Best-Practice Workshops

Inquiry Teaching and Learning: Supporting the Practices of Science and Engineering

Most science programs support an inquiry component of some kind, and the new Next Generation Science Standards define inquiry in terms of the Practices of Science and Engineering (SEP). Why take this course? Despite a robust research literature supporting the use of inquiry and SEP in the science classroom, putting this research into practice has proven elusive in many schools. What should inquiry teaching and learning look like in the classroom? The workshop will provide concrete strategies to support inquiry teaching and learning and the SEP of the NGSS in the science classroom.

The workshop is appropriate for middle and high school science teachers. Participants will receive a copy of Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (2001), published by the National Academies Press, and Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction (2012) by Rodger Bybee, plus equipment samples needed for the workshop. Teachers will learn to redesign their own lessons so as to better support inquiry and the practices of science and engineering and will examine tools from Achieve and other groups to evaluate lessons for their inquiry and SEP content.

PD-INQ-01 $1,850, inclusive, includes books and materials for up to 20 teachers
PD-INQ-02 $45, supports books and materials for each additional teacher

Supporting Literacy and Writing to Learn in Science

This course will provide a deeper understanding of the importance of supporting literacy in the science classroom and tools and procedures for accomplishing this goal. Why is this important? Every science lesson is also a language lesson. Learning the specialized language of science is an important step in learning science. Science has a special vocabulary, words such as mole, quark and epithelium, which are not often used in everyday discourse. Science also has special meanings for words more commonly used, such as power, wave and field. Furthermore, science uses special logical connectives, words which describe relationships between concepts. If students do not correctly understand the relationship, they may fail to properly perceive the relationship between the major concepts. Current research suggests that middle school students confuse key science terms with their antonyms up to 30% of the time! Simply stated, language is a major barrier to learning science, whether students are native speakers or not.

Science educators have historically tended to focus on teaching science knowledge and skills to their students, using a variety of methods: laboratory activities, lectures, demonstrations and more. Lately, emphasis has been placed on writing in the science classrooms. Whether students are taking notes or observations or writing a formal lab report, research and practical experience suggests that language is an essential part of science learning. Furthermore, all learners can develop their language skills through authentic experiences (e.g., Bybee, 2002). LAB-AIDS®' work in the area of "writing to learn in science" has focused on using journals in the science classroom. Science journals and notebooks can promote literacy in the classroom, both written and oral, as well as help promote reading and vocabulary development, and help identify misconceptions for more effective teaching and learning.

The workshop will provide an overview of effective procedures for writing to learn in the science classroom, regardless of the specific curriculum in use. It is appropriate for middle and high school science teachers.

Participants will receive a copy of The New Science Literacy, by Marlene Their, published by Heinemann Press.

PD-LIT-01$1,850, inclusive, includes books and materials for up to 20 teachers
PD-LIT-02$45, supports books and materials for each additional teacher

Assessing Student Learning in Science

Why take this course? Careful assessment of what students know and are able to do is increasingly important at the local, state and national levels. Information from "high stakes" tests are now used for a variety of purposes including student advancement, and teacher and program evaluation. In the classroom, most interactions between teacher and students provide an opportunity to examine student understanding or skills. Whether formal or informal, research shows that high quality assessment can have a positive impact on student achievement. But how can teachers develop and use assessment procedures that bridge the gap between theory and practice? What resources are available to help bridge this gap? And what does it look like in the classroom? The workshop will provide answers to these questions and more, and will feature a look at new tools for formative and summative assessment procedures.

This is a one-day workshop. Participants will receive a copy of Classroom Assessment and the National Science Education Standards, published by the National Academy Press, and their choice of one of four volumes of Uncovering Student Ideas in Science: 25 Formative Assessment Probes, Vols 1-4, by Page Keeley, et. al., and published by NSTA Press.

PD-ASE-01$1950, inclusive, includes books and materials for up to 20 teachers
PD-ASE-02$45, supports books and materials for each additional teacher

Introduction to the Next Generation Science Standards

This workshop will provide an overview of the NGSS, including background and context of the Standards and how they relate to previous national science standards, such as the National Science Education Standards and Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Workshop content will draw from a variety of National Science Foundation-supported curriculum to emphasize and support CPS instructional shifts in science. These shifts include a focus on teaching disciplinary core ideas that reflect real world interconnections; integrating science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts in all grades, while maintaining continence, coherence, and continuity. Teachers will use hands on techniques to examine the architecture of the standards, the use of disciplinary core ideas, practices of science and engineering, and cross-cutting concepts.

Participants will:

Learn about the NGSS and how they relate to previous national science standards efforts
Understand the structure of the NGSS, the DCIs, practices of science and engineering, and cross-cutting concepts
Create their own “standards” using the NGSS three main elements to better understand the process
What does this look like in the classroom? Brainstorm lesson sequences that address the NGSS
Examine samples of high quality science lessons for all students, including ELL/dual language/diverse learners

All teachers will receive a copy of The NSTA Reader’s Guide to the Next Generation Science Standards by Harold Pratt and of Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction by Rodger Bybee. This is a one day workshop, with some advance reading.

PD-NGSS-01$1850, inclusive, includes books and materials for up to 20 teachers
PD-NGSS-02$45, supports books and materials for each additional teacher