Discussion on Assessment in Science Classrooms

Assessment:

Should marks be given for on-line participation? (Discussion Forums)
Is there anything in the front matter that ties into this? What can be assessed on line?
Blogs- how do you assign a grade? Is it authentic assessment?
Assessment for learning: blogs, discussions
Not all students have access to computers
Access to information makes us create assessments that ask for deeper understandings
Should we have open-book tests
Is google making us stupid? (article)
Are digital immigrants in a position to assess digital natives?
Use ipods, etc. to record student’s ideas and use this for assessment
Twitter: kids can answer each others questions. Provides immediate feedback, taking responsibility for own learning
What part are we assessing? What needs to be the focus: content/delivery
Whose work are we assessing? Cheating….whose ideas are they?
Everyone participates in blogs. Interesting ideas
Using conversations for broad-based assessments
Observations can be used to inform next steps
Damian Cooper: Over the course of the week, try to talk with each child
Blogs and discussions are very different
Using rubrics for everything, doing all project-based activities
Can/should you assess participation/behaviour
Self-Assessment
Peer-Assessment
Parental expectations
What value is self-assessment? It is so subjective…why do it?
Interviews are an important part of the assessment process
A big part of self-assessment is meta-cognition and problem solving
Use rubrics to self assess. Use of evidence is important
Assessment needs to be tied to an outcome
Transparency-kids need to know what the target is
Should we assess engagement?
Things are very different from school to school (emphasis on test scores/summative assessment?

Discussion on Resources in Science Classrooms

-Students not exposed to enough nonfiction and expository writing.
-No text in Elementary grades…a common text rich in nonfiction presented in an interesting way
- Why do we focus so much time on creative writing and nonfiction reading?
- In junior high, teachers are relying too much on the text and must need to use it sparingly…move from text driven program to a more balanced inquiry-based program
- Need more teachers who are science specialists …need teachers highly skilled in Pedagogical Science teaching and learning
- Need access to these teachers…D2L, on –line discussion opportunities
- Need access to a lesson bank (province wide, easy to navigate
- Hands-on resources: on line store; approved by Alberta Ed
- SMART board: ready to use resources
- Checklist of materials integrated into teacher manual
- Equity of technology
- Library to provide examples: videos, experts, lessons, assessment strategies; well organized by grade level and topic

Issues:
- spend too much time looking for resources;
- Need more time for collaboration
- Environments conducive to hands-on science learning/inquiry (i.e. sinks in elementary classrooms)
- Isoloation … sharing needed between teachers, grades, divisions, school boards
- Time to network on a variety of topics
- ESL population – i.e. resources written in mother tongue, various grade levels, (accessible science for all)
- Access to expensive material and equipment i.e. GPS, robotics, microscopes (on a lend out system)
- We don’t just need more “stuff”, we need people to provide support in implementing these strategies
- Access to professionals in science fields
- More funding for off-site exploration (i.e. fieldtrips)

Discussion on Engagement and Collaborative Learning in Science

Engagement and Collaborative Learning

§ it doesn’t matter how we engage them (technology or other wise)
§ passion- if kids are not engaged, teacher has to drag students into class
§ connecting science to their world – avoid disconnects
§ guide students to make connections
§ high school teachers are not good at making connections; elementary teachers are capable ( I teach bio, not math)
§ need to structure more connections between disciplines (esp. in high school)
§ homeroom or teacher advisor connected to a student for entire high school career – need to create relationships between students and teachers
§ teachers struggle with technology because they become “techies”
§ “passion projects” – collaborative learning
§ Virtual dissections – started by one student; spread to entire class
§ Collaboration is good for teachers, too – need to plan for it
§ Creativity – technology assists when safety or other concerns get in the way – engages students
§ The question why? Always comes up – need to make connections
§ Allow students to investigate their own questions – passion . Teacher’s role is curriculum connection
§ Kids lack creative play. Teachers need to demonstrate
§ Rigidity of school and home restricts creativity
§ Okay for teachers to admit they don’t know. “let’s figure it out together” Models problem solving
§ Technology can allow collaboration (eg. D2L, blog): kids respond to one another’s work
§ Good old fashioned group work
§ Teachers collaborating is modelled for students
§ Collaborate with home environment (eg. D2L homework blog) opens avenues of communication
§ Engagement also includes field experience, virtual museums, teleconferencing, etc
§ Digital archives
§ More equity across classes through collaboration and engagement (key experiences)
§ Teachers are moving from solo planning and delivery to collaboration
§ Some teachers may struggle with sharing their “craft” with others
§ Essential experiences
§ Intellectually engaged as opposed to just academically engaged
§ Confidence is essential
§ Literacy, numeracy and social literacy to be engaged and collaborative
§ Teach to the central themes of their lives
§ If it is real and connected to their lives, they will be engaged
§ General world news – students need to be connected to the global situation – easily done through the internet or paper - science new bulletin board
§ Use teachable moments

§ Build better citizens, not just learners
§ “test crunch” - how is collaboration, engagement affected?
§ Citizenship participation
§ Leaving the classroom – don’t always rely on technology
§ Learning is not just the curriculum – social
§ Comfort: students need to be comfortable with each other to share and collaborate
§ Engagement and relevancy is in early childhood and adult learning
§ How do we know what is engaging and relevant to our kids
§ How do we connect that passion to curriculum
§ Pressure of content in program of studies
§

Discussion on Problem-Solving and Inquiry in Science

Problem Solving / Inquiry Learning

1. Technology can provide an opportunity to teach problem solving strategies through games. Student can learn a concept and then apply it.
2. We need to teach students to be critical consumers of information. So much information is now available, but how do you determine how valid or reliable the information is?
3. Technology can provide an opportunity to make multiple resources available to students for them to develop foundational knowledge. This is necessary before true authentic problem based learning can take place.
4. Some technologies can provide both exposure to technology and social interaction. E.g. Students collaboratively using a Smart board.
5. Technology and bring a wealth of resources for students to investigate – students can do research outside of class and bring their search results back to class.
6. Technological resources need to be available in order to be used effectively.
7. Technology is becoming part of our everyday lives so teaching students how to use it effectively and appropriately is imperative.
8. With so much information available through technology, inquiry questions and problems need to be really good and well thought out.
9. Technology has made inquiry easier with more information instantly accessible.
10. Using technology helps inquiry become more stimulating for students – having their questions answered promotes further inquiry.
11. Technology in the classroom provides the opportunity for teachers to model how to use it effectively and critically.
12. With or without technology teaching science is still about teaching critical thinking.
13. Problem based and inquiry based learning needs to become more student driven – students driving their own inquiry, curriculum affects this process at times when having to teach to the test.
14. Does technology inhibit authentic inquiry? Students have a problem in front of then and turn to the Internet for an answer rather than making observations and thinking through how to solve a problem.
15. Purpose of inquiry is about process, not rote memorization. Facts can be looked up quickly using technology; process of inquiry still facilitated by face to face student-teacher and student-student interaction.

Discussion on Technology in Science Classroom

Technology Issues

Equity – homes, classrooms, schools, district, teachers, students do not have access to the same technologies at the same time.

Uses – can technology help create a wider range of choice for students, helping to increase their interest and ownership over their work?
- become more environmentally friendly by setting up a distribution list for homework, handouts, and notices, (use BCC function to safeguard email addresses)
- ipods, cameras, can be used to record group discussion and work during Science inquiry to aid with assessment
- e-portfolios allow for students to maintain record of work as they travel across grade levels
- video-conferencing, skype, podcasts, video-podcasts
o these can help students access an authentic audience for their work
 authentic audiences can help motivate students to take ownership
o also help to access outside experts
- virtual dissections
- calculators for graphing and statistics
- Read & Write Gold, Dragon Speak for help with reading and writing
- E-text books can allow for customization and increased interactivity
- Twitter can be a good tool to encourage classroom “talk” both inside and outside of the classroom, as students can ask questions of the teacher and their peers
o Still need to help students feel comfortable raising their hands and asking questions in a face to face context
- Having technology at our fingertips may be taking away from some of the inquiry (ie. Deductive reasoning, problem-solving, critical thinking) skills as answers are expected “immediately”.
o Requires an understanding of online digital literacy
- Bert Church School is experimenting with the use of iTouch

Some students, teachers, parents are overwhelmed by technology.

Just because students are connected doesn’t mean there are learning – we need to use technology to support them in learning.

Teacher tech-phobia is not a credible excuse for avoiding technology

It’s important to use technology where it makes sense to enhance learning

Not every student wants to be a Digital Native

What role can digital games be used to support learning and development of interpersonal skills?
- game-based learning meet children in a forum/learning situation they’re familiar with


To what extent does technology favour active or passive learning?

Needs:
- IT Departments need a better understanding of student needs, teachers need a better understanding of network security issues.
- Better understanding of effective uses of technology, technology not always necessary
- How do we move beyond the novelty of technology towards more effective uses?
- Establishment of provincial definitions of 21st Century Students and funding to insure it is matched across the province
- Establishment of an online science clearinghouse to help track new resources for the upcoming science curriculum

Lessons from Google Chrome and the Changing Landscape of Science Education

As we mentioned last week, we were very interested in what Google Chrome had to offer. Since it's release, it has essentially been our default browser. The user experience has so far been similar to that of Firefox or Safari, but perhaps a little faster, a little more stable, but since we don't really do anything fancy with our browser, it's basically the same. However, Google Chrome has nevertheless provided us with an "Ah-ha!" moment. As part of their backstory, they mentioned how the nature of what a browser does has evolved dramatically over the last few years, and the inherent structure of a web browser was designed to do something different. Imagine the efficiencies, Google asked, if you started from scratch, knowing all the current things a browser had to do.

That idea became particularly poignant yesterday for two reasons:

1. The District server went down yesterday and our office was stunned by how little physical work we had to do. All of our correspondence had transitioned to email,  all of our referring documents were hosted on the server. Once all the face-to-face meetings were over, and we caught up on filing, there was little else to do other than old-fashioned pen-and-paper planning for the upcoming week. It was shocking how much had changed - five years ago the office would have been far more functional in the absence of online connectivity. For teachers in the classroom, the effect was more muted, but there nevertheless.

2. As part of our job, we are tasked with providing the School District with equipment lists to stock all new schools before they open. Since the District opens a new school almost every other year, the Science equipment list is something of a running item. I inherited my list from my predescessor three years ago, who last had to revise her list the year before. It is, and was, a pretty basic list of material, posters, books, beakers, test tubes, thermometers, chemicals, pendulums and so forth. However, within even the last three years, the numbers of smartboards in our District has mushroomed, and bluetooth connectivity has appeared in printers, smartboards, projectors, and laptops. Looking at the school start-up lists, I wondered if it was time to go digital? 

Certainly such a change cannot be made without consideration: can digital equipment such as multi-sensor handheld probes over a more diverse student experience? Are there physcial skills from more "analog" equipment that students are still required to learn? What are the effects of Jr. High students working in an all digital environment as they transition to high school and post-secondary institutions that might not have made similar changes?

More on unsupervised spaces

This is a follow-up to yesterday, as we didn't think we explained as much as we could have.

Students, especially high school students (who we have the most experience with), are very experienced and literate in the educational process, even if they rarely articulate it. However, by the time they reach high school, they understand a lot of the unspoken expectations and rules. for example, when students in a science class are instructed to follow a lab exercise in a textbook or set of worksheets, their expectations about the nature of school fall in place as such:

1. A teacher is not allowed to engage in any activity that could deliberately hurt me. All activities must be "safe".
2. An activity or lab would not appear in a textbook if it didn't work.
3. A teacher would not waste time choosing an activity to do if it didn't work.
4. If I follow the instructions, the lab will work.

These beliefs often operate to shortcut any critical thinking a student does as to whether or not the lab has actually worked. Time and again, we have seen students use the wrong material, or miss a step in the instructions, and therefore unknowingly contravening #4, but still expecting the result they achieved to be consisted with the one expected. In a way, this is similar to the teacher's presence on the playground, to whom the students defer for all of their problem solving and conflict resolution tasks. When the teacher outlines a standard problem and proceedure, the students expect the result they achieve to be the standard, regardless of whether it is or not.

When individual student lab groups develop individual lab problems, assumptions #2-4 do not come into play. Furthermore, a teacher who deliberately cultivates an impression of aloofness regarding the students' lab proceedures, can even undermine #1. More importantly is taking advantage of the following student misconceptions:

1. The teacher has a limited set of knowledge relating to scientific principles and experiments, but this set includes all principles and experiments related to the current course.
2. Student creativity is infinite.
3. It is easy for students to come up with problems or investigations not anticipated by their teacher.

Belief in #3 is not universal, in fact a lot of students have trouble with the independence implied in #3, for a variety of reasons. Conversely, a lot of new teachers believe in #3 and are afraid of turning students loose in a lab for fear it will highlight the teacher's shortcomings as per #1. However, while #1 is mostly true, #2 and #3 are conditioned heavily by student experience - hence the importance of talking to students about what they have done in past courses with different teachers. We have found that when given the chance to develop their own problems, independently of each other, most student groups come up with a range of only three or four problems, owing to the fact that they have a limited range of related experience to draw upon, and in most cases these problems a fairly predictable by the teacher. However, because the students have developed them on their own, their belief that the teacher can help them solve their problem is greatly diminished, increasing the need for them to engage in their own critical thinking.

All Work and No Play?

Thanks to BBartel, of Exploding Sink fame, who alerted us to this article via Twitter. It deals with the role of play in the development of young people (although it draws primarily on research of young animals). In reading this, we were reminded of an earlier post by our colleagues at The Daily Wenzel concerning a childhood game of theirs called "Murderball". In it, they attempt to highlight the importance (they feel) of unsupervised places for children to occupy and control.

We have always been somewhat sympathetic to this view, and in part, it fits in with some of our own (unresearched) notions of play. The presence of a teacher or parent on a playground or in a room, simultaneously reinforces notions of power (discipline and rules) as well as safety. Part of the point in the Murderball piece was the way in which children use unsupervised places to develop conflict resolution skills and teamwork. Another aspect of these places that intrigues us, is the opportunity it provides for problem-solving.

The article posted above explores a theory that unstructured play is a rehearsal of future skill sets, such as playing house or firefighter. Although some research calls into question play's ability to hone a specific future skill set, many seem to accept that it can enhance a general problem-solving ability (ie. mental agility).

One of our many (again unresearched) theories on student learning is that students are more likely to "learn better" when they find themselves in territory they can believe is unfamiliar and unique to them. While the creation of unsupervised spaces is a legal no-no, situations that minimize the teacher's role whether as safety-provider or rule-enforcer, do much to emphasize this. Just as students are forced to problem solve in unsupervised spaces, lab situations that are not developed by the teacher or textbook but student generated, can help to develop a sense of separation from the teacher, or other student groups if the problems are unique to each student.