High School Science CIA

Dec 20, 2010

Announcements

 STEM District Committee  Programs, Curriculum  Need help to know about programs and events, newsletter articles

PD Opportunities

 CRISP (Nov 13, Jan 29) Making Stuff Work  https://www.southernct.edu/crisp/index.php/Professi onal_Development  Possible new grant, focusing on physics?

 Other Needs???

Other Announcements

 Equipment/Books?

 TVAL/Work with principals  Science Fair: Sign Up and decide now!

 SCIENCE.. Part of SIP? Tiering!

Teaching/Instruction

 some notes from observations  How do the students know what to DO?

 How do the students know what to LEARN?

 Needs to be WRITTEN and CLEAR

Teaching/Instruction

  Student to Student TALK : guided and planned Higher Order Questioning : guided and planned  Worksheet vs. totally open labs, there is a middle ground   Expectation: students TOUCH stuff at least 2-4 times a week, lab experiment at least once a week.

Writing by students.. doesn ’ t have to be long, but should be frequent  And number one : THINKING is the goal. (not compliance work).

Assessment

 9 th grade CMT practice will be coming  Q1. Feedback on what happened?, what instructional changes are you making?

 DATA TEAMS: how do your teams use science results? How do you bring them up? (Math/Physics connection? Measurement connection )  What does item analysis of quarter one show us?

 Have you looked at quarter two questions to give feedback … before break??? (1/18-1/21 due back 1/26)

HOW do secondary school students learn inquiry?



Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (2000) http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id= 9596

 Learning Cycle: Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Apply, Evaluate

Inquiry, keys to learning

 Understanding science is more than knowing facts  Students build new knowledge and understanding on what they already know and believe (constructivism/misconceptions)  Students formulate new knowledge by modifying and refining their current concepts and by adding new concepts to what they already know

Inquiry Learning

 Learning is mediated by the social environment in which learners react with others.

 Effective learning requires that students take control of their own learning.

 The ability to apply knowledge to novel situations, that is, transfer of learning, is affected by the degree to which students learn with understanding.

Research base

 Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11625.html

pgs130-140  Asking Questions   Designing Experiments (variables) Engineering (desired effect) vs Scientific (which factors made a difference)   Observing and Recording Evaluating Evidence

Essential features Classroom Inquiry

 1. Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions  2. Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions  3. Learner formulate explanations from evidence  4. Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge  5. Learner communicates and justifies explanations

Freq asked ? About inquiry

  Is it ever Ok to tell students answers? Y Should teacher say no to student inves? Y   More impt inquiry or concepts? Both How can invst come before vocab? Observe   Inquiry in every lesson? N How can we cover everything? Deep  Structure vs Freedom in inquiry? Balance   Inquiry vs classroom management? PLAN Materials? Teacher plan is lesson, not materials  How improve? Collaborate!

 In groups:  Review ideas from teaching inquiry    Review q1 10-11 data share ideas   Review q2 09-10 data