Working Theory of Practice
From observations and teaching in the science classroom and from my studies in our graduate program, I have come to believe that structuring more frequent discussions into unit plans in science may help students better comprehend important science concepts, as well as better understand how scientists practice science today. Thus, my inquiry project will focus on: what strategies help science teachers engage students in discussions in the science classroom? In this paper, I present the observations that have led me to this inquiry question, why I believe discussion is important in the science classroom, and how I plan to incorporate more discussions focused lessons into my curiculum.
Since my start in September, I have observed great fluctuations in student discourse in the classroom. At the beginning of the school year, my freshman students were very quiet in class. As the school year progressed, many of my students became more talkative with each other; some students also became much more responsive to teacher questions. During some lessons, a majority of students answer. However, during other lessons, I only see the same 3 or so students raising their hands to answer teacher directed questions. Even more rarely do students ask questions of the teacher (i.e. for more information, to ask about how a certain concept about which they are learning explains phenomena they have observed) or challenge something that the teacher has stated. I have begun to wonder: what changes do I make between lessons that results in more student engagement and encourages students to ask more questions of the teacher?
For one thing, we have provided our students many opportunities to learn through small group activities and labs. For example, we recently completed a lesson on the chemistry of water using a Water Stations Lab Activity. During this three-day lesson, groups of four students moved around to eight stations where they completed short, guided inquiry investigations. The purpose of this activity was to guide student learning about properties of water (surface tension, cohesion, adhesion, and capillary action.) During these investigations, students often called my CM or me over to their group for explanations. They asked questions such as: “What are we supposed to do?” “What should we do next?” “Why did this happen?” “I do not understand this – can you explain this to me?” and “What is the answer to this question?” While I appreciated that the students were on task and doing work, I had hoped that our careful structuring of the activity would allow students to discuss questions and clarifications with each other rather than needing always to ask the teachers.
In addition to group activities, I have observed as well as led a few larger class discussions. In these discussions, students have had the opportunity to express opinions, ideas, and previous knowledge on certain topics. One of the liveliest discussions I witnessed in my classroom occurred during an annual event known as career day. On this day, alumni of the high school come back to speak to the students about their careers and about what they did after graduating from high school. My class had an alumni speaker who formerly taught in the Philadelphia school district, who worked as a principal in the Philadelphia school district, and who eventually became the superintendent of the Cheltenham School District.
Another success of this professional included founding the Global Youth United (GYU) club at my school. Members of the GYU club meet to discuss problems facing the world and brainstorm what role the student body could play in alleviating some of the problems. The speaker casually asked the students as a class: “So what do you think is the biggest problem facing the world today?” Nearly half of the students in the class provided answers! These answers ranged from “inequality” to “economics” to “hate” to “religious misunderstandings” to “racism.” After compiling a list on the board, the students had the opportunity to discuss which they deemed most important to address and how these problems may be inter-related. I realized that we do not receive nearly as much participation and discussion from our students in our daily science classes as I saw during this special seminar day! I wondered if the students participated more because they felt more connected to the discussion as the issues at hand were relevant and personal to their lives today.
More recently, I engaged students in a science activity called “Is It a Food?” I used this activity as an introduction to the new section in biology that we would be studying: organic macromolecules. Students received a short worksheet that directed them first to read over a list of items, and then check off what they would label as “food,” and finally write a scientific definition for food. Students worked quietly by themselves at first. My CM and I walked around the classroom to check on student work and challenge students with questions such as: Why did you mark that? What qualities are you considering when you choose? Could you arrive at a scientific definition of a food yet?
Soon, the conversation in the classroom reached a fairly loud level. At that point, I brought all of the students back together for a group discussion. I began by asking students as a whole what they decided did not constitute a food on the list. I received reasonable, though varied, responses from students. Soon, the group conversation dissolved into a discussion of preferences FOR food rather than a scientific explanation of what IS food. I noticed that, as I initially wondered around the room as students worked, I saw most students writing down their own definitions and thus I engaged in conversation with these students. However, when we came back together as a group, I noted that only a certain few students dominated the group discussion. These experiences in the classroom have led to wonder: What strategies help science teachers engage students in discussions in the science classroom?
Discussion is essential to all aspects of scientific inquiry: discussion of the observations that lead to scientific investigations, discussion of methods used in the scientific research process, discussion of the data generated during research, and discussion of the potential implications for research findings. Indeed, as Olson and Loucks-Horsley (2000) note,
“Teachers of science [must] develop communities of science learners that reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social
values conducive to science learning. In doing this, teachers [must] … nurture collaboration among students [and] structure and facilitate ongoing formal
and informal discussion based on a shared understanding of rules of scientific discourse” (p. 23).
Science educators of the 21st century should also guide the development of student scientific literacy skills more generally (Osborne, 2007). As I wrote in my Problem of Practice Paper for Science Methods class, I believe that
“our students should be able to engage in public discussion on science-related issues. Even if they do not pursue a career in science, they should be able
to be critical consumers of scientific and technological ideas, theories, and products that affect their everyday lives. In order to reach these scientific
literacy goals, our students must learn both how to ask questions about science and how to discuss the answers delivered to them”.
What I hope to achieve in my classroom is what Yael Schwartz (2009) calls “real discussion”. In real discussions, there “is an interplay of meanings and ideas from both students and the teacher… Students [have] opportunities to express their own ideas (even if they are not always correct or well- structured), listen to their peers ideas, evaluate and critique ideas, and revise and integrate them as well” (pp. 44-45). I believe that frequent use of ‘think-pair-share’ activities can help students learn both how to express their own ideas and how to listen to the ideas of their peers. The frequent use of discussion practices in the classroom can help maintain student interest in science; the research of Osborne and Collins (2001) found that the lack of opportunity to explore and discuss ideas in science was one of the reasons students cited for their disaffection with school science.
The selected literature we have read in both science methods class and field seminar provides some resources and suggestions for engaging students in discussion. To begin, the teacher must establish a classroom environment that welcomes and encourages discussion. As Llewellyn (2005) notes, both display of thought provoking resources (“What if…” and “I wonder…” posters; concept maps and graphic organizers; extra textbooks for student use; bookshelf housing fiction and nonfiction book, science magazines, journals) and physical room organization (arrangement of student desks in a “U” shape so that students can see and hear each other; separate learning centers for small group work) can help with implementation of an inquiry and discussion based practice. Luckily, this physical set up already exists in the classroom in which I teach.
A discussion-based classroom must be student/learner centered; it must be a place where “students feel that their teacher and peers value their ideas, thoughts, opinions” (Llewellyn, 2005, p.56) and where students feel safe. Bybee (2009) provides some specific, simple guidelines for doing so: create an atmosphere in the class in which questions [are] not only welcomed but expected; when you give reinforcement, do it positively and as often as you can; and maintain a positive and accepting attitude (p.247). For future classes in which I plan to teach using discussions, I will provide guidelines for constructive and respectful discussions as a means to help all students feel that their ideas, thoughts, and opinions are valued by others.
As my class mentor and I recently discussed, we plan to work together to incorporate more discussion-based lessons in our teaching next year. From our readings and from my experiences in the classroom, I feel confident saying that students become most involved in class discussions when teachers tap into students' previous knowledge, give students another perspective on a topic they take for granted everyday (like food!), and talk about things in which students express interest. In the remaining units of my science class, I will pick out one exciting topic per unit that I believe could stimulate productive class discussion. The discussions that I will foster will encourage students to think about and express opinions and value judgments on science topics. To analyze how the discussions are occurring in the classroom, I plan sometimes to record whole classes, sometimes to have students record their group conversations on their own (via their own technology resources or provided recorders), and sometimes to use surveys to see what ideas students expressed and how comfortable they felt expressing them. Other methods that I specifically will plan in my lessons for the second half of the year include: continued use of group lab projects and reports, fish bowl exercises, and Socratic seminars, as described by Preszler and Rowenhorst (2006).
Since my start in September, I have observed great fluctuations in student discourse in the classroom. At the beginning of the school year, my freshman students were very quiet in class. As the school year progressed, many of my students became more talkative with each other; some students also became much more responsive to teacher questions. During some lessons, a majority of students answer. However, during other lessons, I only see the same 3 or so students raising their hands to answer teacher directed questions. Even more rarely do students ask questions of the teacher (i.e. for more information, to ask about how a certain concept about which they are learning explains phenomena they have observed) or challenge something that the teacher has stated. I have begun to wonder: what changes do I make between lessons that results in more student engagement and encourages students to ask more questions of the teacher?
For one thing, we have provided our students many opportunities to learn through small group activities and labs. For example, we recently completed a lesson on the chemistry of water using a Water Stations Lab Activity. During this three-day lesson, groups of four students moved around to eight stations where they completed short, guided inquiry investigations. The purpose of this activity was to guide student learning about properties of water (surface tension, cohesion, adhesion, and capillary action.) During these investigations, students often called my CM or me over to their group for explanations. They asked questions such as: “What are we supposed to do?” “What should we do next?” “Why did this happen?” “I do not understand this – can you explain this to me?” and “What is the answer to this question?” While I appreciated that the students were on task and doing work, I had hoped that our careful structuring of the activity would allow students to discuss questions and clarifications with each other rather than needing always to ask the teachers.
In addition to group activities, I have observed as well as led a few larger class discussions. In these discussions, students have had the opportunity to express opinions, ideas, and previous knowledge on certain topics. One of the liveliest discussions I witnessed in my classroom occurred during an annual event known as career day. On this day, alumni of the high school come back to speak to the students about their careers and about what they did after graduating from high school. My class had an alumni speaker who formerly taught in the Philadelphia school district, who worked as a principal in the Philadelphia school district, and who eventually became the superintendent of the Cheltenham School District.
Another success of this professional included founding the Global Youth United (GYU) club at my school. Members of the GYU club meet to discuss problems facing the world and brainstorm what role the student body could play in alleviating some of the problems. The speaker casually asked the students as a class: “So what do you think is the biggest problem facing the world today?” Nearly half of the students in the class provided answers! These answers ranged from “inequality” to “economics” to “hate” to “religious misunderstandings” to “racism.” After compiling a list on the board, the students had the opportunity to discuss which they deemed most important to address and how these problems may be inter-related. I realized that we do not receive nearly as much participation and discussion from our students in our daily science classes as I saw during this special seminar day! I wondered if the students participated more because they felt more connected to the discussion as the issues at hand were relevant and personal to their lives today.
More recently, I engaged students in a science activity called “Is It a Food?” I used this activity as an introduction to the new section in biology that we would be studying: organic macromolecules. Students received a short worksheet that directed them first to read over a list of items, and then check off what they would label as “food,” and finally write a scientific definition for food. Students worked quietly by themselves at first. My CM and I walked around the classroom to check on student work and challenge students with questions such as: Why did you mark that? What qualities are you considering when you choose? Could you arrive at a scientific definition of a food yet?
Soon, the conversation in the classroom reached a fairly loud level. At that point, I brought all of the students back together for a group discussion. I began by asking students as a whole what they decided did not constitute a food on the list. I received reasonable, though varied, responses from students. Soon, the group conversation dissolved into a discussion of preferences FOR food rather than a scientific explanation of what IS food. I noticed that, as I initially wondered around the room as students worked, I saw most students writing down their own definitions and thus I engaged in conversation with these students. However, when we came back together as a group, I noted that only a certain few students dominated the group discussion. These experiences in the classroom have led to wonder: What strategies help science teachers engage students in discussions in the science classroom?
Discussion is essential to all aspects of scientific inquiry: discussion of the observations that lead to scientific investigations, discussion of methods used in the scientific research process, discussion of the data generated during research, and discussion of the potential implications for research findings. Indeed, as Olson and Loucks-Horsley (2000) note,
“Teachers of science [must] develop communities of science learners that reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social
values conducive to science learning. In doing this, teachers [must] … nurture collaboration among students [and] structure and facilitate ongoing formal
and informal discussion based on a shared understanding of rules of scientific discourse” (p. 23).
Science educators of the 21st century should also guide the development of student scientific literacy skills more generally (Osborne, 2007). As I wrote in my Problem of Practice Paper for Science Methods class, I believe that
“our students should be able to engage in public discussion on science-related issues. Even if they do not pursue a career in science, they should be able
to be critical consumers of scientific and technological ideas, theories, and products that affect their everyday lives. In order to reach these scientific
literacy goals, our students must learn both how to ask questions about science and how to discuss the answers delivered to them”.
What I hope to achieve in my classroom is what Yael Schwartz (2009) calls “real discussion”. In real discussions, there “is an interplay of meanings and ideas from both students and the teacher… Students [have] opportunities to express their own ideas (even if they are not always correct or well- structured), listen to their peers ideas, evaluate and critique ideas, and revise and integrate them as well” (pp. 44-45). I believe that frequent use of ‘think-pair-share’ activities can help students learn both how to express their own ideas and how to listen to the ideas of their peers. The frequent use of discussion practices in the classroom can help maintain student interest in science; the research of Osborne and Collins (2001) found that the lack of opportunity to explore and discuss ideas in science was one of the reasons students cited for their disaffection with school science.
The selected literature we have read in both science methods class and field seminar provides some resources and suggestions for engaging students in discussion. To begin, the teacher must establish a classroom environment that welcomes and encourages discussion. As Llewellyn (2005) notes, both display of thought provoking resources (“What if…” and “I wonder…” posters; concept maps and graphic organizers; extra textbooks for student use; bookshelf housing fiction and nonfiction book, science magazines, journals) and physical room organization (arrangement of student desks in a “U” shape so that students can see and hear each other; separate learning centers for small group work) can help with implementation of an inquiry and discussion based practice. Luckily, this physical set up already exists in the classroom in which I teach.
A discussion-based classroom must be student/learner centered; it must be a place where “students feel that their teacher and peers value their ideas, thoughts, opinions” (Llewellyn, 2005, p.56) and where students feel safe. Bybee (2009) provides some specific, simple guidelines for doing so: create an atmosphere in the class in which questions [are] not only welcomed but expected; when you give reinforcement, do it positively and as often as you can; and maintain a positive and accepting attitude (p.247). For future classes in which I plan to teach using discussions, I will provide guidelines for constructive and respectful discussions as a means to help all students feel that their ideas, thoughts, and opinions are valued by others.
As my class mentor and I recently discussed, we plan to work together to incorporate more discussion-based lessons in our teaching next year. From our readings and from my experiences in the classroom, I feel confident saying that students become most involved in class discussions when teachers tap into students' previous knowledge, give students another perspective on a topic they take for granted everyday (like food!), and talk about things in which students express interest. In the remaining units of my science class, I will pick out one exciting topic per unit that I believe could stimulate productive class discussion. The discussions that I will foster will encourage students to think about and express opinions and value judgments on science topics. To analyze how the discussions are occurring in the classroom, I plan sometimes to record whole classes, sometimes to have students record their group conversations on their own (via their own technology resources or provided recorders), and sometimes to use surveys to see what ideas students expressed and how comfortable they felt expressing them. Other methods that I specifically will plan in my lessons for the second half of the year include: continued use of group lab projects and reports, fish bowl exercises, and Socratic seminars, as described by Preszler and Rowenhorst (2006).
References:
Bybee, R., Powell, J., & Trowbridge, L. (2009). Teaching secondary school science: Strategies for developing scientific literacy (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Llewellyn, D. (2005). Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry: A Case Study Approach. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Osborne, J. F., & Collins, S. (2001). Pupils' views of the role and value of the science curriculum: a focus-group study. International Journal of Science Education, 23(5), 441- 468.
Olson, S., Loucks-Horseley, S. (2000) Committee on the Development of an Addendum to the National Science Education Standards in Scientific Inquiry. Nat’l Research Council, Inquiry and the Nat’l Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning.
Osborne, J. (2007). Science education for the twenty first century. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 3(3), 173–184.
Preszler, J., Rowenhorst, B. (Eds.). (2006). On Target: Strategies That Differentiate Instruction Grades 4 - 12. Rapid City, South Dakota: Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC)
Schwartz, Y., Weizman, A., Fortus, D., Sutherland, L., Merrit, J., & Krajcik, J. (2009). Talking science: Classroom discussions and their role in inquiry-based learning environments. The Science Teacher, Summer, 44-47.
Bybee, R., Powell, J., & Trowbridge, L. (2009). Teaching secondary school science: Strategies for developing scientific literacy (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Llewellyn, D. (2005). Teaching High School Science Through Inquiry: A Case Study Approach. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Osborne, J. F., & Collins, S. (2001). Pupils' views of the role and value of the science curriculum: a focus-group study. International Journal of Science Education, 23(5), 441- 468.
Olson, S., Loucks-Horseley, S. (2000) Committee on the Development of an Addendum to the National Science Education Standards in Scientific Inquiry. Nat’l Research Council, Inquiry and the Nat’l Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning.
Osborne, J. (2007). Science education for the twenty first century. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 3(3), 173–184.
Preszler, J., Rowenhorst, B. (Eds.). (2006). On Target: Strategies That Differentiate Instruction Grades 4 - 12. Rapid City, South Dakota: Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (BHSSC)
Schwartz, Y., Weizman, A., Fortus, D., Sutherland, L., Merrit, J., & Krajcik, J. (2009). Talking science: Classroom discussions and their role in inquiry-based learning environments. The Science Teacher, Summer, 44-47.