1. Reflect on Duschl and Grandy's notion of inquiry in relation to your personal experiences both as a student and as a teacher.
As a student, inquiry is really the only way I learn and retain information. I have always been able to easily memorize information and explanations. However, memorization definitely does not lead to a deeper or long-lasting understanding. In order to build my own understanding of a concept means I need to become involved with the evidence for or reasons behind the concept. By knowing what led to the formation of certain a concept or theory, I can decide if it makes sense to me and work my way to either understanding or questioning that concept or theory. Then, I will truly understand the concept, retain it, and use it to develop deeper understandings. Also, having access to data or other information I have not collected really is not a problem. Although the gathering of hands on data may be a “fun” part of science as we think of it, it is certainly not the most efficient and not always practical. Experimentation can be time consuming and frustrating. Yet, knowing how to collect data is important when examining the work of others to check that the data collection method and the data collected is valid.
As a teacher, I like the idea that science education is moving from “focusing on the management of learners’ behaviors and “hands-on” materials to science teaching focusing of the management of learners’ ideas, access to information, and interactions among learners.” While hands on experiences are important because they often engage and excite students, it needs to be more than just “messing around”. When my students do hands on work, I usually want them to observe a specific phenomenon. Their job is then to use information available to explain that phenomenon. In order to do this, they also need to be able to think clearly about their ideas, communicate them to their teammates, and evaluate the ideas of their teammates. An important part of this process is for students to learn the value of discussion and to learn to think and wonder “out loud” as I call it. This is definitely not an easy task for a middle school student. Although difficult, sometimes frustrating, and not as fun as just messing around to see what happens, I think this is how students come to understand concepts and then apply their new knowledge to a project-based or real-life task.
2. Reflect on any one of the above trends in relation to your classroom teaching and the DataTools investigations that you are implementing (or will be implementing shortly.)
• From a view of science that emphasizes observation and experimentation, to a view that stresses theory and model building and revision.
I teach earth science to sixth graders. One of the problems with getting my students to understand Earth processes, e.g. within astronomy, is that observations don’t always match what is really happening. Also, it can be difficult or even impossible to conduct experimentation on objects that students can’t even see. When teaching about the movement of the Earth and moon in relation to the sun, observation of day and night lead to a logical, yet incorrect conclusion. Learning the history of astronomical observations and the development of new theories allows students to let go of their own deeply held “science misconceptions”. Using models to demonstrate their own understanding of the theories allows me to quickly assess and lead them to discuss and revise their model to build a deeper understanding. I find modeling to be a very powerful teaching/learning strategy.
Reading these articles and reflecting on inquiry has led me to a new idea for a DataTools lesson that may solve a frustrating problem for me. Each year, I have my students conduct a five to six week nightly observation of the moon. For a few students, this is a very rewarding experience and they really get into it. For many students, it is cool at the beginning, but they end up doing the observation quickly just to get it done. And for some resistant students, whom I tease about living in a cave and traveling about in tunnels, this is a tortuous assignment. So it ends up that the majority misses the point of putting together the shape and position of the moon, and the time of viewing to create an understanding of how the moon moves monthly. So this year, I think I will put together an assignment that uses data about and images of the moon that students will gather from the internet. The images can be analyzed using ImageJ and the data can be analyzed using Excel. Some students will get into being artistic with the images and others will enjoy using the computer to graph different aspects of the data. A smaller portion of the assignment will still include going outside and looking up to make observations of the moon. I still want kids to observe the world around them and to be curious. For students that find this aspect exciting, they can go on to make nightly observations and detailed drawings. A positive aspect of this approach will be that it can still be based on students building their own theory of how the moon moves and why we see phases. However, that theory can be built more quickly, using readily available data and images, and then through observation, can be checked and revised.
As a student, inquiry is really the only way I learn and retain information. I have always been able to easily memorize information and explanations. However, memorization definitely does not lead to a deeper or long-lasting understanding. In order to build my own understanding of a concept means I need to become involved with the evidence for or reasons behind the concept. By knowing what led to the formation of certain a concept or theory, I can decide if it makes sense to me and work my way to either understanding or questioning that concept or theory. Then, I will truly understand the concept, retain it, and use it to develop deeper understandings. Also, having access to data or other information I have not collected really is not a problem. Although the gathering of hands on data may be a “fun” part of science as we think of it, it is certainly not the most efficient and not always practical. Experimentation can be time consuming and frustrating. Yet, knowing how to collect data is important when examining the work of others to check that the data collection method and the data collected is valid.
As a teacher, I like the idea that science education is moving from “focusing on the management of learners’ behaviors and “hands-on” materials to science teaching focusing of the management of learners’ ideas, access to information, and interactions among learners.” While hands on experiences are important because they often engage and excite students, it needs to be more than just “messing around”. When my students do hands on work, I usually want them to observe a specific phenomenon. Their job is then to use information available to explain that phenomenon. In order to do this, they also need to be able to think clearly about their ideas, communicate them to their teammates, and evaluate the ideas of their teammates. An important part of this process is for students to learn the value of discussion and to learn to think and wonder “out loud” as I call it. This is definitely not an easy task for a middle school student. Although difficult, sometimes frustrating, and not as fun as just messing around to see what happens, I think this is how students come to understand concepts and then apply their new knowledge to a project-based or real-life task.
2. Reflect on any one of the above trends in relation to your classroom teaching and the DataTools investigations that you are implementing (or will be implementing shortly.)
• From a view of science that emphasizes observation and experimentation, to a view that stresses theory and model building and revision.
I teach earth science to sixth graders. One of the problems with getting my students to understand Earth processes, e.g. within astronomy, is that observations don’t always match what is really happening. Also, it can be difficult or even impossible to conduct experimentation on objects that students can’t even see. When teaching about the movement of the Earth and moon in relation to the sun, observation of day and night lead to a logical, yet incorrect conclusion. Learning the history of astronomical observations and the development of new theories allows students to let go of their own deeply held “science misconceptions”. Using models to demonstrate their own understanding of the theories allows me to quickly assess and lead them to discuss and revise their model to build a deeper understanding. I find modeling to be a very powerful teaching/learning strategy.
Reading these articles and reflecting on inquiry has led me to a new idea for a DataTools lesson that may solve a frustrating problem for me. Each year, I have my students conduct a five to six week nightly observation of the moon. For a few students, this is a very rewarding experience and they really get into it. For many students, it is cool at the beginning, but they end up doing the observation quickly just to get it done. And for some resistant students, whom I tease about living in a cave and traveling about in tunnels, this is a tortuous assignment. So it ends up that the majority misses the point of putting together the shape and position of the moon, and the time of viewing to create an understanding of how the moon moves monthly. So this year, I think I will put together an assignment that uses data about and images of the moon that students will gather from the internet. The images can be analyzed using ImageJ and the data can be analyzed using Excel. Some students will get into being artistic with the images and others will enjoy using the computer to graph different aspects of the data. A smaller portion of the assignment will still include going outside and looking up to make observations of the moon. I still want kids to observe the world around them and to be curious. For students that find this aspect exciting, they can go on to make nightly observations and detailed drawings. A positive aspect of this approach will be that it can still be based on students building their own theory of how the moon moves and why we see phases. However, that theory can be built more quickly, using readily available data and images, and then through observation, can be checked and revised.
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