4:00—6:30 p.m. Northeastern University
In preparation: read and come prepared to discuss
Chapter 9 from National Research Council. (2005). (Donovan, M. S. and Bransford, J., Eds.) How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10126&page=395
Chapters 2 and 3 (pp. 13-35) from Harlen, W. (2001, 2nd edition). Primary Science: Taking the Plunge. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books (the book you received in the summer).
Topics:
Connections between the summer’s immersion experience and the upcoming school year
Assessing students’ prior knowledge to help plan science learning experiences
Identifying participants’ science plans for the school year
Please post a brief reflection on the reading to the Green Energy Blog at - http://pipelinegreenenergy.blogspot.com/
Directions: http://www.northeastern.edu/campusmap/
Parking: Renaissance Garage - parking will be validated
After reading the article "How Students Learn", I thought about the importance of learning science as a process of inquiry through observation, imagination and reasoning. Furthermore, to engage students in scientific inquiry, encourage them to read in order to answer a question rather than assign a chapter from the textbook. After reading the chapters from Taking the Plunge, the conditions that promote intrinsic motivation in the classrrom are very important to consider when teaching science, or any subject for that matter. For example, it is important to provide some choice in the matter of what question to pursue and how to go about it.
ReplyDeleteI am a true believer in learning through inquiry especially since I am a library teacher and a process learner, not memorizer myself. It is a commonly understood phenomenon that children are naturally curious and learn by self-motivated experiences. From the moment we are born, we begin to understand about the world through exploration.
ReplyDeleteSince the days of Socrates, teachers have used carefully articulated questions to guide student thinking. Modeling this query process provides a format for students to learn to think critically. Today, I wish questions to be used to help learners arrive at their own conclusions as opposed to those considered “right” by the teachers. Unfortunately, my observations of students show me that many are risk averse due to past criticisms of providing the wrong answer. As stated in the reading, it is imperative for teachers to portray the idea that: “there are no wrong answers, only steps to deeper understanding.” Learning to be critical thinkers is imperative for US students to compete in the global economy in the future.
So why has the US educational system gotten so far off track in their teaching methods? Some believe the current focus in standardized testing, initially intended to improve education by expecting high achievement for all students, has resulted in a short-term reaction to teach facts to answer test questions as opposed to long-term results, teaching students to be critical thinkers. As described in the readings, instead of teaching to the test, teachers need to take the responsibility to understand the difference between learning something superficially and learning something well. The time invested in allowing student’s self-exploration through guided inquiry develops better thinkers and in the end will result in better MCAS results.
US scientists and engineers have long been leaders of innovation but are quickly losing ground worldwide. The culture of this country was founded on freedom of thought and action, intellectual risk-taking and innovation, as well as achievement through hard work. As reflected in the texts, it is important for teachers to rekindle these cultural traits by inspiring their student’s intrinsic motivations in a safe, productive classroom environment with well planned inquiry based activities, not only in the field of science, but other disciplines as well.
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ReplyDeleteWhat do I think about our readings? That is a well posed question. I love how this course models what we should do. I intrinsically want to become better at teaching, so they’ve got me. I can see this information as a starting point to adapt my curriculum to be more inquiry based.
ReplyDeleteStudents come in with many misconceptions about science. A “What do You Know” chart is invaluable launching place. I learned form the readings that their experience with things does not mean they understand how things work. Now I see that I can have them explore and discover evidence to correct their misconceptions.
I knew motivation was key, but one quote helped me (paraphrased here):Objects don’t contain the answers but help us to show the answers.
Students’interaction with things needs to be their own so I’ll give them choices and tell them the reasons for doing things. I already use cooperative groups (I feel validated here because some teachers think kids sponge off of others).
I learned this summer that they were asking the right kind of questions but oh, how I longed for The Wrong kind of questions-the ones that ask for only knowledge or facts. From the reading, I will use the Right/ productive questions: Attention focusing- Have you seen? Do you notice? What is it? What does it do? What you find on the inside? What do you see, hear, feel? Comparisons & attributes-How many? How long? Is it heavier? Stronger? Action- What happens if? Problem posing- Can you find a way to? Avoid how & why questions. Instead use- Why do you think? What happens if? Let us see how? It’s Ok to say you don’t know (that’s good).Ask What for? For what purpose? Where to?
I’ll have to remember to hold my tongue and allow the right answers to be the one the students give based on their observations. Ask students for evidence. Listen to what students have to say. But I don’t see how I am going to couple that with all the information I need to give them!
I do know that data can be interpreted to substantiate a specific answer and may not necessarily mean what you think. I will now start to have students reflect on the process and on others’ to compare, discuss and look for creative explanations. I’ll encourage them to ask questions about their process and I’ll have them participate in assessing what they’ve done. We always say we need to do this more often!!
This year, I have made a much more concerted effort to teach in a more inquiry based style, but based on the reading I have many areas for improvement. I was pleased after reading the selection to recall several projects from last year that created collaboration and required science as a process rather than a collection of facts, but unfortunately these projects did not represent the majority of last year’s work.
ReplyDeleteMy questioning skills need work, and the guidelines for improving them are very helpful. I find that I need to really focus on an inquiry interpretation of the frameworks to avoid creating trivia collectors. With this year’s effort, I have been rewarded with insight into student thinking via student notebooks and amazing questions from my students, but grading these efforts has been quite a challenge.
I truly enjoyed the article, Student-Centered Science Notebooks, and will incorporate some of the suggested ideas with my students. To begin with, I think giving the label “Personal Science Journal” to the science notebook sets the image of the tool. Yes, the science notebook and all of its contents are owned by the student and should not be judged by the teacher with a grade. I think that over time with students sharing their information and methods that the non-judgmental approach will allow students to develop record keeping skills at their own pace which, in turn, truly allows them to take ownership of their learning. Self-evaluation of the effectiveness of their recording methods will become apparent when they are asked to provide claims and evidence during a scientific investigation. At this point, if the student is struggling with locating and deciphering their information, it is imperative for peers and teachers to share techniques with the student. Posing purposeful questions before, during and after an investigation can provide a guideline for students to self-discover their strengths and weaknesses regarding recording information. Peer modeling and teacher led think-alouds showing a variety of methods, such as, technical drawings and diagrams, notes, lists, charts, tables, graphs, as well as written observations can help students add tools to their personal learning toolkit. If we want students to become vested in their learning, then we must provide them the respect and comfort level to take personal risks when they are learning. Science notebooks provide a perfect vehicle for allowing students self-expression and opportunity for self-evaluation.
ReplyDeleteI found the article to be useful, mostly in that it made me more confident with the steps I've been taking to use notebooks with my science classes. I've grappled with the amount of direction that I should use to encourage notebook use and how much structure I should require, and the article provided some good strategies. Combined with the 'lense' handouts from Saturday's session, I feel much more secure in the direction I'm taking with the notebooks.
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