Schedule for EDU 431 - Elementary and Middle School Science Methods

Spring 2012
last update - April 5, 2023

The goal for the course is to identify and implement professional practices congruent with the national professional standards for science education. Implementation of ideas from these documents are described by ten principled procedures. This class will achieve this by asking a hand full of focus questions and applying answers to them through class assignments which focus on what teachers do.

These principled procedures are also aligned to the overall Curriculum and Instruction Program outcomes at Wayne State College.

The professor will begin every class with a question, answer, and suggestion period and reserves the right to change the schedule and assignments as he deems necessary to meet the needs of the class.

January 9, 2012

• Pictures
• Review your educational philosophy by answering these seven questions - Educational Philosophy assignment. (10)
• Create a list of questions teachers need to answer to facilitate science literacy and your concerns about teaching science in the grades K-8. (10)
• View the four videos and prepare notes (40) to discuss with the class the questions posted at the video page. The first three videos present problems with a non constructivist approach to science instruction and the fourth suggests possible recommendations for change. The titles are: A Private Universe, Can We Believe Our Eyes, Lessons From Thin Air, Under Construction.

January 16, 2012 - Martin Luther King Day - classes will be held

• Describing & becoming a professional science educator - explore, read, and record questions about the information and the links describing - What does it take to become a professional science educator?
• A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas - Read Part 1 - A vision for K-12 science education (chapters 1 and 2). Record any information helpful for outstanding educators.
• Create an outline or web that represents your understanding of what an outstanding science educator needs to know and be able to do professionally - to plan, assess, and facilitate science literacy. Review your notes from the videos, readings, discussions and record your ideas as notes, drawings, webs, or outlines to include Categories of ideas professional science educators use to make decisions when planning, assessing, teaching, and developing professionally in the core subject of science. Details for these categories will be added during the semester.
• Record your answers (10) to the questions about the Nature of Science - answer key.

January 23, 2012

• A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas - Read Part 2 - - Dimensions of the framework (chapters 3 - 7)
• Find a copy of a school's science curriculum or prepare to create your own. (if you're not in a school use one of mine or another you find online. We are going to start with the main categories. Identify them and cross reference them with the Framework... document. For example high light the categories on the curriculum document and match them with the categories used in the Framework or color code them using the dimension and category numbers from the framework. Share the results with the class. Most curriculums don't include or focus on some of the dimensions - include special notes and comments on what you have read and viewed about science practices and its nature and how they fit or don't fit an outstanding curriculum outline of science literacy for all students.
• Concept mapping - these directions are for three maps due over the next three weeks. Each is to be shared with the class and evaluated by the professor before the next is submitted for evaluation. The assignment is to unpack a big science idea or standard for possible instruction. However, this assignment is NOT a lesson plan, sequence plan, or unit plan. Complete examples are linked to the Science Teacher Tools page. When you arrive at the page scroll down until you see the three lines in the following box. Below will be links for explanations and samples to assist for these three assignments.

  Curriculum development and planning

  Planning

  Concept mapping

  1. Select a science topic, generalization, or standard from the Core ideas - physical science, earth science, or life science. Unpack it, create a map, and share it with the class. (25)
  2. Use the big idea of science practices. Unpack it, create a map, and share it with the class. (25)
  3. Select cross cutting concept. Use the information in the framework, particularly the goals and end points, to create standards for multiple grades (2, 5, 8, & 12) and share it with the class. See science ideas by topics for hints. (25)

January 30, 2012

• This activity combines - assessment in the form of a - discrepant event, a mini investigation as diagnostic assessment or an exploration phase in a learning cycle, only exploration - NOT a complete lesson, investigation and reflection on the development of scientific ideas, and communication of all these ideas. - How do people learn scientific ideas? How do teachers assess student's scientific understandings using discrepant event? How do teachers use assessment data to understand the development of scientific ideas? Review the information linked to the Development of Scientific Ideas and Reasoning - Tool Box. If you have questions on how to do any part of the activities, record them and bring them to class.
• Discrepant event and interview procedure - Select a topic, select or create a discrepant event, think about or make a concept map, plan an interview sequence to collect assessment information for a range of ages - children, adolescents, and adults. Okay to use a concept from your mapping activities. This discrepant event and interview procedure will be used to complete interviews and write a developmental summary that will be due in a couple of weeks. (30)
• 15 minute video demonstrating - pencil piercing a bag of water as a discrepant event, with explanation, and how the explanation relates to a learning cycle (preview for coming topic).
• Complete preparation for interviews and a developmental summary that describes developmental differences from preoperational - formal operational. It will be due in a couple of weeks. (70)

February 6, 2012

How do outstanding educators plan to facilitate science literacy with science sequences? Review the steps to facilitate student learning.

• Explore the resources at the following links. Record information and any questions you may have so you may critique science sequences and create ones of your own using a learning cycle instructional methodology.

1. The theory of The Learning Cycle - Relative to Constructivist Learning Theories.
2. A quick overview of the learning cycle
3. The learning cycle as an instructional theory
4. Video in three parts of a traditional learning cycle - electric circuit lesson.
5. Video Narrative about the parts of a learning cycle for this electricity lesson and suggestions for sequential activities and concepts.
6. Who does what during a learning cycle - teacher - student - good and bad actions.
7. A fourth grade teacher reflects on her use of a constructivist instructional model to teach the transfer of heat energy in this Kappan Article - Teaching for Conceptual Change.
8. A Learning cycle planning framework
9. Notes on a traditional 50 minute class schedule
10. Outline Learning cycle Lesson Plan development
11. Short examples of learning cycle lessons - good - bad
12. Varieties of learning cycles | three different versions of the learning cycle | Common knowledge construction model |

• When you think you have a pretty good idea for the learning cycle lesson above, then use this work sheet to critique this Outline a teacher prepared as a guide for teaching heat... . - heat, temperature, and measurement (20)

Review ideas for | Facts, concepts, generalizations | operational definitions |

February 13, 2012

Suppose each set of lessons came from a K-8 teacher's initial plan. Critique the quality of the lessons and the extent of inclusiveness for a comprehensive K-8 curriculum. Whether there is sufficient information or information is missing that should be included.

• Set one - Tree rings - claims to provide all the experiences students need to know about tree growth. plants are introduced in K-2 so students should be familiar with non woody plants (not trees) parts and functions, therefore trees are not introduced until after third grade | trees primary grades | trees grade 6-8 | (40)
  

February 20, 2012

• Due - scientific knowledge investigation data, conclusions, and suggestion
• Set two - Rocks these are the only learning opportunities for students to learn about rocks in a K-8 curriculum | rocks grade 1-2 | rocks grade 3-4 | rocks grade 6-8 |(40)
• Set three - Soil and plant relationships - these are the only opportunities for students to learn about the relationship of soil and plants | Soil and plan sequence plan starter | (40)
• Second concept map due

February 27, 2012

• Read PART III - realizing the vision
• It seems everyone includes inquiry as an important part of science. What is meant by inquiry? What is the difference between inquiry, inquiry as an instructional method, and science inquiry? - How are all of these combined to facilitate intellectual development and skill of science inquiry? Should science inquiry be teacher directed or student directed? View the video and review the inquiry science information at this URL.
• Check out the following links to make sure you hit them from the inquiry page above.

Inquiry decider - student or teacher - describes range of inquiry empowerment as combinations of teacher - student centered & relates them to different instructional methods. Also includes samples of instruction for seven combinations.

Creating fourth grade inquiry rubrics |

• These next links have additional information related to science process skills.

| Hypothesis concepts | Inquiry scoring guide suggestions from Science Fair Scoring Guide | Science processes K-8 samples | Mapping K-12 science Atlas at the AAAS site | Scoring guides or rubrics |

• Critique sequence for watershed. Particularly for inquiry - | Watershed plan starter | (40)
• Curriculum parts and pieces - Year plan selection of focus dimensions, categories, areas.

March 5, 2012 - Mid-term break

 

March 12, 2012

What science dimensions and categories can be integrated into a sequence plan?
Is it possible to include all phases of a learning cycle into one sequence for more than one dimension or category? Why or why not?

• Review materials for planning sequences of study and unit plans.| planning section - | general planning | unit plan outline | year plan outline |
• Outline a sequence plan for relative position and motion that will include science as a practice, relative position and motion concepts, and another from the disciplinary core. (40) This | directory of information | starts with links to a variety of information for the topic - Relative Position and Motion. After the polka-dots there are pages from the Fourth grade SCIIS, or SCIS 3. On reserve in the Conn Library. These teacher manual pages start after a review of information to introduce the relative position concepts for the module. Following those pages is a listing of all the outcomes or objectives for this module (half year curriculum). The next link has a map showing the integration of several different categories. Review the information and outline an integrated plan for the topic of Relative Position and or Motion. Any of the information included in these links may be incorporated.

March 19, 2012

• Curriculum parts and pieces - Year plan science as practice, cross cutting concepts and processes, and content selected, maps and year concepts and outcomes selected for focus dimensions, categories, areas.
• Describe an the assessment for each activity and for the sequence plan for the modified bird beak and adaptation plan and work sheet. Include: diagnostic, formative, summative, and generative assessment within at least two of the individual activities (See - continuous assessment in the assessment introductory information). And diagnostic, formative, summative, and generative assessment for the entire learning sequence. Use two big ideas or create others of your choice. Unpack the big ideas into concepts and outcomes that are threaded through the activities assessments and create scoring guides/ rubrics with levels to use to assess each of the big ideas. (50)
• Sample question for the entire semester - actual Review is on Sakai (100)

March 26, 2012 - Clinical week - no scheduled class

 

April 2, 2012

• Significant learning from clinical - Share a success story and any questions from clinical. An example of something that happened during clinical that will help you and other preprofessional educators to better facilitate student's science literacy (ideas used in your reflection can used here also). (25)
• Teaching Reflection ideas | general discussion about reflections and questions and hints for science reflections | Example of a poor reflection | Science learning cycle plan critique work sheet | (50)
• Assessment and evaluation simulation with fish group assignment is an assessment and evaluation simulation. The decisions the fictitious teacher(s) made prior to assessment for the simulation are to be assumed valid and good. Their selection of curricular goals, activities and materials they created and used with their students, and the role described at this link. are all valid and good.
  Each group is to submit:
  1. The scoring guide used to assess and evaluate the papers.
  2. A list that includes the scores for each paper 1-13 with the grade (A, B, C, D, F) and brief rationale for the grade. (50)

April 9, 2012 - Spring break - Monday

• Science teaching and learning paper due (100)
• Use the density sequence and the science assessment database to create an assessment for the sequence and show what concept or outcome each question threads to and how scores for each will result in a scoring level for assessing students on each of the selected big ideas as generalizations or concepts or outcomes. (50)

April 16, 2012

• Questions, review, and group work
• REVIEW 2 ONLINE - CLOSES (100)

April 23 - 30, 2012

• Sequence plan DUE (200)
• Year plan parts and pieces DUE

May 1-4, 2012

• Complete portfolio pieces (20)
• Final meeting - Wednesday, May 2 - 1:00 - 3:00 share portfolio pieces

May 5, 2012 - Graduation

 

Dr. Robert Sweetland's Notes ©