Some questions and answers on STEM teaching and non teaching!

-






What would you expect that your teaching would need to look like with students who have such a full, varied background in STEM?

Students who have come from a flipped classroom set up would be immersed in tasks that are focused on building life skills in a playful manner. In order not to destroy the spirit with which they would come to me, I would need to have some best practices ready for my classes. These would be:

· Flipped classes model, where students would be the in charge of their learning and classrooms can be used for discussions.

· Questioning in the class, as when students come with initial work done, they would be probed to think deeper through questioning.

· Play and investigation based projects. To give students a problem to be solved in a playful manner ensuring that there is space for making mistakes.

· Collaboration of work to ensure that students learn to work together.

How does this vision compare with teaching that you have seen when teachers traditionally teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics?

STEM calls on parents and educators to give children chances to investigate an idea in a variety of settings. For example, in addition to math worksheets to help practice counting, we can take students outside to practice counting real objects that they find, such as rocks, acorns, or leaves. Their learning is strengthened when they learn the same skills, ideas, and concepts in different contexts. (Hudson, English, King, & Baker, 2015).

Children need to be presented opportunities to learn the same material in different settings and through different lenses. The traditional approach of teaching topics in isolation does not support the ways that children learn best. (Hudson, English, King, & Baker, 2015). Unfortunately, in most academic instruction, children are in a passive or receptive mode instead of a more active, or even interactive, mode.

If you are not currently teaching, think about how you could help facilitate STEM teaching for teachers who have not done much STEM instruction.

We now understand that success in learning requires the learner to be at the centre of the experience, making connections across disciplines and also across contextual settings. (Hudson, English, King, & Baker, 2015).

I would initiate professional development for the teachers in three significant areas:

1. Flipped classroom as a teaching strategy (Kelly, & Denson, 2017). This is something that would have to be under a scaffold initially for the teachers to feel comfortable with the same. This would be entailed through peer observation, group discussions and formal trainings.

2. Asking “what” questions rather than “why” questions. ‘What’ questions are exploratory as students are asked to observe, for example ‘what do you think is happening?’ and that leads to an open minded thinking, communication and clarity of expression (Boston Children’s Museum, n.d.).

3. Assessment as a teaching strategy that would entail conducting diagnostic assessments, formative assessment and end of the task summative assessment (Hudson, English, King, & Baker, 2015). Formative especially would have a special focus as every moment in an open ended class gives an opportunity for an informal assessment for the students.


References

1. Boston Children’s Museum (n.d.) STEM sprouts: Science, technology, engineering, and math teaching guide. http://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/STEMGuide.pdf

2. Hudson, P., English, L., King, D., & Baker, S. (2015). Exploring links between pedagogical knowledge practices and student outcomes in STEM education for primary schools. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(6). Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2704&context=ajte

3. Kelly, D., & Denson, C. (2017). STEM teacher efficacy in flipped classrooms. Journal of STEM Education, 18(4), 43-50. Retrieved from https://jstem.org/index.php/JSTEM/article/view/2188/1884

Comments

Elation Edtech Pvt. Ltd. said…
Impressive and powerful suggestions by the author of this blog are really helpful to me.best STEM education for kids
20 April, 2022
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Judge a man by the questions he asks!

-
Image
Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. (Voltaire) All our lives, we have been told that our smartness is measured by the answers that we have. And here comes Voltaire who says the opposite! My initial reaction is, ‘What does this mean?’ However, since it is Voltaire that says it, I think it must have some meaning and I dig deeper! As a listener, I may learn more by the questions I ask instead of by the quiet judgments I make. As a reader I may gain more by my questioning the text instead of believing what I read blindly. As a human being, I may contribute more to society by questioning the traditions than blindly following them. “The questions do mean a lot in life, not just for the sake of saying it, but for the sake that they define where your life is headed and how you are going to shape your life”, (Inspire99, 2019, para. 5) . As I read this blog piece, I felt pieces dropping in my mind and a change in the way I approached questions. Questions as a way to
Read more

Discipline models in classroom

-
Image
There are several models of discipline by different theorists. However, they can be broadly categorized  as (a) low approach, with low degree of teacher control and high degree of student control; (b) medium approach, with medium degree of approach for both; and (c) high, with high degree of teacher control and low degree of student control. Fay and Funk/ Low-control/Guiding model Jim Fay and David Funk focus to “create a classroom environment in which students can develop their own self-discipline and independent problem-solving skills” ( Models of Discipline Low Approach,n.d. ). The objective is for teachers to learn “ techniques to avoid arguments and power struggles”, ( Delosio, 2008 ). These are based on 9 essential skills for teachers which are, “(a) Neutralizing student arguing, (b) Delaying consequence, (c) Empathy, (d) The recovery process, (e) Developing positive teacher-student relationships, (f) Setting limits with enforceable statements, (g) Using choices to prevent po
Read more

Maths Magazine Project

-
Image
PROJECT – CREATING A MATH MAGAZINE FOR SALE    This is a classic example of a project through which a girl, having found her niche, also found her relation with the subject.  It is her magazine that is attached.  She came to my class very scared of math.  So much so that she would start crying.  It is through these projects that she overcame her distaste of the subject and went to the extent of taking a class one day and taught algebra!  AIM:   To take an overview of the topics done in the 1st term.  To be able to express them in their own words. T o elicit inherent creativity of linguistic expression. To improve the grip of the math concepts covered.  MATH INVOLVED:   Fractions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, applications) geometry – few properties decimals (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, applications) directed numbers (adding them using number line)  INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO STUDENTS:   Make a MATH MAGAZINE
Read more