Final Blog: Session 6

Ravich

If the president were to call me up, asking my advice about what needs to be done about America’s education system, I would most respectfully reply, “No, thank you!”  But since he isn’t, and luckily this is a completely hypothetical scenario, I suppose I could offer a few tidbits of advice…

1. GET RID OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.  High standards, testing, and accountability have not and will not produce proficient students, especially by 2014.  Students have learned test taking skills rather than knowledge, standards have been lowered, teachers have been shamed, and schools have been closed.
2. CREATE A STRONG NATIONAL CURRICULUM…AND DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL TO DO IT.  Other countries do have successful educational systems…take note and build off the curriculums and reforms they already have in place.  Students should have a strong foundation in English and math, as well as the sciences, arts, physical education, health, history, geography, literature, foreign languages and technical studies.  Students must come out of high school prepared to think for themselves, as responsible, and fair citizens.
3. MAKE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THEM.  Students and parents who need additional support should be able to take advantage of additional resources.  There should be quality extra learning time for those who fall behind.  Opportunities should be made for family members who are looking to improve their skills and knowledge and ultimately help to create an entire community, at school and at home, that places high value on education.
4. INCREASE MEANINGFUL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS, AIDES, AND ADMINISTRATORS.  The more opportunities teachers have to learn new techniques, content knowledge, and pedagogy, the more successful they can be in the classroom.
5. STOP LOOKING FOR SHORTCUTS AND QUICK ANSWERS.  THEY DON’T EXIST.

About 99.9% of what I wrote above, Ravich concluded in her book.  I loved The Death and Life of the Great American School System.  Now, with a background in the reforms the United States has tried (and pretty much failed at), I have a clearer understanding of where we shouldn’t go with our education system.  I was empowered by the fact that she placed so much value on the teacher. But after her book, I look at schools a completely different way:  I see now how principals can chase and manipulate scores to their benefit, as well as the detrimental effects of “chasing” meaningless data.

As much as I was enthralled by Ravich’s book, it did leave me feeling pretty helpless…as a teacher and as a citizen.  Teachers and citizens did not get significant input in these reforms, in fact, teachers were undermined and citizens fell victim to misleading political campaigning.  However, I can still educate.  I can continue to educate my students to the best I can, and I can educate my friends and family about what has and has not worked in education reform.  As a citizen, I can cast my vote and continue to support what I believe is right for education’s future.

Science Associations

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)- The NSTA publishes books and journals related to teaching all levels of science.  In addition to lesson plans, labs and other resources, they also hold an annual conference on science education and offer professional development opportunities.  You must be a member to access NSTA’s publications and resources, and membership begins at $75 per year.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)- The AAAS is an international organization that strives to advance science around the world.  AAAS publishes the scientific newsletters, books, reports and the Journal Science.  The association also serves as a leader and spokesperson while developing programs around the world.

Places I can go and things I should read…

 

Bay Area: (1) Genentech, Inc. (2) Lawrence Hall of Science (3) Amgen, Inc. (4) Bayer HealthCare (5) The Tech Museum

Books: (1) The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean (2) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (3) The Billion Dollar Molecule: One Company’s Quest for the Perfect Drug by Barry Werth (4) Survival of the Sickest: The Surprising Connections Between Disease and Longevity by Sharon Moalem and Jonathan Prince (5) Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne

Journals: (1) Journal of Science Education and Technology (2) International Journal of Science Education

Conferences: (1) National Biotechnology Education Conference (2) NSTA National Conference

World: (1) Galapagos Islands (2) Citi des Sciences et de l’Industrie, France (3) Science Museum, London (4) Patagonia, South America (5) Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

Technology and Education: Session 5

Dr. Roberts highlighted the tremendous increase in the use of media among children and adolescents.  With the connectivity of students today, Dr. Roberts’ lecture had me question if I should be focused on implementing more technology in the classroom.  However, in today’s society, technology is important, and students must have exposure to technology and be comfortable with its uses in order to successfully enter most professions.  As teachers, we are in a unique position in that we can address this shift in media use among our students and promote its use in moderation.  Some of the questions I have for Dr. Roberts are: How does media use differ among race, socioeconomic status and location?  Can this increase in technology use be positively correlated with childhood obesity and ADHD?  How do we “disengage” our students and still keep their attention?

Add high school online learning to another program meant to cut costs but ultimately undermines the purpose of a teacher and classroom education.  Having one teacher for a class of 150 online students is most definitely cheaper than 150 students in a traditional classroom, but the quality of this education seems to promote practices such as plagiarizing while eliminating the important social and physical aspects of a classroom environment.  From what I have experienced, most high school students do not have skills to successfully complete online learning.  Many of these students still need the scaffolding and personal encouragement found in a traditional course.  However, I do believe that online learning could be successful for highly motivated and highly skilled students looking to increase their knowledge, as long as the course is designed to challenge the student and maintain high standards.  With the increase in online courses at the college level, it will be important to teach students how to navigate the Internet, select appropriate sources, as well as define plagiarism and its consequences.  My school does employ an online learning center for students who need to recover credit, and although I do not know much about the curriculum, I am skeptical of the actual learning that is taking place will be concerned if the program begins to grow.

Technology Resources for the Teacher:

Prezi: I would love to use Prezi for student presentations.  It is a newer resource so students familiar with PowerPoint may be able to enjoy something new and allow for more creativity.  It also doesn’t require students to have certain software, and the presentation is stored on the Internet, so it is more accessible to students.

Quizlet: An online flashcard resource that students could use to store their vocabulary words.  Biotechnology involves a lot of new, technical vocabulary and I could envision either creating a bank for students to study from, or having each student create their own banks with definitions in their own words.  Students could also create vocabulary games and play each other’s games.

Google Sites: Free web space to create a website.  I want to create a website that includes all of my classroom resources/activities, homework, presentations and agendas for students to be able to access when absent, missing an assignment, or need additional help.

Google Docs:  Google docs provides free word processing, spreadsheet and presentation tools that can be stored online and allow for collaboration.  I would like to integrate a biotech project for students in which they learn to use the different document tools, cloud storage, and collaborative capabilities that they will most definitely use in college.

Interdisciplinary Teaching: Session 4

A major focus of biotechnology is DNA.  Deoxyribose nucleic acid is considered the “building block of life.”  It is a huge macromolecule, yet it is invisible to the human eye (unless precipitated in very large amounts). Because it is so small, concepts surrounding DNA can often seem abstract and intangible to students.  In biotechnology, scientists alter DNA to create novel products like freeze-resistant strawberries or cure diseases with gene therapy.

In order to reach students outside of a strictly scientific subject area, I could have students write poetry or a song about the structure or function of DNA.  Students could then could read their poems or perform their songs for the class.

Poetry

http://www.joannamacy.net/nuclearguardianship/ode-to-my-dna.html

Lyrics

http://www.grymonpre.com/music/dna_lyrics.htm

Another subject area I could explore DNA is in math.  DNA has a geometric, double helix structure that can be defined by mathematical equations.  In the lesson below, students use a computer program to “sketch” DNA by plotting circles, segments and vectors.  They then use a DNA trait map to determine the characteristics encoded by the DNA. 

Math

http://www.nsa.gov/academia/_files/collected_learning/high_school/science/sketching_dna.pdf

Interdisciplinary learning appeals to all types of learners: artistic, linguistic, mathematical and historical.  Students who may not relate easily with science may find it much more engaging through the lens of another subject.  I think the most challenging part of interdisciplinary learning is opening ones mind to think outside the box we have become so accustomed to teaching within.  When I first began to brainstorm on the topic of interdisciplinary learning and biotech I found it extremely difficult!  How was I supposed to relate an abstract concept like protein synthesis to history?  But, after letting go of how I traditionally teach the process, I came to realize that there has been many intriguing years of research that have lead up to our understanding of proteins, and many of my students might really enjoy learning about the key players and experiments, who have throughout the years, built our current knowledge of the subject.

This week I responded to Marcy's blog about incorporating viruses and music.

Mind the Gap: Session 2

1.  Ravich Chapter 1:  "...in education, there are no shortcuts, no utopias, and no silver bullets" (pg. 3).  Such an ominous beginning to a book! I think most teachers go into the profession with the passion to change the lives of the students they teach: to be the silver bullet Ravich denies existence of.  I don't know if it is my optimism, or naivety, that makes me still believe that there has to be a formula out there that works: a perscription that will turn poor-performing schools around.  I am not sure if it is realistic to assume that all American students will graduate high school, but I certainly believe they should be given every opportunity to succeed in school and should be afforded a high-quality education...however that may be achieved.

"We must make sure that our schools have a strong, coherent, explicit curriculum that is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, with plenty of opportunity for children to engage in activities and projects that make learning lively.  We must ensure that students gain the knowledge they need to understand political debates scientific phenomena, and the world they live in.  We must be sure they are prepared for the responsibilities of democratic citizenship in a complex society.  We must take care that our teachers are well educated, not just well trained.  We must be sure that schools have the authority to maintain both standards of learning and standards of behavior" (pg. 13-14).  This quote resonates with my core beliefs of education: education should provide the foundation for one to engage with the world he or she lives in.  It should provide opportunity.  I would argue that most probably people agree with the most or all of the quote above, yet, implementing these ideas/beliefs effectively has been problematic for the United States.  I am very interested in how Ravich would propose to achieve this type of education system.  Would urban schools be run differently than rural or suburban schools?  Are there any schools that exist today that have achieved all of these things?

2.  I would characterize a well educated person as someone who is able to explain their opinions and support their ideas with evidence from subjects like history, literature, current events and science.  Someone who is well educated should be able to draw their own conclusions, while respecting others.  He or she should be able to apply necessary mathematic principals and analytic skills to everyday life.

3.  One of the biggest points of the discussion that stood out for me regarding Ravich's book was that she took ownership of having at some points agreed with many of the policies she now considers failures.  Some students took this as an apology to the reader, however, I am not sure if that was her intention or she was simply attempting to be honest with her reader, which I appreciated.  I am very interested in educational policy, and find her book to be fascinating, but I wonder what, if any, biases may shape her opinions and findings?

4.  My largest gap in content knowledge for biology is the physiology standard.  The following 3 resources could help me fill this gap:
-Website: www.khanacademy.org/#biology  I decided to watch the video "Anatomy of a Neuron" since we were discussing neurons, learning and memory in MAIT 403.  I learned that neurons are the cells that make up the brain and the nervous system.  The body of the neuron is called the "soma" while the branches off of the neuron are called the dendrites.  The "axon" is the tail of the neuron.  A signal, for example- from a taste bud, is then transmitted from the dendrite to the axon, then the signal is passed over a synapse to other neurons or muscle cell, etc.
-Article: The Brain: Why Athletes are Geniuses
-Book: Clinical Physiology Made Ridiculously Simple by Dr. Stephen Goldberg

5.  The first article I found to be useful for my research is a literature review that discusses the use of technology to promote inquiry-based instruction for the science classroom.  While much of the article explains what inquiry-based instruction is (and even discusses A Nation at Risk!!), it does a good job of providing concrete examples of the use of technology to drive inquiry in the classroom.  One of these examples uses something called a "mashup" that is created by students online.  A mashup seems to be a webpage that combines different digital resources into one main source, and requires students to hypothesize, collect and explore evidence to construct a scientific argument.  Another useful aspect of this article is its suggestion of other web tools that may be used for different purposes: Facebook, Edmodo, and Google Plus as network and discussion tools.  I also plan to look into the references listed in the article for primary sources

Another article I found helpful was a qualitative case study of what students are looking for in a science class, including their preference of digital resources.  The author, Lauren Goldenberg, stresses that technology cannot simply stand alone in the classroom, but must be scaffolded in order to help students learn the concepts.  Again, as this is a secondary source, I plan on researching the references listed.

6.  Question for Meg: Hi Meg!  Ok...I think I just need clarification: if an article does not have a methods section it is considered a secondary resource?  The second article I posted about came from a magazine called "The Science Teacher," and although it does not seem to be a peer-reviewed journal article, does it still have merit?  Thank you!

This week I responded to Eddie, whose subject is also science.  Since I responded to the other science teachers last week, I hope it is ok if I responded to Mary Jane and Jerry, other single subject teachers, instead :).

Science Framework vs. CSET Overview

It has been a year since I have taught biology, and reading through the State Framework again reminded me how much information is crammed into one year!  My major gaps in content knowledge primarily stem from the concepts in physiology.  I have never formally taken a physiology or anatomy class, and, although I know the general function of each of the body systems, I would need to know much more in order to thoroughly and correctly teach the physiology standards.  A few of the other topics that I would like to have a more in-depth knowledge of are biochemical pathways, applying Mendel's laws, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, some aspects of evolution, as well of the types and functions of the cells that make up our immune systems.

When examining the life science standards for 7th grade, I am much more comfortable with the topics discussed, as they serve as the foundation for learning biology.  Some of my gaps lie in the earth science portions of the framework, specifically, the rock cycle.  I would also need to review the physical principals of living things as well as the timeline of developments and extinctions of plant and animal life.

Again, with the 8th grade standards, I had fewer gaps and would benefit from a basic review the topics. The most prominent gap would be concepts in Earth in the Solar System.

When comparing the State Framework for Science to the CSET Overview, the overview requires knowledge of many more scientific skills rather than factual knowledge required by the framework standards.  Although the framework includes a section on "Investigation and Experimentation,"the overview is much more thorough in its description of what teachers should have knowledge of, including safety procedures, diversity of the men and women of science, and ethical concerns.

In my past years as a biology teacher, I have adhered closely to the standards as requested by my school sites.  Generally, the curriculum placed heavy emphasis on genetics since a higher percentage of the questions on the CST focused on this, while saving the human physiology unit for after the test since most students had some background of this from middle school.  During this last year as a biotechnology teacher, my classes were not bound by standards, although we touched on many of the genetics concepts.

Since I will be teaching biotechnology again this year, I will be focusing on increasing my knowledge of how DNA technology (5.d.) and genetic engineering (5.c.) are used to create novel products.  I will be attending two different workshops that address both of these biology standards with the hope that I can better relate these concepts to students' lives through lab-based experiences.

Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers: Session 1

Since my school experiences only prepared me to teach biotechnology at a surface level, I have completed quite a few biotechnology workshops, seminars, and conferences in order to deepen my understanding of the subject.  I am constantly looking for ways to relate the advancements made in the biotech field to students’ own lives.  In May, I attended a conference that focused on the latest research in the field of epigenetics- how and why some genes are turned on (expressed) or turned off.  It was here that I really began to not only appreciate the power of DNA sequencing for medical purposes, but how the events of our daily lives (specifically, for one particular lecture, exposure to viruses) may be able to alter the expression of our genes and cause disease.  With this knowledge, I was able to come back to the classroom, share my experience, and pose the following question to my students: “Imagine two twin sisters who are born with identical DNA.  Genetic testing reveals that they both have one of the genes for breast cancer, but only one twin ends up with the cancer.  Why could this be?”  Not only did this opportunity provide me with a more complete scientific background to discuss this topic, it also allowed for my classes to examine the ethical complications that this technology can bring about. BONUS: it also made me really excited to go back and discuss with my students, and they seem to enjoy when Ms. Dever “dorks-out” J.  The following article was written about my favorite lecture from the conference:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/business/geneticists-research-finds-his-own-diabetes.html?_r=1

Ball’s article, “The Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers,” allowed me to reflect on my own experiences that have contributed to the content knowledge that I teach.  Even before the article, I had concluded that it would have been extremely beneficial to have had some sort of course to strengthen my background in biology (biotechnology) before I ended up in the classroom.  It seemed as though my sentiments were echoed during the classroom discussion, and although my opinions or judgments were not changed by the discussion, it was a relief to hear that my classmates felt the same way- relatively unprepared.

For my inquiry, I am leaning towards the use of technology in the science classroom.  I am interested on how certain websites, videos, presentation tools, clickers, computers, etc. can improve student motivation and comprehension.  My current question is: How can technology be used to advance student achievement and motivation in science education?  However, I am also really interested in learning more about project-based learning and hope that I can somehow incorporate that into my inquiry as well.  There seems to be quite a bit of more recent research on technology in the classroom in general, however, but not as much in the science classroom.  For my experiential learning resources, I have signed up for a workshop regarding protein analysis, in which I hope to gain more knowledge of how to relate it better to students, as well as become more comfortable with protein technology.  The second workshop I will be attending focuses on bioinformatics with ample teacher collaboration and lab time.  We will also be taking a tour of the UC Davis genome center, which may provide another experiential source. 

This week, I commented on 3 other teachers blogs who either teach science or have a focus on technology: Tiffani Neal, Josie Kirkland and Marcy Place.

5 (or More) Possible Guiding Questions...

1. How can current topics in biotechnology/biology be used to explore the ethical implications of that particular science?
2. How have the attitudes and science behind stem cell research changed over the decades?
3. How can technology be used to advance student achievement and motivation in science education?
4. What has recent research discovered to be the most effective ways to teach science?
5. What is the role of epigenetics in today's society?  How can it be applied in the classroom and to students' lives?
6. How can inquiry-based teaching methods be used to advance student achievement and motivation in science education?
7. How can at the use of a web-based learning environment be used to advance student achievement and motivation in science education?
8. How can the use of clickers be used to advance student achievement and motivation in science education?
9. How can project-based learning be used to advance student achievement and motivation in science education?