Change in February callback date

Hello all,

The February callback will be on the morning of February 27th instead of the 6th.

~ Diana

Notebooks and Science Instruction

We have started using notebooks with our students this year. Students seem to enjoy writing their thoughts, observations, reflections and material lists in their notebooks. We are now trying to figure out the best way to analyze and assess their notebooks. The article talks about grading the notebooks on organization (use of tables, charts, graphs etc...) or content. Our study group talked about using a spectrum with regard to content. Can the students understand and apply concepts learned? So far, the notebooks have been very successful with our students and students are really reflecting on their work. Our next step is to decide whether to grade them on content or organization. We are really guiding our students to look for evidence in their notebooks that supports their observations and conclusions.
~Amy Desmond

Ardian Mici

Article Reflection ~ 10/5/09 Callback
November 17, 2009

"How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom"

Part III, Ch. 9,

By: John D. Bransford and M. Suzanne Donovan

This past summer, I participated in a full immersion science course on Green Energy, "Inquiring Minds", organized by BU and NEU. While the course strengthened my scientific content knowledge in several areas of physics with hands-on experiments, the callback sessions reinforced the belief that teaching science is not just merely understanding the physical phenomena and the laws that govern them. It is much more than the formulae and their applications, textbooks and experiments. Teaching science has to deal with common preconceptions that are hard to defeat and creating a new mindset that science is counter-intuitive.

The first Great Lesson for me was dealing with common preconceptions. Disconfirmation helped me learn more than my experiments and anything else I studied about them. Reading the pages of "How Students Learn" (by Donovan et al. Part III, p.385-417), I was struck by two things: a) that starting the inquiry by the Scientific Method, could lead to even more undesirable results than one can think, and b) every teacher must find time to get students write about their experiences. Answering questions "why we do what we do?" and explaining the reasoning behind it empowers the inquiry process to an unthinkable degree. In "How Students Learn" the authors note that in many occasions, following the method rigidly could damage the scientific inquiry, the curiosity behind observations, the genuine imagination. I had no idea that I was going to experience such feeling when an engineer, friend of mine, came to teach our class "How Magnamike Works?" (Engineers use magnamike to measure the thickness of very, very small objects.) So, we wanted to measure how many dimes fit in 1 inch, in 1 cm, etc. As I proceeded to write the requirements for the experiment, many students started to loose concentration, by chatting or becoming impatient to use the magnetic device rather than to my follow my directions. At that point, my friend, stopped me and invited the students to first observe, then repeat the process like scientists, using magnetism to measure things. My friend wanted them to think and question what was possibly happening? And have them discuss about it. Everyone was focused and excited to learn about this new device, as an engineering tool. At the end, everyone wrote a few comments and students shared their findings in group.

While teaching a lesson on the conservation of energy, I noticed that students were so much more excited to "dissect" a "hair dryer, a solar car cooler and an electric toothbrush, rather than being asked to copy all the steps I wrote on the whiteboard for the experimets. They wanted to investigate and see what was inside the devices. They took it from there and put devices to work right away. At the end, they wrote about their observations, answered questions, such as how they thought energy was transforming? what was the first noticeable type of energy? how was that energy used?, etc... Writing about science, using their own words to discuss and share, was like a 'wake-up call' for each student's learning. Writing about the process, and diagraming energy pathways, gave them confidence and clearer understanding of what they did and how they proceeded, (metacognition). That was a fun hour of scientific investigations, which must be repeated.

A. Mici

Andover School of Montessori

400 S. Main Street

Andover, MA 01810

How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom

Nicole Nesbitt
Article Reflection – 10/5/09 Callback
November 17, 2009

How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom
Chapter 9: Scientific Inquiry and How People Learn

By: John D. Bransford and M. Suzanne Donovan

Chapter 9: Scientific Inquiry and How People Learn mentions that “Students enter the study of science with a vast array of such preconceptions based on their everyday experiences. Teachers will need to engage those ideas if students are to understand science.” This seems like a very obvious statement but if we, as teachers, fail to address these preconceptions, and often misconceptions, prior to teaching a specific concept we will often fail in helping students to fully understand the content. I recently experienced this within my own classroom. I am currently teaching planetary science to seventh graders and while introducing the phases of the Moon a student stated “Miss, how can we see the Moon change phases if we are inside the Earth?” I was completely shocked by this statement but I suddenly realized, as the other students nodded and agreed that most of my students could not understand that we are, in fact, living on the outside of the Earth. I stopped to draw a few images on the board and used some students as examples to try to explain that we are on the Earth and not inside. I had to quickly abandon my lesson plan to address this preconception/misconception because without this basic knowledge my students would not be able to master more complex and abstract ideas. This article helped to reinforce that the “brainstorming” sessions before starting new units are vital. These sessions help to reveal their students’ preconceptions and can help the teacher to carefully direct future instruction.

Saturday Callback Session - November 14th

315 Shillman Hall - Northeastern University

8:30 - 12:00

Green Energy October Callback Session

Callback: Monday, October 5
4:00—6:30 p.m. Northeastern University

333 Curry Student Center

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

Global EnergyDistribution (IGED)
Green Energy (IGE)
2009 Immersion Institutes

IGE SESSIONS: Friday
May 15th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
May 29th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
June 6th (Saturday) – 9 – 12:00 p.m. (Wheelock College)
June 12th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
June 19th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
June 26th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

IGED SESSIONS: Monday
May 11th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
May 18th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
June 1st - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
June 6th (Saturday) – 9 – 12:00 p.m. (Wheelock College)
June 15th - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
June 22nd - 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Academic Year Callback Sessions for both IGE and IGED
October 5th, 2009 - 4 - 6 p.m. Northeastern
November 14th, 2009 - 9 - 12 p.m. Wheelock
January 11th, 2010 - 4 - 6 p.m. - Northeastern
February 6th, 2010 - 9 - 12 p.m. - Wheelock
February 11th, 2010 - Science Day for Students @ BU and NU