designing science units chapter 7 designing science units and courses of study 259-289

Designing Science Units

Chapter 7

Designing Science Units and Courses of Study

259-289


How to Read This Chapter• This chapter has been organized to help you design a

unit of science teaching, which will be called a “mini-unit.” It is advisable that you work through this chapter from beginning to end. When you finish the chapter, you will have created the following products:

– A rationale for a science unit including general science education goals.

– A list of objectives (we'll call them intended outcomes) for a science unit grouped according to type of student learning.

– A concept map showing the relationships among the central ideas in your unit.

– An instructional plan (a set of lesson plans) describing the unit, including what learning objectives are intended, and the strategies you will employ to help student achieve the unit's objectives.

– An assessment plan describing measures to assess the major objectives of the unit to provide feedback to the students, and feedback for you on the effectiveness of your science unit.

Designing Science Units &

Couses of Study

Pedagogical Content

Knowledge (PCK)

Inquiry Activity:

PCK

Unit Design Process

Model and Sample Lesson Plans

Inquiry Activity 7.2: Designing Teaching Materials

Direct Interactive Teaching Model Plans

Cooperative Learning

Model Plans

Inquiry/Laboratory

Model Plans

Constructivist Model Plans

Course of Study Design Process

Inquiry Activity 7.3: The Course

Syllabus

259


Invitations to Inquiry

• What is pedagogical content knowledge? How is it different than content knowledge?

• What processes can be used to design an instructional plan?• How should a teacher proceed to develop a mini-unit of instruction?• What are intended learning outcomes? How do cognitions, affects,

cognitive skills and psychomotor skills differ?• How can cognitive maps be utilized in the planning and development

of teaching materials?• What are the elements of the following types of lessons:

direct/interactive, cooperative learning, constructivist and inquiry/laboratory?

• What are the elements of a course of study?

259


Chapter 7 MapDesigning

Science Units &

Couses of Study

Pedagogical Content

Knowledge (PCK)

Inquiry Activity:

PCK

Unit Design Process

Model and Sample Lesson Plans

Inquiry Activity 7.2: Designing Teaching Materials

Direct Interactive Teaching

Model Plans

Cooperative Learning

Model Plans

Inquiry/Laboratory

Model Plans

Constructivist Model Plans

Course of Study Design Process

Inquiry Activity 7.3: The Course

Syllabus


Inquiry Activity 7.1: Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

• Using the web resources identified in the Inquiry, you are going to identify a set of concepts in a content area, and then identify teaching suggestions for them.

• For concepts, you can access:– National Science Education Standa

rds - Contents– Benchmarks On-Line

• For curriculum & teaching you can access:

– CSE K-12 Science Curriculum Dissemination Center

– ENC Online: A K-12 math and science teacher center.

261

These are “fast plants.” What are are they? How couldfast plants help you teach concepts in biology?

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/

http://www.project2061.org/tools/benchol/bolintro.htm

http://cse.edc.org/work/k12dissem/materials.asp

http://cse.edc.org/work/k12dissem/materials.asp

http://www.enc.org/

http://www.enc.org/


PCK

• PCK is a teacher’s knowledge of how to help students understand specific subject matter.

• Key questions include:– What shall I do with my students

to help them understand this science concept?

– What materials are available to help me?

– What are my students likely to already know and what will be difficult for them to learn?

– How shall I best evaluate what my students have learned?

How would this help you teach about water on Mars?

260


The Art of Designing Teaching Materials: A Constructivist Approach

• Just as an artist uses physical and intellectual tools to make a painting, this chapter presents you with tools to artistically design teaching plans and associated materials.

• A cyclic process is outlined in this chapter to help to develop ideas for a science mini-unit.

• Inquiry 7.2 will guide you through the process which is detailed on pp. 265-280.

• To help you with the process, I have linked to a mini-unit developed by Jaime Delaney, a former graduate student at Georgia State University, and now a teacher in Colorado. Refer to it while you develop your own. You’ll find lesson plans, a rationale, a concept map, and examples of outcomes, and evaluations.

262-287

The design process is a creative model to develop teaching materials.

leads to

leads to

leads to

leads to

leads to

Brainstorm ideas for

content mini-unit

Identify Focus Questions &

Outcomes

Writing a rationale

Develop Specific

Lesson Plans

Implementation and evaluation

(feedback) of the mini-unit

Categorize Outcomes

Develop a Concept Map

for the unit

Categorizing & Organizing objectives &

outcomesList Potential

Activities

Revision of mini-unit based

on implemenation

Mini-unit Design Process

http://www.delaneyweb.com/teems/miniunit/index.html


Mini-Unit Design Process

265-280

leads to

leads to

leads to

leads to

leads to


content mini-unit


Outcomes

Writing a rationale

Develop Specific

Lesson Plans



Categorize Outcomes

Develop a Concept Map for the unit



Activities


on implemenation



Inquiry Activity 7.2: Designing a Science Mini-unit

• This Inquiry leads you through the design process. Use the text, and the associated steps to develop your ideas.

• Some of the steps should be done with peers, especially at the beginning to generate ideas, but also throughout to receive feedback on your outcomes, lesson plans and evaluations.

263-264

leads to

leads to

leads to

leads to

leads to


content mini-unit


Outcomes

Writing a rationale

Develop Specific

Lesson Plans



Categorize Outcomes

Develop a Concept Map for the unit



Activities


on implemenation



Design Step 1: Brainstorming

• This should be a fast, free-flowing listing of terms, words, and phrases for the topic of your mini-unit. Work with a few peers to generate ideas.

• You might want to look at the Standards and/or Benchmarks to spark your brainstorming.

265


Design Step 2: Name Your Mini-unit

• This is way to give your unit focus---naming it helps.

• Some ideas from your peers include:– Touring the tropical forests– Wet and wild wetlands– Sensational sediments– Are we burning up? Global warming– What if you had a volcano in your backyard?

265


Design Step 3: Identify Focus Questions

• Focus questions should help you define the heart of your unit or course. Two or three well designed questions will help you and your students makes links to their prior knowledge and experience and help establish a rationale for the unit.

265


Design Step 4: Identify Intended Learning Outcomes

• Use your initial list of ideas to create a list of intended learning outcomes. Outcomes are statements of what you want students to learn. Outcomes are not activities or things that your students will do. They are skills, concepts, and values you intend the students will learn.

266-267


Design Step 5: Categorize Outcomes

• In this step, you will sort your outcomes into skill and nonskill categories.

• Here is an example of intended outcomes from an environmental unit categorized into nonskill and skill groups.

267

Environmental Problems in Our Community

Non-skill Outcomes Skill Outcomesrespects the environmentenergy webs and foodchainspollutionknows how acids affect riverwaterunderstands biodegradable

ability to analyze a sampleof watercan measure the pH ofliquidscan write equations forchemical processes


Design Step 6: Develop a Concept Map of the Unit

• Use the ideas developed by Novak and Gowin (p. 267) to develop a map of your mini-unit. You’ve probably revise this as you further develop the unit. The map is a tool for your planning and your student’s learning. Share it with them.

267-268

contain contain

linking words

combine

combine

generate own food via

contain

Foodchains

Consumers Decomposers

HerbivoresCarnivoresOmnivores

Organic Debris

Inorganic substances

Producers

Photosynthesis


Design Step 7: Write a Rationale

• At this stage you’ve worked with your unit enough so that you can write a rationale. Think about:

• How it will affect the future of the students.

• How it contributes to societal issues.

• How it reflects the spirit and character of the scientific enterprise.

• See the samples in the text. Here is part of one rationale.

Science education in this modern world of highinformation availability must be an inquiry basedexercise. Science, itself, must be defined as a verb, anaction, and a method of looking at the world. Andwhen the world, with all of its uniqueness andexceptions to the “rules” is readily available throughthe Internet, simple memorization of facts canbecome useless. Student must use their brainpowerfor finding the threads that connect and related allthings. In this study of volcanoes, the Mt. St. Helen’sexample is used to show the power and themagnitude of a volcano; the devastation of all formsof life that occur following a blast. The lesson intentis to explore how a volcano affects more than justgeology of the area. The example is used to showhow life in a devastated area reforms and rejuvenates.

268


Design Step 8: Categorize Outcomes--Cognitions, Affects and Skills

• This step you will actually delay until after you have listed potential activities (step 9), and written lesson plans (step 10). You can then pull your outcomes from your lesson plans, and categorize them into four groups:

– Cognitions– Affects– Cognitive skills– Psychomotor skills

• You should, however, review the nature of these categories of outcomes before you go to the next two steps.

• Use the map on the next slide, and text material (pp. 269-273) to write out one outcome for each category related to your mini-unit.

269-273

Summary of Learning Outcomes

Cognitions Concepts andpropositions

Affects Attitudes andfeelings

Cognitive Skills Cognitive abilitiesPsychomotor Skills Motor and laboratory

abilities


Map of Learning Outcomes

Intended Learning

Outcomes

Cognition Affects Cognitive Skills

Psychomotor Skills

Concepts and Propositions Students

should grasp the meaning

of...(igneaous rocks)

Feelings, values and attitudes

Students should

learn that knowledge is tentative

Intellectual competencies Students

will be able to predict

the location of moon.

Methodical procedure, technique, dexterity,

orderliness

Students will be able use a compound

microscope.

269-273


Design Step 9: List Potential Activities

• Now that you have a framework for your mini-unit, you can do some exploring of science activities (use online and print resources), and then brainstorm with peers a list of potential activities. For web resources, check the section On the Web in The Art of Teaching Science text, or at the Art of Teaching Science online site.

273


Potential Activities

• I’ve included a collection of Planning Activities in the Gazette of this chapter. Take a look at them for examples of activities for you unit, and for further ideas on lesson plans

Planning Activity 7.1: Earth Science:Shake, Rattle and RollPlanning Activity 7.2: Earth Science:Don’t Take it for GranitePlanning Activity 7.3: Life Science:Light on: Responses of EarthwormsPlanning Activity 7.4: PhysicalScience: Chemistry in the BagPlanning Activity 7.5: PhysicalScience: an Eggzact Experiment

292-296


Design Step 10: Develop Lesson Plans

• The mini-unit should contain between four and six lesson plans. You will find three types of templates for developing your plans. I recommend the first one, the Constructivist template, as there are many examples in the Art of Teaching Science, and Jaime Delaney’s site, shown here, used the same template in the development of her lesson plans.

• Sketch out your plans using the template of your choice, and then meet with at least one peer to explain the plans, and solicit feedback. Finalize your plans. Now you can pull all of the outcomes from your plans, and create an organization of your learning outcomes, as suggested in Design Step 8.

274-279

Link to Jaime Delaney’s Mini-unit to seeexamples of lesson plans, and other elementsof the mini-unit.

http://www.delaneyweb.com/teems/miniunit/index.html


Design Step 11: Develop an Assessment Plan

• Assessment in your mini-unit should:– Answer questions and provide

feedback with regards to student learning

– Provide data with respect to the effectiveness of your instructional plans

• You might want to look ahead to Chapter 8, and look at examples of assessments that you might use in your mini-unit.

Student Feedback Form1. During the mini-unit how satisfied were

you as a learner?______very satisfied______satisfied______unsatisfied______very unsatisfied

2. What could your teacher have done toincrease your satisfaction?

3. What were your favorite activities?Why?

4. What were your least favoriteactivities? Why

Table 7.9. Student Feedback Form

280


Design Steps 12 & 13: Implementation and Feedback

• Try and teach your mini-unit to a group of students (elementary, middle or high school). If you can’t do this, present one lesson to a group of peers.

• In either case, video tape your lesson.

• Reflect on your mini-unit by using the feedback you obtained from students, and peers. A complete list of reflection questions is located on page 280. One example is:– To what extent did students

attain the learning outcomes (objectives) of the unit?

• What revisions would you make in the unit?

280


Models and Sample Lesson Plans

• In this section of the text, you will find a collection of sample lessons as follows:– Direct Instruction--Natural

Processed Foods

– Cooperative Learning--Mystery at the Ringgold Road Cut

– Inquiry Learning--Investigating Mass, Volume, and Density

– Constructivist Model--Electromagnetism

280-287

Mystery material from theRinggold Road Cut!--see p. 282


Designing a Course of Study

• The design of a course of study uses the same principles as the development of a mini-unit. You’ll find details on the elements of a course of study in this section.

• I’ve included an example of each element using a course of study called Global Science. It should give you ideas for the development of your courses of study, or more complete units of study.

Rationale and Philosophy of theCourse of Study

Intended Learning OutcomesUnits of Study

Instructional Foci or StrategiesEvaluation Procedures

287-290

Elements of a Course of Study


Inquiry 7.3: Designing a Course of Study: The Course Syllabus

• In this activity you will identify and describe the major elements of a course of study for an area of elementary, middle or high school science. Your product will be a course syllabus.

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designing science units chapter 7 designing science units and courses of study 259-289

Documents

unit of science teaching

science concept

science teacher center

science units inquiry

units objectives

map slide

teaching suggestions

learning outcomes