Curriculum » Teacher Perspective
Teachers in River City
Overall, teachers act as 21st century experts who do not travel back in time with students. They guide students through the scientific inquiry experience and encourage students to problem-solve rather than provide answers.
Day to day, teachers orient students to the day’s activities, help students prioritize the day’s activities based on class needs, check that students have achieved goals before progressing, and assess student progress.
The River City Curriculum is a roadmap to a destination – an understanding of scientific inquiry. We view the teachers as "expert drivers" because they: |
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- know the terrain better than anyone (the students, parents, researchers);
- decide when to speed up and slow down; and
- emphasize and highlight what they think is most important.
The table below
provides an overview of Teacher's Participation in the River City Project
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Before teachers begin the River City Project with his or her students: |
Activity |
Approximate Time to Complete |
Teachers return the following materials, which are included in the appendix of this proposal, to their trainer or the River City office:
• Signed Teacher Agreement Letter
• Signed Teacher Consent Form
• Signed Student Consent Forms for each student whose parents authorize participation in the research project |
10-20 minutes |
Complete the River City Teacher Registration, (online, in the Dashboard) |
5-10 minutes |
Complete the River City Professional Development training |
8 hours |
Complete the teacher Pre-Survey (online, in the Dashboard) |
20-30 minutes |
Complete student information forms (online, in the Dashboard) when you create students accounts |
30-90 seconds per student |
Administer student Pre-surveys (online, in the Student Dashboard) |
20-50 minutes, depending on student's reading level |
When using River City : |
Activity |
Approximate Time to Complete |
Complete the entire River City curriculum with your students |
14-20 instructional hours |
Seek technical and pedagogical support from trainers and/or members of the research team as needed |
0-15 hours |
Upon completion of River City : |
Activity |
Approximate Time to Complete |
Instruct your students to write Letters to the Mayor (online, in the Student Dashboard) |
One class period |
Administer student Post-surveys (online, in the Student Dashboard) |
One class period |
Complete the teacher Post-surveys (online, in the Dashboard) |
20-30 minutes |
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 9980464, 0296001, 0202543, 0310188, and 0532446. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
