Vertical Alignment and Science Inquiry

Last week, elementary science teachers met for the second session of Vertical Alignment. In this session we focused on sharpening the saw by investigating and comparing approaches to science instruction. Erin Graves from the Catawba Science Center led our teachers through model lessons using different approaches to hands-on science. We learned that:

· All approaches to hands-on science are not alike; each has distinguishable characteristics
· Different approaches to hands-on science support different objectives for learning
· Effective science teaching requires using a variety of approaches and matching the appropriate approach with specific content, process, and affective learning goals.


While there are many definitions for inquiry, the following is a structure that is widely embraced.

Map of Inquiry Structure
Inquiry Starter
Raising questions from observing engaging materials
Focused Investigation
Planning and investigating questions


Process for Meaning
Thinking about and communicating what you learned


Specifically, we investigated three different approaches to hands-on science using bubbles as our medium.

Teachers participated in three model activities:

Directed Activity
In this activity, groups were directed to create bubbles in a certain manner and compare the strength of each of the two types.

· Front loaded
· More predictable
· Definite outcome
· Efficient
· Focused on content



Challenge
In this activity, groups were challenged to build a twelve-inch high tower using only bubbles.

· Student constructed
· Competitive
· More teamwork
· Application of problem solving skills

Inquiry
In this activity, groups were given materials to use to discover what makes the strongest bubbles.

· Fun
· Open ended
· Builds on ideas as a team
· Capitalizes on curiosity
· More questioning

Why Inquiry?

The inquiry process more closely resembles the process of science in the real world. Also, the self-directed nature increases student motivation and interest and enhances learning. Inquiry also fosters cooperation and communication skills as students work in groups toward a goal and then communicate findings. In addition, inquiry makes science fun and engaging for the students and allows them to create their own meaning, increasing retention.

What we learned

Our groups discovered that there are different approaches to hands-on science and the importance of matching the correct method to the content and desired outcomes.

Other items of interest from Vertical Alignment
Four teachers received training on science kits for use during the second semester.
Middle and High School Science Teachers will join us at our next session on February 6th.

Teaching for Understanding

Teaching for Understanding

Research on effective teaching and instructional guidelines emphasized the importance of teaching for understanding. Students who learn content with understanding not only learn the content itself, but appreciate the reasons for learning it and retain it in a form that makes it usable when needed.

Clear explanations and modeling from the teacher are important, but so are opportunities to answer questions about the content, discuss or debate its meaning and implications, and apply it in problem-solving or decision-making contexts.
These activities allow students to process material and make it their own by paraphrasing or putting it in their own words, exploring relationships and making ties to prior knowledge, and identifying its implications for personal decision making or action.

Analysis of programs that have been developed to teach school subjects for understanding have identified a key set of principals that are common to most if not all of them.




1. The curriculum is designed to equip students with knowledge, skills, values and dispositions that they will find useful both inside and outside of school.

2. Instructional goals emphasize developing student expertise within an application context and with emphasis on conceptual understanding of knowledge and self-regulated application of skills.

3. The curriculum balances breadth with depth by addressing limited content but developing this content sufficiently to foster conceptual understanding.

4. The content is organized around a limited set of powerful ideas.

5. The teacher’s role is not just to present information but also to scaffold and respond to students’ learning efforts.

6. The students’ role is not just to absorb or copy input but also to actively make sense and construct meaning.

7. Students’ prior knowledge about the topic is elicited and used as a starting place for instruction, which builds on accurate prior knowledge and stimulates conceptual change if necessary.

8. Activities and Assignments feature tasks that call for critical thinking or problem solving, not just memory or reproduction.

9. Higher order thinking skills are not taught as a separate set of skills curriculum. Instead, they are developed in the process of teaching subject matter knowledge within application contexts that call for students to relate what they are learning to their lives outside of school by thinking critically or creatively about it or by using it to solve problems or make decisions.

10. The teacher creates a social environment in the classroom that could be described as a learning community featuring discourse or dialogue designed to promote understanding.

Many of the principals that describe classrooms that teach for understanding support the idea of vertical alignment, the district initiative as well as the building thinking skills curriculum.

Brophy, Jere (2004). Motivating Students to Learn. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc..