 |
 |
|
||
|
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
4A. Teacher Survey Which courses are being taught in secondary schools today? What are high school laboratories and classrooms like in the U.S.? What should they be like? To answer these questions, a mail survey of high school science, math, and technology education teachers was conducted in March of 1999. The survey had four sections: A. School Description - identified the survey participant and type of school; B. Program Description - concentrated on curriculum; C. Facility Description - focused on existing teaching spaces; D. Desirable Teaching Spaces - described ideal teaching spaces. The survey is summarized below. A. Survey Participants and Types of Schools Q: Is your school public or private? The table below shows the percentage of both NSTA and ITEA respondents from public and private schools compared to the national averages of high school teachers teaching in these respective school types. The NSTA part of the survey under represents public schools whereas the ITEA part closely mirrors the national average,
Q: How big is your school? The sizes of participant schools are indicated by mean enrollments, shown in next the table. As a whole, the respondents were from schools with enrollments greater than the national average. The NSTA portion of the survey represents schools that are 16 percent above average size, and the ITEA portion represents schools that are 50 percent above. The data from the ITEA survey support the generalization that technology education is strongest in larger public schools.
B. NSTA Program Description This section identifies what types of NSTA teachers answered the survey, and what types of courses are offered in their schools. Q: What courses do you teach regularly? In the sample, the largest proportion (29 percent) of courses regularly taught was a combination of biology, chemistry, and/or physics; and the second largest (27 percent) was math. It is interesting to note that these respondents’ school enrollments were below the national average. Biology (18 percent) and chemistry (11 percent) were also significant in the sample. These teachers were from schools with enrollments 60 percent above the national average. Q: What distinct courses are offered? To determine the breadth of curriculums across the country, teachers were asked what distinct courses were offered at their schools. Distinct in this instance means that the course is not part of an integrated curriculum. Biology, chemistry, math, and physics were the most common, occurring as distinct in almost all the schools ─ 98, 96, 95, and 93 percent respectively. Computer science, advanced placement math and science, geology and earth science, and environmental science were distinct courses at roughly half to two-thirds of the schools. Courses in astronomy, communications, electronics and robotics, and marine biology were taught at from 11 to 18 percent of the sample; and engineering courses in 3 percent.
C. NSTA Facility Description The types and sizes of teaching spaces available to science and math teachers, along with classes sizes, were investigated in this section. Q: How is your primary teaching space designed and outfitted? Over three-quarters of the teachers in the sample teach in rooms that are designed as a combined lab and classroom. Fifteen percent teach in classrooms and 7 percent in laboratories. The respondents were also asked to indicate the name of the space, which often did not correspond to the actual use. This suggests that teachers adapt spaces to accommodate teaching style, curriculum, or other needs. Q: How many students are in a typical class, and what would be the ideal number? The mean class size of all science and math teachers surveyed was 23.4 students. Regardless of whether the respondent wanted more, fewer, or the same number of students in a class section, the mean preferred section size was about 20. Please note, however, that the preferred class size ranged from 13 to 27 students. For those who wanted fewer students, the most frequent reason was that fewer students would facilitate individual instruction. Other common answers were that the size of the space relative to the number of students assigned is limited for both teaching and safety, and that fewer students would facilitate better group interaction. Those who preferred more students were usually from small schools, with a mean enrollment of 385 or half the national average. A common reason was to facilitate group interaction through larger classes. Q: What is the size of your teaching space? The median room size, including combined lab and classrooms, classrooms, and laboratories was 800 net assignable square feet (NASF). While the survey showed that larger schools have larger class sections, it was not always true that larger schools have larger teaching spaces. Nor did there appear to be a strong relationship between class sizes and sizes of existing teaching spaces. Q: What is the NASF per station in the schools surveyed? The size of a teaching space divided by the number of students, NASF per station, is a meaningful measure of the adequacy of a space. The feeling, by some teachers, that there should be fewer students assigned to their classes can usually be substantiated by a low NASF per student ratio. In the survey, the mean size of the combined lab and classroom spaces was 52 NASF per station, using the assigned number of students. If the preferred class size were used, the ratio would be 58 NASF per station. For this type of teaching space, standards suggest a range of from 60 to 75 NSF per student. Please go to the Guidelines page for more discussion of lab sizes. Q: What types of lab benches are being used? About three-quarters of the survey teachers’ primary teaching space is outfitted with lab benches. Most of these benches are fixed and at standing height. Approximately one-quarter of these benches are moveable. All labs in the sample have fixed benches. Classrooms were the least likely to have benches, while most combined laboratory classrooms have benches. Q: Does your science space have a fume hood? Fifty-eight percent of the science teachers reported that they teach in a space with a fume hood. Of those with a hood, 89 percent have fixed hoods, 10 percent have portable hoods, and 1 percent has both. The fume hoods are not used by 15 percent of the teachers who have them, but 52 percent of those without a hood said they would use them if they were available. Q: Where do your students conduct independent projects? Of the teachers surveyed, 18 percent have a dedicated area within their teaching space for projects. Twenty-one percent have project space elsewhere in the school. Q: Do you use live animals in your curriculum? In 44 percent of the respondents’ schools live animals are used for teaching. Of those, 81 percent keep the animals within the lab, 17 percent in a separate holding space, and 2 percent in both the lab and in a separate holding space. Q: Are teachers assigned office space in your school? Forty-five percent of the teachers surveyed are assigned office space outside the teaching lab or classroom. Of those, 64 percent share that office with at least one other teacher. Fifty-one percent of the respondents share their teaching space with another teacher. (AJL: do we know what % of those have offices?) Of the teachers with offices, 68 percent share their teaching space, and of those without offices, 36 percent share their teaching space.
D. Desirable Teaching Spaces The survey offered teachers the opportunity to answer questions about the ideal teaching space. These types of free-response questions, although difficult to quantify, reap the reward of a wide variety of answers, a type of "collective brainstorming." Some selected responses are included here. Q: How would you change your space to better support the curriculum? Selected Responses "I
would like to create learning stations incorporating computers, CD-ROM,
laser disk, and interfacing equipment."
"Fewer students per class." Q: What are the most important characteristics of an ideal class lab? The top four most desirable elements for an ideal lab, ranked in order, were:
Selected Responses "Natural
sunlight." "Technology
access at lab station."
"Whiteboards
on three or more walls." "Latest
safety equipment — electrical (GFI), showers, etc." "Storage
for ongoing student projects." "Specimen
display space." "Independent
banks of lights around the room."
"[Avoid]
prep area included in lab space — prep should be away from students." "[Avoid]
a hard, slippery, solvent-susceptible floor." "[Avoid]
more than one teacher per lab." "[Avoid]
too many smoke detectors that are sensitive to steam and the amount of
smoke normally produced during some labs." "In
the design of lab areas, most people fail to consider the lone disaffected,
destructive student who quietly unscrews anything within reach and pokes
wads of gum into gas valves because he doesn’t want to be in school
at all… [Avoid] electrical or gas fixtures within arm’s length
of students seated for lecture or tests."
This section identifies what types of ITEA teachers answered the survey, and what types of courses are offered in their schools. Q: What courses do you teach regularly? The responses of the 188 Technology Education teachers who answered the survey yielded 678 total answers to this question, or an average of 3.6 courses (answers) per teacher. The 83 different courses that they indicated illustrates the diverse nature of this emerging and therefore dynamic field. Below is a summary of these 678 answers. Course Taught Regularly
Q: What distinct courses are offered? To determine the breadth of curriculums across the country, teachers were asked what distinct courses were offered at their schools. Distinct in this instance means that the course is not part of an integrated curriculum. Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics were the most common, occurring as distinct in almost all the schools ─ 93, 91, 91, and 86 percent respectively. Computer Science, Advanced Placement Math and Science, and Geology and Earth Science, were distinct courses at roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of the schools. Courses in Astronomy, Communications, Electronics and Robotics, and Marine Biology were taught at from 20 percent (Astronomy) to 52 percent (Communications) of the sample. Engineering was offered far more frequently, in 38 percent of the ITEA schools, than in the NSTA schools where only 3 percent offered Engineering.
C. ITEA Facility Description The types and sizes of teaching spaces available to science and math teachers, along with classes sizes, were investigated in this section. Q:
How is your primary teaching space designed and outfitted? Q:
How many students are in a typical class, and what would be the ideal
number? The mean class size of all Technology Education teachers surveyed was 20.9 students. Regardless of whether the respondent wanted more, fewer, or the same number of students in a class section, the mean preferred section size was about 18. Please note, however, that the preferred class size ranged from 7 to 30 students. For those who wanted fewer students, the most frequent reason was that fewer students would facilitate individual instruction. Other common answers were that the size of the space relative to the number of students assigned is limited for both teaching, safety, and the availability of equipment and supplies. Q:
What is the size of your teaching space? Q:
What is the NASF per station in the schools surveyed? In the survey, the actual mean size of the combined lab and classroom spaces was 88 NASF per station, using the assigned number of students. If the preferred class size were used, the ratio would be 105 NASF per station. For a high-bay lab space with an attached discussion/computer lab, standards suggest a range of from 103 to 115 NASF per student. Please go to the Guidelines page for more discussion of lab sizes. Q:
What types of lab benches are being used? Q:
Does your science space have a fume hood? Q:
Where do your students conduct independent projects? Q:
Are teachers assigned office space in your school? Fifty-four percent of the respondents share their teaching space with another teacher. Of the teachers with offices, 61 percent share their teaching space, and of those without offices, 29 percent share their teaching space.
D. Desirable Teaching Spaces The survey offered teachers the opportunity to answer questions about the ideal teaching space. These types of free-response questions, although difficult to quantify, reap the reward of a wide variety of answers, a type of "collective brainstorming." Some selected responses are included here. Q: How would you change your space to better support the curriculum? Selected
Responses "I
would love to have a 'clean’ area for designing and computer-related
work, and a ‘dirty’ area for production / modeling / prototyping.
These areas should be separated by a glass wall for visibility."
Q:
What are the most important characteristics of an ideal class lab?
Selected Responses "Unrestricted
view of workspaces for adequate supervision." "Easy
emergency shut-offs for electric, gas, etc." "Numerous
and well-placed electrical outlets." Q: What physical characteristics should be avoided in the ideal class lab? Selected
Responses "Shoddy
appearance shows students that the school does not care."
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
