Learning in Place: Clemson Science Methods Class Transformed Through Partnership with Local Schools

A challenge for teachers at any level is to make the subject matter, theory, and principles of whichever field of study tangible, relevant, and real to learners. Teaching teachers is no exception; gaining valuable in-classroom opportunity to observe and apply pedagogy is why student-teaching is an entrenched component of any undergraduate teaching degree. What about the other seven semesters, though? Many classes that focus on education are not able to offer the same hands-on application of learning as, say, a biology class that features a weekly lab. That’s where Drs. Steph Dean and Julianne Wenner, two College of Education professors at Clemson University, have stepped into the meta task of making teaching how to teach more meaningful.

Steph and Julianne each teach sections of a science methods course at Clemson, which is a leader in teacher preparation in South Carolina. Clemson, most known nationally for its successful college football program, sits in the rugged and mountainous far northwestern corner of the state. Surrounded by rural school districts, even though it draws a diverse student body from across the state and country, Clemson has been increasingly active in connecting with local districts through education, including this recent Place-Based Education collaboration with a local 4th grade class.

With that philosophy in mind, Steph and Julianne set about to teach their science methods courses onsite at local schools, creating an opportunity for students to observe lessons in action, practice leading activities with real students, and receive ample feedback on their lessons. Throughout the semester, Steph and Julianne taught the students using techniques they hoped their future teachers would utilize once they have classrooms of their own. The course was highly successful with students; Savannah, a senior Elementary Education major at Clemson, shared that “It was an incredible experience and I'm very appreciative of it. I feel like I got more out of it than I did in classes that we didn't work in schools.”

Julianne described the ability to explore the school as fundamental to making this course a window into careers in teaching: “It gave us some opportunities to push into classrooms or to walk around the school and do some observations and ask ‘What do teachers have up in the halls? What are they doing in their classrooms?’” Similarly, Steph recalled that “I did two ‘look and learn’ [activities] where they walked around the school, and my Clemson students had to look for something specific, like examples of STEM or science.” Examples, Steph noted, might be examining “a wall [representation] of the planets, or peeking into a classroom and seeing some science models. And then they also did a ‘look and learn’ for representations of the school culture and things like that.”

The Clemson students were led through a ‘pet rock’ activity, which showed them how to teach scientific skills like observation and notetaking in a fun and engaging way. Savannah, who hopes to teach in the area after graduation, noted that this was an important moment for her: “I thought that that was one lesson that really stuck out to me, because I felt like an elementary student again at 22, which was really fun. Steph made sure that we had gotten all the materials that we possibly needed,” which helped make the teaching candidates feel seen and well-prepared for their future. “I thought it was really interesting how Steph taught because not only did I feel respected as a pre-service teacher, but also as a student.”

Beyond utilizing the school’s physical resources, Steph and Julianne worked with teachers to customize practical lessons built around current units and standards that they would deliver to actual elementary students. This element was crucial for Julianne, who shares that “This is where it became really wonderful to be at a school. We would ask the teachers, ‘Hey, do you want to work with us on this date? Tell us what standards you're working on,’ and we would create four centers that kids could rotate through in an hour, doing four, 15-minute mini lessons.”

Elementary students rotated through learning stations, or centers, and Julianne described how the future educators “would change roles every time that they rotated the kids, so they might be the lead instructor, they might be the supporting instructor or they might be the observer.” Observers video recorded the lead instructor, offering a chance for the kind of real-time and evidence-based feedback that is essential for developing teachers. This wasn’t always easy for the teachers-to-be, but instilled important professional skills in students like Savannah: “when I was younger I could not take criticism well. . .but as I've gotten older I realized that's kind of part of life, and hearing it from my friends” helped reinforce the positives and soften the constructive criticism.

The reflection component utilized the South Carolina Teaching Rubric, and Steph and Julianne decided to focus on engagement, questioning, and information communication as core reflection points. “So they had to rate themselves, and they had to provide an evidence-based argument for their score. . . So they might say ‘I earned a three in supporting questioning, because I asked lots of different levels of questions. For example, I asked X, Y, and Z, and got all the different kids to talk.”

By collaboratively teaching eight lessons in a day, preservice teachers were able to make real-time updates to their lessons, skill-building at a rate otherwise impossible in a traditional university classroom format.

Through doing multiple sessions onsite, Steph and Julianne were able to build up the undergraduates’ skills through repetition and appropriate pacing. Julianne describes that students “got to teach the same 15 minute lesson 8 times in one day– which might sound like a lot– but they get the chance to to revamp things. It was low-stakes, so they didn’t feel like they were going to mess something up. They worked in small groups. We scaffolded the experience so that in the beginning of the semester the lesson was written for them, by the end of the semester they were writing the lesson, gathering the materials, all the things.”

This pacing was noted and appreciated by the Clemson students as well, who felt that this scaffolding brought them along at an appropriate progression of responsibility. Madison, a senior Elementary Education Major at Clemson, shared how the progression worked: “the first one was ‘here's the entire lesson,’ and then we'd have some prep for it and then we'd go teach it. The second time we'd get the activity and then have to plan everything else. The third time we'd get the standard and then have to plan the entire activity. I liked that we were gracefully pushed in and then it started off really easy and then we had to do more and more each time that we did it– and it definitely made me more confident in teaching. The first time I was a little nervous but the more we did it the easier and definitely more awesome it got!”

It wasn’t only the teaching candidates who benefitted from the partnership: Savannah describes the positive response from the elementary students, who jumped at the opportunity to mix up the day and meet new teachers. “These kids were excited to see something brand new in their classroom, and about 30 new teachers coming into the class and teaching them something. They're basically playing little games to learn a new subject, or a new topic; these kids were ecstatic to see us because they're in the classroom all day with their one teacher that they've known all year. With us, they knew that they were going to play games the whole time and that [we would] make learning fun.” Another major benefit of hosting the science methods courses onsite became the relationships formed, where students forged connections to staff at the local schools.

Savannah concurred, noting that “I got to meet the principals and the front office ladies. I even got to meet some of the cafeteria workers because when we were doing whole grade lessons, we got to go into the cafeteria, so I got to [chat with them and] see how their day was going. I think that school relationship building is one of my favorite things to do, and why I do all the things that I do.” Moreover, Savannah noted that she built strong relationships with her carpool cohort, adding another chance for relationship-building in a context that can be isolating for rural teachers.

As far as school locations, it isn’t an accident that Steph and Julianne chose rural/small-town schools as partners for their science methods class. Julianne summarizes that thinking, offering that asset-based education is “not just pointing out the assets of the kids, but also pointing out the assets of the location. There's science all around us. I think in rural spaces there's this real tie with nature, and so there tends to be a lot of opportunities for science. We really try to point that out.”

So what’s next for Steph, Julianne, and their science methods course? For one, they hope to get through a semester uninterrupted, noting that Hurricane Helene caused significant disruption during their fall semester. Additionally, these schools are prime for research. Steph shares that “Julianne and I are also doing some empirical research on how rural science teachers teach science outdoors, and some of those participants were in the Upstate. So we've also dug into the data and are learning more from other rural educators.” As that project develops, one thing is certain: partnerships like these only serve to enhance learning, grow stronger teachers, and support local education ecosystems wherever they take place.

This story comes from Clemson University, which resides within Rural Schools Collaborative’s Southeast Regional Hub. We would like to thank Dr. Loni Crumb of East Carolina University (ECU) for facilitating the connection to Drs. Dean and Wenner. We offer additional gratitude to Dr. Kristen Cuthrell, chair of the Department of Education and Human Development in the Clemson University College of Education. Kristen most recently served as director of the East Carolina University Rural Education Institute and helped establish the Rural Schools Collaborative Southeast Hub at ECU in 2023.