narrative
This topic study was guided by a theme of communicating with drawings, maps, and physical models. However, as I researched and learned more about models, I realized that drawings and maps were just kinds of visual models, and the term “model” is very flexible, and incorporates a wide variety of objects. This new knowledge will be the preeminent driving force of my third Classroom Interactions (CI) lesson plan. The lesson plan will be designed for students in Mr. Pettit’s 8th grade Physical Science class.
The students in that class are in the advanced Cambridge program. I was in a similar program when I was in 8th grade, and I know that at that age I had a very limited understanding of what exactly a model was and what they were used for. This curriculum topic study (CTS) will guide my lesson so that the students will be able to expand their ideas of what models are and how they work. This is important for their science learning because manipulation of and understanding of models is key to being able to communicate and comprehend science concepts and knowledge.
Mr. Pettit will be in the midst of teaching the students about heat and thermodynamics when I teach my lesson, so my topic study will have to fit into the scope of that topic in order to maintain continuity within his classes. Fortunately, teaching this topic and be adjusted to incorporate new knowledge about heat, or almost any other science content area there is. Fitting the two together will be difficult, but I believe that the CTS has prepared me for such a task. As a result of the research and analysis, I feel comfortable with assessing what level of cognitive complexity the students in that class are at, and I feel comfortable with the range and scope of the topic that I can fit learning goals that will align with their cognitive skills.
My assessment of the students’ cognitive complexities is based on the many observations I have had in Mr. Pettit’s classroom, as well as my own two prior experience teaching my own lessons to his class. I have also done clinical interviews with two of the students to assess their background knowledge of and misconceptions about communication, maps, drawings, and models. All of these informal assessments have shown me that the students are at the cognitive complexity expected by the research for students their age, which is lower than the cognitive abilities the state’s curriculum standards perceive them to be. Thus, the study has given me the advantage that I know both what the students are expected to know and what they are able to know. This will guide my lesson plan so that the expected performance objectives for the students are simple enough for them to fully understand, but strong enough so that they can perform well when tested for knowledge the standards.
Another difficulty of the lesson plan that the CTS will guide will be the inquiry portion of the lesson. The CTS has shown me that communication, models, and inquiry are an interwoven tapestry that must be taught together. While I am not sure what inquiry activity the students will do, I know that it will involve verbal communication while building a model, communicating a science concept (heat or thermodynamics) via their model, and understanding the limitations that their model has as well as how to find those limitations.
Finally, the CTS will also help guide the evaluation portion of my lesson plan. The Atlas of Science Literacy contains concept maps with detailed skills and performance objectives for students at each grade levels. The skills that are outlined by the state standards and the county’s physical science pacing guide are written in a form that is very testable in the concept maps pertaining to both communication and modeling.
The new knowledge and insights I have gained from this CTS have been really enlightening. As mentioned before, I have a much greater understanding of models. As a result, I also have much more appreciation for models. The real world application of the concept of models and modeling is one of the most tangible and useful skills that a student can learn. Building an accurate model of something means that you have to understand what you’re modeling to the point of being able to simplify it into a form that is usable by science learners of a variety of backgrounds and skill levels.
Successful model construction includes being able to identify and rectify the model’s flaws. This kind of skeptical flaw finding is essential to science communication. The cognitive ability of thinking critically is fostered in and bolstered by an ability to use and understand models.
Along with models, I also have a greater understanding of and appreciation for communication. As an aspiring science teacher, I already have great respect for the task of clearly communicating science concepts. However, the research presented in the Benchmarks for Science Literacy text really showed me how important communication is in other education subjects and outside of school. I have also gained a clearer perspective on how to communicate with models, and how to teach my future students about communicating with models.
I now know why so many informal science centers (zoos, museums, aquaria, etc.) use models to teach visitors about science; models are effective at grabbing a user’s attention, holding it, and teaching a complex, slow, dangerous, or otherwise unobservable system or process in a way that is broken down and simplified without losing the main points and details important to the modeled object. As a future teacher, I hope to incorporate models and modeling into my classroom as much as possible.
Another reason for my desire to incorporate communication through models into my classroom is because of its intrinsic value towards inquiry. Inquiry-based learning is the research-fueled science learning system of the future, and this CTS has shown me that communication skills and modeling abilities will be essential for students to be able to successfully learn via inquiry-based instruction lessons.
Information I still need in order to more fully understand how to teach this topic is just further research as it comes out. How teachers teach is changing (inquiry, flipped classrooms, etc.) and science education is changing with it. How best to teach communication through drawings, maps, and models may also change, and I really want to keep informed about new techniques for teaching my future students these important skills.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atlas of Science Literacy: Project 2061. Washington, DC: AAAS, 2001. Print.
Benchmarks for Science Literacy. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. Print.
The students in that class are in the advanced Cambridge program. I was in a similar program when I was in 8th grade, and I know that at that age I had a very limited understanding of what exactly a model was and what they were used for. This curriculum topic study (CTS) will guide my lesson so that the students will be able to expand their ideas of what models are and how they work. This is important for their science learning because manipulation of and understanding of models is key to being able to communicate and comprehend science concepts and knowledge.
Mr. Pettit will be in the midst of teaching the students about heat and thermodynamics when I teach my lesson, so my topic study will have to fit into the scope of that topic in order to maintain continuity within his classes. Fortunately, teaching this topic and be adjusted to incorporate new knowledge about heat, or almost any other science content area there is. Fitting the two together will be difficult, but I believe that the CTS has prepared me for such a task. As a result of the research and analysis, I feel comfortable with assessing what level of cognitive complexity the students in that class are at, and I feel comfortable with the range and scope of the topic that I can fit learning goals that will align with their cognitive skills.
My assessment of the students’ cognitive complexities is based on the many observations I have had in Mr. Pettit’s classroom, as well as my own two prior experience teaching my own lessons to his class. I have also done clinical interviews with two of the students to assess their background knowledge of and misconceptions about communication, maps, drawings, and models. All of these informal assessments have shown me that the students are at the cognitive complexity expected by the research for students their age, which is lower than the cognitive abilities the state’s curriculum standards perceive them to be. Thus, the study has given me the advantage that I know both what the students are expected to know and what they are able to know. This will guide my lesson plan so that the expected performance objectives for the students are simple enough for them to fully understand, but strong enough so that they can perform well when tested for knowledge the standards.
Another difficulty of the lesson plan that the CTS will guide will be the inquiry portion of the lesson. The CTS has shown me that communication, models, and inquiry are an interwoven tapestry that must be taught together. While I am not sure what inquiry activity the students will do, I know that it will involve verbal communication while building a model, communicating a science concept (heat or thermodynamics) via their model, and understanding the limitations that their model has as well as how to find those limitations.
Finally, the CTS will also help guide the evaluation portion of my lesson plan. The Atlas of Science Literacy contains concept maps with detailed skills and performance objectives for students at each grade levels. The skills that are outlined by the state standards and the county’s physical science pacing guide are written in a form that is very testable in the concept maps pertaining to both communication and modeling.
The new knowledge and insights I have gained from this CTS have been really enlightening. As mentioned before, I have a much greater understanding of models. As a result, I also have much more appreciation for models. The real world application of the concept of models and modeling is one of the most tangible and useful skills that a student can learn. Building an accurate model of something means that you have to understand what you’re modeling to the point of being able to simplify it into a form that is usable by science learners of a variety of backgrounds and skill levels.
Successful model construction includes being able to identify and rectify the model’s flaws. This kind of skeptical flaw finding is essential to science communication. The cognitive ability of thinking critically is fostered in and bolstered by an ability to use and understand models.
Along with models, I also have a greater understanding of and appreciation for communication. As an aspiring science teacher, I already have great respect for the task of clearly communicating science concepts. However, the research presented in the Benchmarks for Science Literacy text really showed me how important communication is in other education subjects and outside of school. I have also gained a clearer perspective on how to communicate with models, and how to teach my future students about communicating with models.
I now know why so many informal science centers (zoos, museums, aquaria, etc.) use models to teach visitors about science; models are effective at grabbing a user’s attention, holding it, and teaching a complex, slow, dangerous, or otherwise unobservable system or process in a way that is broken down and simplified without losing the main points and details important to the modeled object. As a future teacher, I hope to incorporate models and modeling into my classroom as much as possible.
Another reason for my desire to incorporate communication through models into my classroom is because of its intrinsic value towards inquiry. Inquiry-based learning is the research-fueled science learning system of the future, and this CTS has shown me that communication skills and modeling abilities will be essential for students to be able to successfully learn via inquiry-based instruction lessons.
Information I still need in order to more fully understand how to teach this topic is just further research as it comes out. How teachers teach is changing (inquiry, flipped classrooms, etc.) and science education is changing with it. How best to teach communication through drawings, maps, and models may also change, and I really want to keep informed about new techniques for teaching my future students these important skills.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atlas of Science Literacy: Project 2061. Washington, DC: AAAS, 2001. Print.
Benchmarks for Science Literacy. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. Print.