Teacher Background Survey

Dear Colleague,

This survey asks about your beliefs and practices related to teaching force and motion to students. We estimate that it will take 30-40 minutes for you to fill out the survey.

Please work as carefully as you can because the benefits and limitations of each course can only be judged on the basis of your data. Your close attention to the wording of each question is essential.

If you are not sure how to interpret a question, just do the best you can. If you would like clarification of any parts of the survey, please contact me. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Joan I. Heller, Ph.D.
510-873-0808
[email protected]

Date:
First name:			Last name:

IMPORTANT:

In order to keep your data confidential, this cover sheet with your name will be removed upon receipt by the research staff, leaving only your ID number on the next page of the survey. This cover sheet will be stored in a locked cabinet, separate from the completed survey.

Please enter your Site Number and ID Number here and on the next page. Thank you!

Site Number:  Your ID Number: T 

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.  The valid OMB control number for this information collection is xxxx-xxxx.  The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.  If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202-4651.  If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Rafael Valdivieso, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Room 506E, Washington, D.C. 20208.

Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes.  The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district or individual.  We will not provide information that identifies you or your district to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.

General Teaching Background

For these questions, please tell us about your teaching experience. Include any full-time teaching assignments, part-time teaching assignments, and long-term substitute assignments, but not student teaching.

1. Which grade(s) do you teach (2007-08)? (Circle all that apply.)

K-2

3

4

5

6

7-8

9-12

Other ____________________

2. Which grade(s) will you teach in the following year (2008-09)? (Circle all that apply.)

K-2

3

4

5

6

7-8

9-12

Other ____________________

3. Counting the most recent school year, how many years have you taught science? ________ years

4. Counting the most recent school year, how many years have you taught English language learners? ________ years

5. What science subject(s) at each grade level did you teach in the current or most recent school year? (Check all that apply.)

Subject taught	6th grade	7th grade	8th grade	9th grade
Physical science (e.g., physics, chemistry, astronomy)	1	2	3	4
Biological science	1	2	3	4
General science (includes physical and biological)	1	2	3	4
Science specifically for English learners	1	2	3	4
Other science, course 1 (specify): ____________________	1	2	3	4
Other science, course 2 (specify): ____________________	1	2	3	4

6. For each of the following subject areas, indicate how many separate classes (sections) you taught during the current or most recent semester. (Please check only one box per subject.)

Subject taught	0 classes	1 class	2 classes	3 classes	4 classes	5 classes	6 classes	more than 6 classes
Physical science	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Biological science	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
General science	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Science for English language learners	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Other science course (specify): ________	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Other science course (specify): ________	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

Education

6. What was/were your undergraduate major field(s) of study? (Check all that apply.)

₁ Science

₂ Science education

₃ Other field of education __________________________________________________________

₄ Other ____________________________________________________________________

₅ Not applicable

6. What was/were your graduate major field(s) of study? (Check all that apply.)

₁ Science

₂ Science education

₃ Other field of education __________________________________________________________

₄ Other ____________________________________________________________________

₅ Not applicable

6. What type of teaching certification(s) do you hold? (Check all that apply.)

	Subject area		Type of certification		Grades of certification
1	Multiple subject credential	1	Permanent or standard	1	Elementary
2	Science	2	Emergency or temporary	2	Middle
3	English/language arts	3	Alternative	3	Secondary
4	Mathematics	4	National Board Certification	4	Other ____________
5	Special education	5	Crosscultural, bilingual, and/or language, and academic development
6	Other ________________	6	Other ________________	7	Not applicable
7	Not applicable	7	Not applicable

6. About how many semesters of undergraduate- or graduate-level classes have you taken in the following areas?

Subject area	None	1-2 semesters	3-4 semesters	5-6 semesters	7-10 semesters	More than 10 semesters
Science	1	2	3	4	5	6
Science teaching	1	2	3	4	5	6
Mathematics	1	2	3	4	5	6
Mathematics teaching	1	2	3	4	5	6

6. In what year did you last take a college or university course in science? ______________________

Staff development

• Please do not include university courses or this project in your answers to the following questions.

6. Over the last 3 years, about how many hours of staff development have you had that focused on one of the following areas?

Focus of staff development	None	Less than 6 hours	6-15 hours	16-35 hours (2-4 days)	36-48 hrs (4-6 days)	More than 6 days
Science	1	2	3	4	5	6
Science teaching	1	2	3	4	5	6
Force and motion	1	2	3	4	5	6
An existing force and motion curriculum (e.g., FOSS, STC, Harcourt)	1	2	3	4	5	6
Other (specify) ___________ _________________________	1	2	3	4	5	6

6. Over the last 3 years, about how many hours of staff development have you had in which you discussed cases of classroom teaching and learning (i.e., examples of someone else’s teaching)?

Discussed cases…	None	Less than 6 hours	6-15 hours	16-35 hours (2-4 days)	36-48 hrs (4-6 days)	More than 6 days
In science	1	2	3	4	5	6
In mathematics	1	2	3	4	5	6
Other (specify) _____________	1	2	3	4	5	6

6. Over the last 3 years, about how many hours of staff development have you had in which you analyzed examples of student work from your own or from colleagues’ classrooms?

Discussed cases…	None	Less than 6 hours	6-15 hours	16-35 hours (2-4 days)	36-48 hrs (4-6 days)	More than 6 days
In science	1	2	3	4	5	6
In mathematics	1	2	3	4	5	6
Other (specify) ____________	1	2	3	4	5	6

Teaching Practices

• For all questions in this section, please check only one box per item.

6. In your science lessons, about how often do students participate in the following types of activities?

Student activity	In no science lessons	In some science lessons	In most science lessons	In all/almost all science lessons
Listen to a presentation by the teacher.	1	2	3	4
Perform a science demonstration for the class.	1	2	3	4
Do hands-on science activities or investigations following a step-by-step procedure.	1	2	3	4
Do hands-on science activities or investigations without a step-by-step procedure.	1	2	3	4
Answer teacher’s verbal questions.	1	2	3	4
Participate in whole-class discussions.	1	2	3	4
Talk in pairs or groups to make sense of science observations.	1	2	3	4
Provide an explanation for something that has been observed.	1	2	3	4
Talk with other students to make sense of observations.	1	2	3	4
Make formal presentations to the rest of the class.	1	2	3	4
Make informal presentations to the rest of the class (e.g., share or report from a small group discussion).	1	2	3	4
Talk about the scientific meaning of words.	1	2	3	4
Discuss scientific ways of communicating (e.g., cause-and-effect statements, supporting claims with evidence).	1	2	3	4
Ask questions about what they have read.	1	2	3	4

6. In your science lessons, about how often do students participate in the following types of activities?

Student activity	In no science lessons	In some science lessons	In most science lessons	In all/almost all science lessons
Work on extended science investigations or projects (a week or more in duration).	1	2	3	4
Make predictions and/or hypotheses before collecting data.	1	2	3	4
Identify evidence or data that support an explanation.	1	2	3	4
Compare how well alternative explanations fit with evidence or data.	1	2	3	4
Design their own investigation to answer questions.	1	2	3	4
Write in a science notebook.	1	2	3	4
Answer textbook or worksheet questions.	1	2	3	4
Read from a science textbook or other science-related materials in class.	1	2	3	4
Read from a science textbook or other science-related materials outside of class.	1	2	3	4
Collect and record data.	1	2	3	4
Make choices about how to represent data.	1	2	3	4
Analyze and interpret data.	1	2	3	4
Do drill-and-practice exercises.	1	2	3	4
Analyze a piece of work completed by another student or group of students.	1	2	3	4
Develop oral or written summaries about materials they have read.	1	2	3	4
Make notes about what they have read.	1	2	3	4
Interpret diagrams, illustrations, and charts.	1	2	3	4

6. In order for you to find out about your students’ science understanding, to what extent do you rely on the following methods?

Method	Very little or not at all	Sometimes	Often	Very often
Give students written tests to find out what they have learned.	1	2	3	4
Ask students questions as they work individually or in small groups.	1	2	3	4
Ask students to explain their answers in writing.	1	2	3	4
Give students a task or test prior to a unit to find out what they already know.	1	2	3	4
Observe students as they work individually or in small groups.	1	2	3	4
Review student homework.	1	2	3	4
Review student notebooks/journals.	1	2	3	4
Engage students in discussions and listen for their understanding of the science ideas.	1	2	3	4
Ask students to explain by drawing pictures or graphics.	1	2	3	4
Have students answer textbook or worksheet questions.	1	2	3	4
Have students write a short response to a question (e.g., do a quickwrite).	1	2	3	4

6. Please indicate how confident you are about teaching the following concepts, whether or not they are currently included in your curriculum.

   Concept	Not at all confident	Not very confident	Somewhat confident	Very confident
   Speeding up is different from going fast.	1	2	3	4
   Acceleration can be speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.	1	2	3	4
   A force is a push or pull interaction between two objects. It is NOT a property of a single object (e.g., the ball does not "have force").	1	2	3	4
   Some forces only happen when things are touching; others can act at/over a distance.	1	2	3	4
   How to make and interpret force diagrams.	1	2	3	4
   Friction is a force.	1	2	3	4
   An object moving at a constant speed has no overall or net force acting on it.	1	2	3	4
   An unbalanced net force can cause an object to speed up OR slow down, depending on the direction of the force and the object’s motion.	1	2	3	4
   The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to its net force.	1	2	3	4
   The acceleration of an object is inversely proportional to its mass.	1	2	3	4
   Gravity is a universal force of attraction between masses, not just something happening near the earth’s surface.	1	2	3	4
   The force of gravity pulls harder on objects with more mass than with less, but makes them all free-fall with the same acceleration.	1	2	3	4
   Weight is the same thing as gravitational force, not mass.	1	2	3	4

7. Please indicate how confident you are in your ability to conduct the following activities in class.

Activity	Not at all confident	Not very confident	Somewhat confident	Very confident
Foster discussions among students that help them learn science.	1	2	3	4
Have students do hands-on science activities or investigations following a step-by-step procedure.	1	2	3	4
Have students do hands-on science activities or investigations without a step-by-step procedure.	1	2	3	4
Support students in designing their own investigation to answer questions.	1	2	3	4
Have students identify evidence or data that support an explanation.	1	2	3	4
Have students provide an explanation for something that has been observed.	1	2	3	4
Discuss with students scientific ways of communicating (e.g., cause and effect statements, supporting claims with evidence).	1	2	3	4
Get students to use scientific terms accurately.	1	2	3	4

6. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

Statement	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly agree	NA
I have a clear understanding of how the instructional activities I use relate to my goals for student learning about force and motion.+	1	2	3	4	5
I know how to question students to find out what they really do and do not understand about force and motion.	1	2	3	4	5
I am not sure when to explain ideas related to force and motion to students and when to have them learn by doing.	1	2	3	4	5
I know how to sequence activities to build student understanding of force and motion.	1	2	3	4	5
My students do not learn important ideas about force and motion from doing hands-on activities.	1	2	3	4	5
The opportunity to talk among themselves interferes with students’ learning of science.	1	2	3	4	5
All students can learn challenging content in science. +	1	2	3	4	5
I have a clear understanding of what is important for students to know about force and motion. +	1	2	3	4	5
I do not know how to use the district force and motion curriculum (e.g., FOSS, Harcourt).	1	2	3	4	5
I am confident in my ability to teach force and motion at my grade level. +	1	2	3	4	5
When students talk during science activities, they are more likely to understand the material.	1	2	3	4	5
I am not sure how to address my students’ misconceptions about force and motion.	1	2	3	4	5
I find it easy to explain to students how an object moves in relation to the forces acting on it.	1	2	3	4	5
I have a hard time analyzing my students’ work to understand their thinking about force and motion.	1	2	3	4	5
When teaching recently, I had my students talk during science activities more than I did in previous years.	1	2	3	4	5
I find it hard to help students understand how objects move in the absence of friction, given their everyday experiences.	1	2	3	4	5
Teachers cannot ensure that all or most of their students will learn science.	1	2	3	4	5
I feel that my ELL students make significant academic progress in science over the course of a school year.	1	2	3	4	5
It would be nearly impossible for me to adapt force and motion lessons to all levels of student proficiency (both in language and science).	1	2	3	4	5

6. Given the grade level of your students, the context in which you teach, and the science content that you cover, how effective are the following instructional practices for promoting science learning?

Classroom practice	Not effective	Rarely effective	Somewhat effective	Mostly effective	Very effective	Not applicable at this grade
Teacher explains science content through oral presentations.	1	2	3	4	5	6
Students conduct hands-on science activities or investigations.	1	2	3	4	5	6
Students discuss science ideas in pairs or small groups.	1	2	3	4	5	6
Teacher engages the whole class in discussions.	1	2	3	4	5	6
Teacher asks students to verbally explain their thinking processes related to science.	1	2	3	4	5	6
Students write to explain their science ideas in journals.	1	2	3	4	5	6
Students read from a science textbook or other science-related materials in class.	1	2	3	4	5	6

6. For the following items, indicate the frequency with which you use the practice to support English learners.

Practice	In no science lessons	In some science lessons	In most science lessons	In all/ almost all science lessons	NA
Analyze tasks for language demands that require presentation adjustments	1	2	3	4	5
Build instruction on what students already know about a topic.	1	2	3	4	5
Use multiple methods to make concepts and tasks clear (e.g., visuals, manipulatives, modeling).	1	2	3	4	5
Use scaffolding techniques at students’ level of understanding (e.g., paraphrasing, referencing definitions, modeling) to move students to higher levels of understanding.	1	2	3	4	5
Ask class to repeat words or phrases after the teacher says those words or phrases.	1	2	3	4	5
Model thinking associated with a task.	1	2	3	4	5
Use techniques that support the use of cognitive strategies (e.g., notes, T-charts, semantic maps, think-alouds, etc.).	1	2	3	4	5

Personal Information

6. Sex:

₁ Male

₂ Female

₃ Transgender or other

6. Are you of Hispanic or Latino origin? (Please select one.)

₁ Yes

₂ No

6. Please indicate your race. (Please select one or more.)

₁ American Indian or Alaska Native

₂ Asian

₃ Black or African American

₄ Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

₅ White

END OF SURVEY

Thank you!