STEM Junction: Robinson's Weblog - STEM Junction

Robinson’s Weblog #008: What’s the Big Idea? Part Two: The Big Ideas about Science Education (The Vision and Goal of the Framework)

6/20/2016

In Robinson’s Weblog #007: What’s the Big Idea? Part One:A Framework for K-12 Science Education, I wrote about A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (National Research Council, 2012) and that I think it does an excellent job of identifying the 1) big ideas about science education 2) big ideas about science, and 3) big ideas of science.

In this weblog entry, I will explore the vision and the goal described in part one of the Framework. A vision is a utopian dream for the future, while a goal defines in measureable and realistic terms what it takes to realize the vision. The vision and the goal of the Framework are what I call the “big ideas” about science education.

A vision for K-12 science education is articulated in part one of the Framework as follows:

Robinson’s Weblog #007: What’s the Big Idea? Part One: A Framework for K-12 Science Education

6/13/2016

In Robinson’s Weblog #005: For Goodness’ Sake, Will You Please Sit Down? Part Two: Your Ego is not Your Amigo, I wrote about my experiences with teaching subjects outside of my area of expertise.

When I taught subjects outside of chemistry, I didn’t always have an in-depth knowledge of the content. But, I did have my teaching superpower, which is what I call the ability to effectively facilitate student learning experiences. In addition to my teaching superpower, I also had a solid understanding of the “big ideas” of science; which gave me the adequate background I needed to step into unfamiliar domains. At that time I did not realize that there are two other types of big ideas that are important too.

As an integrative STEM educator, you do not need to be an expert on every topic in each science discipline, but you should know the big ideas and there a three main types:

Big ideas about science education
Big ideas about science
Big ideas of science

Big Ideas About Science Education
These describe the overall vision for science education and the goal that science education aims to accomplish. In other words: What’s the point of science education?

Big Ideas About Science
These describe what science is, along with its characteristics, and are often referred to as the nature of science (NOS).

Big Ideas of Science
These are the the knowledge and practices that all students should know and be able to do by the end of high school.

In July 2011, the National Research Council (NRC) released A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, which draws on current scientific research on the ways students learn science effectively.

The Framework has three parts:
PART I: A Vision for K-12 Science Education
Outlines the vision for K-12 science education in the U.S. and describes assumptions about learning upon which the framework is based.
PART II: Dimensions of the Framework
Provides the core ideas and practices for K-12 education in the natural sciences (and engineering) and provides guidance on how these ideas and practices should be integrated into standards.
PART III: Realizing the Vision
Addresses issues related to designing and implementing standards, and outlines the means to realize the vision for K-12 Science Education.

Part III provides guidance for how the different ideas articulated in the framework should be integrated into standards. Thus, the framework provides the guidelines for the development of the new science education standards that came to be known as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

In my opinion, A Framework for K–12 Science Education does an excellent job of identifying all three types of big ideas. How and where? I’ll explain in future weblog entries. Stay tuned...

Last Updated: 7/20/2017

Robinson’s Weblog #006: Don’t Throw Baby NGSS out with the Bathwater Part One: Those Problematic PEs

5/8/2016

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are the most recent science educational standards. The NGSS are based on recommendations in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012). The framework:

outlines the vision for K-12 science education in the U.S.
describes assumptions about learning upon which the framework and ultimately the NGSS are built
articulates the core ideas and practices for K-12 education in the natural sciences and engineering
provides guidance for the NGSS by describing how these ideas and practices should be integrated into standards.

The NGSS are intended to reflect the new vision for science education that was outlined in the framework and:

describe the essential learning goals
describe how those goals will be assessed at each grade level or band.

One of the things I don’t like about the NGSS is something that is also one of its greatest improvements over prior standards. You see, the NGSS are organized as performance expectations (PEs). The PEs are what students will be assessed on at each grade level or band and are stated in terms of what students who demonstrate understanding can do. For example, here are a couple of NGSS PEs:

MS-PS4-2 Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
HS-LS1-3 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

The problem I have is this: by combining a specific practice (such as: “develop and use a model” or “ plan and conduct an investigation”) with content, the PEs restrict the combination of practices and content in NGSS assessments. Therefore, the PEs limit the way students will demonstrate their understanding. I mean, I don’t think that the only way students can demonstrate their understanding of wave properties is through developing and using a model; or that the only way students can demonstrate their understanding of feedback mechanisms is through planning and conducting an investigation. Right? Or am I missing something?

The importance of combining practices with content is stated in the framework as follows:

“Standards and performance expectations that are aligned to the framework must take into account that students cannot fully understand scientific and engineering ideas without engaging in the practices of inquiry and the discourses by which such ideas are developed and refined. At the same time, they cannot learn or show competence in practices except in the context of specific content.”

[NRC, 2012, p. 218]

I agree that by combining practices with content, educators are able to engage students in “doing science”, which gives the learning context and allows students to apply the material, making them more interested and motivated to learn.

So, I will not throw the baby out with the bathwater. I won’t simply dismiss the NGSS just because the PEs restrict the combination of content with practices in assessing students’ knowledge. The real innovation in the NGSS is that they are built on the framework’s vision of students being actively engaged in the practices of science while learning science content. I will write a weblog entry about this “vision for science education” a little bit later. Stay tuned!

Robinson’s Weblog #005: For Goodness’ Sake, Will You Please Sit Down? Part Two: Your Ego is not Your Amigo

4/20/2016

In Robinson’s Weblog #003: For Goodness’ Sake, Will You Please Sit Down? Part One, I wrote about the time when I was hired to teach chemistry (which is my area of expertise), and I ended up also teaching biology and physics (which are not).

When I taught subjects outside of chemistry, I didn’t always have an in-depth knowledge of the content, but I had a solid understanding of the “big ideas” of science; which gave me the adequate background I needed to step into unfamiliar domains. Still, to teach a subject like physics, you also have to know how to solve problems. I’m talking about the kind of problems that involve complex mathematical equations. Yes, those!

Lucky for me, I also had my teaching superpower, which is what I call the ability to effectively facilitate student learning experiences. And if there is anything I’m good at, it's taking complicated content and figuring out the most effective way for students to learn it (which, by the way, does not always mean “teaching” it - at least not in the traditional sense).

My physics students and I would often solve problems together. I enjoyed the challenge and the students did too. They shared with me the joy I experienced when I got the right answer to a problem and observed the steps I took to fix my mistakes when I got the wrong answer. Sometimes they were able to spot the mistake I made in the problem-solving process before I did. If I got the wrong answer to a problem and one of the students got the right answer, I would ask them to show me how they did it. These were all teachable moments that allowed my student to see that mistakes were nothing to be embarrassed about and making a mistake is just as an opportunity to learn and improve.

My students benefitted by watching me think through problems to figure out the solution. At the time, I didn’t know anything about metacognition, but I now realize that without knowing it, I was actually modelling metacognition by talking through problems. The students learned from hearing me talk through different thinking strategies.

There is a quote that says “Too much ego will kill your talent”. Being a talented educator doesn’t mean you have to know all of the answers all of the time. It's okay to be vulnerable in front of your students, but you cannot do that if you let your ego get in the way.

So, sometimes you may have to check your ego at the door! When I taught physics, I had no choice because I was not the “all -knowing” physics expert. And I didn’t have to be.

That whole school year, we sat down and we learned physics together. And it was fun! Working with my students to learn physics content was rewarding for them and for me.

It's okay to just sit down and learn along with your students. This can make you a member of the class team striving for understanding of science content.

You can stand on the stage and be the sage. You can sit alongside and be a guide.

For goodness’ sake, will you please sit down? Sometimes?

Last Updated: 7/20/2017

Robinson’s Weblog #004: The One About Elsa, Queen of Arendelle

3/24/2016

What can we learn from the Queen of Arendell? Don’t we sometimes need to just “let it go”?

In the Disney movie Frozen, first Queen Elsa struggles with controlling and concealing her abilities. She then liberates herself from her fears. In other words, she “let it go”.

When I first started teaching, I was often frustrated and overwhelmed with trying to give my students the best learning experiences possible. I wanted to make sure my lessons:
addressed the multiple intelligences,
were student-centered,
facilitated scientific literacy,
provided equity for non-dominant student groups,
integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,
applied the learning to real-world people, situations, and problems,
incorporated scientific inquiry,
built 21st century skills

“Enough Anna.”

Then there are soooo many different types of educational resources to chose from, different instructional approaches and methods like simulations, gamification, scientific inquiry, case studies, interactive notebooks…..

“I said ENOUGH!”

Then I realized that although I didn’t have the best resources, or knowledge of the latest research, or even the time to come up with the most engaging activities; what I did have was a passion and talent for teaching. My superpower. My gift. Teaching (aka facilitating student learning experiences) has always been my gift. And I realized that I didn’t have to be the perfect teacher to be a darn good one.

Even in creating STEMjunction.com, I had to take a lesson from Queen Elsa. At first, I wanted the website to be perfect before I published it onto the world wide web. But, I had to decide what was most important and just hit publish because the longer I worried about getting it just right, the longer it took for me to get it out there for others to use. I had to just let go and launch the site.

Remember why you became an educator and focus on what you are good at doing. Then let go of any beliefs that may be holding you back from fully utilizing your teaching superpower.

What can we learn from Elsa, Queen of Arendelle?

Don’t we sometimes need to just “let it go”?

Last Updated: 7/20/2017

Robinson’s Weblog #003: For Goodness’ Sake, Will You Please Sit Down? Part One: From "sage on the stage" to "Guide on the side"

2/25/2016

When I was first hired to teach high school chemistry, I found out a week or two before school started that in addition to teaching chemistry (which I loved), I would also have to teach one section of biology (which I did not love).

Since it was my first time teaching biology and I didn’t have a degree in it, the science lead teacher (who had been teaching biology for many years) would come in from time to time to do lab investigations with my students. Whenever she would come in, she would basically take over the class, and I would sit down with one of the groups of students and do the lab investigation along with them.

My biology students were well aware of the fact that I was not too fond of biology. They also knew that my subject of expertise was chemistry, not biology, so they didn’t expect me to know all of the answers. I think they appreciated that at times I was learning right alongside them. And I loved sitting down with my students. It was as if we were all in it together; a group of folks sitting down, learning biology content, together.

After teaching chemistry for several years I was asked to teach a leftover section of physics, and I was like “sure, why not?” There were about 10 students in the class, and I had taught chemistry to more than half of them one or two years before. To those students I was not a physics teacher; I was a chemistry teacher, who just happened to be teaching physics.

My physics students and I would often solve problems together. I enjoyed the challenge and the students did too. Yes, working with my students to learn physics content was rewarding for them and for myself.

When I taught chemistry, I would stand in front of the class most of the time and was the center of attention - the "sage on the stage". But, when I taught biology and physics, I was more of a "guide on the side".

It's okay to just sit down and learn along with your students. This can make you a member of the class team striving for understanding.

You can stand on the stage and be the sage. You can sit alongside and be a guide.

For goodness’ sake, will you please sit down? Sometimes?

Robinson’s Weblog #002: The One About Relevance Part One: Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back

2/18/2016

We’ve all been there …

You’ve carefully crafted your science lesson. You’ve perfected each PowerPoint slide. You’ve planned activities that are sure to engage even your most apathetic student.

You’re in the middle of the lesson when one of your students asks that dreaded question: "When are we going to ever use this stuff in real life?"

It’s depressing.

I’ve taught middle school, high school, and colleges science courses. At each level I’ve had students ask me this same question. One day I finally decided that I had had enough and I set out to make this question a thing of the past.

At the time, I was teaching college chemistry. I began to look for opportunities to connect the science content to the world outside of class and make every lesson relevant to my students. I would lead the students in discussing current events and other cool topics that were related to the course content such as health and environmental issues, specific applications like chemical changes that occur in cooking, and the chemical properties of the ingredients in their favorite skin and hair care products.

I would do this while emphasizing the fact that their knowledge about science and knowledge of science empowers them to make informed decisions about important personal and community issues that confront them on a daily basis.

Due to my efforts to engage my students’ personal interest in the science content, I had stopped hearing that dreaded question. By providing real-world context to otherwise abstract science concepts, my students went from viewing science as just a bunch of facts to seeing its relevance to them. This made it so interesting that many students actually looked forward to coming to chemistry class!

So, there I was feeling like hot stuff. I started to give myself a pat on the back.
But, then I began to wonder…..
Is this the best I can do?
Can I take this a step further?

I had figured out a way to make my students more interested in science (yeah me!). But although they were interested in the information, they weren’t motivated to learn it. Of course, this was before I stumbled upon integrative STEM education.

In Robinson’s Weblog #001: So, What is Integrative STEM Education Anyway?, I wrote that the integrative STEM approach emphasizes connections between STEM subjects and their application. By using problem-, and project-based tasks that reflect real-world situations, the integrative STEM approach provides both interest and motivation for learning; thereby using the relevance of real-world topics to their full potential.

Unlike traditional science instruction, in the integrative STEM approach the application to the science content is simultaneous, not after the fact. So instead of students sitting through a boring lesson, and then at the end applying what they learned; this approach engages students in a relevant occurrence or problem at the beginning of the learning module and uses it to frame their learning experiences. This provides the motivation students need to become invested in their own learning.

"Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back" is a sarcastic expression that admonishes not to excessively praise one's self. So I was able to get my students to be more interested in learning science. But I didn’t want to break my arm patting myself on the back because I knew I was not using the relevance of real-world topics to its full potential.

But now, using the integrative STEM approach, I can go beyond getting students to recognize the relevance of science to their own lives to using this relevance to actually motivate them to learn.

Last Updated: 7/20/2017

Robinson's Weblog #001: So, What is integrative stem education Anyway?

2/1/2016

In education, STEM refers to the four academic areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. These areas—as well as the individual science disciplines of physical science, life science, and earth and space science—are often taught in isolation, but there are many benefits of connecting the STEM subject areas. This is where integrative STEM comes in. Integrative STEM refers to the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics into all academic subjects. This is often done using problem-based or project-based learning.

The Integrative STEM approach emphasizes the connections among the STEM areas and their application. This approach empowers educators to go beyond teaching isolated science facts to helping students connect their developing scientific knowledge to the world around them. Integrative STEM learning experiences engage students’ personal interest in learning by providing real-world context to otherwise abstract science concepts and deepens their understanding of science.

The Next Generation Science Standards and Integrative STEM Education
The most recent science education standards —the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)—set the stage for integrative STEM instruction. The NGSS call for educators to intentionally integrate the content and practices of mathematics and technology/engineering education with the content and practices of science education.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) outline expectations for mathematics and English language arts (ELA) as well as for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. NGSS developers worked to ensure alignment and consistency with Common Core State Standards for ELA/literacy and mathematics and to identify the connections between these subjects. Through connections with CCSS for ELA/Literacy (CCSS-ELA) and CCSS for Mathematics (CCSS-M), the NGSS unite science with ELA and mathematics, giving educators tools to help students develop the skills in mathematical computation and communication they need for science literacy.

While STEM integration provides opportunities for students to develop deeper science content knowledge, it also presents challenges for educators. Fortunately, educators can take advantage of the best practices established by the NGSS—independent of state adoption of the standards—to help students understand science content, and to apply their understanding using problem-, and project-based tasks that reflect real-world situations. This gets students to to put their knowledge into practical use, making them more interested and motivated learners.

Last Updated 1/4/2017

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Here, I chronicle my journey to create engaging integrative STEM learning experiences for students. These weblog entries include tales from the front line of classroom teaching and online instructional design.

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