Assessment

Assessments are an important part of education for teachers, students and parents. The Krajcik article discusses a "three-phase method" for assessing student understanding: gathering information, assembling and presenting assessment information, and evaluating assessment information. The first phase, gathering information, is a formative assessment of what the student knows and understands.  This can be done through tests/quizzes, classroom discussions or interactive projects.  The most effective formative assessments will tell you what misconceptions the student has, and how their thinking about the subject forms those misconceptions.   Phase two, assembling and presenting assessment information, is where the teacher gives feedback about the formative assessment to students and parents. The teacher then uses this information to inform further instruction and assess student understanding - evaluating assessment information, phase three.  The teacher may need to change a lesson plan, or extend the current lesson to suit the needs of the students.

Pendulums

What is your personal experience with swinging on anything like a trapeze? I've been on a swing, one you sit in, and I've used zip lines (which isn't exactly the same thing). When I was younger, we had a trapeze bar on our swingset. I've also been around construction sites and think of pendulums when I see wrecking balls and sometimes even cranes. We also had a rope swing when I was younger. What application to "Real life" do swingng objects have? I mentioned above the use of wrecking balls and cranes in construction. They're also used for entertainment purposes, in the circus, or for swinging, or gymnastics. Pendulums are used in some clocks. What is your prediction about what will happen if two people are on one trapeze and only one is on the other and they are both let go at the same time? Explain. Since pendulums on earth depend on gravity, and weight is also a factor of gravity, the heavy pendulum will ossillate longer, but not any faster. They will fall at the same rate, but the heavier will swing longer because the additional weight will create less resistance to slow the pendulum. What understanding or ideas do you have about the science of back and forth swinging objects? I know it has to do with mass of bob (end object), length of pendulum string, the angle of the starting point and outside factors that may be present (such as wind). I don't know the mathematics of it. Prediction: The pendulum will swing the same number of time if the time is restricted. Since one washer makes 9 swings in 10 seconds, 2, 3, and 4 washers will also make 9 swings in 10 seconds. Additional questions raised: 1. Is my prediction that the heavier pendulum will swing for a longer amount of time before gravity brings it back to rest correct? (ie - does weight affect how long a pendulum will oscillate?) 2. If we drop the weight from a larger angle, will it have the same number of oscillations in 10 seconds? 3. How many oscillations will it make if we double the length of the pendulum rope?



DAY 2: Investigation:
QUESTION: Will using two strings to hold the metal washer instead of one string change the number of swings made by the metal washer? Why did you choose that question?
v  We chose this question because we are curious about experiment and the potential results for personal reasons. We are all fond of our childhood swinging experiences, which makes the question relevant to us. We are curious to see if it would have made any difference if we swung on a swing with one string or two strings.
Why is it important or interesting?
v  This is important because it is relevant to us.  Some of us primarily swung on single string swings, while others primarily played on double string swings. It will be interesting to discover whether or not our actively childhood swinging experiences were similar (if there is not difference) or different (if one proves to swing more than the other).
Refine the question into one that is testable by investigation. (HOW not WHY)
v  How will two strings effective the number of swings a metal washer makes at a 22 ½ angle for 10 seconds? 2 metal washers? 3 metal washers? 4 metal washers? How does it compare to the experiment using only one string?
INVESTIGATE:

 What claims can you make related to your question and what evidence supports those claims? 
v  There is not a significant difference in whether a swing has two strings or one string and our evidence is that the mean number of swings for each weight is about 9. These numbers are very similar to the evidence we found Tuesday when using only on string.



In-class quiz:  The swinging would be awkward because as we just dicusssed that length of the string makes a difference in how a pendulum swings, so having one long string and one short string would make the swing move faster on one side.

INSES: Inquirey & National Science Education Standards

The INSES article discusses a few different ways to think about inquiry, including examples of how inquiry is part of science but also how teaching through inquiry should be done. The article offers myths about teaching though inquiry and how to properly engage students through the 5 essential features of inquiry. One of the most influential aspects of the INSES is that the standards are consistent and progressive as the student progresses from Kindergarten to graduation. Consistent practice and exposure is an excellent way to ensure successful understanding and application of inquiry based science education. From the perspective of a future teacher, I like how the article points out that inquiry is not just a concept for students to understand, but also a process to be experienced. The teacher can introduce topics, but the students' curiosity and questions guide the process of learning through inquiry. Inquiry is an important skill for students, not just in science education, but also something to be used in everyday life. The article reads, "In this way, teachers can help all their students understand science as a human endeavor, acquire the scientific knowledge and thinking skills important in everyday life and, if their students so choose, in pursuing a scientific career." By engaging students in the 5 essential features of inquiry, I will be helping the students become life long learners that use these skills in everyday situations, whether they pursue a career in science or not.  Inquiry can be a very important thought processing strategy.

Activitymania

Activitymania involves pre-packaged cookie-cutter, hands-on science activities that are often used at the elementary level to "engage" students in science experimentation. However, as the article points out, "conceptual understanding and scientific literacy are not facilitated by this practice."  A better way of teaching science is through inquiry, which allows students to identify patterns and relationships in the world around them; asking questions and designing investigations to answer those questions according to their interests. One of the biggest flaws of activitymania, in my opinion, is that students know what the expected outcome is, so they disregard results that don't line up with the expectation and lose interest because their questions remain unanswered in the process.  But, activitymania remains popular because it "ensures science concepts will be addressed in the classroom".  What the producers of activitymania fail to realize though, is that ensuring that concepts are addressed is not the same as ensuring that students receive quality science education and understanding of those concepts. I feel fortunate that my preservice teacher training is focusing on teaching science as inquiry, where students' misconceptions are identified and addressed through higher order cognitive skills, like inquiry.  I will be able to better engage my students in scientific inquiry because I will have experienced how participating in this type of learning is more beneficial to retention and understanding. I will also be familiar with how to assess for understanding (formative and summative) and have an idea of how to incorporate scientific investigations into my classroom without relying on Activitymania.

Batteries, Bulbs & Wires

Our experiments:

  

Article Reflection:  Ms. Stone's BB&W kits are similar to the Yellow lab sheet we were given in our lab, where the step by step instructions are laid out.  The lab is a success in that all the students get their bulbs to light, but Ms. Stone's students are not engaged - they haven't a deep interest (their fidgety) and they haven't asked a scientific questions about electricity to investigate.  Also, the students are simply following instructions. They're not finding evidence, they're not evaluating evidence or explaining any kind of inquiry - they're simply making a light bulb work based on directions they've been given to connect some wires and batteries. This is just like what we did in the yellow lab - it's very teacher-centered and ineffective for reaching students' understanding.

Ms. Travis begins her lab by challenging the students' beliefs about electricity.  This is a good way to engage the students and assess for prior knowledge.  She presents the students with a challenge - to explore the flashlights - but without giving them too much information as to why. This helps to engage the students in forming their own inquiry. When she begins the experiment, she gently guides them to be more successful (by suggesting they strip the ends of their wires) but she's not instructing them on how to perform the experiment or piece their circuit together. Ms. Travis' experiment proceeds with additional challenges to the students, new questions forming and sharing and collaborating. Finally, students are allowed to research the answers to their questions online and discuss how other sources of light work.  This is more in-line with the pink lab we did, but I would argue that Ms. Travis' investigation was even better than that - providing students with much more information, more challenges and inquiry and a better understanding of what they're learning. Ms. Travis also provided the students with personal connections to make it more meaningful to the students.

Cool-It Lab - Inquiry Continuum

Weather Standard Homework