Science Educator Position Paper
Think of position papers as an opportunity for the following:
- describe your philosophy for professional science educators,
- describe an action plan for professional science educators,
- describe your position on what professional science educators should know and do, or
- describe how your ideas are supported with research or wisdom of practice.
Position papers in science could include the following areas. A comprehensive position paper would include all five.
- What is science, what is science literacy - it is always important to define a basis of your ideas.
- How do people become science literate - learning theory and child development related to your ideas.
- How to facilitate science literacy - instructional models, strategies and how they can accomplish your ideas.
- How to assess science literacy - when, what, and how is it used to faciliate science literacy; and
- How to develop professionally - how do educators continue to get better.
See professional development of outstanding science educators for ideas.
- Be Concise - For a position paper each of the topics above could be described well in about a page. A paper that would include all five would certainly be less than five as combining them allows for economy of words.
- While this is not a research paper, it should include references to sources of information that are critical to the stand the author takes.
- Describe science literacy as multiple dimensional and use a comprehensive number of categorizations for the dimensions that include inquiry/processes, content knowledge, attitude, and perspective and incorporate them in more than the literacy definition.
- Be consistent with ideas expressed by NSTA Standards; Project 2061's; or other recognized experts.
- Should be a logical development of ideas and connect between and among ideas.
- Did I mention concise explanation of ideas.
Dr. Robert Sweetland's Notes ©