Recently I had the privilege of co-hosting an informational night that gave the parents of our fourth graders an inside look into what Math instruction and practice looks like in the classroom. Every teacher did her part and presented masterfully. I was proud to be a part of the team even though I was anxious for my role. I introduced our group, our goals of the night and then led the question and answer portion. And by led I mean answer the questions. Kind of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of thing to do, but I signed up for it, so I needed to follow through. All of the parents that attended were respectful, kind and understanding that answering their questions ended up being quite painless. Even when a parent asked a question in response to our section on standards based grading and how teachers use that to put a value to a child's learning. "How do you know they get it?" The question was simple enough and I answered on behalf of my colleagues in a way that I thought best captured what all educators do. We gather information through daily observations. We give formative and summative assessments. We gather paper-pencil activities and tasks, analyze them, make decisions based on that data and our instructional direction and strategies change based on it. We use rubrics to give a consistent value to student work and have those students push themselves to continue to do even better. We recognize areas of weakness and areas of strength and then use that again, to guide what we do every day in the classroom.
Then on my ride home, processing the meeting and analyzing if I did justice to the questions asked and did so in a way that supported all of my colleagues, I was stuck. How do I know my students get it? Can an educator gather enough information from a variety of student work to fully understand what a child has learned and will take with him/her to the next grade level or even life. This question is even more meaningful to me in the area of science. How do I know if students are scientifically literate and have a clear vision of science understanding? Then it hit me. The only way that I can assure my students have a vision of science understanding is if I do.
A few weeks ago as I began to explore this topic through participation in TE 861A-Teaching Science for Understanding, I would have said that my vision of science understanding is tied to a belief that all students can be scientists. I would have said that all students become scientists by participating in inquiry based learning and then focusing on the process of scientific investigations, not the product. My student scientists would be able to see patterns in nature and connect that understanding to all content areas and works of life. Yet again, that seems very broad and general especially with the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) on the horizon. The NGSS are the expected outcomes for students Kindergarten through twelfth grade in regards to science instruction. My district has yet to approve the teaching of them for a few reasons. One, the state of Michigan has not adopted them yet and we are trying to avoid putting the cart before the horse (or once). Two, our students will still be tested on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) in the areas of science and social studies in fifth and seventh grade in the fall of 2014. I feel that once the adoption occurs, an emphasis on science understanding will be a natural progression for all educators and students. What's more important is that the adoption of the NGSS help me to make my beliefs and visions of science understandings for my fourth graders more clear.
After close examination of the NGSS I feel that the purpose of science education is not just to create scientists that exist within the confines of a classroom. The NGSS are focused on science concepts, but are even more developed in the areas of scientific and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States, 2013). These practices are designed with the intent that students are able to make connections across curricular areas and science concepts and use those connections in real life situations. We are not just creating scientists to make really cool science fair displays. We are using the NGSS to create the next generation of scientists that will make scientific and technological contributions to society. That is imperative to my philosophy of science understanding. Science is not a topic that should be taught in isolation. It should be embedded in everything we do, lesson we learn and activity we participate in.
I was also able to define my vision of science understanding more clearly after listening and watching Neil deGrasse Tyson speak at the World Science Festival in 2010. He characterized a person that was able to understand science by the way they view, think about and analyze information (Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2010). Tyson gave an example of a person being asked to buy crystals off of the street. In Tyson's view, a person without scientific understanding may still ask questions about those crystals, but they won't the right ones (Tyson, 2010). A person with scientific understanding would ask the right questions and when answers were given, they would drive the next response or question. That to me is a foundation of science understanding. Yes, my students will be involved in inquiry based projects that help drive their science learning, but it is the questioning techniques that will drive the understanding. Having science understanding means knowing what questions to ask and they way that answers are used.
Science understanding is also built around the belief that what I am doing with my fourth graders today will have a substantial impact on society as this current generation exits the educational system. As the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Maria Grant and Diane Lapp wrote about, students who have a clear vision of science understanding are able to take what they are learning in the classroom and apply solutions (PISA, 2012 and Grant and Lapp, 2011). But it doesn't stop there. Students will then be able to take the evidence found and apply it to real life situations and problems to create solutions. Not only is being able to question a requirement of science understanding, but so is knowing what to do with the response and the collection of data.
But will the parents of my students be convinced that by giving my students opportunities to make connections, gather data, ask the right type of questions and make the right kind of moves with the answer; will that be enough to say their child get's it? I feel strongly that they will. Currently, science understanding in my class is an isolated thing that takes place from 8:40 AM-9:20 AM Monday to Thursday. How is that going to create students with a solid foundation and understanding of science? It's not going to. In order to make this shift with my students, I am going to have to change too. I will have to see science as not an isolated topic but something that infiltrates all walks and works of life. The outcomes of my instruction will be students who make those cross curricular connections and know that what they learn during reading does affect their learning in science. It starts with me having a clear vision of science understanding and will end with my students getting it as well.
Am I ready to do this in my classroom tomorrow? No. But am I ready to start paving the way for the kind of scientific learning by having a clearer understanding myself? Yes. And you can be sure that when I am ready, there will be no anxiety about whether I will know my students get it.
Then on my ride home, processing the meeting and analyzing if I did justice to the questions asked and did so in a way that supported all of my colleagues, I was stuck. How do I know my students get it? Can an educator gather enough information from a variety of student work to fully understand what a child has learned and will take with him/her to the next grade level or even life. This question is even more meaningful to me in the area of science. How do I know if students are scientifically literate and have a clear vision of science understanding? Then it hit me. The only way that I can assure my students have a vision of science understanding is if I do.
A few weeks ago as I began to explore this topic through participation in TE 861A-Teaching Science for Understanding, I would have said that my vision of science understanding is tied to a belief that all students can be scientists. I would have said that all students become scientists by participating in inquiry based learning and then focusing on the process of scientific investigations, not the product. My student scientists would be able to see patterns in nature and connect that understanding to all content areas and works of life. Yet again, that seems very broad and general especially with the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) on the horizon. The NGSS are the expected outcomes for students Kindergarten through twelfth grade in regards to science instruction. My district has yet to approve the teaching of them for a few reasons. One, the state of Michigan has not adopted them yet and we are trying to avoid putting the cart before the horse (or once). Two, our students will still be tested on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) in the areas of science and social studies in fifth and seventh grade in the fall of 2014. I feel that once the adoption occurs, an emphasis on science understanding will be a natural progression for all educators and students. What's more important is that the adoption of the NGSS help me to make my beliefs and visions of science understandings for my fourth graders more clear.
After close examination of the NGSS I feel that the purpose of science education is not just to create scientists that exist within the confines of a classroom. The NGSS are focused on science concepts, but are even more developed in the areas of scientific and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States, 2013). These practices are designed with the intent that students are able to make connections across curricular areas and science concepts and use those connections in real life situations. We are not just creating scientists to make really cool science fair displays. We are using the NGSS to create the next generation of scientists that will make scientific and technological contributions to society. That is imperative to my philosophy of science understanding. Science is not a topic that should be taught in isolation. It should be embedded in everything we do, lesson we learn and activity we participate in.
I was also able to define my vision of science understanding more clearly after listening and watching Neil deGrasse Tyson speak at the World Science Festival in 2010. He characterized a person that was able to understand science by the way they view, think about and analyze information (Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2010). Tyson gave an example of a person being asked to buy crystals off of the street. In Tyson's view, a person without scientific understanding may still ask questions about those crystals, but they won't the right ones (Tyson, 2010). A person with scientific understanding would ask the right questions and when answers were given, they would drive the next response or question. That to me is a foundation of science understanding. Yes, my students will be involved in inquiry based projects that help drive their science learning, but it is the questioning techniques that will drive the understanding. Having science understanding means knowing what questions to ask and they way that answers are used.
Science understanding is also built around the belief that what I am doing with my fourth graders today will have a substantial impact on society as this current generation exits the educational system. As the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Maria Grant and Diane Lapp wrote about, students who have a clear vision of science understanding are able to take what they are learning in the classroom and apply solutions (PISA, 2012 and Grant and Lapp, 2011). But it doesn't stop there. Students will then be able to take the evidence found and apply it to real life situations and problems to create solutions. Not only is being able to question a requirement of science understanding, but so is knowing what to do with the response and the collection of data.
But will the parents of my students be convinced that by giving my students opportunities to make connections, gather data, ask the right type of questions and make the right kind of moves with the answer; will that be enough to say their child get's it? I feel strongly that they will. Currently, science understanding in my class is an isolated thing that takes place from 8:40 AM-9:20 AM Monday to Thursday. How is that going to create students with a solid foundation and understanding of science? It's not going to. In order to make this shift with my students, I am going to have to change too. I will have to see science as not an isolated topic but something that infiltrates all walks and works of life. The outcomes of my instruction will be students who make those cross curricular connections and know that what they learn during reading does affect their learning in science. It starts with me having a clear vision of science understanding and will end with my students getting it as well.
Am I ready to do this in my classroom tomorrow? No. But am I ready to start paving the way for the kind of scientific learning by having a clearer understanding myself? Yes. And you can be sure that when I am ready, there will be no anxiety about whether I will know my students get it.