Batteries, Bulbs, and Wires

This article was an interesting examination of the juxtaposition between "kit science" and exploration/inquiry-based science that deals with higher-level thinking within a school district. Mrs. Stone, of course, exemplified the science kit philosophy - clear definitions given before any exploration, minimal student inquiry, and teacher- and material-directed activities. The students have no say in what they experiment on and record data from. They also have a few disjointed definitions of abstract and meaningless words under their belts, words that will be reviewed later, after they've already done an experiment dealing with the concepts they define.

Ms. Travis, on the other hand, takes a different approach to the exact same lesson with the exact same science kit. Right away, the philosophical differences between Stone and Travis became apparent to me: Ms. Travis takes prior knowledge about her students and tailors the lesson in a way that will be meaningful for them by connecting it to their own schema and personal experiences. She allows students to figure out the best ways to do certain aspects of the lab or to figure out how something works. She still gives them pre-prescribed materials, but has taken time considering what parts might be difficult or tedious and plans accordingly. In addition to all of this, she continues the study past day one and incorporates students' own ponderings (What happens with two batteries in a series circuit? Is it a parallel circuit?) into her teaching of the science.

Much like Activitymania, this article dealt with the staggering differences between teaching via inquiry and exploration versus teaching from a very basal science kit, and through its examples was able to give me more insight to how to teach science effectively. We've talked about the concept of covering 20% of the material effectively rather than covering 100% of the material ineffectively in class - and this was just an affirmation of what I already believed to be true. Will Mrs. Stone's students remember their experiment on electricity in a few years? Probably not. But will Ms. Travis' students recall the experiments, the individualized problem-solving, the ongoing inquiry? They most likely will. That is my goal as an educator not only of science but in general - for my students to have high levels of understanding that last beyond the final assessment.