Effective teachers of science understand how students learn and develop scientific knowledge. Teachers use scientific inquiry to develop this knowledge for all students.
Reflection
One of the advantages of teaching science is that children begin interacting with the natural world from birth. By the time they reach middle school, each child has their own complex view of the world and have their own methods for discovering answers to questions. One of the challenges of teaching science is integrating the students' own methods with logical methods recognized by scientist around the world. Effective science pedagogy involves discovering what students already "know" about a topic, then help them add to this knowledge, modify the knowledge and sometimes discard their previous knowledge, all based on data collected and analyzed. I base my teaching on a combination of learning theories - using cognitivism to design hands-on activities and labs, behaviorism when designing lectures and activities for reinforcing acquiring facts, constructionism when differentiating lessons and even connectivism for designing lessons that connect students through web 2.0 tools, and for them to design authentic products.
The following video is guided note-taking (using mindmeister) on the topic of transport within cells.
The following video is used as part of class instruction and for students who miss the class instruction. Building the DNA bead model has been an excellent way to help stimulate the kinesthetic learners, who are often hard to reach within the confines of the regular school day.
This video is a small sample of a longer video that was used to help students who need a better visual when taking notes, or to review at a later time.
This video highlights a discrepant event which can be a good way to challenge students preconceived notions.