Science Conference Reflections

Not exactly a by-the-moment account of last month's Science Teachers' Conference in Edmonton, but the passing of time as allowed for some reflection. The last few posts here at Exploding Beakers has seen us reflect on the change in school cultures - not the plural there as there is a teacher culture and a student culture. We've spent a little bit of bandwidth discussing the disjunction between these two groups. Students, as many commentators, such as Marc Prensky have noted, are moving quickly into an interactive, online culture from a highly stimulating, yet ultimately passive, visual culture (television). Teachers unfortunately, are still straddling the divide between the former knowledge-as-scarce print culture, and a visual one that features knowledge-as-content. Most teachers, especially those featured as regional winners in the Iron Science Competition, are well-attuned to the needs of knowledge-as-content (visual) learners, as were many of the presenters at the Science Teachers' Conference. Unfortunately, these types of learners are a shrinking group, and unfortunately, conference presenters did little to discuss how teachers could better serve the digital demographic.

That learning requires context, is nothing new. In a classroom dominated by a visual culture, knowledge comes as facts embedded within entertaining situations (shows, skits, products), but in the online, interactive, digital environment, where knowledge facts can be recalled artificially on demand, the learning context needs to be an active one with a focus on the application and evaluation of knowledge. Have I recalled the appropriate knowledge? How can I best use this knowledge to complete this task? This is perhaps a difficult conceptual shift to make, but Exploding Beakers is willing to step up and help teachers make it. We will be conference co-organizers for the Calgary 2008 Science Teachers' Conference.

On a more positive note, our favourite conference session came from the teachers at Rundle College, a school for students with learning disabilities, who provided examples and advice on differentiated instruction and assessment in a science classroom. Their assessments were novel in that they respected the learning-style of students, kinestheic learners were encouraged to express their knowledge through physical movement, etc. Was this a perfect for traditional pen and paper midterms and finals? No, as the teachers admitted, it was too early to tell, and definately required far more time management skills. However, student results, as well as confidence and comfort, were quite positive, and the teachers were looking to continue refining their technique.