Course assignment- Reflection 6

Summary of the reading

 

The reading this week, The Complete Guide to Service Learning:  Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum & Social Action, chapter one provides an overview of the instructional method that is impacting educators approaches to best facilitate student learning by allowing students to actively participate and contribute to making a positive impact on their communities on a local level as well as impacting other communities that may be more distant.  The impacts that students can potentially have in service learning can take place in a variety of ways.  The reading from chapter one provides and overall summary and description of what service learning is and all that it entails. “Service learning connects school based curriculum with the inherent caring and concern young people have for their world” (Kaye, 2010). The reading provides a few examples of service learning based lessons to show what service learning could look like when applied to different classroom settings.  Service learning can be incorporated at all levels of education in grades K-12 as well as post-secondary educational pathways. The reading provides an FAQ section with the intention of addressing points of interest that are commonly questioned about service learning.  The FAQ section is provided to offer clarity and expectantly increase the comfort level of educators in order for them to implement this approach into their classrooms with more ease.  A section in the reading provides the criteria that will ensure the success of both students and educators in service learning activities.  In order to ensure the success of service learning, the K-12 Service Learning Standards for Quality Practice provides a wealth of knowledge on this approach to enlightening the minds of students through social action. There are eight elements of the K-12 Service Learning Standards for Quality Practices.  These elements include meaningful service, a link to curriculum, reflection, diversity, youth voice, partnerships, progress monitoring, and duration and intensity. Service learning has 5 stages that will always being with an investigation stage, leading into the second stage that is preparation and planning.  Next students are expected to engage in their action and following their action, there should enter into the reflection stage.  Finally students enter the fifth stage of service learning in the demonstration stage, also known as “The Big Wow!” in which students explain what they have learned through their service learning as well as how their accomplishments have impacted their targeted community.     

 

Ideas for possible proposals

 

A possible proposal that could use the methods surround around service learning could be in the category of Earth science and environmental issues which are currently significant topics of around the world. The students would develop solutions and approaches associated with organisms and environments in reporting category 4 in the state standards.  This proposal would be aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge Standards (TEKS) for 5^th grade science.  Specifically, TEKS 5.9(A) observe the way organisms live and survive in their ecosystem by interacting with the living and non-living elements, and TEKS 5.9(C) predict the effects of changes in ecosystems caused by living organisms, including humans, such as the overpopulation of grazers or the building of highways.  Students would research the effects of changes in ecosystems and develop their own ideas on approaches to being more proactive in contributing to the preservation of the earth. Students would begin to carry out their ideological approaches in order to increase the sustainability of various ecosystems for different niches within the communities that students live in. Some possible approaches that students might carry out could be a community clean up, increasing awareness of the benefits of recycling, or building a community garden.

 

Concerns and questions for the readings or proposals

 

Brookhart & Nitko (2007), promote the importance of assessing students in order to ensure that they are understanding content objectives through the use of both formative and summative assessments.  How would a teacher go about properly assessing student’s progress and understanding while taking part in any service learning acidity?

 

References

 

Brookhart, S. M.  & Nitko, A. J. (2007).  Educational Assessment of Students (6th ed.)  Upper Saddle      River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Merrill Education. 

 

Kaye, C. B. (2004). The complete guide to service learning: Proven, practical ways to engage students in civic responsibility, academic curriculum, & social action. Free Spirit Publishing.

Course assignment - Reflection 5

Summary of the reading

 “Too often we give children answers to remember, rather than problems to solve.” Roger Lewin

The quote above embodies the ideology behind the reading this week, Problem-Based Learning. The reading this week provides an overview of the instructional method that has made an impact on pedagogical praxis and approaches to best facilitate student learning.  The reading provides and overall summary of the development of Problem-based learning (PBL) and research on its development over the course of the last 30 years. Problem-based learning originated from the work of medical educators research which was conducted at the Department of Medicine, McMaster University in Canada in the 1970’s. A section is presented in the reading relating to the assumptions and misconceptions of PBL’s as well as the attributes that represent essential characteristics present in Problem-Based Learning.  The reading then goes on to examine the effectiveness of PBL's in terms of student learning outcomes, including basic domain knowledge acquisition and applications, retention of content and problem-solving skills, higher order thinking, self-directed learning/lifelong learning, and self-perception as well as addressing implementation issues (Hung, Jonassen,  & Liu 2008). Finally, recommendations for future research are presented to improve upon this instructional methodology approach. The recommendations also raise questions regarding assumptions that are questionable under the framework of PBL’s.  Currently, problem-based learning is being implemented at all levels of education to include grades K-12 as well implementation at the collegiate level.  The PBL approach to teaching in order to best meet the needs of all students requires students to question, explore, and study various content knowledge allowing students to practice context-free problems, which challenges students more because PBL embeds students’ learning processes in real-life problems (Hung, Jonassen,  & Liu 2008). PBL supports the process of students finding their own answers to real life scenarios, which assist students greatly as they prepare to enter the workforce and as students encounter various dilemmas that will inevitable arise in their career path.   PBL’s help students to become problem solvers and inherently contributes to increasing their critical thinking skills while activating other forms of higher order thinking. 

Ideas for possible proposals

A possible proposal that uses problems based learning could be in the category of Earth science and environmental issues which are significant topics of discussion currently around the world. The students would develop solutions and approaches to problems concerned with natural resources and conservation.  This proposal would be aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge Standards (TEKS) for 5^th grade science.  Specifically, TEKS 5.7(C) identify alternative energy resources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biofuels; 4.7(C) identify and classify Earth’s renewable resources, including air, plants, water, and animals; and nonrenewable resources, including coal, oil, and natural gas; and the importance of conservation. In this possible proposal, students would be presented with the question:  “How can our school find better ways to sustain energy throughout the school while using less natural resources and reducing waste?”  Students would have to develop a viable plan and approach to find possible solutions to this problem.  Student could further evaluate the probable effects of their plan on a campus, district, city, state, country, and global level if their plan was put into action and how great of an impact their plan could potentially have at each of these levels.   

Concerns and questions for the readings or proposals

Oberlander & Talbert-Johnson (2004), promote the integration of technology in to the classroom with problem-based learning. Sometimes in science education, it can be difficult to incorporate technology at the lower grade levels. What strategies can be implemented to ensure that all students in the K-3 are utilizing higher levels of the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition Model (SAMR) technology integration within their PBL’s? 

References

Hung, W., Jonassen, D. H., & Liu, R. (2008). Problem-based learning. Handbook of 
           research on educational communications and technology, 3, 485-506.

Oberlander, J., & Talbert-Johnson, C. (2004). Using technology to support problem-based                        learning. Action in teacher education, 25(4), 48-57.

Course assignment - Reflection 4

Summary of the reading

The reading this week, Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry, provides a thorough explanation of the scientific process as established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and that National Institute of General Medical Sciences.  NIH formulated this scientific inquiry process with the implementation of the 5E Instructional Model.  The process was developed in this way because the “structure of this module enables teachers to effectively facilitate learning and stimulate student interest by applying scientific concepts to real-life scenarios” (Bybee & Bloom 2005).  The selection explains the goals of the scientific inquiry model and how the scientific concepts are connected to the curriculum.  The scientific inquiry model is tied into the National Science Education Standards.  Benefits of the scientific inquiry model can be seen in the capability of ongoing assessments and the implementation of science classroom and personal safety. The reading provides a detailed section to explain how the 5E instructional model is used to enhance active learning that is inquiry based.  A chart is provides as a guideline to show what both the teacher and student should be doing during each phase of the 5E model in a science inquiry lesson.  The reading selection provides examples of timelines and formatted lessons as well.  

Ideas for possible proposals

A possible proposal that uses the 5E instructional model as a framework to facilitate science inquiry based lessons, might be surrounded around types of circuits.  This proposal would be aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge Standards (TEKS) for 5^th grade science.  Specifically, TEKS 5.6(A) explore the uses of energy, including mechanical, light, thermal, electrical, and sound energy 5.6(B) demonstrate that the flow of electricity in circuits requires a complete path through which an electric current can pass and can produce light, heat, and sound 5.6(C) demonstrate that light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object or travels through one medium to another and demonstrate that light can be reflected such as the use of mirrors or other shiny surfaces and refracted such as the appearance of an object when observed through water. In this possible proposal, students would explore the different types of circuits that are present in the real world. To engage students, the teacher could lead a class discussion and demonstrate the effects that a single light “bad light bulb” may have when using Christmas lights. To explore, students would manipulate science materials in order to create different types of circuits. For the explanation portion of the proposal, students might conduct research regarding the real life connections that are aligned with the learning objectives. The elaboration portion of the proposal would allow students to find a real world situations where students will build and design circuits that are developed for a burglar alarm. Finally for the evaluation portion of the scientific inquiry proposal using the 5E model would talk place in the form of a summative assessment based on the learning targets established at the beginning of this lesson through the TEKS.  One collaborator in this proposal could be the El Paso Electric Company.  The El Paso Electric Company could allow students to take a tour of the Electric Company as well as allowing students to take part in some activities that enhance their understanding of different types of circuits.

Concerns and questions for the readings or proposals

Often times in science lessons, when students are working in groups, there is usually a person that takes the lead and sometimes prevents others from participating equitably.  What strategies can be implemented to ensure that all students are participating and communicate their voice when working in scientific inquiry lessons where students may have different ideas about how to proceed with the inquiry based problem?

References

Bybee, R. & Bloom, M. (2005). at., Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry. 
                Center for Curriculum Development. Colorado Springs, CO.

Course assignment - Reflection 3

Summary of the reading

The reading this week, The BSCS 5E instructional model:  Origins and effectiveness. A report prepared for the Office of Science Education National Institutes of Health, provides a summary on modern research regarding the sequencing of science based instruction.  The report targets research supporting the idea that the manner of sequencing for teacher instruction in science education aids in teachers’ ability to target instruction in order to better facilitate student learning. Specifically, the report provides a rationale and empirical support for the BSCS 5E Instructional Model (Bybee, Taylor, Gardner, Van Scotter, Powell, Westbrook, & Landes, 2006). The summary of the 5E Instructional model targets 5 phases that take place in sequential order. Those phases are, engage, explore, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation.  In the engage phase of the instructional model, teachers target inquiry based learning that utilizes the students prior knowledge in order to build upon their learning.   The explore phase of the instructional model provides students with the opportunity to discover more about the specific concepts being taught or the concepts that was targeted during the engage phase of this model.  The explanation phase allows students to continue to build upon their conceptual knowledge and provide a logical explanation of their findings based on what they have learned in the first two phases.  The elaboration phase provides students with an opportunity to be challenged by the teacher while enhancing their understanding and building upon their content knowledge.  In the evaluation phase of the model, students are evaluated by the teacher which allows for the teacher to ensure that students have met the specific learning objectives established at the beginning of the lesson.  The evaluation phase also allows for students to exhibit their own individual understanding of concepts.  The report takes an overall historical view of the development and implementation of the 5E model due to the overwhelming widespread curriculum based implementation, research, and development that has occurred with increasing interest throughout the years.  The report then provides a summary of the acquired research in order to substantiate the effectiveness of this model using contemporary views.  (Bybee, Taylor, Gardner, Van Scotter, Powell, Westbrook, & Landes, 2006)

                 

Ideas for possible proposals

Under the 5E instructional model, a possible proposal might be surrounded around types of energy and the transfer of energy.  This proposal would be aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge Standards (TEKS) for 5^th grade science.  Specifically, TEKS 5.6(A) explore the uses of energy, including mechanical, sound, electrical, light, and heat/thermal, and 5.3 (A-C) Uses critical thinking and problem solving would be addressed in this proposal. In this possible proposal, students would explore the different forms of energy around them and learn how energy cannot be created nor destroyed. To engage students, the teacher could lead a class discussion by asking students to express their opinion as to what energy is. Students could make their own list of the different forms of energy and illustrate their ideas by creating a poster and sharing their posters. To explore, students could explore real world examples of where we use the different types of energies. For the explanation portion of the proposal, students might conduct research to be presented with an educational video on the 7 forms of energy. The elaboration portion of the proposal would allow students to find a real world situations where energy is being transferred using every day examples.  Students could then create a flowchart that shows the origins of the energy. Finally for the evaluation portion of the 5E model, students could design and create a Rube Goldberg and label each of energy transfers ensuring that all 7 forms of energy are utilized within the Rube Goldberg design.   One collaborator in this proposal could be the Physical Science department at the University of Texas at El Paso.  The Physical Science department could allow students to take a tour of the department as well as allowing students to take part in some activities that enhance their understanding of types of energy and the transfer of energy.

Concerns and questions for the readings or proposals

Hırça Çalık, & Seven (2011) state, the classical conceptual change approach involves the teacher designing an approach to teaching that is consistent with the types of ideas that fit the students’ existing ideas in order to promoting student fulfilment and successfully facilitate learning. Therefore, my question about the reading is, what are the best practices for teachers to gain insight into students’ existing ideas on a variety of content based topics in order to best implement the 5E instructional model?

References

Bybee, R. W., Taylor, J. A., Gardner, A., Van Scotter, P., Powell, J. C., Westbrook, A., &             Landes, N. (2006). The BSCS 5E instructional model: Origins and effectiveness. A report         prepared for the Office of Science Education National Institutes of Health. BSCS. org.    

Hırça, N., Çalık, M., & Seven, S. (2011). Effects of guide materials based on 5E model on              students’ conceptual change and their attitudes towards physics: A case for ‘work, power     and      energy’unit. Journal of Turkish Science Education,8(1), 139-152.

Course assignment - Reflection 2

Summary of the reading

The reading this week, Conceptual change: a powerful framework for improving science teaching and learning, examines the ideology behind conceptual change in science education.  The thought behind conceptual change is that student’s concepts of subject matter change as they gain exposure to new ideas and concepts in various subject matter.  The article presents “concerns how students’ conceptions change under the impact of new ideas and new evidence” (Posner, Strike, Hewson & Gertzog, 1982). Essentially teachers can use conceptual change as a teaching strategy to present inquiry bases lessons. Using a conceptual change framework, students use their prior knowledge, to include misconceptions, in order to formulate new concepts and new ways of thinking.  This type of conceptual change challenges students to question their own thinking and trigger metacognitive skills. In the context of science, students have to rationalize and make sense of the world around them. The article has a centralized focus on the different types of radical conceptual change described as accommodations throughout the article.  The authors detail how 5 various concepts influence the direction of an accommodation, those influential factors include anomalies, analogies and metaphors, epistemological commitments, metaphysical beliefs and concepts, and other knowledge.  Interviews with physics students and their instructors are presented as examples of conceptual change in the aticle.  The interviews are also used as a way to assess the implementation of accommodations in certain settings.  Finally, the article defines the role of the teacher in conceptual change, and traditional teacher roles are not sufficient enough to fully embrace this framework. Teachers can not present and clarify concepts, but instead need to challenge students and remain combative with students about their ideas, reasons, a rational for their thinking.   

Ideas for possible proposals

Under the conceptual change framework, a possible proposal might be surrounded around energy efficiency.  The Texas Performance Standards Project has an energy efficiency exploration project that allows students to examine renewable and non-renewable energy sources.  In this project, students would analyze various types of energy consumption by human beings in daily life.  Students would create an actual record of all of the devices that humans depend on in both home and school environments.  Students will have to recognize the effects of the identified types of energy consumption on a local, state, national, and global level.  The students can develop ways to conserve energy usage and find viable ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. The movie Wall-E might be used at the end or the beginning of the lesson to trigger discussions on the effects of waste and the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling resources on our planet.  In addition, one collaborator in this proposal could be the Electric Company.  The students would take a trip to the El Paso Electric Company to gain a better insight into how the electric company powers the electricity for the city. In my opinion this is an excellent way to raise awareness in students regarding environmental studies and implement a conceptual change approach which would be embedded in this type of proposal. 

Concerns and questions for the readings or proposals

“The classical conceptual change approach involved the teacher making students’ alternative frameworks explicit prior to designing a teaching approach consisting of ideas that do not fit the students’ existing ideas and thereby promoting dissatisfaction” (Duit & Treagust, 2003).  Therefore, my question about the reading is what methods are used to address misconceptions when students are not aware that their own level of understanding is incorrect?

References

Duit, R., & Treagust, D. F. (2003). Conceptual change: a powerful framework for improving        science teaching and learning. International journal of science education, 25(6), 671-688.

 Posner, G. J., Strike, K. A., Hewson, P. W., & Gertzog, W. A. (1982). Accommodation of a                         scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Science education, 66(2), 211-               227.

Course assignment - Reflection 1

New science standards are needed now because the dynamics of science are changing rapidly.  The world is inundated with new technology and scientific findings at a remarkable rate.  New science standards are need now, because science has both direct and indirect effects on our lives on a daily basis that are more present now than ever; therefore, the implementation of the new science curriculum standards is more vital and relevant now than in recent years.   The Next Generation Science Standards were developed with the intent of preparing the future scientific minds of students in grades K-12 in the United States as a means of facilitating scientific learning and inquiry based scientific understandings with an anticipated outcome that will better prepare students for life after high school when they enter into college or into the workforce.  The new science standards are also needed now because, in recent years, the United States has set a trend of falling behind other counties both economically and educationally, this trend has contributed to creating a global achievement gap for the United States.  The science educational reform of public school education in the United States was essential in order to begin closing this global achievement gap among students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) content areas. Because the United States does not meet the expectations as other countries around the world, it is inevitable that competition for employment will increase as employers search for the best employees around the world that possess new and innovative ideas.  American students will have greater difficulty standing out to employers due to the possibility that the global perception previously may have been that students receiving an education in the United States are not as well equip to face and meet the needs and demands for employment qualification or employment requirements for STEM fields because of the low global educational ranking and outdated science standards. The United States realizes that our students are in competition with other students on a global scale. Therefore, the Next Generation Science Standards are geared towards the next generation of scientist that are living in a time where they are experiencing scientific advances and innovations that were not present 20 years ago.  The Next Generation Science Standards have superseded the outdated science standards as a means of developing standards that are more relevant to the way students learn today and that will help them grow tomorrow. Essentially, the Next Generation Science Standards provide our students with real world applications that are useful and relevant in the 21^st century.

Some unique features of Next Generation Science Standards that are different from previous standards would include the developmental approach that is present in the new standards.  Previously, there was no vertical alignment among grade levels enabling students to articulate, research, communicate, and rationalize scientific and educational core ideology.  However, the Next Generation Science Standards have compensated for the lack of these requirements not being present in the previous science standards. The new requirements aid in increasing academic rationality and scientific accuracy which in turn will increase the efficacy of our students in STEM fields of study.  In addition, another difference between the old and new standards is that the new standards have interdisciplinary connections and cross-disciplinary concepts embedded into the standards. Finally, the Next Generation Science Standards used a “meeting of the minds” approach in its development by allowing for the knowledge, input, and feedback of individuals from a variety of backgrounds to include the science and business community, educators in grades K-12 as well as educators from the collegiate level throughout the development of the new standards.  The Next Generation Science Standards provide students in public education with a better approach to teaching, learning, and contributing to the scientific world around them.  

Why So Few Women in STEM

Why So Few Women in STEM

This book offer valuable insight into the many contributing factors that lead to a lack of women in STEM fields of study. 

YouTube Video

This is a great commercial by Verizon to promote girls in science and technology.  It is an eye-opening perspective on little things that are done and said in society that can impede and stifle the interest level of young girls in science content areas.

***Melissa***

Women and technology

Questions regarding teaching practices

As an educator of 9 years and currently teaching 5^th grade science, there are a few teaching practices that are a cause for concern in education today. My concerns are listed below:

1.       How can we as educators promote science in STEM for young girls now in order to maintain growth for women in STEM fields of study in the future?

2.      In 2007, Education Week reported on a major federal study that found, “no difference in academic achievement between students who used the technology in their classrooms and youngsters who used other methods (http:’’idla.org).”  Therefore, how can educators incorporate technology that is meaningful to students and increases proficiency within content areas?

3. What can educators do to present material in ways that appeal to students’ minds in the 21^st century?