As a future science teacher I have a certain vision for how my classroom will run. I imagine students discussing with one another in groups, an observant teacher walking around, questions being asked, experiments in progress, success and failure taking place, teacher and student assessment, and demonstrations of justified explanations. I will strive for each of those actions to take place on a daily basis. The reason is because those actions fall under what I see as exemplary science teaching and learning which is inquiry-based lesson planning.
Inquiry-based lesson planning is a recent, profound goal of mine which was not included in my beginning thoughts on teaching science. I initially believed interactive, challenging, and informative lessons were going to guide my instruction. I believed if students were “hands on”, therefore, physically and visually learning, science would be understood. In my opinion, these thoughts are not necessarily wrong but for students to reach a solid understanding of science their “hands on” activities must be guided through inquiry-based lessons. In other words, an interactive, challenging, and informative lesson must include engaging scientifically oriented questions, resources for providing evidence, time given for formulation of explanations, evaluation, and communication between students and the teacher. These factors go beyond informative instruction because students are the ones piecing the puzzle pieces together to learn science.
My strong belief in inquiry developed because of a methods course I took on how to teach science. During class time I experienced a non-inquiry based lesson as well as a solid inquiry-based lesson. The lesson focus was on batteries, light bulbs, and wires. With those given materials our goal was to produce light. The non-inquiry based lesson provided specific instructions/hints on how to produce light. The inquiry-based lesson provided a question to guide the exploration of the materials. The first lesson required little thought, all I had to do was follow the steps and answer the questions, and the second lesson was more like an investigation. I had to examine the materials, evaluate my thoughts, test out my predictions, compare my results, and because of a required response, communicate my results. Because of the small amount of guidance given in the second lesson I was forced to explore and reason on my own. This exploration enhanced my learning because I was experiencing it.
Along with my experience in class, course readings also attributed to my strong belief in inquiry based lessons. The article “Misconceptions Die Hard” introduced me to a common trend among science students. Many students arrive to class with an unchanging, untrue, specific idea or form of information. These ideas develop early on through misunderstandings or general/common beliefs in a certain topic or subject. Inquiry based lessons might not always change these misconceptions but they force students to test them out. For example, through in class videos, I learned that even Harvard grad students have trouble letting go of the held notion that seasons change because of the rotation and movement of the sun. Some of my classroom inquiry-based lessons will focus on proving these ideas wrong so my students have the opportunity overcome these misconceptions. For example, I might give each group of students a light bulb, a large and small Styrofoam ball and ask for them to demonstrate how seasons change. After each group is finished providing their explanation, I will show a YouTube video on how seasons actually change. After the video I will ask what students noticed the most, and if their demonstration modeled the demonstration in the video? This form of assessment as well as inquiry based lesson forces students to witness whether or not their demonstration worked and adjust it for accuracy. Not all students will let go of their misconceptions, but I believe if activities such as the one above is correctly and frequently done, most students will acknowledge that their former idea might actually be wrong.
Next, an article on formative assessment contributed to my strong inquiry-based vision. Formative assessment is crucial; it allows teachers and students to make adjustments to guide better teaching and learning throughout the school year. Inquiry lessons allow teachers to kid-watch, witness trial and error, retain small conferences, hold class debates, record notes in science notebooks, and create rubrics. The process of inquiry is so flexible and objective each of the activities above can properly be infused throughout each lesson. For example, while students work in their groups, I can quietly hold a conference one by one with each group to record possible weaknesses and strengths. This tool not only triggers continuous adjustment between teacher and student but pinpoints the needs of all students.
Diversity is another strong factor in how I will teach science in the classroom. Inquiry-based lessons allow for differentiated instruction to take place. A flexible approach or multiple entry points are possible because of scientifically oriented questions. They allow diverse explanations or demonstrations to be acceptable. Whether students are physically acting out their idea or writing down their thoughts each answer will still meet my learning goal. The assessment that falls under inquiry also enhances my role in differentiated teaching because I will be able to adjust any aspect of curriculum to enhance student learning and my overall teaching strategies.
My adjustments in curriculum will never erase district requirements in what students learn. I will only alter it to become more inquiry orientated. These alterations will always include specific learning goals and learning performances so administrators, other teachers, parents, students, and I know exactly what information the students are to learn and what they need to do or “perform” to achieve it. These goals and performances act as the perfect resource and guideline to follow throughout the school year.
In all, my final vision is for inquiry, assessment, and the account for diversity to take place in my future science teaching classroom. Not only do I want students to be interactive and “hands on” but I want the process of inquiry taking place.
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