WELCOME TO
TEACHING PEDAGOGY
Issam Abi-El-Mona, PhD
Rowan University
ECT Workshops July 14, 2009
Purpose
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A brief introduction to teaching
pedagogies with a focus on inquiry
based model teaching emphasis is on
science.
What makes an effective lesson?
How do you integrate what you have
and will be experiencing into your
everyday life and/ or your classroom?
What is Science? What is
Inquiry?
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Science, unfortunately, is often
presented in textbooks as "problemfree." That is, the content of science is
arranged in a very neat and tidy way.
The truth of the matter is that science is
often messy and cluttered, and full of
problems
The King & The Dragon?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jevYI0MJcw&feature=related
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Would you call what the king did
inquiry? Why?
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What is the common component that
gets one to start to inquire into an
issue?
To Understand Inquiry…
• You need to transition your WAY
of THINKING
• You need to transition your WAY
of TEACHING
What Happened Here?
Significance of inquiry as a
student centered approach
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“Teaching …using inquiry (AAAS, 1993), involves
engaging… in the kinds of cognitive processes
used by scientists when asking questions, making
hypotheses, designing investigations, grappling
with data, drawing inferences, redesigning
investigations, and building theories and revising
theories.” (Crawford, 2000, p. 934)
Traditional vs. Reform
Traditional Based Curriculum
encourages…
Reform Based Curriculum encourages …
Teacher centered
Student centered
Students passive
Students active participants
Content structure and organization
based on preset curriculum
Content structure and organization based
on preset curriculum BUT considers
students preconceptions AND builds on
those conceptions
Science as a product
Science as a process, product and way of
knowing about the world
One form of assessment
Various forms of assessments
Transitioning The Classroom
ModernInquiry
Based
Style
Inquiry
Teaching
Student
passive
Power is
primarily
with teacher
Teacher
centered
TraditionalLecture Style
Student
centered
Power is
primarily with
student
Student active
Inquiry Approaches
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Structured Inquiry: Teacher gives students
hands-on problems to investigate as well as the
procedures, and materials. Teacher guides
students with questions. Students are not
informed of expected outcomes. (Teacher roleSupervisor )-Ex: Learning Cycle
Student’s level
Guided Inquiry: The teacher provides only the
of
materials and problem to investigate. Students responsibility
devise their own procedure to solve the
for own
problem. (Teacher role- Facilitator )- Ex: Project
learning
Based Approach
increases
Open (student initiated) Inquiry: This is similar
to guided inquiry, but students also formulate
their own problem to investigate. Open inquiry
is very similar to doing real science. (Teacher rolenon participant team player) Ex: Problem Based
Learning
Student-Centered Approach –
Sample p.5 in handout
Introduce Problem:
Interesting event
Making Meaningful
Connections:
how the concept is
connected to real life
Explaining Possible Solutions to
Problem: whole class
discussion/presentations
Investigate Problem:
designing or doing
experiments etc…
Science is….
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A human endeavor
A way of thinking that requires
– Knowledge
– Skills
– Presenting claims
– Seeking evidence
– Offering explanations
– Evaluating evidence and explanations
– Discipline and continuous effort
Science is about
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Developing understanding and knowledge
by:
– Building on what you already know
– Engaging yourself in the aspects of science
(such as problem solving, questioning,
observations, making hypotheses, data
collection, analysis etc…)
– Learning to do science so that you can learn
science
Don't you think Engineering is the same?
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Galway Bay, Ireland
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Ibm-NYSE-IBM-961321.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2XakurQCgU
Mussels
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Sensors monitored mussel movement in order to monitor pollutants in
the bay as part of the SmartBay project initiated by IBM in March 2009
(originally initiated by Mussel Watch Program –EPA in 1976)
http://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/pdfs/lagniappe/2008/06-01-2008.pdf
Image of water strider/ pond skater
Available at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~dmocarski/chapters/chapter7/
graphics/strider.gif
Water Striders’
Microsetaemicroscopic hairs- on
each leg of Water
Strider scored with
grooves . This allows
the trapping of air
bubbles and
promotes the “lift”
force needed to stay
afloat. End shape of
legs similar to oars
this reduces the
penetration of the
water surface
tension- thus
allowing for more
buoyancy
(courtesy of
LiveScience, 2008)
Can’t these all be taught in
the classroom?
What are characteristics of an
effective lesson?
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Take some time individually to fill out the
handout
Discuss this with the colleague closest to
you:
– Commonalities?
– Discrepancies?
Components relevant to
designing effective lessons
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Teacher
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Content knowledge
Dispositions/ Attitudes
Pedagogy
Learner
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Type/ age group
Dispositions/ Attitudes
Prior content knowledge
Background (culture, ethnicity, values …)
Characteristics of Effective
Lessons…
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Provide meaningful experiences
Simplify conceptual connections by making connections to
life experiences
Use visuals to describe abstract ideas
Engaging- provides students chances to discuss their views
Hands on and minds on- promotes students to question the
data and structure evidence based claims
Target objectives
Clear in what is to be learned
Use varied forms of assessments centered on student
outcomes (objectives accomplished as opposed to those not
accomplished)
What Does Research Tell Us?
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Much debate over what constitutes effective instruction.
Current learning theory focuses on students’ conceptual change,
and does not imply that one pedagogy is necessarily better than
another.
National Research Council: Elements of effective instruction:
[How People Learn (2003) and How Students Learn: Science in
the Classroom (2005)].
Motivation (Instigating interest and curiosity)
Eliciting Student’s Prior Knowledge (What do they already know?)
Intellectual Engagement (Meaningful experiences/ activities that engage
students intellectually hands on and minds on where students think about
what the data means)
Use of Evidence to Make and Critique Claims (Nature of sciencequestioning )
Sense Making (Making connections)
Outstanding Elements
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Learning must be active
Learning must be visual- hands on AND minds on
Relates to learner real life experiences- hence
becomes meaningful
• Learning must entice curiosity:
– Promoting challenges- in the form of real life
problem based experiences
Facts You Face
 Standards: The National Science Education Standards (NSES)
and Benchmarks for Science Literacy from the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) define the
content of instruction by outlining what a student should know and
be able to do.
 Accountability System: It is the district curriculum, usually guided
by state science standards, that provides a road map of what
content will be taught at which grade level, and how it will be
aligned throughout the grade levels.
◦ How this content is organized, presented, and assessed is the
backbone of classroom science instruction. In other words,
classroom science instruction is driven, for the most part, by the
curriculum map(if existent) the district lays out for teachers.
Incorporating Engineering into
the classroom;
Some ideas
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Choose meaningful themes within the context of a problem.
For example:
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Theme: Bridges; Kites; Parachutes
Problem: (a) What type of materials create the strongest type of
bridge; (b) What bridge structure would be the most stable? (c)
Can you fly a kite on a windless day?
Focus on concepts involved. For example:
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Types of Forces; Newton's’ laws of motion
Research, research and research:
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Learn about the history of the theme- provides interesting facts
Learn more about the use of this theme in the “real” world
Research your standards and make connections to generate the
objectives you need to use to teach the theme; In doing so, focus
on concepts so you can better generate the problem
Finally
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZK
KrUXjzDY how an engineer folds a
shirt
Relevant Online Resources
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http://www.nsf.gov/news/classroom/engineering.jsp
National Science Foundation - engineering classroom
resources
www.nsdl.org National Science Digital Library
http://teachengineering.org/ Samples
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http://blogs.asee.org/goengineering/engineering-in-theclassroom/ making cars K-2
http://science- ed.pnl.gov/teachers/fossils.stm department of
energy- Fossils 4-8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oaIhzlpENY –
Engineering education in the 21st century