By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-07-24
From NSTA Bloggers Peggy Ashbrook and Mary Bigelow:
Whether we had met her personally or not, the death of astronaut, physicist, and educator Dr. Sally Ride deeply saddened us. Dr. Meg Urry speaks for many women in science when she writes about Dr. Sally Ride, “…thanks to her notoriety as a NASA astronaut, I found out about one more precious role model, someone in whose steps I could hope to follow. (OK, not the astronaut part — I am far too chicken for that.) Ride made success seem attainable, even in the men-only world of physics.” See her full statement here.
I hadn’t realized what Sally Ride’s achievements and life work meant to me until I heard that she died at only 61 and I immediately teared up. Even though I thought, “Of course women can and should,” at the time of her first space mission, it was Dr. Ride’s accomplished example that confirmed this. – Peggy Ashbrook
First and foremost, we remember her as an astronaut. Listen to Sally Ride describe her shuttle missions and NASA’s statement on her passing.
Sally’s first mission took place after school was out for the summer (June 18, 1983). But for her next mission in October 1984, my colleagues and I had the television on to watch with our students when two women astronauts were part of the team. The look on the girls’ faces (and mine) was priceless. – Mary Bigelow
Having role models is not enough to empower girls to pursue their interest in science. Dr. Ride established a company (Sally Ride Science) to support girls’ (and boys’) interest in science and to educate teachers.
Thank you, Sally Ride, for continuing to inspire and support girls and women in science during your career as an astronaut, physicist, and educator. Your leadership and example will be missed.
Links from the Sally Ride Science site:
Contributions of 20th-Century Women to Physics — An archive presenting and documenting some important and original contributions made before 1976 by 20th century women.
Role Model Project for Girls — A resource center for collaborative work among women’s groups, inquisitive feminists, women activists, and others.
The Archives of Women in Science and Engineering — The Archives of Women in Science and Engineering seeks to preserve the historical heritage of American women in science and engineering.
Note: The second woman on the 1984 STS-41G mission was Kathryn D. Sullivan.
Photos: NASA
From NSTA Bloggers Peggy Ashbrook and Mary Bigelow:
By Robert Yager
Posted on 2012-07-22
–Occasional commentary by Robert E. Yager (NSTA President, 1982-1983)
Connecting Learning Assures Successful Students (CLASS) is a Professional Development (PD) effort for teachers operating throughout Indiana and several other States, including Iowa. One of the innovations tried was the use of students as part of school leadership teams; students at varying grade levels were called “Ambassadors,” and they met regularly with teachers and administrators to establish rules, work on problem resolutions, and outline efforts to improve learning in the school. The work began in elementary schools where principals and a set of elementary teachers conceived the power of student views and voices which could improve the school and enhance student learning for all. Student leaders were to work with CLASS teachers, school administrators, and parents to illustrate this new and important addition to “Distributed Leadership”.
Specific CLASS efforts have been tied to Iowa Chautauqua PD efforts. These have focused on success of school principals as critical players in accomplishing school reforms. The plan to include students as part of school leadership was added to the idea of “Distributed Leadership” with several specific PD efforts in Iowa. The Student Ambassadors in the Iowa Chautauqua arose from teacher needs to make all students more central to science projects—both individual and group efforts. Students were invited to be part of the leadership planned for schools where teachers have worked as collaborators with the Iowa Chautauqua learning teams for over three decades. Results in several Chautauqua sites have been most positive!
Great advantages can be observed when school principals are major partners in accomplishing the reform efforts. Significantly more successes have been continually observed when the ideas were tried in schools where principals were important and active partners. Many principals were quick to support the idea of adding students to leadership teams. In the Chautauqua Leadership Conferences each summer the Iowa Chautauqua PD Leadership was enlarged to include the involvement of teachers, administrators, counselors, school board members, and students selected in a few specific middle schools (Grades 6-8) in Iowa.
One of the earliest schools involved with Iowa Chautauqua was most successful in getting all science teachers involved with other teachers across all the disciplines comprising curriculum. The teacher team worked with a specific group of students and used projects and issues that became the organizers for learning. They were not tied to each major discipline for typical 50 minute class sessions each day. The principals of three middle level schools were impressed with the results when told of the CLASS Student Ambassador program. They were interested in the specific results and wanted to see what could happen in their buildings. The teachers were already on board and knew of the features that define constructivist learning. The most impressive aspect was involving students first in all aspects of learning; students, teachers, and administrators were ready to try the CLASS Student Ambassador effort!
When the Ambassador program was tried successfully in Iowa with middle level students, results were collected by graduate student assistants. Results from one year included: 1) over half of the students reported science as being their most interesting class; 2) 70% of the grades 6-8 students reported that the Ambassadors performed as needed “partners”; 3) 60% of the students liked that Ambassadors worked together across the grade levels and sought out examples from other Ambassadors; 4) 60% were anxious to help students in other schools and share the advantages of student leadership; 5) more were anxious to add their own personal views after the Ambassador Program had been tried and used.
All principals involved with the inclusion of students in the school leadership were excited; they were anxious to share the experiences with others. All teachers were positive about the effectiveness of having Student Ambassadors as part of school leadership. They noted that the whole school and in many instances the whole community benefited. Learning was enhanced!
–Robert E. Yager
Professor of Science education
University of Iowa
Image courtesy of Eugena Ossi/Governor Deval Patrick’s Office.
–Occasional commentary by Robert E. Yager (NSTA President, 1982-1983)
By Christine Royce
Posted on 2012-07-18
It is interesting teaching at the college level – the common phrase of “put your cell phones away during class” is still heard regularly. I actually have one colleague who will confiscate the cell phone until the end of class and then return it – yes a college class. While I don’t particularly want students texting from class to their friends about their weekend plans, I do believe that smart phones or tablets can have a place in class. We have one faculty member who is experimenting with having students enrolled in a Developmental Reading class “tweeting” this summer. Who knows how it will work, but it seems to be engaging the students outside of class time by responding to other tweets. Why this is more engaging then posting to a discussion board – I am not sure – but it seems to be.
One program I have recently found relates to using mobile devices as personal response systems – socrative – allows the teacher to set up a “classroom” that allows up to 50 participants at once each using their own mobile device to respond – including open ended responses such as exit slips. I am planning on trying this during the upcoming semester with a methods class – and would love to hear about any other people’s experiences using this or other programs such as this.
How do you bring mobile technology into your classroom????
It is interesting teaching at the college level – the common phrase of “put your cell phones away during class” is still heard regularly. I actually have one colleague who will confiscate the cell phone until the end of class and then return it – yes a college class. While I don’t particularly want students texting from class to their friends about their weekend plans, I do believe that smart phones or tablets can have a place in class. We have one faculty member who is experimenting with having students enrolled in a Developmental Reading class “tweet
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2012-07-18
Exploring with our Senses
In September, we began purposefully using our senses to explore our environment.
Gathering Data:
In October I gave the children the initial sorting task with a tray of objects to sort or group things that might go together—things that are alike. I recorded their observations and used them as data for planning science explorations for the rest of the year.
During the school year I planned experiences to encourage the children to increase their ability to examine, compare, contrast, and discuss the properties of objects in their environment. They continued to use their senses as they learned about food they ate, toys they played with, and animals and plants, both in and out of the classroom.
Using letter and word walls, thematic word banks, non-fiction and fiction books, local experts, field trips, and hands-on materials, ensured that the science topics were fully developed and integrated across the curriculum. For instance, we used a word web to record everything that the children already knew about pumpkins, and then continued to add onto it as they discovered and learned more. Some of the experiences were guided, but many of them were independently carried out with other children. I kept a notebook handy to record their conversations, wonderings, and “Ah-ha” discoveries, as well as a camera ready to film (both still and video) their experiences.
Final Properties of Matter Activity and Assessment:
As a culminating activity in our rock and fossil unit of study in April, I set up pairs of rocks for the children to compare by color, luster, weight, texture, and patterns. In small group discussion, the children used the descriptive language that we had been using all year in the previous compare and contrast activities as they examined the pairs of rocks with loupes, hand lenses, a SmartScope digital microscope (and laptop for viewing). The children described the differences, similarities, and additional properties.
The children were able to look at a variety of materials from their environment and use descriptive language to describe the materials’ differences and/or similarities. The children surpassed the individual goals that I had set for them, as well. One child, who initially described a group of objects as “soft”, now described a pair of river rocks as “smooth” and “hard”, but also as “this one is large and this one is small.”
Being able to use their senses to describe, compare and contrast matter is a skill that will continue to develop as they grow and mature as learners and as scientists. My children came a long, long way and the high-interest level of science activities gave them a “voice” to use new and rich vocabulary to communicate their exciting discoveries.
By setting goals for myself and for the individual children at the beginning of the year, I was able to keep my work focused, kept working towards the goal and was able to celebrate the successes at the end of the year.
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-07-17
My colleagues and I have noticed many students entering middle school have had few experiences with science investigations. We’re considering doing a summer session before school starts to engage students in science and help them learn some basic lab skills. We’re really excited about this idea, and we’d appreciate some ideas.
–Maria from Washington
As more and more schools focus on test prep in reading and math, students have fewer experiences in subjects such as science, social studies, the arts, and physical education. For example, I talked with a high school biology teacher recently who said that his ninth graders had never planted seeds as part of an investigation of plant growth! I found that hard to believe, but he said the earlier grades had severely cut back on time for science or focused on those concepts on the required middle school science test. It’s been 11 years since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and students in school today have been part of the test score frenzy their entire academic careers.
Your idea of giving students a jumpstart in science sounds interesting. I’ve seen schools with summer camps for literacy, math, the arts, and technology, too. These differ from traditional “summer school” in that they are not remedial in nature but rather provide students with enrichment opportunities beyond what they might have in the school year.
This isn’t something you can throw together in a few days, but you can start planning now for a future “boot camp:
I heard of an interesting action research project in which teachers had a morning session with students and used the afternoons to debrief on the activities and refine them for use during the school year. They received professional development credit for this project. Another action research possibility would be to follow up on the participants during the school year. Did they apply what they learned?
Of course, not every student will be able to attend your session, so you’ll still have some students who lack basic skills. But you will have others who can demonstrate what they’ve learned and help their classmates. Good luck!
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emsi9500/3742084937/
My colleagues and I have noticed many students entering middle school have had few experiences with science investigations. We’re considering doing a summer session before school starts to engage students in science and help them learn some basic lab skills. We’re really excited about this idea, and we’d appreciate some ideas.
–Maria from Washington
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-07-14
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2012-07-11
Summer is a time when many families visit a beach. How do you help your students build on what they learned through their summer beach experiences when they return to school? Maybe our colleagues whose schools are within walking distance from a beach can offer suggestions! When school begins in August or September and children’s memories of a trip to the beach are fresh in their minds, a tray of objects from an ocean or bay can inspire their drawings and writing about their own experience. Those teachers who live in communities where the beach is an everyday experience may have some favorite books to share with us. If so, please add your suggestions for books with accurate science, whether fiction or non-fiction, by commenting below.
I was raised in Ohio and had just a few beach experiences in childhood. Like the edges where a meadow meets a forest, the beach seems to have a great diversity in animal and plant life. Writer and scientist Ann McElhatten, shares her knowledge of Atlantic seacoasts in a free e-book, 10 Beachcombing Activities: A guide for investigating the Atlantic coast shoreline, and a blog, Beach Chair Scientist, where she and her collaborators use video and text to show readers the wonders of tiny colorful coquina clams making their way in the sand and many other marine science topics. Does anyone know of resources for inland and West Coast beaches?
Here are a few books for young children about the beach, from my favorites and from the NSTA Recommends list, to look for at your public library or bookstore:
Ocean Seasons by Ron Hirschi (2007 Sylvan Dell Publishing)
Oceans by Cathryn Sill, illustrated by John Sill (2012 Peachtree Publishers)
On the Way to the Beach by Henry Cole (2003 Millbrook Press)
Wow! Ocean! by Robert Neubecker (2011 Hyperion Books)
Yellow Ball by Molly Bang (1991 Morrow Junior Books)
And for adults:
The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson with a new introduction by Sue Hubbell (1998 Mariner Books)
Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans by Sylvia Earle (1996 Ballantine Books)
Peggy
By Robert Yager
Posted on 2012-07-10
–Occasional commentary by Robert E. Yager (NSTA President, 1982-1983)
In December 2011 the National Governors Association (NGA) released a forty-four page report for use in shaping science education reforms across the U.S. It was designed to advance the current reform efforts in four areas now commonly called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). This report offered six specific steps to accomplish STEM reform in all 50 states:
1) Adopting rigorous math and science standards and improved assessments;
2) Placing and retaining more qualified teachers in classrooms;
3) Providing more rigorous preparation for STEM students;
4) Using informal learning to expand math and science beyond the classroom;
5) Enhancing the quality and supply of STEM teachers; and
6) Establishing goals for postsecondary institutions to meet STEM job needs.
The six steps helped to provide “structure” needed for funding! But, they did not indicate how the act of “teaching” might better help in realizing the reforms. This was left up to the States. The key issues regarding defining the STEM focus by Rodger Bybee offered cautions. He stated: “STEM education must advance beyond a slogan; educators in the STEM community must clarify what the acronym actually means for defining educational policies, programs, and practices”.
A look at each of the six steps with the Framework illustrates the problems! Concerns regarding the issues raised for each of the features included:
1) Adopt rigorous math and science standards and improved assessments: Who can be against “rigorous”? But, it is scary when synonyms for it are suggested in dictionary definitions! What is meant with this initial statement in terms of practices? What about the seven million dollars and four years of effort that went into the 1996 science standards? And, what about assessments as defined by Wiggins and McTighe “Backward Design”? Do these efforts focus on agreements on the nature of evidence used to indicate meeting the Standards?
2) Place and retain more qualified teachers in the classroom: Placing and retaining qualified teachers “is fine” – but by whose definition of “qualifications”? How could their placement be evaluated? In what ways are “qualified” teachers and their practices to be defined?
3) Provide more rigorous preparation for STEM students: Again, the report moves to the same topic and meaning of the term “rigorous”! What about its real meaning and for what preparation! Whose definition?
4) Use informal learning to expand math and science beyond the classroom: This fourth feature for the new reforms calls for use of informal education (free-choice learning including efforts outside a single classroom). The evidence is clear that this is an exciting idea. But, how to do it? How to accomplish it? How is it related to “rigorous”? How is it related to specific curricula?
5) Enhancing the quality and supply of STEM teachers: This fifth feature cites “enhancing the quality and supply of STEM teachers – who would oppose this? But how could/should it be done?
6) Establish goals for postsecondary institutions to meet STEM job needs: This sixth feature deals with establishing goals? Recent efforts by NSTA with its Exemplary Science Programs (ESP) indicated the non-existence of many program/project features for accomplishing the goal(s)! How to get more specific goals?
The report also claims to include “current examples” of needed programs. Attempts to contact these “groups” to report more specifically on the efforts were not successful! There were few examples and interpretations for the definitions for success. The evidence included in each of the sixteen chapters of NSTA’s Exemplary Science Programs contain ideas that have been found to be useful for encouraging more students to pursue STEM careers. The current monographs include: 1) Exemplary Science in Grades PreK-4; 2) Exemplary Science in Grades 5-8; 3) Exemplary Science in Grades 9-12; 4) Exemplary Science: Best Practices in Professional Development; 5) Inquiry: The Key to Exemplary Science; 6) Exemplary Science in Informal Education Settings; 7) Exemplary Science for Resolving Personal and Societal Challenges; 8) Exemplary Programs for building Interest in STEM Careers; 9) Exemplary College Science Teaching; and 10) Exemplary Programs Arising from New STEM Efforts.
–Robert E. Yager
Professor of Science education
University of Iowa
Image of glow sticks in beakers courtesy of Declan Fleming.
–Occasional commentary by Robert E. Yager (NSTA President, 1982-1983)
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-07-07
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-07-07
My principal encourages all teachers to have students do class presentations during the year. I like the idea, but the thought of listening to 150 “oral reports” on a chemistry topic is mind-boggling, not to mention time-consuming. Do you have any suggestions for making this a positive experience for both the presenters and the audience (and the teacher)?
I’m assuming your principal wants students to develop and demonstrate skills that will be useful regardless of what they do after high school, such as presenting to an audience.
From experience, I know exactly what you mean about implementing this. There are only so many “oral reports” or PowerPoints on endangered species, elements of the Periodic Table, infectious diseases, or famous physicists you can sit through at one time. The students in the audience will get restless, too. With 5-6 classes of 25-30 students each, even if each presentation took 5 minutes, you would have to devote several class periods to this task, including time for research and preparation. And quite frankly, I’m not sure the benefits would justify the time and effort for a once-and-done report, for the presenter or the audience. So perhaps it’s time to think outside of the box:
One authentic practice scientists do is communicate the results of their research. You could have students emulate this practice, without adding additional activities to your crowded schedule.
For example, after a lab investigation, you as the teacher probably go over and discuss the results. Instead of your discussion, you could assign a team of students to present their results in a panel format. Choose one team at the beginning of the lesson to be the “presenter.” You could assign roles to the team members so that each would participate: Person 1 – Introduce the team and present the question, problem, or hypothesis. Person 2 – Summarize the procedure. Person 3 – Provide a display or description of the data, observations, or results. Person 1 (again) – Relate the results back to the question or hypothesis. Person 4 – Note any questions the team had, how the investigation could or should be done differently, and moderate questions from the audience. Give the team some time at the end of the activity or at the beginning of the next class to prepare their presentation. Rotate the roles so students do a different report component each time the team presents. Students could incorporate available technology, such as an interactive white board, digital camera, or document projector.
At first, you may have to model how to summarize and how to make an effective presentation (my students enjoyed it when I modeled an ineffective one, too). You may also have to model how to contribute as a respectful audience member and suggest types of questions and prompts for discussion: Compare their results to yours. How are they similar? Different? Use the rubric you already have for investigations to provide feedback to the team. The audience could match the presentation to the rubric and note any differences in their outcomes.
Once your students have experience with this type of presentation, invite your principal to be part of an audience to see what your students are capable of doing.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roswellpark/3598764392/sizes/o/in/photostream/
My principal encourages all teachers to have students do class presentations during the year. I like the idea, but the thought of listening to 150 “oral reports” on a chemistry topic is mind-boggling, not to mention time-consuming. Do you have any suggestions for making this a positive experience for both the presenters and the audience (and the teacher)?