Teaching Science 2.0

Keeley’s misconception life science probe

Teacher:

Jessica Schultz

Context:

I selected my 10^th grade Biology class for this assessment,  We are about to begin the section on cells.

Background:

I selected my 10^th grade Biology class for this assessment because after working with them for over a year I have I have come to the conclusion that they have many misconceptions about the world around us. I chose this activity because I wanted to see what my students understood about cells and their size. I made the assumption that my students understood the concept about cells this activity helped me to see that about 50% of the students do not understand the concept of cell size.

Task:

I gave my students the life science assessment probe that was titled “Whale and Shrew”. It asked the students to compare the size of a cell in a whale and a shrew.

Results:

I was surprised to find out that half of the students had misconceptions about the size of a cell.

Closing the Loop:

After all the students had finished the worksheet I read over all the answers and decided to tell the students that they all had great answers and that we would be going into further depth on cell size the next class meeting. They all wanted to know if how they answered was correct or not. I explained them the concept of what a cell is and that a heart cell in one mammal is the same as another mammal. I told my students that we all have misconceptions about the world around us and that by learning about science we can uncover those misconceptions and find the truth.

Reflection:

The assessment went as expected but I truly did not think that 50% of my students would not understand the concept of cell size from one organism to another. When I do this activity I will do it exactly the same. I also plan on using other misconception probes in my other classes. This assessment impacted my teaching by showing me that my students have more misconceptions then I thought that they had

Source:

Acknowledgment: The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University

Performance Based Assessment Neutralizing Jelly Fish Poison

Teacher:

M. Toran

Context:

2^nd grade science class.

Background:

At the time of my visit, the class had just completed the States and Changes of Matter unit and were getting ready to start Sound. They were familiar with what liquids are (but not that they can be classified into acids, bases and neutral) and they had already learned how to use both a pipette and a measuring cup in the previous unit. The PBA I selected is authentic because students are presented with a realistic problem (a jellyfish sting) which some of them had even faced in real life personally, and asked to come up with the best solution for it.

Task:

I tried to set the scene and make the investigation as realistic as possible. I told students they were to help me with a special Science investigation to come up with the best remedy for jellyfish stings. I had a jar of “crushed jellyfish tentacles” (sodium polyacrylate from a baby diaper in an solution of sodium bicarbonate and water) and we extracted the “poison” from it (which was alkalinic to simulate that of most jellyfish). Every liquid they used in the investigation was one that they were familiar with and that is accessible to them in their everyday life (including the indicator, which was made from red cabbage). They used cups to test the pH of the different liquids by adding indicator solution and completed the table with the results.

Closing the Loop:

One way in which I offered informal feedback is when I went around the room observing each group of students. I showed them ways to improve their measuring skills or gave them directions one on one for completing the table. I had also allocated about 10 minutes at the end of the lesson to discuss the results of the activity and comment on my general observations of their lab skills. However, because the activity took much longer than I had anticipated, the “closing the loop” section of the PBA was reduced to a few minutes. I used the document camera to discuss the results table and gave them examples of how they could make it more informative. If this were my classroom, I would use the information to determine which students needed additional practice.

Reflection:

One of the strategies she uses is taking small groups of students at a time to another part of the classroom to work on the lab, Another way I would improve this PBA is by concentrating on one piece of measuring equipment at a time. Overall, the activity went well and the students were engaged from beginning to end.This PBA reminded me of how important it is to make the assessment as authentic as possible.

Source:

“This assessment was created based on guidelines from the following book: Doran, R., Chan, F. & Tami, P.  (2002). Science Educator’s Guide to Laboratory Assessment. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association.

Acknowledgement: The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University

Background Information

The Muddiest Point CAT

Teacher:

Jessica Schultz

Context:   In my physical science class we are currently learning about Newton’s 3 Laws of motion.

Background:

The day that I introduced the CAT I was introducing Newton’s first law of motion. I announced to the class that today’s lesson was going to be a little different then normal. I explained to my students that I want to learn how to better understand their needs as learners. I explained the muddiest point to them and proceeded with my lesson for the day.

Task:

When it was time to do the CAT I asked my students to write on the note card provided in a few words or phases about Newton’s First Law of Motion that they have questions about.  I made sure that I had at least 20 minutes of class left for the students  to use for the muddies point.

Results:

I read the responses as the students handed them in. I wrote the questions on the board and had the students raise their hands if they also agreed with the muddiest point.

Closing the Loop:

The following meeting day I was able to give the students more practice problems for the F=ma and I prepared a lab that involved the students using the formula with balanced and unbalanced forces. I told my students that their responses helped me to understand how I can better teach them the other 2 laws of motion.

Reflection:

My students really liked how I went over the questions the same class period. I was able to discuss any confusion and get ideas on what to do the next class period. I am going to continue to use this CAT for all of my classes. This assessment has impacted my teaching because it has showed me an easy and very effective way of finding out what my students understand and what they do not understand

Source: Angelo, T.A. & Cross, P.K. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Acknowledgement:  The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University

Teacher:

E. Colfax

Context:

Incoming freshman apply for a medical & health program at a high school.

Background:

Students interview for 30 spots in the medical & Health program at this high school. Students must demonstrate the ability to think differently and show a passion for math and science. This assessment was incorporated to assist in selecting these individuals.

Task:

The instructions and objectives for the performance assessment challenge was orally reviewed and discussed with the students: Once these instructions and objectives were discussed with the students, they were given their supplies, brought to the location where they were going to perform the Performance Assessment Challenge and told they had one hour to complete the challenge. Students were given a brief five minute overview of the area that was going to be used to complete the Performance Assessment Challenge.

File 1

File 2

Results:

• 2/9 groups accurately calculated the answers
• 4/9 groups inaccurately calculated the answers
• 3/9 groups failed to calculate the answer & ran out of time

Another method to check your results / measure twice:

• 1/9 groups used the ceiling tiles to double check their work with the floor tiles
• 9/9 groups double checked their work

Over or under with the calculations:

• 5/9 over so that you don’t run out of material
• 4/9 under so that you are not over budget

Time-schedule that was followed or intended to follow:

• Measure first, calculate while double checking, answer questions, prepare for the interview / question / answer period
• Did not really follow a time schedule - just did it
• ****1/9 groups followed their schedule and finished early****

Closing the Loop:

After the delivery and completion of the Performance Assessment Challenge I closed the loop by going back to over the objectives of the assessment and discussing the components of the Science Academy Program. I then orally shared with the students what we hope to achieve with assessments like this in the Science Academy.

Reflection:

After reviewing this interview/ reflection feedback data, I will be able to make some adjustments to my design and our delivery of the Performance Assessment for the Science Academy Interview for next year: I could change the order of the papers in the directions packet, placing the Performance Assessment Challenge sheet on top. As it current stood, I had the instructions and the objectives sheet as the first sheet, the performance assessment challenge sheet as the second sheet, and the group answer sheet as the third sheet.  I could also adjust the time frame and lengthen the allotted performance assessment time to 1.5 hours.  It positively impacted my view of performance assessments and the way I use them in my classroom and work environment

Source:

Blocher, D. (2007). Linking the Brain Mind, Teaching and Learning. Ramapo College; Designing Meaningful Assessments Lecture.

Doran, R., Chon, F., Tamir, P., Lenhardt, C. (2002). Science Educator’s Guide to Laboratory Assessment. National Science Teachers Association Press.

Acknowledgement: The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University

One of the most famous quotes in the history of spaceflight is “Failure is not an Option,” by Gene Kranz, Lead Flight Director during Apollo 13.  OF course, he was correct - NASA couldn’t afford to fail when lives were on the line.  This quote also shows up as the title of an education book. Over the years, I have seen the quote in many science classrooms across the country. Is this really the message that we want to send our students?  As former Packer quarterback Jim McMahn said, “…risk taking is inherently failure prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking.  Would NASA ever have gotten off the ground if tens of thousands of people, from politicians to engineers to astronauts were not willing to take risks?

In order to learn, we need to take risks.  We need to push beyond our comfort zone.  Too many of our students are so worried about counting points that they are afraid to do anything original - they are afraid to take risks because they are afraid to fail.

Randy Nelson, Dean of Pixar University said, “The core skill of an innovator is error recovery, not failure avoidance.”  We could easily re-write this quote to say, “The core skill of a learner is error recovery, not failure avoidance.”

What would have happened to the people in this video if they would have avoided future failures instead of recovering?

We had a belated 200th birthday party for Darwin today.  The timing was great since we have been learning about the “nature of science” and “science inquiry.”  A birthday party wouldn’t be compete without a birthday card, so I decided to use this as an opportunity to conduct some formative assessment.

“Two Words, Two Sentences” is a simple strategy that can be used to enhance reading comprehension or summarize content.  Basically, you ask students to summarize what they have learned (or a “chunk” of text) by giving it a two word title and a two sentence summary.

I asked my students to work in small groups to summarize their understanding of “what science is.” They used this as they signed Darwin’s birthday card.  This formative assessment shows that they have a pretty good grasp of the core of scientific thinking!

Science Is…

…A way of analyzing evidence.

… A way of understanding the natural world.

-Happy Birthday Darwin! Lindsay, Kelly & Adam

Evident Truth

Science is the exploration of the natural world using observations, experiments and activities. It is evidence based and does not include the Supernatural

- Layla, Heather, Carrie

Discovery World

Science is the ability to know by assuming that the natural world can be explained using natural evidence.  Science is awesome!

-Happy Birthday Chuck! Staci, Katie, Lisa

Exploring Nature

Science is a way that humans understand the world through natural explanations. It involves testing of theories to find evidence that connects to scientific knowledge.

-Jenna, Kelsey, & Colleen

Prove It!

Science is a method of trying to explain the natural world using natural evidence. Science focuses on measurable & testable phenomena using facts, not faith, to explain it.

- Erica, Erik, & Adam

Natural Knowledge

Science used natural evidence to explain our world. The common questions that should be askied in science are what is true, how does it work, and how did it get there?

- Ambria, Melissa, Megan

Teachers often struggle with engaging students in deep discussions about content.  The typical dialogue pattern is – teacher asks, one student responds, teacher confirms, teacher asks the next question.

Student learning is increased when they are given a larger voice in the discussion.  One strategy for doing this is the “Volleyball Technique.”  This technique is described in Page Keeley’s book, Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning.

In this technique, the teacher “serves” a question. Several students respond to the question as if “setting the ball” up for each other.  Eventually, the “ball” goes back to the teacher who “serves” up the next question.

When you first start using this technique, it is helpful to have a SOFT prop.

Quite often, U.S. students are compared to International students and found “lacking.” The Third World College Exam gives you the chance to see actual questions from India’s 11th grade entrance exam.  Many of these questions would challenge the best U.S. students…and many U.S. adults.  There is a lot of talk about reforming U.S. education so that we can remain competitive in a global economy.  So, here is my question…  Does this exam identify what you want U.S. high school kids to be able to do?  If not, what questions would you suggest?

Here is a great formative assessment technique-

Give every student a blank sheet of white paper.  Provide them with a question or writing prompt to respond to anonymously.  Now comes the fun part!  Tell the students to crumple up their paper and have a snowball fight (no head shots)!  Let the paper fly for a while and then ask each student to grab one snowball.  Smooth them out and ask a few students to read the responses.  Collect all of the responses so that you can review them after class.

This technique can be used in many situations where you would like to get anonymous (non-threatening) responses from students.  It can be as simple as “how is class going,” an assessment to find their initial knowledge, or a diagnostic “check up” to help you adjust your instruction.