The 5E model as a framework for facilitating multiple teacher education outcomes : a secondary science methods course in Australia

Australia is a large country geographically with a relatively small population of approximately twenty four million people. Like many countries, the health of the economy fluctuates over time, but Australia has enjoyed a mostly healthy and stable trajectory of economic output over the last forty years. There is now a strong push to develop STEM education throughout the country, not only due to the need for more students to enter into STEM professions, but also due to concerns about science and mathematics literacy (Australian Council of Learned Academies, 2013). This chapter describes preparing grade 7–10 science teachers at Western Sydney University in Australia using an approach based on the 5E learning cycle (Bybee et al., 2006). The author focuses on teacher discourse practices as his signature lesson, and has students develop their own 5E lesson plan as a summative assessment in the course.