The Lucent Science Teacher Initiative (LSTI): A mentoring project for trainee teachers of second level science

This paper describes an innovative project in the University of Limerick for trainee science teachers in Irish second-level schools. This three-year project has received funding from Lucent Technologies Foundation K-16 programme and is due to run from 2000-2003. The University of Limerick is a major provider of second-level science teachers through four-year concurrent degree programmes with an annual intake of 40-50 students. During their course students have two extended periods of full-time Teaching Practice (TP) placement in schools: six weeks in semester 4 and ten weeks in semester 7. This teaching practice is monitored and assessed by visits from university-based tutors, one each in education and science. In the second year practice 4 visits are scheduled and in the fourth year practice 5 visits. This gives only limited opportunities for helping students to improve and develop their teaching skills. Students have cooperating teachers whose classes they take, but there has been no formal structure for mentoring by these teachers. The recent report of the Task Force on the Physical Sciences (2002) has highlighted the importance of good pre-service training for science teachers.