Decompressing Preservice Science Teachers' Reading Strategies

• In Event: 69.056 - Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: 69.056-14 - Perspectives on Preservice Science Teacher Education

Abstract

Educational reform needs to address the role of literacy in science if there is any hope of achieving the goal of literacy for all U.S. students. In secondary science, if reading is to play a more prominent role, teacher education programs need to develop and offer courses that familiarize preservice science teachers (PSTs) with adolescent literacy. This study examines the question: What strategies do PSTs use to understand different genres of science texts? Analysis reveals that PSTs use general comprehension strategies, genre-specific text features, and genre specific reading strategies to understand texts. These findings can inform science teacher educators as they design courses that better scaffold development of PCK necessary to teach reading in secondary science.

Authors

• Kirsten K. N. Mawyer, University of Hawaii - Manoa

• Heather Jo Johnson, Vanderbilt University