Interdisciplinary Teams

The 2016 presidential election has drawn a lot of attention in the press but there is another important election that is also occurring in 2016 – the NSTA Elections. Candidates have been selected from a rigorous nomination process for the next NSTA President-Elect, Division Directors, and District Directors. Just as it is important for U.S. citizens to exercise their opportunity to vote in the federal, state, and city elections, it is also important for NSTA members to exercise their opportunity to vote for their leaders. I challenge all of the 55,000 members of NSTA to vote.

So why is your vote important?   The new president-elect will become the face of NSTA when president as well as the leader of the NSTA’s Board and Council. New division directors will determine NSTA policy and the direction NSTA pursues in promoting science education. The new district directors will join other district directors in connecting state chapters and associated groups with NSTA and promoting the work of NSTA.

You can read the biographies and position statements for each of the candidates at www.nsta.org/nominations. When you login to the NSTA webpage you can go to “My Account” to cast your vote.

So what are you waiting for? I challenge all of the 55,000 members of NSTA to vote. The deadline is February 15, 2016 at 11:59pm eastern time. Exercise your right to vote and determine the next leaders of NSTA. These educators will represent you as NSTA moves forward to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. 

So I challenge all of the 55,000 members of NSTA to vote. Since I have voted we only need 54,999 to go!

Carolyn Hayes is the NSTA President, 2015-2016; follow her on Twitter at caahayes.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Follow NSTA

“Knowledge” has several meanings for its use with student learning! A definition of “Knowledge” is traditionally considered information to help reform science education.  It refers to information that can be used to indicate what others have learned.   

A search of five dictionaries has yielded several examples of the meaning for the term “Knowledge.” Some include recognizing facts and truths from study or investigations.  Another indicated “familiarity” one has with a subject, for example, language or branch for learning. Another dictionary indicates it is the perception of fact or truth.  Another states it is practical understandings of an art or a skill. Still another states it is the sum of what is known, including facts accumulated by mankind over the course of time. Yet, these definitions do not include specific reform efforts resulting in teaching science in K-12 classrooms. 

Knowledge is also referred to as cognitive or intellective mental components acquired and retained by study and experience. But, none of these definitions reveal the changes needed in teaching that are central to 2016 discussions including those recently offered by the New York Times (November 22, 2015).  There it was asserted the biggest problem in education is having 50 states, 50 standards, and 50 ideas for testing related to learning.  How do we really know what students are learning?  How well have they learned?  What do students really “know” about the information comprising the meaning of science content or from the explorations of nature encountered in their lives? Assessing students’ knowledge requires students to communicate what they have learned to provide evidence of their understanding.   This occurs when students construct explanations for observed phenomena, judge the merits of a science based argument, or use mathematics and computational thinking to describe and represent relationships and use these relationships to make predictions based upon evidence.

Science learning for some students is difficult to achieve. Most educators derive great satisfaction in thinking they are helping students learn the what and that of science. However, this approach neglects the real challenges. Perhaps the focus should instead be on the how and why of science. Few recognize the measurements for learning if students are only asked to repeat and recite what is included in science classes and textbooks. Standardized tests may not measure learning in ways needed to change teaching.  Some educators insist learning can be demonstrated by test scores which merely identify information students must remember and recite!

Science needs to be a “real” and “personal” learning experience.  If we want students to learn and be successful, we must not treat all students alike; we should not just present information from lectures and textbooks nor just ask students to recite information from memory. We should not have students simply compete to be “number one.” Changes need to be made if we expect teaching to be successful. As science educators, we need to teach students to think like scientists, not memorize facts.

There are few who recognize the needed changes that result in correcting wrong explanations 50 years later. Few even consider most textbooks are out-of-date. One research study conducted by the University of Iowa Chemistry Department head identified over 100 content errors found in textbooks being used.

Perhaps we need to avoid encouraging students to “know” definitions and terms included in the curriculum provided for students from states and districts which often assess without attention to how student knowledge is connected and organized around core science concepts.  We need to identify “knowledge” and how it can be used to indicate successful learning as well as illustrating the power of questioning, use of questions, evidence for changes, and the need for continued questioning. 

Learning remains central to science and other courses in K-16 education. It is not something needed to help some students become “number one” in reciting what they read or what teachers say. It is not merely recalling information found in textbooks and teacher directives. As Nobel Laureate, Herbert Simon stated, “the meaning of “knowing” has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and apply it. Students need more active learning that provide indications of useful knowledge appropriate for learners of ALL ages. Students need to construct their own explanations and designs for solutions of problems which they have identified themselves.

There is little concern for accomplishing changes needed that indicate what humans really “know.”  What information is central to what is taught about concepts to be learned? Knowledge is often used as a “term” to illustrate what students are expected to learn. But, what is accomplished as a result of using the term? What is it? How is “knowledge” used to get all students to “do” science and for using it in their lives? Science must be seen as a way of learning and knowing and not a body of largely unrelated facts.

Co-authors

Robert E. Yager

Professor of Science Education

University of Iowa

Kenneth L. Huff

Science and Math Teacher

Williamsville Central School District

I struggle with getting my biology students to prepare for assessments. What are your thoughts?  — J., Arizona

This is not an uncommon problem and J. was able to provide some additional details:

“I give them study ‘helps’ that outline the concepts to be tested and extra points if they complete them. I do flashcards each day with the vocabulary. I give them a daily study tidbit—it might be rereading a section or highlighting and annotating their notes. I also use games such as Jeopardy and online tools such as Quizlet  and Kahoot. I have even developed an online site where I can electronically host study sessions with students prior to a test. But they still seem unprepared.”

It sounds like you do a lot of work for the students: creating study guides, hosting review sessions, and designing vocabulary games. Perhaps students become dependent on teachers for these materials and don’t realize what they could or should do on their own. (I even had students who were absent on the day we reviewed ask whether they had to take the test!) I suspect many students, even in high school, are not sure how to study or review. So you make a key point when you asked about ways for students to help themselves prepare for assessments.

Review games can be helpful, assuming students understand their purpose and relate their performance in the game to their learning. These games may be fine for vocabulary and factual knowledge, but I wonder about their value in preparing for higher-order assessments.

Rather than, or in addition to, a review at the end of the unit, try spacing formative assessments throughout so that students can monitor what they are learning. Several teachers on the NSTA e-mail lists and forums have described their use of practice quizzes as a preview of the types of tasks on an assessment:

• —I give students a single page review sheet. Students answer what they can and then collaborate on responses to the remaining questions, while I circulate around the room to observe the students at work. We then regroup and review. Students who volunteer the correct response get extra credit for that question. Students have a record of the questions they struggled with and can review again before the test. The extra credit has a motivational impact on student effort.

• —I use Quia to create practice quizzes. After every test I share the average scores for students who did and did not complete the practice quizzes. There is usually a 10% difference (not surprisingly). It shows students something concrete they can do to improve. To them studying is sitting down and reading the notes; practice quizzes force them into a more focused review.

• —I recently [began] giving five extra points on their test only if they had done a quiz that I put online three separate times. I wanted them to study at least three days on their own. They had to complete the quiz each time and could not have done all three in one day. My objective was to get them to not study just the one night before and to get them to develop a more patterned form of studying.

What worked for my high school and middle school students was having them create an index card study guide. Students wrote whatever they thought was important on a 4×6 card. The students soon realized that they had to actually review their notes to create the card. Very few of my test items required students to recall information, and by having some information available to them during the test, the students’ responses to open-ended questions were much improved. They were not allowed to share their cards during the assessment, and I collected the cards with the test papers so that students could not give them to others. 

I discovered that looking at the cards gave me some feedback on what the students considered important. The students attached the cards to their notebooks for future reference and review.

When creating these cards, students actually engaged in some higher-level thinking—determining what they knew, what they don’t know, and what they thought was important, as well as prioritizing information to fit on the card. Yes, there were students who did not take advantage of the opportunity. But I had a student who said, “You sly dog! I spent more time creating the card than I would just studying by paging through my notes—and I did well on the test!”

In his last State of the Union address on January 12 President Obama called for schools to “offer every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one.”

The President also mentioned the newly defunct No Child Left Behind, calling the new education bill (Every Student Succeeds Act) an important start, and pointed out his achievements to increase childhood education, lift high school graduation rates, and “boost graduates in fields like engineering.”

Following the State of the Union address, Acting U.S. Secretary John King kicked off his “Opportunity Across America” tour to discuss the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

According to the White House Office of Science and Technology, “Our economy is rapidly shifting, and educators are increasingly recognizing computer science as the new basic. There are over 600,000 high-paying technology jobs open across the U.S., and by 2018, 51 percent of all STEM jobs are projected to be in computer science-related fields. However, computer science (CS), is taught in less than 25 percent of American K-12 schools, even as other advanced economies, such as Britain, are making it available for all students aged 5-16. In addition, students of color, girls, and students in high-need schools are less likely to take computer science than other students, and few middle school or elementary schools offer any computer science experiences.”

Additional White House outreach to expand computer science education is expected soon.

In related news, the Computer Science Teachers Association, the Association for Computing Machinery, and Code.org are joining forces to create a K-12 Computer Science framework for educators and policy makers. Working with advisors within the computing community, and with several states and large school districts, technology companies, and other organizations, the groups will create a framework that will identify key K-12 computer science concepts and practices students should know at the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12.

Update on Every Student Succeeds Act

The Department of Education is busy drafting regulations for the ESSA, and advocates called on ED officials to ensure the new law is properly enforced during two public hearings this past week.

In December, ED issued a Dear Colleague Letter to states to clarify some questions (largely about Title I) about transitioning to the new law. The rule-making process is now underway, and teachers and teacher leaders can provide recommendations about the implementation of the new law until January 21. Draft regulations are expected out this spring. ESSA provisions will take effect at the start of the 2017-18 school year. Waivers to NCLB will end on August 1, 2016.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Union “Fair Share” Fees

Last week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case that could bar public-sector unions from collecting “fair-share” fees from non-members, a move that Politico says “could reduce union membership drastically and drain union coffers.”

Read more about the Supreme Court hearing last week, this EdSource background story on the case, and the NEA response.

Jodi Peterson is Assistant Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. e-mail Peterson at jpeterson@nsta.org; follow her on Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Follow NSTA

I am interested in strategies to help students write lab reports. I have gone over this at the beginning of the year and a few times in between. But students still have trouble explaining the purpose, hypothesis, process, and conclusion. I want the students to describe and analyze their lab activities and to communicate their findings. Any help will be appreciated.   —M., Wisconsin

Many older textbooks provide templates for students to fill in during “labs” but these do little in terms of students creating their own reports to summarize and reflect on their investigations. The Next Generation Science Standards describe eight practices of scientists and engineers investigating phenomena and solving problems, including carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations/designing solutions, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. If students do not have much experience in these practices, they will need guidance and scaffolding to become proficient.

When I started teaching, I was excited about doing inquiry-based investigations. But my middle school students were similar to yours. They were confused about observations vs. inferences, and their conclusions were simple summaries of their observations. I did a lot of reflecting: Are my students academically clueless? Am I expecting too much of middle school students?

After observing my students during a few activities, I concluded that my explanations and guidance were insufficient, given that many students were not experienced in basic skills such as questioning, observing, summarizing, formulating hypotheses, graphing, or drawing conclusions. In earlier grades the students did cookbook activities where the purpose and procedures were already determined and the data tables already set up. They may have used some skills in isolation with few opportunities to apply the skills in new situations. Their written reports reflected this lack of experience.

Once you have observed your students and identified baseline data on the skills your students do or do not have, you can begin to scaffold your students’ learning with direct instruction to help them acquire the missing skills, guided practice in a variety of contexts, and opportunities to choose and use the skills independently (even if they make a few mistakes). Here are some ideas:

• Use guiding questions, prompts, and templates to help students focus their thinking. For hypotheses, the template If [I do this], then [this] will happen can show students that a hypothesis is not just an “educated guess.” Show them the difference between testable and untestable questions.

• Share an example of a well-written report on a current investigation. Discuss what makes it a useful documentation of the activity. Share another example of an incomplete or inaccurate one as a comparison.

• Do class demonstrations as a model so the students can observe and focus on a written description, including the list of materials, the procedure, and data tables. Have them compare their descriptions.

• After lab groups conduct an investigation, have students work in their groups to collaboratively write one part of the report (e.g., introduction, methods/materials, observations, results). Ask the groups working on a particular section such as the introduction to read their writing out loud, display it on the board, or use online collaborative tools. Then as a class discuss the section’s strengths and what could be improved.

• Use guiding prompts and questions about the investigation and their data or observations to help students formulate their conclusions.

• Provide students with a rubric or checklist of what should be included in their reports. At first, focus the rubric on specific skills (organizing data, describing the procedure, or formulating a question or hypothesis) and gradually build up to a complete document.

• As an alternative to formal reports, students could communicate about the investigation through posters or infographics.

• Have the students collaboratively write the purpose, question/hypothesis, materials and procedure and then collect data/observations from the lab.  For the conclusion, each student supports a conclusion with evidence (data/observations) from the lab.

The investigations will have little learning value unless students make the connections to the content and relate what they’re doing to the performance expectations. Eventually, most students should be able to write a complete lab report. This takes time and patience, but your efforts will pay off when you (and the students) see what they are able to do.