“I really wanted to get back into the university environment and try to capture college students’ interests early on in teaching science,” she says, “and to shape some of the techniques that they might be able to access once they get into the classroom.”
Carrie Sheffield, an elementary education major, has participated in curriculum development as part of her job as an interpreter. “We’re making sure that our programs are aligned with Texas standards and relevant to what the students are learning in the classroom,” she explains.
Sheffield’s experience leading tours for schoolchildren also motivated her to focus on becoming a science teacher. She’s now working as a first-grade student-teacher in the Manor school district as part of TXST’s Teacher Residency program. She plans to teach upper elementary after graduating this fall.
“Being an interpreter introduced me to creating tangible connections for kids,” she says. “Yes, they’re learning science and they’re learning state standards, but they’re also learning a sense of scientific literacy and an understanding of the world and their place in it. I think that’s a really powerful thing, and it pushes me toward teaching science.”
College of Education Collaboration
Building interest and confidence among aspiring educators, particularly in science subjects, is the goal of the College of Education’s STEM and Early Childhood and Elementary Education course. Dr. Shelly Forsythe, associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction, collaborated with Price when she created the course three years ago.
“They take this course in part to learn more about STEM and technology and engineering,” Forsythe says. “But also, they begin to build an identity as STEM teachers, as science teachers.”
During the course, students design educational activities for the Meadows Center. In the fall semester, they create learning stations around Spring Lake for field trip tours for San Marcos third graders. (Each fall, H-E-B sponsors field trips to the Meadows Center for every third-grade class in the San Marcos Independent School District.)
“We work with the pre-service teachers to determine the learning objectives we want their activities to hit,” Price says. “We have check-ins, we talk about interpretive techniques, how to ask good questions, and how to actively involve their students in the learning experience through curiosity-driven approaches. Teaching outdoors is a very different experience than teaching in a traditional classroom setting. This experience stretches the pre-services teachers in a new way.”
In the spring semester, students in the course create learning stations for children at the Meadows Center’s annual Earth Day celebration. At the most recent event, for example, the learning stations introduced children to pollinators with activities such as creating native seed balls, matching plants with their pollinators, and using fans to test seed dispersal.
“I love that it gives our students that practical experience with not just creating a learning activity, but then implementing it and reflecting on it,” Forsythe says. “A lot of our elementary and middle level teachers are a little bit scared of science and STEM. By having this positive experience during Earth Day facilitated by the Meadows Center, it’s really transformative for their identities as teachers and for their career paths.”
Price says nurturing future science teachers fits naturally with the Meadows Center’s mission to connect people with the environment and water.
“First and foremost, we really want students that visit us to form a relationship with the environment,” she says. “We want them to learn a lot, but we also want to spark interest and curiosity with the outdoors that can hopefully blossom into something even bigger. Education is a really important tool in securing a sustainable future for the environment.”