Tackling misconceptions

In this video (Veritasium), the author questions the effectiveness of teaching with videos like the Kahn academy's videos (Khan Academy and blogpost ELPCG1, entry4: Forget about Kumon!). He conducted a research to explore the problem.

In the first part of the experiment, students are shown a video presenting a scientific problem. They are then tested on this particular topic (test 1). In a second step, the students are presented with a second video explaining the theory and thereby revealing the correct answer. They are then submitted again to the same test (test 2). The results show that even after being presented with the correct answer, the number of students responding correctly is the same for test 1 and for test 2.

The assumption here is that when exposed to a scientific concept, people have preconceive ideas. They don't pay attention to the video giving a scientific explanation because they think their own idea is correct. They actually end up being reinforced that their preconceived idea is correct.

How can we tackle the problem of misconception? The students would pay more attention if their preconceived ideas were presented in a video. So in a second experiment, the author presents students with the same problem video and submit them to the pre-video test. They then show them a second video containing misconceptions about the scientific concept. The students were then tested again. In this experiment the number of correct answers was double after watching the video with the misconception.

So what happens there? When a scientific video is presented in a clear and concise manner, student believe they are learning, but they actually don't engage with the content on a deep level. They don't realize that what is presented is different from their previous knowledge. But given the opportunity to challenge their preconceived ideas, students were being engaged at a deeper level.

Forget about Kumon!

The Kahn academy (Khan Academy) is an educational video website. It is a free online collection of around 2200 microlectures of approximately 10 mn each on Youtube. The subjects range from mathematics to history, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and economics. It also contains about 100 web-based-exercises based on skill level and performance.

Kahn's idea started when he was tutoring his cousin Nadia in mathematics using Yahoo!'s Doodle notepad . One day, he had to tutor his cousin remotely, so he decided to post a video on You-tube. Her response was very positive. She actually preferred the YouTube version than being tutored in person. Five years later, the YouTube-hosted tutorials were scoring a total of more than 35,000 viewers per day.

Kahn is an excellent teacher and his videos are a fantastic collection of clear and concise lessons on a large variety of subjects. They are presented in a way as if you are sitting next to someone taking you through a problem on a sheet of paper.

This is a fantastic example of using IT to aid education. And best of all, it's free and readily available.

Pictures of the 21st century

The definition from http://www.ncreLorg/engauge/skills/vislit.htm of visual literacy is “the ability to interpret, use, appreciate and create images and video using conventional and 21^st century media in a way that advance thinking, decision-making, communication and learning”. This means not only images of objects, but also images of ideas.

In the 21^st century learning, students live in and use an environment which is highly visual. Ron Bleed (http://educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=ELI4001) emphasizes the importance of blogs, digital images and video in a world where literacy doesn't only refer to texts and words but also to digital imaging.

That leads me to the 6^th provocation:

What will (biology) students (from the 21^st century) want and need from me?

The visual aspect is particularly important when teaching cellular and molecular biology. We are dealing with a world invisible to the naked eye, which make it difficult to understand. In his article M. Flannery explores the importance of information visualization in Molecular biology and Genetics. 3D images of proteins are available to all on the Web http://www.ncbi.nih.gov. Software capable of converting enormous quantities of data into images on the Web or elsewhere using a downloadable programming environment (Visualizing Data from Ben Fry: http://acg.media.mit.edu/people/fry/chromosomes/13-icp/) are used to visualize the human genome and represent all information known about chromosomes.

Students need to learn to use or at least to be aware of these kind of information-visualization. They are the technique of the future and they are the only way to analyze large amount of complex data.

The issue of using these kind of technologies in education is that mastering these technologies can be a quite difficult task for students as well as for the teachers. It raises questions of teacher's development as well as combining software education and biology into a curriculum with an already high content.

reference:

Flannery, M. Thinking in pictures. The American Biology Teacher, Vol 68, no 5, p299-303.

Students of the future

The potential for use of IT in secondary education is enormous. Biological phenomena are easily exploited through these approaches to enhance research as well as education. The majority of biological, chemicals or environmental parameters can easily be recorded.

The benefits of computer assisted learning have been shown in many studies (Gardner et al.). In their article (Information technology in biology teaching: challenges and opportunities) Newton et al., discusses the cognitive benefit of using technology in biology. Students benefit from an intellectual partnership between the machine and themselves. The computer is a very powerful tool which can assist the student in the accomplishment of a task. It reduces the chore of processing data, of construction and exploration of graphs from experimental studies. The student still remains responsible for formulating the questions and for interpreting the results.

The effectiveness of using technology are also evident in the use of exploratory or inquiry-based softwares. These approaches are aimed to develop skills used for investigating and the interpreting data and results. Students' skills in decision-making and data-analysis are increased and result in higher level of learning.

References:

Gardener, J., Morrison, H., Jarman, R., Reilly.C., and McNally, H. (1992) Pupils' learning and access to information technology. Belfast: School of Education, Queens University of Belfast.

Newton, Leonard R.(1997). Journal of Biological Education, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p274-281.

Searching for the golden site

The safeguard of the biosphere and sustainable development depends upon strong science research, education, and resources to support the increasing demand for biological scientists and students, as well as the scientifically-literate public.

In recent years ICT development have considerably helped science teachers. By providing a quick and easy access to scientific information, it has help reduce the lag between scientific advance and its inclusion in the curriculum. In addition, it also has broaden the range of educational tools available. Computer learning packages, interactive and non-interactive information websites, communication via the web and collaborative projects, all of them provide an educative potential available to all student in a variety of formats catering for all kind of different learning styles.

Today's problem with using ICT in biology is not anymore the lack of information but the surplus or unnecessary excess of information. Part of student education will be to teach them the skills for selecting, evaluating and organizing information.

Where do we start with good science websites?

In their article, Jack O'Gorman and Amy Gullen (2010, Reference on the Web: Science Blogs and Tweets, http://www.booklist.com/) reviewed several excellent resources for biology teacher and students willing to keep up with developments in science. Networks and aggregators are fantastic sources for locating unlimited information. Since summer 2010, the number of sites assisting to locate good science blogs and twitters has literally exploded.

A network is a “cluster of blogs that group together for a specific purpose”.

Three very usefull networks are recommanded by the authors:

• PloS Blogs (http://blogs.plos.org/plos/) from the Public Library of Science
• ScienceBlogs (http://scienceblogs.com) one of the top science blogging
• Scientopia (http://scientopia.org/blogs/) groups around 25 blogs arranged by subjects including Biology and Environment, Brain and Behavior, Education and Careers, Humanities and Social Science and Politics.

An aggregator is “a directory of blogs, a one-stop shop to look through many different kinds of blogs”. Valuable scientific resources can be found on the following:

• Science Blogging Aggregated (http://scienceblogging.com)covers writing from media organizations, science publishers and scientific organizations like Scientific American, National Geographic, Smithsonian, The lay scientist or Panda's thumb, as well as some bloggers' collective.
• Science Pond (http://sciencepond.com)a twitter aggregator for science topic.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

Self portrait: a preservice teacher

Comments on Lizzy's Ed Found Post 1

can be found at:

lizzythamm | Just another WordPress.com site

Constructivism in the science classroom

“What kind of teacher do I want to be?”

Certainly not the science teacher who will teach nomenclature, teaching parts of the body, diagrams with legends to memorize and assess students on their capacity to memorize nouns and names !

Thinking of Kerrie's lecture Module D about constructivism and authentic pedagogies and working on my own philosophy of teaching for ELPC Tutorial, it became evident that constructivism was the basis for research but also for teaching in science.

My passion for science came from its connection with life and the world: observing, asking the right questions, finding a way to answer them best, and finally adding my own little piece of knowledge in the big picture.

To keep their interest and enthusiasm high, science should be taught in a constructivist manner by teaching students how to follow a similar intellectual approach:

 Explore: What are the important questions? Observe the world around you, read articles, think about your own experience, about previous lessons...

Construct: Design scientific experiments or projects (individual or collective), research articles in books, magazines, on Internet...

Communicate: Draw your conclusions, prepare written or oral reports, blogs, wikis...

Comment on Mark Thompson's Ed Found post 1

Hi Mark,

I would like to comment on few points from your post:

• In your second paragraph (Will I be allowed to be the teacher I want to be?), I agree that Jane would be limited by the school and department of education's rules and regulation, which is true for every teacher. In the particular context of Jane, I would add that she is also limited by her knowledge of the community as well as the expectations of the students she is working with. Her students are from remote rural community and their culture, their motivation for schooling and the kind of education they need and expect can be very different from what a middle class inner city woman has experienced . In addition she can also be limited by the school resources and style.

• The second point is in response to your point 4: Am I ready to teach?
  In the context of Jane's story, she might have feel very confident after her high academic results and the success of her first practicum placements. She was in a good position for starting her career as a teacher, but was she ready for this environment? Jane's story points out the importance of the teaching environment and the need for teachers to be flexible and prepared for different environment.

• Finally,I would also like to comment on the problems of discipline in the classroom. In his article (Educational psychology in the inclusive classroom, chapter 12, pp 454) Krause discusses the studies from Louden (1985) on the influence of home or school on students disturbed behaviors. If home factors like high level of family stress or socio-economic disadvantage can results in behavioral problems at school, he also identify school-related factors like “inappropriate teacher expectation of students” or “instruction in irrelevant skills” as well as a “lack of instruction in critical skills”. Jane's difficulty to control her classroom could be explain by her lack of experience in rural environment which can lead to inappropriate expectations from both sides and a different view on what critical skills are needed.

PPLE post 4: The front seat explosion

I really enjoy the lecture this week. I was always interested in the topic of "different learning style"

First, I was very impressed with Steve's reaction. It would have been natural to feel upset with the student reaction which could be perceive as a personal failure or the student's aggressiveness. Instead, Steve focused on trying to understand and analyze the student reaction.  A good example to follow.
It made me think of 2 experiences I had in situations where I was "in charge": in the first one, I was  mentoring a new technician in my science lab. She was very meticulous and was following protocols to the letter. It drove me crazy. I tried to explain to her that it was important to understand WHY you are doing this experiment and while some steps must be followed very precisely,  others allowed more flexibility.
The second situation is with a 10 year old student from my french class. She is so stressed about doing her homework exactly the way the teacher asked that she can not think or do anything outside the instructions.
In both cases, I realize that their approaches resulted in very successful outcomes, but I felt very irritated about their behaviors. I see how exploring these models further will be essential to learn to accept and understand different styles, and consequently adapt our teaching to provide adequate education for all students.
My last point will be about the nature's learning pattern.  I have been thinking about the path leading to my career as a teacher as climbing a hill: some parts are very steep, some parts easier. I like the metaphor of the bird jumping off the nest, but there is an idea of lack of control in the fall.  I feel more secure climbing the hill, with more control over the steep parts and a choice of putting the effort to get to the next level.

PS: After 3 weeks of free fall, I was just starting to flap my wings and to build a new comfortable little nest at UC.....and I can already a new jump on the horizon: the beginning of the professional experience!

The Science Curriculum: Knowledge, Skills and Citizenship

In his study “What is Curriculum? Kieran Egan discusses the importance of the “What” (the subject content) and the “How” (the pedagogical content) as main components of the curriculum. But let's consider Lyn Yates' big picture question: “What kind of schooling is needed to be a worker and citizen in the coming century?

I would like to reflect on 2 of our provocations in the context of my KLA: science.

“What do students need from me?”.. and from my science class?

Is it to learn science facts and reasoning or to obtain a better understanding of the world and our environment?

“Do we teach students or subjects?” 

Do I want my students to be knowledgeable in biology, or do I want them to acquire useful skills to prepare them for adult life as a better person and citizen?

In the National Curriculum Board 2009, there is a strong focus on the commitment to support all young Australians to become active and informed citizens.In a science context, consumers and citizens needs to evaluate scientific facts and make informed decisions and choices. We need to be scientifically literate and we need to develop scientifically literate students.

References:

Churchill, R 2011. Teaching, making a difference, John Willey and Sons, Australia, Ltd. Chapter 7, pp. 203.

Egan, K, 2003. What is curriculum? Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, vol. 1, no 1, pp. 9-16.

Yates,  L 2009.  From curriculum to pedagogy and back again: knowledge, the person and the changing world. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, vol. 17, no 1, pp. 17-28.