A Study of the Effects of a LSC Project on Scientists' Teaching Practices and Beliefs

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a local systemic change (LSC) project on scientists' practices and beliefs about teaching and learning. A mixed-method design was implemented that consisted of a series of interviews and the administration of the Classroom Learning Environment Survey (paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Anaheim, CA, 1994). Results from this study suggest that collaborative opportunities afforded by this model program have positively influenced scientists' beliefs about teaching elementary science and may be impacting some of the scientists' pedagogical and curricular practices in their general education courses. Many scientists have developed new collaborative projects, all intended to improve science education at the graduate and undergraduate level, and are beginning to understand the complexity of science education reform.