THE INSPIRED
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By Dave Quinn, Director of Technology Integration, Mendon-Upton Regional SchoolsSeveral weeks ago my colleague, Maureen Cohen, wrote a warm, thoughtful blog that explored the importance of building wonder into our classroom practice. The student questions and strategies she provided reminded me of one of my favorite books, Thomas & Brown (2011)’s New Culture of Learning which discussed approaches to rethink education. In the book the authors write: What if, for example, questions were more important than answers? What if the key to learning were not the application of techniques but their invention? What if students were asking questions about things that really mattered to them? It’s a vision for education that makes me inspired. While thinking about Maureen’s piece, my mind began to shift from “the what” to "the how". How might our students go about exploring their wonderings and answering their questions? In particular, how are they making sense of or critically evaluating the information they obtain? Research by the Stanford History Education Group suggests that students of all ages struggle to evaluate the credibility of claims made on social and digital media platforms. Questioning is essential to personal growth as is the development of what Ernest Hemingway would call built-in, shockproof crap detector. So how might we help students develop a better information filter? Mike Caulfield, director of blended and networked learning at Washington State University Vancouver provides a simple, straightforward approach for quickly determining the accuracy of a claim in the article. The process, The Four Moves and a Habit, is a process for fact checking that gives students a process for assessing claims they encounter on the net. This resource is outlined in the infographic below.  Caulfield has also written an e-book, Web Literacy for Student Fact Checkers, where he outlines the moves in-depth and also provides examples for using the moves on web texts. The Four Moves Blog has several fact-checking tasks based on current news articles. You can also check out his personal blog https://hapgood.us for deeper reading on information literacy and web navigation.
By Maureen Cohen, Assistant Superintendent, Mendon-Upton Regional School District Student agency was at the center of our December 2017 conversation for the Inspired Learning Project. Each month we tackle a core characteristic and pillar of inspired learning to help build our capacities as educators to continue to grow and move our practice.  In this capacity building, we developed a shared understanding of what we felt were key characteristics of student agency through the lens of how we view an entrepreneur. The group came up with the following characteristics of an entrepreneur: self-manager, self-starter, visionary, productive problem seeker and solver, independent, innovative, reflective, creative, confident, innovative, curious, collaborative, turns challenges into opportunities, brave, desires feedback, forward thinker, has focus, self-evaluator As we expanded our thoughts on the characteristics of an entrepreneur, we moved into a discussion about student agency and how student agency is more than just giving students choice. The group felt that agency is about deeper learning opportunities and personalization. The conversation really took off when we discussed Spencer’s metaphor in his book of a teacher being a tour guide who brings you through a tour. We pondered, who should be the tour guide, the teacher or the students?  One participant stated, “The problem in schools is that we tell them they are going to Paris, or Rome, but they have no choice over where they are going in their learning. When students have the agency to choose their own tour, that is really important for fostering student agency.” Getting ActionableWe ended the highly engaging conversation with some actionable approaches to add more agency into what we are doing. Here are a couple of examples provided:
We hope you join us in our next conversation this Thursday, January 11th at 8PM as we tackle the concept of building authentic learning opportunities for our students. By MaryAnn DeMaria, Grade 7 Science Teacher |
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Going Public
After data collection, students need to decide how to organize and analyze the data in tables and graphs. This is another opportunity for one-on-one meetings. Many students end up with hundreds of measurements but they don’t know what to do with all of the numbers. I encourage students to go back and think about the question they are asking: which data and what type of graph would best answer the question?
Finally, students communicate all of their research and results through a written report, display board, and oral presentation. Every student is also given the authentic experience of presenting their work at the school science fair and some students go on to the regional and state science fairs. Students that participate in the regional and state fairs get the additional benefit of an authentic scientific “poster session” where they discuss their project with five different highly qualified judges. These experiences are less about the competition and more about getting feedback from experts in their field. Students have told me that speaking with the judges, and getting positive feedback as well as suggestions for improvement, was their favorite part of the entire experience.
Finally, students communicate all of their research and results through a written report, display board, and oral presentation. Every student is also given the authentic experience of presenting their work at the school science fair and some students go on to the regional and state science fairs. Students that participate in the regional and state fairs get the additional benefit of an authentic scientific “poster session” where they discuss their project with five different highly qualified judges. These experiences are less about the competition and more about getting feedback from experts in their field. Students have told me that speaking with the judges, and getting positive feedback as well as suggestions for improvement, was their favorite part of the entire experience.
My role in this process is to guide and help them throughout their entire journey. I love having one on one conversations with my students where I can see them thinking and trying to help them think through solutions to their problems. I may nudge them in a direction, but I never give them the answers. I take great satisfaction when I see the look of pride in their faces when they solve the difficult problems."- MaryAnn DeMaria
The Greater Purpose
Because of our earlier inquiry projects in the classroom, my students have the research skills and science inquiry skills needed to be successful with this type of project. Additionally, the science project provides students with the opportunity to continue to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills as they move through the inquiry/engineering design process. What I most love about this project, however, is that students must constantly be evaluating and assessing their own work, and making revisions if necessary. Of all the skills being developed in this project, I feel the ability of students to reflect on their own work and self-assess is the most important skill because if they are able to do this, they become in charge of their own learning. They no longer need to rely on an outside person to determine whether their work is up to the standards, they begin to make this determination themselves. The science project forces students into the role of self-assessor because they “own” the entire project. They choose the topic, they choose the sources, they design the procedure, they choose how to organize and analyze data, etc. Each of these decisions requires the use of critical thinking skills but after each decision is made and the work is done, problems always arise. It is at this point when students must reflect on their earlier decisions and make some changes.
Revisions and iterations do not come naturally to seventh graders. In fact, they often hate feeling like they are “going backwards.” However, it’s truly rewarding when students come to the realization that sometimes a step backwards is necessary in order to go forward. Usually, every project runs into a problem somewhere in the process. A specific example is when a student was investigating the effect of the type of nut on the amount of heat energy released and transferred to water. The student collected hundreds of measurements but most of the measurements were exactly the same. All of the nuts caused the water to only increase 1º C. Initially, this student felt like they were done, but after some discussion focusing on the experimental design, they realized they had a flaw in their procedure. The nuts were not allowed to burn to completion, instead the student stopped measuring the temperature of the water after a certain time and as a result, the water only increased 1º C for every trial. Convincing this student to go back and collect more measurements was not difficult because we sat down together to solve this problem. I ask students questions to get them to figure out where the errors were made, and then I ask more questions to help them figure out a solution. These one-on-one discussions are essential for students to feel positive about “going backward” because after these discussions, students usually have figured out the problem and have a plan for a solution. Students sometimes need to be explicitly taught how to reflect and self-assess, and these one-on-one discussions give me the opportunity to teach each student individually.
Revisions and iterations do not come naturally to seventh graders. In fact, they often hate feeling like they are “going backwards.” However, it’s truly rewarding when students come to the realization that sometimes a step backwards is necessary in order to go forward. Usually, every project runs into a problem somewhere in the process. A specific example is when a student was investigating the effect of the type of nut on the amount of heat energy released and transferred to water. The student collected hundreds of measurements but most of the measurements were exactly the same. All of the nuts caused the water to only increase 1º C. Initially, this student felt like they were done, but after some discussion focusing on the experimental design, they realized they had a flaw in their procedure. The nuts were not allowed to burn to completion, instead the student stopped measuring the temperature of the water after a certain time and as a result, the water only increased 1º C for every trial. Convincing this student to go back and collect more measurements was not difficult because we sat down together to solve this problem. I ask students questions to get them to figure out where the errors were made, and then I ask more questions to help them figure out a solution. These one-on-one discussions are essential for students to feel positive about “going backward” because after these discussions, students usually have figured out the problem and have a plan for a solution. Students sometimes need to be explicitly taught how to reflect and self-assess, and these one-on-one discussions give me the opportunity to teach each student individually.
Learning that Lasts a Lifetime
The learning that will stay with my students long after they leave the class is that science is not just a collection of facts to memorize, rather science is an active and systematic process that needs people who are creative and willing to accept challenges in order to gain new knowledge.
I have many favorite and memorable projects from my 17 years of experience, but one of my favorites was a project where a student wanted to observe the effect of number of coils on the sound produced by a crystal radio. This student was inspired to pursue this project because his grandfather was a WWII veteran. After reading about WWII, this student learned how soldiers in foxholes during WWII built their own crystal radios to maintain communication with the outside world. This student had to overcome many obstacles including obtaining the materials to build three different radios, finding a way to measure the amount of sound produced and finding a location for the antenna. While this student did not go on to participate in the Worcester Regional Science & Engineering Fair at WPI, this student followed his passion and used this project to connect more closely with his grandfather.
Another one of my favorite projects was when a student wanted to do a project where she tried to convert sound energy into electrical energy. This student was inspired by the Pixar movie, Monsters, Inc. and she was also a violin player, so she loved music. She was also a member of “Take it Apart Club” and wanted to use some of these components in her project. This student did go on to participate in the Worcester Regional Science & Engineering Fair at WPI and the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair at Worcester Technical High School.
I have many favorite and memorable projects from my 17 years of experience, but one of my favorites was a project where a student wanted to observe the effect of number of coils on the sound produced by a crystal radio. This student was inspired to pursue this project because his grandfather was a WWII veteran. After reading about WWII, this student learned how soldiers in foxholes during WWII built their own crystal radios to maintain communication with the outside world. This student had to overcome many obstacles including obtaining the materials to build three different radios, finding a way to measure the amount of sound produced and finding a location for the antenna. While this student did not go on to participate in the Worcester Regional Science & Engineering Fair at WPI, this student followed his passion and used this project to connect more closely with his grandfather.
Another one of my favorite projects was when a student wanted to do a project where she tried to convert sound energy into electrical energy. This student was inspired by the Pixar movie, Monsters, Inc. and she was also a violin player, so she loved music. She was also a member of “Take it Apart Club” and wanted to use some of these components in her project. This student did go on to participate in the Worcester Regional Science & Engineering Fair at WPI and the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair at Worcester Technical High School.
Inspired Learning: Its Impact on Me
Over the years, I have found myself heavily invested in certain projects. It took me a while to figure out what attracted me to these projects, but I finally put my finger on what they all had in common. Every year, there are a few students who blindside me with their passion for this project and their ability to think creatively. The students who are most successful with this type of project are not always the students you expect to be most successful. Sometimes it is that student who does not really do well in the traditional classroom, but when given the opportunity to pursue their own interests, they put in maximum effort and simply come alive. I have had students tell me that their experience with this project changed their view of science and their view of themselves as scientists. I can think of no better justification for this project.
Bumps Along the Way
Some of the challenges that I encountered over the years of doing this project include obtaining the resources for students who have limited budgets, finding the time to work one on one with all of my students, and managing the amount of physical materials (display boards...) in the classroom. During my third or fourth year of doing this project, I created “science projects in a box” for those students who needed more financial or creative support with this project. Some students really struggle with choosing their own topics because they may not really be passionate about science. To these students, they really don’t have any preference as to what project they do, they just want to “get it done.” I have learned that this situation can be okay, as long as the students still have to think critically and solve problems. I put together plastic containers with some traditional science projects to help these students, as well as the students who could use financial support. Some of my boxes include investigating the effect of temperature on rate of Alka-Seltzer reaction, the effect of drop height on crater diameter, and the effect of color on heat absorption. All of these projects require minimal supplies and can be reused year after year, if needed. At my current school, we start our day with common directed study. I use this time to meet one-on-one with students but honestly, most of the one-on-one meetings take place after school. I can do this now because I am an older teacher without many responsibilities at home. I also make time in class to meet with students. I plan specific lessons where students are required to work independently to give me the time to meet with individual students. After 17 years of managing this project, I have yet to find a solution to the space issue. Display boards take up space and there is no way around this issue. I do have a prep room where I can store display boards, but I like to keep this room available for student use rather than just storage. During science project time, my classroom is less organized than I would like it to be, but that is just something I have learned to live with because it is worth it in the end.
Resources
I created a research/inquiry guide for seventh grade students 17 years ago and have revised it many times over the years. I have broken down the project into 10 homework assignments and we try to adhere to a strict timeline. I purchase some of the display boards from Michaels, but many students purchase their own boards ($5.49 each). Students also keep a record of their project in a bound project notebook. We have used composition books (2/$1.00 at Walmart) for the project notebooks but my students have also used blue book type notebooks. I have many photos of students with their display boards to use as examples of boards.
MaryAnn's Research Guide for Students
MaryAnn's Research Guide for Students
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