Research aims to improve middle-school science instruction

Published: March 23, 2010

By Hannah Sykes

CLEMSON — Clemson University assistant professor Jeff Marshall has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award to help middle-school science teachers transform their classrooms.

Marshall will use the $563,299 grant to provide teachers in Greenville, Oconee and Anderson county school districts with professional development skills to improve inquiry-based instruction in middle-school science classrooms.

“In the end, regardless of all the other issues that confront students today, the single greatest factor in improving student achievement is the teacher,” said Marshall. “This research seeks to support the transformation and sustained improvement of higher-quality teacher practice.”

Marshall will provide teachers with a two-year intervention that will include creating inquiry-based lessons, teaching exemplars and leading follow-up sessions with teachers at the schools. He hopes his instruction will lead to significant improvements in student academic achievement.

“Transforming teacher practice so that student learning significantly increases in science has been my area of passion,” Marshall said. “This grant will build on numerous prior successes and will allow for continued research in this area over the next five years.”

Marshall is an assistant professor of science education in Clemson’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education. After completing his bachelor's degree in chemistry education at the University of Oklahoma, Marshall received master's and doctorate degrees in curriculum and instruction at Indiana University.

The National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development program supports early-career research and teaching activities of faculty members who incorporate research and education into their work.

END

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grant number DRL0952160. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.