Earth Science

Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the American Museum of Natural History

Principal Investigator:

Wallace, J. (2014, March). Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the American Museum of Natural History. Poster presented at the Noyce Northeast Regional Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

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Discipline/Topic:

Investigating science teaching core practices in high-needs urban settings

Principal Investigator:

Howes, E., & Wallace, J. (2017, July). Investigating science teaching core practices in high-needs urban settings. Poster presented at the 2017 NOYCE Summit, Washington, DC.

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Discipline/Topic:

Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the Museum

American Museum of Natural History. (2012, October 25). Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the Museum [Video File].

Author/Presenter

American Museum of Natural History

Year
2012
Short Description

Teachers learn to teach Earth and Space science through the American Museum of Natural History's Master of Arts in Teaching Urban Residency Program (MAT), the first urban teacher residency program offered by a museum. The MAT program is a unique 15-month fully paid teaching fellowship that includes learning experiences in the Museum's world-renowned collections and teaching residencies with experienced science teachers in partner schools.

MAT Graduates Reflect on Pioneering Program

American Museum of Natural History. (2013, December 23). MAT Graduates Reflect on Pioneering Program [Video File].

Author/Presenter

American Museum of Natural History

Year
2013
Short Description

In this video, find out more about the Museum's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program from five MAT graduates in the class of 2013, who are now teaching in New York City's public schools. The MAT program with a specialization in teaching Earth Science is a unique 15-month fully paid teaching fellowship that includes learning experiences in the Museum's world-renowned collections and teaching residencies with experienced science teachers in partner schools.

Teaching Science Teachers

Cascarano, C. & Koirala, S. [New York Times]. (2013, December 15). Teaching Science Teachers [Video File].

Author/Presenter

Chris Cascarano

Snigdha Koirala

Year
2013
Short Description

New York Times Video on the American Museum of Natural History's master's degree program in teaching, part of a broad national campaign to add 100,000 science, technology and math teachers by 2021.

The Missing Ingredient in Science Teacher Preparation: The Role of the Senior Specialist

The traditional model for supervision of pre-service science teachers during the field experience within teacher preparation programs includes the appointment of a university supervisor who is often a retired teacher and/or adjunct faculty and a school-based co-operating teacher who rarely receives training from the university to be a mentor. This can lead to a disconnect between the university supervisor, co-operating teacher, and university, and a disjointed experience for the pre-service teachers.

Author/Presenter

Julie Contino

Natasha Cooke-Nieves

Year
2013
Short Description

This paper describes a residency model that includes faculty members who serve as Senior Specialists – mentors in school residency rotations, advisors in teaching as a profession, and co-instructors in academic courses and portfolio development. The Senior Specialist acts as the linchpin between the youth programs, science practicum, and courses as well as a support structure and anchor to the five high need, low achieving partner schools with the ultimate goal of strengthening the pre-service teachers’ experience.

Supporting Mentor Teachers in the Assessment of and Inquiry into High-Leverage Science Teaching Practices

While the scholarship examining the teaching of high leverage teaching practices in the context of pre-service teacher education is continuing to grow (Ball & Forzani, 2009; McDonald, Kazemi, & Kavanaugh, 2013; Windschitl, Thompson, Braaten & Stroupe, 2012), fewer teacher educators have been examining how to bring those who mentor pre-service teachers, sometimes called cooperating teachers or pre-service mentor teachers, into this effort.

Author/Presenter

Karen Hammerness

Elaine Howes

Julie Contino

Natasha Cooke-Nieves

Ro Kinzler

Maritza Macdonald

Cristina Trowbridge

Year
2017
Short Description

This paper reviews the literature on mentor teachers’ learning in relationship to high leverage practices and summarizes existing research on mentoring and experienced teacher learning that might help inform the design of our model of mentor teachers’ learning.

How can museums help teachers with the NGSS?

Released in 2013, the Next Generation Science Standards have the potential to revolutionize science education in the United States, requiring a very different way of thinking about learning and teaching science. Now is the opportune moment to prepare teachers for these new approaches to science instruction and classroom assessment and introduce them to the types of curriculum resources needed to implement the NGSS successfully. What are these teaching resources and professional development needs?

Author/Presenter

Jim Short

Year
2014
Short Description

This article describes the role of museums in supporting schools and teachers in addressing the demands of the NGSS.

Resource(s)

Preparing new science teachers for high-need schools

In 2012, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City launched the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Urban Residency Program. The AMNH recruits Earth science majors from across the United States who are motivated to teach in high-need schools in New York State. Developing a teacher preparation program from scratch is a tall order, and the museum is learning a tremendous amount from its pilot effort.

Kinzler, R. & Macdonald, M. (2014, January-February). Preparing new science teachers for high-need schools. Dimensions Magazine, 27.

Author/Presenter

Rosamond Kinzler

Maritza Macdonald

Year
2014
Short Description

In 2012, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City launched the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Urban Residency Program. Developing a teacher preparation program from scratch is a tall order, and the museum is learning a tremendous amount from its pilot effort.

A balancing act in third space: Graduate-level earth science in an urban teacher-residency program

This article describes a museum-based urban teacher-residency (UTR) program's approach to building subject-specific content knowledge and research experience in Earth Science teacher candidates. In the museum-based program, graduate-level science courses and research experiences are designed and implemented specifically for the UTR by active Earth and Space research scientists that account for almost half of the program's faculty.

Author/Presenter

N. Alex Zirakparvar

Year
2015
Short Description

This article describes a museum-based urban teacher-residency (UTR) program's approach to building subject-specific content knowledge and research experience in Earth Science teacher candidates.