ELI and the Iowa Core Curriculum

1. ELI and the Iowa Core Curriculum What you really need to Know! Developed by the GPAEA ELI Team

2. Objectives • Experience inquiry learning/teaching for conceptual change • Learn about research in science and inquiry teaching • Connections: Iowa Core Curriculum State Initiatives in math, reading, and science ITED/ITBS/ACT Every Learner Inquires (ELI- state science initiative) Inquiry Science Workshops

3. How People Learn Research KEY FINDING #1: • Students come to the classroom with preconceptions of the way the world works. • If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information they are taught. IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION: • Teachers must draw out and work with pre-existing understandings that their students bring to the classroom.

4. How People Learn Research KEY FINDING #2 • To develop competence in an area of study, students must: • have a deep foundation of factual knowledge • understand facts and big ideas within a contextual framework • organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION: • Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth providing many examples in which the same concept is at work and providing a firm foundation of factual knowledge.

5. How People Learn Research KEY FINDING #3 • A "metacognitive approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them. IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION: • The teaching of metacognative skills should be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.

6. Premise for ALL teaching • All students must • acquire deep and flexible understanding of complex content • be able to formulate and test hypotheses • analyze information • Relate one part of their learning to another • From Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching by Charlotte Danielson, 2007

7. Local Efforts:Iowa Department of Education Biotechnology Curriculum Workshop • This event brought together 5 industry representatives, 4 college representatives and 15 high school teachers from Area 15. • The goal of this one day workshop was to discuss curriculum gaps that block the delivery of bioscience education and the industry needs left unmet by these gaps. • The workshop was facilitated by Bill Swim, Ph.D. of Ruth Consulting Group.

8. Workshop Focus • The purpose of these discussions was to identify the skills employees must possess to meet industry needs; • Following the identification of skill sets, the educators were to begin discussions on ways that such skills sets/needs could be met by secondary or post-secondary education.

9. Urgent Needs Identified: Based on Local Industry Input • Troubleshooting and problem solving skills • Mechanical aptitude • Teamwork and good communication skills • Math • Career education (student awareness of what jobs are available) • Finishing tasks • Communication skills

10. Participant Solutions • Use of inquiry-based approaches to science education. • Design cross-curricular activities, where students must apply material learned in one class to assignments in another class • Increased use of communication through written reports, oral presentations and/or demonstrations

11. Research on Inquiry • Inquiry-based programs at the middle-school grades have been found to generally enhance student performance, particularly as it relates to laboratory skills and skills of graphing and interpreting data. • Inquiry-related teaching is effective in fostering scientific literacy and understanding of science processes, vocabulary knowledge and conceptual understanding, critical thinking, higher achievement on tests of procedural knowledge , and construction of mathematical knowledge. • Inquiry-oriented teaching may be especially valuable for many underserved and underrepresented populations. In one study, language-minority students were found to acquire scientific ways of thinking, talking, and writing through inquiry-oriented teaching . • Inquiry based instruction enhances student performance and attitudes about science and mathematics.

12. Research on Inquiry • “Science content has been found to be particularly engaging for language learners. • Inquiry-based science instruction has been shown to increase vocabulary, not only directly related to science content, but fluency as measured by standard language tests.”

13. Exemplary Teacher Research • According to research, exemplary teachers ensure that activities are set up to allow students to be physically and mentally involved in the academic subjects. • Activities are based on the use of materials to investigate questions and solve problems.

14. Constructivist Approach • The learner does the learning- content is not “transmitted”, it is constructed. • A student’s understanding is dependant on their experiences with the concept • Students must do the intellectual work themselves- see the patterns and derive the relationship. Danielson, Charlotte. Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching, ASCD, 2007

15. What does the Research mean? • Children develop ideas about nature from their personal observations and experiences. • Science concepts may be counterintuitive to observations. • Sunrise, Sunset • Photosynthesis • Heat & Temp • Teaching for conceptual change must occur before prior knowledge is transitioned into new learning. • Deeper understanding is achieved when students reorganize their ideas by experiencing investigations and sharing their ideas with others.

16. NCTM Standards • Inquiry is one of the most important contexts in which students learn mathematical concepts and knowledge: by exploring, conjecturing, reasoning logically, and evaluating whether something makes sense or not. • During discourse, students develop ideas and knowledge collaboratively, while the teacher initiates and orchestrates discussion to foster student learning. • This collaboration “models mathematics as it is constructed by human beings: within an intellectual community” (NCTM, 1991).

17. Formative Assessment and the State Initiatives

18. Links between State Initiatives

19. Iowa Core Curriculum Iowa Core Curriculum Aligned to provide an effective curriculum

21. ICC Implementation: Top 10 • Teachers make the difference • It is about the success of all students • The expectation is that all students learn at high levels • It is about the alignment of teaching, assessment, content AND the desired depth of understanding at the classroom level • Evidence of success comes from assessments • Implementation of the Core is a continuous process • Teacher leadership and involvement is critical • Implementation should honor and extend prior work in curriculum and instruction • The community should be a part with the school focused on 21st Century skills • The AEA Network is there to help

22. ICC Timeframe

23. ITED Iowa Test of Educational Development (Secondary) ITBS Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Elementary)

24. These tests provide information • about student’s abilities to: • q Use science content knowledge. • q Apply principles of scientific inquiry. • q Interpret and evaluate scientific information.

25. Questions are based on reading descriptions of scientific investigations and their results. These descriptions come from a variety of science content areas.

26. The ability of the students to • understand these descriptions • depends on their: • q Background knowledge • Reading skills. • HOWEVER! “the recall of highly specific content information plays a limited role . . . to correctly respond to the test questions”.

27. 2001 ITEDAnalysis of Science by Process

28. 2001 ITBSAnalysis of Science Questions

29. The Questions ask students to: • Identify the research question of interest in an investigation. • Select the best design to answer a research question. • Recognize appropriate conclusions that can be drawn from the results of an investigation. • Evaluate the adequacy of experimental procedures. • Distinguish among hypotheses, assumptions, and observations.

30. ACT and Inquiry

31. Research says “Students’ comprehension of text improves when they have had hands-on experience with the concept.”

32. ACT Our belief in the importance of developing thinking skills was a key factor in the development of the ACT.

33. ACT “In our increasing complex society, students’ ability to think critically and make informed decisions is more important than ever.”

34. ACT “More than ever before, students in today’s classrooms face a future where they need to adapt quickly to change, to think about issues in rational and creative ways,to cope with ambiguities, and to apply information to new situations.”

35. “Classroom teachers are integrally involved in preparing students for their futures. Such preparation must include the development of thinking skills such as problem solving, decision making and inferential and evaluative thinking.”

36. ACT

37. ACT Questions require abilities and understandings about: • Interpretation of data • Scientific investigations • Evaluation of models, • inferences, and experimental results

38. ACT questions are designed to determine how skillfully students: • Solve problems • Grasp implied meanings • Evaluate ideas • Make judgments

39. ACT Questions are conveyed in three formats: • Data representation • Research summaries • Conflicting viewpoints Research summary format

40. So what’s the Key to Success? What do students need to achieve on these tests?

41. Think!!" Teach them how to . . .

42. Just what is Inquiry Science? • What it is: • multifaceted activity involving making observations • posing questions and making predictions • using tools to gather, analyze and interpret data • proposing answers, explanations and communicating results • examining sources of information to see what is already known • reviewing what is known in light of investigation observations • use of critical and logical thinking; consideration of alternative ideas • What it isn’t: • Hands-on activities or “Activitymania”

43. Historical • National Science Standards (includes inquiry) • Hands-on Experiential science • Science Kits • Student exploration/teacher selected & guided investigations • Teaching for conceptual understanding/application/transfer of knowledge • Students thinking, questioning, predicting, gathering/study data, communicating (reading, writing and verbal- how journaling in science is totally different from lab reports.)

44. Formative Assessment • What do we know about formative assessment? • Assessment FOR learning • Provides descriptive feedback that allows students to revise their conceptual understanding, thinking, or learning strategies. • Not “graded” • When do we use formative assessment? • Whenever we need to determine “where we are” • How do we use formative assessment? • To determine plan of action • To reflect on learning

45. Assessment & Instruction • "Often it is hard to tell whether a particular technique or strategy serves an instructional, assessment, or learning purpose since they are so intertwined. Students are learning while at the same time the teacher is gathering valuable information about their thinking that will inform instruction and provide feedback to students and their learning." • Page Keeley, NSTA President 2008-2009, • author of Science Formative Assessment, • NSTA press, 2008 Corwin Press

46. Examples of Classroom Instructional Strategies • Small group instruction • Modeling • Media (DVD, electronic books) • Guest Speakers • Individualized instruction • Text reading • Lecture • Read Around • Talk Alouds • Projects • Labs • Games • Timed Readings • Online tutoring

47. Monotillation of Traxoline Traxoline is a new form of zionter.  It is montilled in Cerstanna.  The Ceristannians gristerlate large amounts of fervon and then bracter it to quasel traxoline.  Traxoline may well be one of our most lukiezed snezlaus in the future because of our zionter lescelidge.

48. Check for Understanding • •What is traxoline? • • Where is traxoline monotilled? • •How is traxoline quaseled? • •Why is it important to know about traxoline?

49. Pretest vs. Preconceptions • What does formative assessment look like in science? • Page Keeley Probe • Commit & Toss • Springboard to inquiry

50. Example of a Science Formative Assessment Probe Source: Uncovering Student Ideas in Science