Global perspectives of science education: Successes and challenges of a pilot project

This paper describes a pilot global learning project, which linked Australian preservice primary students teachers with their counterparts in the US. In the context of globalization and with the rapid development of the world wide web, greater understanding of other cultures and practices has become a priority. To address this issue, the study was conducted with approximately sixty Australian students in the second or third year of their primary Bachelor of Education course studying a Science Curriculum unit. These students were matched with a cohort of third year undergraduate preservice elementary student teachers from a university in the United States studying an integrated mathematics science methods course. Over a six week period the students e-mailed each other weekly and attempted to learn about primary / elementary science education in both countries. The project was monitored over the six-week period and carefully evaluated at the end. A number of valuable insights were obtained from the evaluation data and these are discussed. Important lessons gained from the initial pilot project will be used to enhance and shape the future directions of providing global perspectives for primary preservice student teachers.