SCIED 114Sound and Light for Educators

4 credits · Science Education · Penn State

Waves, sound, and light concepts highlighted by evidence-based explanations and scientific discourse in preparation for K-6 science teaching. This course has two main focus areas: physics content typically addressed in elementary science curriculum and effective pedagogy for supporting children's meaningful science learning. An introduction to waves is used to construct an initial model, which is applied to sound phenomena and elaborated. The more robust model is then applied to understanding light phenomena and again elaborated. As the model develops across units of instruction, students are engaged in constructing explanations from evidence, model-based reasoning, and scientific discourse. Instructional approaches that are grounded in research on children's learning are used to engage education majors in their own learning, while teaching applications provide opportunities for them to unpack their experiences and apply them to school science teaching.