Candidates will use the NSTA Learning Center to evaluate their understanding of science content and create a personalized plan that focuses on increasing their content knowledge in areas of weakness in the domains of Earth/Space Science, Physical Science, and Life Science. Candidates will write goals and select resources to aid in the completion of their learning plan. After completing their study, candidates will export an NSTA-generated report and complete a reflection.
- To complete this assignment:
- Go to the NSTA Learning Center.
- Login to your account.
- Click on your profile and select PL Indexer. The Professional Development Indexer helps you diagnose your needs in specific science content areas and provides suggestions of NSTA resources and opportunities you may want to consider as you develop your professional development plan. The Indexer does not assign a grade or present a score to the questions you answer but saves a list of recommended resources for later review.
- For Earth and Space science, click the “Diagnose All Subjects” button. This will present you with five questions randomly selected from each topic. Complete the quiz.
- For Life science, select the following topics and complete the quiz.
- For Physical science, click the “Diagnose All Subjects” button. This will present you with five questions randomly selected from each topic. Complete the quiz.
- Use the results of the diagnostic assessment to help you determine where you need further study in each discipline. Select one topic in each discipline to learn more about. Scroll to the bottom of the page to review all resources available. Look for free resources at the elementary or middle level. Add resources to your library for later study.
- Return to your profile and select Professional Learning Plan. My Learning Plan allows you to create a personalized plan that outlines your professional learning experiences over a period of time, describing how you will support increased student learning through your increased teacher knowledge and skills.
- Click Add a new to-do item.
- Select My Content Knowledge for Area of Interest.
- Write one goal and a set of actions for Earth and Space Science and save them.
- Repeat this process for Life Science and Physical Science.
- Complete your independent study in each discipline. You may use NSTA resources, OER textbooks, Khan Academy, Crash Course, or some other reputable source to enhance your content knowledge.
- Return to your Professional Learning Plan.
- For each goal, define evidence by describing the resources you used to increase your content knowledge. Reflect on what you have learned and how you might use this knowledge in the classroom. Be sure to mark the goal as completed.
- Look for the Completed section of your Professional Learning Plan and select Generate PDF Report.
- Click the box to the left of My Content Knowledge and click Generate Report.
- A PDF will download to your computer. Email that PDF as an attachment to your instructor.