

SRI's research is expected to advance understanding of teachers' reasoning skills in their instructional practices and how these skills develop at different points. The research team will investigate teachers' instructional reasoning and problem-solving individually in a laboratory setting and in collaborative, real-world contexts.

Improving the quality of science teaching and retaining highly qualified teachers are critical, related challenges facing education. Life sciences teachers are expected to prepare students to be continuous learners in a knowledge-based economy and society . These teachers need the problem-solving strategies and habits that enable them to teach life science in ways that foster improved student achievement. Findings from this study will ultimately contribute to efforts to better prepare teachers, to enhance teacher effectiveness, and to support teachers' abilities to learn and improve their practice throughout their careers.

The study's focus on life science teachers also addresses a need to enhance science education through secondary, post-secondary, and graduate levels. As an early phase of the high school core curriculum, biology is a “choke point” subject. Based on their experiences in life science classes, students will either be turned off and take no further science courses, or they will continue on to chemistry and physics. Thus, research oriented to promoting life science teachers' instructional effectiveness and improving student outcomes can contribute to developing the academic pipeline for the sciences as a whole.

The SRI research team's long-range goal is to achieve positive changes in education. “Through this study, we want to help other educational researchers, teacher education faculty, and in-service professional development providers design learning experiences that promote excellence in science teaching and learning,” said Barbara Means, Ph.D., director of SRI's Center for Technology in Learning.

SRI's first report is expected to be delivered to NSF in June 2005.

About SRI's Center for Technology in Learning

The mission of SRI's Center for Technology in Learning is to improve learning and teaching through innovation and inquiry in computing and communications. Its research and development priorities are to advance theory and research on effective learning and teaching, and to embody these insights in the innovative design, use, and assessment of interactive learning environments. Much of the Center's work is conducted in real educational settings, such as classrooms and teacher education programs.

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for more than 55 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

# # #

SRI International is a registered trademark of SRI International. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.