about the project

Developed at WestEd, Understanding Science is a nationally field-tested professional development program designed to help teachers:

• Learn major concepts of K-8 science
• Examine how children make sense of those concepts
• Analyze and improve their teaching practice

Since 1998, Understanding Science has worked with more than 500 teachers and provided in excess of 10,000 hours of high-quality professional development (impacting an estimated 12,000 students). Research shows that the Understanding Science project impacts both teacher knowledge and student achievement. An especially encouraging result is that low-performing students make the biggest gains.

The focus of the Understanding Science approach is on the intersection of knowledge about content and teaching — that is, on developing teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. The courses are based on the premise that, to develop pedagogical content knowledge, teachers must have opportunities to learn science content in combination with student thinking and instructional strategies for helping students learn that content.

Understanding Science courses address foundational topics such as electricity and magnetism and cover the science concepts most K-8 students are expected to master. Each course is intended for a different topic and grade span (for example, Understanding Electric Circuits is about the teaching electric circuits in grades 3-6). Now in final negotiations with a major educational publisher, the full set of published courses will make up a comprehensive professional development curriculum for K-8 teachers, including 15 Understanding Science courses on the major ideas of K-8 earth, life, and physical science. (Two courses to be published in 2008; the remaining 13 over the next five years.)

Courses target in-service science teachers, from beginning to veteran teachers, and can be used in a variety of settings. They are intentionally designed for use in existing professional development programs, such as ongoing study groups or summer institutes that support standards-based instruction and implementation of science curricula. The materials can also be the central focus of a university Masters program for science teachers or the “sense-making” part of a preservice science methods course.

Related Resources
Sample Materials
Evaluation Results
Research Papers