Chapter 12 Education Research

The WebQuery, the 5E lesson plan, and the field trip guide, are examples of through which students engage in investigations that enhance learning and that helps them meet the NGSS. These artifacts also indicate my ability to develop lesson plans that promote the learning of science; that align content to the NGSS; that demonstrate the use of assessment to ensure that the students are meeting the standards; and that showcase the use of literature to support grouping strategies and lesson rationale

The process skills approach to teaching is defined as the educator helping children develop science skills and processes to confidently undertake their own investigations (Campbell, 2012). These skills are developed through: communicating, science language, asking questions, making sense of phenomena, predicting, modelling, conducting investigations, planning, testing, observing, reasoning, and drawing conclusions of science concepts (Campbell, 2012). When the educator assist children’s learning, it is important to put the emphasis on the nature of science and scientific concepts. Guided discovery approach to teaching requires the educator to ask effective questions that encourage children to explore and extend their investigations throughout science learning (Campbell, 2012). This can be developed through play experiences as children explore their world around them. An interactive approach to teaching children is based on questions that lead explorations and the educators to provide essential resources to guide these explorations (Campbell, 2012). It is the educators’ responsibility to support children’s development, ideas, questions, ways of thinking, and develop scientific thinking. Furthermore, an inquiry approach to teaching relates to children investigating the answers to their own

Some of the methods which I can be seamlessly incorporate into my classroom include: (A) provide intentional reflection time for the process of learning to discover the growth which comes from effort, (B) offer specific and purposeful feedback along with constructive criticism , (C) praise students wisely and purposely, (D) teach for the future of yet by demystifying talent and providing tools to bridge gaps, and (E) always celebrate effort and progress. Through intentional incorporation and daily delivery of these practices, I plan to create a classroom blooming with effort and expansion and thus transform the character of all my

When teaching natural sciences and technology, teachers need to promote an understanding of seeing these subjects as activities to promote curiosity and enjoyment about the world and that what we encounter around us. The history of science and technology should also be integrated with other subjects. Science and technology should be seen as a contribution to social justice and societal development (Motshekga, 2011). A growing need of discovery in science and technology needs to be promoted in order to form interest in ourselves, society and

As a teacher, I have seen students who are gifted; students who can hear information once and it sticks. I have also seen students who become frustrated or apathetic; students who think they can’t do something or choose not to do something because it poses a challenge to them. Having just completed my second year of teaching middle school and high school English, I reflect on this past school year and am reminded that I have chosen a challenging career, but those challenges are miniscule when compared to how fulfilling it is to see a student truly excel. As a teacher, nothing is more gratifying than coming across a student who is motivated; a student who isn’t afraid to put in the work to reach his goals; and a student who not only shows academic excellence, but pushes himself to be the best he can be as a son, an older brother, a member of his community, a volunteer, and a captain of the soccer team. That student is Trevor Fancher.

In the midst of preparing for a recent classroom essay using exploration and reaction, several scientific research papers were examined. The documents were long, often complex and somewhat boring. For an individual who enjoys creative versus factual reading (and writing), reviewing each one was like watching Charlie Brown listening to the “wha-wha-wha” trombone notes representing the unseen teacher in an animated episode of the “Peanuts.” A simple translation (or different writing style) would have been welcomed. Perhaps something less specialized that could have been quickly perused, easily understood and more engaging to the average lay

Griffin, T. (2014, September 18). Utah Education Network. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from Multimedia in the Classroom: www.uen.com/multimediainclassroom

[ ] In clip 1, it is evident that I was able to deepen children’s language and literacy development by incorporating science and language arts into instruction. For example, in clip 1, children are asked about their prior knowledge of poison ivy and are then able to make connections to poison ivy through the mentor text, “Fancy Nancy Poison Ivy Expert”. I chose this text in order for children to make connections with the anatomy and characteristics of poison ivy due to this plant being popular in our area. After asking the children about their prior knowledge of poison ivy, we studied images of poison ivy by looking at the shape and how many leaves there were together. By counting the leaves on the poison ivy plants, the children were increasing their counting skills which helps develop their mathematical skills of numbers and operations.We then made connections to the children’s prior knowledge that they stated before looking at the images of the poison ivy leaves. Through this

As Whitehead says, “If a science forgets its heroes, it is lost.” Learning about nature of science and its social and cultural aspects will enhance of our understanding that science is a human endeavor. Science is a way of explaining natural phenomena by using interpretations and interferences with experimental data and observations. However, including history of science in our teachings, as well as a laboratory part, is a great way to illuminate students about the evolution of science and how scientists can take risks and sometimes fail while seeking information. Whether they study science fields or not, this history will encourage students to make and learn from mistakes while engaged in scientific practices that will expand their

Successful teaching occurs when the teacher is able to select the most efficient method for reaching out to each student’s individual style of learning and inspire students to rise to their highest potential. While the responsibilities of a teacher are extensive (as one can serve as a teacher, a friend, a counselor, a disciplinarian, an entertainer, a facilitator), I believe that students should play a big part in shaping own education as well.

Education will always be the primary source of student’s success in the workforce, community, nationwide and globally. Teachers carry the weight of ensuring students are learning what is required to become productive members of society. As a teacher, the success of my students is the most important goal. There are so many pedagogies, philosophies, strategies, and materials teachers are able to use to be productive in the classroom. Every teacher has their own preferred

In my study I found that students had the most opportunity for generative discourse during the hands-on portion of the investigation. I attribute this increased engagement to:

Despite the claim that Drama in Education ( DIE) as a pedagogy dimmed its popularity in the Western world since 1990 until 2016 (Gallagher, et al. , 2017), in the year of 2011, Morrow, et al. included it as one of the best practices in literacy instruction. Some of the teachers who had the experience of trying process drama in their classrooms found that the pedagogy improved students’ participations, pushed students to use their imaginations, performed deeper understanding of the topics being learned and made the students learn to have empathy ( Long, 1998). Do the voices from the classroom resemble to what researchers and theories have to say on process drama?

Inquiry based learning is not a new concept in education. Inquiry based learning can be traced back to educational theorists such as Dewey, Bruner, Postman, and Weingarten (Justice, Rice, Roy, Hudspith, & Jenkins, 2009). Dewey believed that students need to develop critical thinking skills rather than the memorization of facts to be successful individuals (Justice et. al. 2009). Critical thinking is an important component in many fields. Dewey also felt that thinking was a reflective process and that students made observations to clarify what may be happening to gain an understanding (Runnel, Pedaste, & Leijen, 2013). Thought-provoking science demonstrations can be conducted in classrooms to allow students to make observations and try to make sense of what may be happening. Inquiry based learning

There is no one size fits all teaching strategy for all students. Therefore teachers must use a variety of teaching strategies to cater for a variety of different learners (Gill, 2013). It is important for teachers to regularly evaluate their practices and whether they are meeting the learning needs of all students (Zeichner & Liston, 1987). Self-evaluation can assist teachers to improve the educational experiences provided for students and assist in identifying the professional education you need to further develop your capacity to teach well (Schwartz, n.d.). As a future teacher developing learning programs, teaching, assessing, providing feedback on student learning and reporting to parents/carers are skills I must be proficient in.