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CFD Students and the Common Experience: Darwin Voyage Humanity Journey

The Child and Family Development Department (CFD, College of Education), Teacher Education Multi-Subject Science Education (College of Education) and the SDSU Children’s Center (Associated Students) have come together to connect students and young children with the SDSU Common Experience: Darwin Voyage Humanity Journey. The collaboration was initiated in order to connect CFD undergraduate students to the Common Experience theme and link their learning and professional development focusing on how to introduce young children to Darwin and his most influential scientific work.

In fall 2009 semester, 30-40 CFD students enrolled in the course Developmentally Appropriate Practices (CFD 275) will be introduced to Darwin and his work. They will be guided in the development of curriculum activities to facilitate the learning of Darwin by preschool-age children using emerging curriculum strategies. These activities will be implemented in the preschool classes where the teachers, Sarah Spears and Camille Corpuz, will assist the students in the process. Faculty from Science Teacher Education will serve as consultant and provide the clarification for the content area at the beginning of the semester. She will also accompany the curriculum development process, providing students with feedback and assuring their accurate understanding of Darwin‘s work.

During fall 2009 and spring 2010 semesters, another group, comprised of 9-10 experienced CFD students will follow the process and evaluate students’ outcomes as well as the effectiveness of the curriculum activities on young children’s learning. In the fall, these students will become mentors to their peers in CFD 275. Each mentor will be assigned to work with 3-4 students to instruct them in the process of curriculum development and implementation. All these activities will be compiled into a book.

In the spring semester, the mentors will help assess the process and will learn to evaluate students’ implementations, children’s reactions and outcomes, and the teachers’ feedback in each of the two classrooms. They will help analyze the data and prepare it for dissemination. Students-mentors will gather information from literature and research to link evidence-based information and their experience developing and implementing an emerging science curriculum celebrating Darwin. Each student will write and present a five page paper addressing one particular aspect of their experience with their mentees and the way children learn about the world around them. In order to measure the effect of the mentoring process on students, the mentors will be asked to complete a survey questionnaire about their perception of self, self efficacy and self esteem at the beginning of fall semester (pre) and the end of spring semester (post).

The work of these two groups of students will be presented to professionals in a conference organized to celebrate Darwin Voyage with Preschoolers. A keynote speaker (maybe Dr. William C. Ritz the author of “A Head Start on Science) will be invited to open the event.