Sufficient quality and quantity of science education at the elementary-school level is the key to developing science literacy and inspiring students about potential careers in science. We collaborated with a school district to develop 5E (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate) teaching cycles that matched the state and district curriculum guidelines. The 5E teaching cycle is a hands-on/minds-on, inquiry-based method that is effective at any level of instruction, especially for challenging misconceptions. Teams of teaching fellows (graduate students in the sciences) and teachers implemented the instructional units. Their training was fine-tuned, for example, by using a classroom teaching-observation rubric and information about the teachers, teaching fellows', and students' attitudes toward science education. The most significant result was that, in addition to the teachers becoming more comfortable with and adept at teaching science and the fellows improving their communication skills, the fellows understood the value of linear conceptual development in science curricula and their ability to facilitate that as teachers.
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Stamp et al. (2005) studied this question.
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