The goal of project C-CUESST (A College Curriculum for Elementary School Science Teachers) is to design and implement an inquiry based undergraduate physics course for pre-service K-8 teachers which integrates scientific content knowledge with research based knowledge about teaching and learning science. Research evidence has been building to support inquiry-based lessons, student centered pedagogy such as cooperative learning and peer teaching, and computer based laboratory instruction as effective strategies to improve student learning. Project C-CUESST implemented and evaluated these strategies in Physics 100, "Concepts in Physics," an introductory course for future K-8 teachers.

A collaborative team comprised of a professor of physics, a professor of education, a professor of bilingual and multicultural education and a K-8 teacher from the local school district designed, taught and evaluated Physics 100. The team is continuing to work together by integrating P100 with the science methods course in the School of Education. By working across the academic and administrative cultures of science and education this team has laid the foundation for a coordinated science curriculum for pre-service teachers which reflects National and State wide reform efforts in K-12 Science Education.

C-CUESST has developed a practical model of an inquiry-based physics course composed of a lecture/textbook component, a guided inquiry component and an open inquiry component. The guided and open inquiry components are based on research findings from physics education research (Mc Dermott, Hestenes, etc) and K-12 science education research, (Karplus, Vygotsky, etc.). The following graphics describes the course structure:

To successfully manage this course we have had to construct tools for facilitating and assessing inquiry in the classroom. These tools include a student and instructor workbooks, "know and do boxes" that explicitly state what students should know and be able to do at the end of a guided inquiry lesson, interactive journals, and open inquiry project rubrics.

Evidence of student learning by inquiry has been gathered on students understanding of the nature of experimental science, specifically on student's ability to pose a testable question. Our study shows that guided activities alone are not sufficient to develop the ability to pose a testable scientific question. After 4 weeks of guided inquiry activities where testable questions are modeled by the teacher less than 50% of students in Physics 100 could write a testable question of their own. However after students completed one open inquiry project (2 hours of class time over 2 weeks), where they posed their own question and designed and carried out their own investigations, 75% of students were able to write a testable scientific question. The ability to pose as well as recognize testable questions is of special significance to students who are pre-service teachers since they will be required by State and National Science Standards to facilitate inquiry based learning in their classrooms. Project C-CUESST has found strength in a balanced approach to curriculum and instruction, one that contains traditional lecture and textbook work, guided inquiry activities and open inquiry projects. Each instructional mode has its strengths and limitations, but the successful integration of these modes can produce a secure yet dynamic learning environment especially for students who traditionally do not see themselves as strong science learners.