Big Ideas, Virtual Fieldwork, Professional Development & More...

1. Big Ideas,Virtual Fieldwork, Professional Development & More... • Don Duggan-Haas toc

2. With support from the National Science Foundation. • This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. 0733303. • Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. toc

3. Contents • Bigger Ideas • Inquiry Grid • Strands of Science • Essential Features of Inquiry • How People Learn/ • About Good Teaching • Effective PD • Virtual Fieldwork • PD Structure: • Workshop VFEs • Virtual Study Groups • TPACK • virtualfieldwork.org toc

4. Contents Effective PD Virtual Fieldwork PD Structure TPACK virtualfieldwork.org • Bigger Ideas • Inquiry Grid • Strands of Science • Essential Features of Inquiry • How People Learn • About Good Teaching

5. Contents • Bigger Ideas • Inquiry Grid • Strands of Science • Essential Features of Inquiry • How People Learn • About Good Teaching • Effective PD • Virtual Fieldwork • PD Structure • TPACK • virtualfieldwork.org Click on this button to take you to the table of contents slide from any other slide. toc

6. About good teaching... • Share a story of some of the best science teaching you’ve ever experienced, either as a teacher or as a student. toc

7. How do you knowwhat you know? • What’s something you understand or know how to do really well? • How do you know? • How did you gain that understanding or skill? • What does that have to do with how you teach? toc

8. Questions/Issues • What does research say about how people learn? • How should research on how people learn inform how we teach? • Why are we here? • What does good professional development look like? • What does good teaching look like? • Can we build teacher networks? toc

9. Program Objectives • Effectively teach key principles of Earth system science across multiple scales. • Create and share a virtual fieldwork experience that facilitates inquiry teaching. • Offer and receive teaching support within a network of professionals. • Critically evaluate approaches to and materials for teaching. toc

10. How will we know if we meet our objectives? • What kinds of evidence would convince you someone teaches through inquiry? • Is it the same kind of evidence that would convince the National Science Foundation? toc

11. We want you to substantiate these claims: • I understand the key principles of Earth system science across multiple scales; • At the completion of my class, students understand key principles of the discipline; • I will create a VFE that facilitates meaningful geoscience inquiry and share that with a community of peers; • I am networked to other teachers in ways that support my continuing professional development; • I will critically evaluate my own teaching approach and materials and that of my colleagues. toc

12. What if we only taught five things?On the need for teaching profound ideas • Don Duggan-Haas toc

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14. An important consensus... • These initiatives represent a consensus view of the most important Earth system science concepts. • However... toc

15. There are no examples of creating a thick description of what everyone should understand about any topic that has led to wide swaths of the population understanding the target content, in spite of countless attempts to do just that throughout human history. toc

16. How can we synthesize? toc

17. How can we synthesize? Big Ideas from ReaL Inquiry Project toc

18. How can we synthesize? Bigger Ideas from TFG/VFE Project toc

19. “Big ideas” simply aren’t big enough. toc

20. What if we taught only five profound ideas, but taught them deeply? • Deep understanding of profound ideas requires knowledge of all (or most) of the literacy principles. • And connects them to a coherent framework, thus increasing the likelihood of true understanding and retention. toc

21. What makes an idea ReaLLy Big? • The idea cuts across the Earth science curriculum. • Understanding of the idea is attainable by students and the understanding holds promise for retention. • The idea is essential to understanding a variety of topics. • The idea requires uncoverage; has a bottomless quality. Furthermore, the entire Earth science curriculum is represented by this (small) set of ideas. toc

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28. Connecting Ideas toc

29. Connecting Ideas toc

30. Earth System Science Profound Ideas toc

31. Earth System Science Profound Ideas toc

32. Earth System Science Profound Ideas toc

33. Earth System Science Profound Ideas toc

34. Earth System Science Profound Ideas toc

35. Earth System Science Profound Ideas toc

36. Climate Ocean Literacy Earth Science Profound Ideas Atmosphere Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth system. The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate. Earth is a system of systems. Earth’s atmosphere continuously interacts with the other components of the Earth System. Earth is a complex system of interactions between land, water, air and life. Climate change will have consequences for the Earth system and human lives. Humans have become a significant agent of change on Earth. The flow of energy drives the cycling of matter. Energy from the Sun drives atmospheric processes. The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. Atmospheric circulations transport matter and energy. The Sun is the primary source of energy for the climate system. Humans depend on Earth for resources. Earth Science reduces the impacts of natural hazards. The ocean makes Earth habitable. Earth’s atmosphere and humans are inextricably linked. Life, including human life, influences and is influenced by the environment. Human decisions involving economic costs and social values influence Earth’s climate system. The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected. Life evolves on a dynamic Earth and continuously modifies Earth. Earth has a thin atmosphere that sustains life. Human activities are impacting the climate system. Physical and chemical principles are unchanging and drive both gradual and rapid changes in the Earth system. Earth’s atmosphere changes over time and space, giving rise to weather and climate. The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of the Earth. Earth is a continually changing planet. Climate varies over space and time through both natural and man-made processes. To understand (deep) space and time, models and maps are necessary. We seek to understand the past, present, and future behavior of Earth’s atmosphere through scientific observation and reasoning. The Earth has one big ocean with many features. Earth is 4.6 billion years old and the rock record contains its history. Our understanding of the climate system is improved through observation, theoretical studies and modeling. The ocean is largely unexplored. Earth is the water planet. Overarching Questions: How do we know what we know? How does what we know inform our decision making?

37. But really, what’s the big idea? • E.O. Wilson -- Two Laws of Biology: • All organic processes are ultimately obedient to the Laws of Physics and Chemistry. • All living systems and processes evolved by natural selection. toc

38. known Most school science Procedure unknown known Answer The most cool science! unknown toc

39. Four Strands of Science: • Understanding Scientific Explanations • Generating Scientific Evidence • Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge • Participating Productively in Science Strand 1234 toc

40. 1. Understanding Scientific Explanations • "This strand includes the things that are usually categorized as content, but it focuses on concepts and the links between them rather than on discrete facts. It also includes the ability to use this knowledge." Back Strand 1234 toc

41. 2. Generating Scientific Evidence • "...it includes a wide range of practices involved in designing and carrying out a scientific investigation. These include asking questions, deciding what to measure, developing measures, collecting data from the measures, structuring the data, interpreting and evaluating the data, and using results to develop and refine arguments, models, and theories." Back Strand 1234 toc

42. 3. Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge • "This strand includes ideas usually considered part of understanding the “nature of science,” such as the history of scientific ideas. However, it focuses more on how scientific knowledge is constructed. That is, how evidence and arguments based on that evidence are generated. It also includes students’ ability to reflect on the status of their own knowledge." Back Strand 1234 toc

43. 4. Participating Productively in Science • "Proficiency in science entails skillful participation in a scientific community in the classroom and mastery of productive ways of representing ideas, using scientific tools, and interacting with peers about science." Back Strand 1234 toc

44. Five Essential Features of Inquiry(Center for Science Mathematics and Engineering Education., 2000 • Learner engages in scientifically oriented questions • Learner gives priority to evidence in responding to questions • Learner formulates explanations from evidence • Learner connects explanations to scientific knowledge • Learner communicates and justifies explanations to others toc

45. How People Learn http://www.nap.edu toc

46. How People LearnKey Finding #1 • Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom. toc

47. How People LearnKey Finding #2 • To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: • have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, • understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and • organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. toc

48. How People LearnKey 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. toc

49. Characteristics of Effective Professional Development in Mathematics and Science (from Garet et al 2001). • Form. Traditional classes, workshops or a "hands-on" activity like mentoring were less effective than reform types of activities, such as teacher networks or study groups. • Duration. Longer professional development programs are more likely to make an impact. Sustained and intensive programs are better than shorter ones. • Collective participation. Activities designed for teachers in the same school, grade or subject are better than professional development programs that do not target groups of teachers who work together. • Content. Professional development courses that focus on how to teach but also on what to teach-the substance and subject matter-are key. • Elementary schoolteachers especially may have taken fewer courses in science or math and may be less familiar with the subject matter, the researchers note. • Active learning. This aspect is fostered through observing and being observed teaching, planning for classroom implementation, reviewing student work, and presenting, leading and writing. • Coherence. Teachers need to perceive professional development as part of coherent programs of teacher learning and development that support other activities at their schools, such as the adoption of new standards or textbooks. toc

50. Flexibly Adaptive Professional Development (adapted from Trautmann & MaKinster, 2010). • Flexibly adaptive professional development intends to offer differentiated instruction in the context of teacher professional development. • This approach recognizes that: • Teachers need for and comfort with technology varies widely from classroom to classroom and school to school. • Teachers, like students, benefit from learning situations and supports tailored to their own specific needs. • Professional development providers ought to practice what they preach. • Read more about Flexibly Adaptive Professional Development: • Trautmann, N., & MaKinster, J. (2010). Flexibly Adaptive Professional Development in Support of Teaching Science with Geospatial Technology. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 21(3), 351-370. doi:10.1007/s10972-009-9181-4 toc