Active Learning In Secondary And College Science Classroom

The working model for "helping the learner to learn" presented in this book is relevant to any teaching context, but the focus here is on teaching in secondary and college science classrooms. Specifically, the goals of the text are to: *help secondary- and college-level science faculty examine and redefine their roles in the classroom; *define for science teachers a framework for thinking about active learning and the creation of an active learning environment; and *provide them with the assistance they need to begin building successful active learning environments in their classrooms. Active Learning in Secondary and College Science Classrooms: A Working Model for Helping the Learner to Learn is motivated by fundamental changes in education in response to perceptions that students are not adequately acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to meet current educational and economic goals. The premise of this book is that active learning offers a highly effective approach to meeting the mandate for increased student knowledge, skills, and performance. It is a valuable resource for all teacher trainers in science education and high school and college science teachers.

This book explores evidence-based practice in college science teaching. It is grounded in disciplinary education research by practicing scientists who have chosen to take Wieman’s (2014) challenge seriously, and to investigate claims about the efficacy of alternative strategies in college science teaching. In editing this book, we have chosen to showcase outstanding cases of exemplary practice supported by solid evidence, and to include practitioners who offer models of teaching and learning that meet the high standards of the scientific disciplines. Our intention is to let these distinguished scientists speak for themselves and to offer authentic guidance to those who seek models of excellence. Our primary audience consists of the thousands of dedicated faculty and graduate students who teach undergraduate science at community and technical colleges, 4-year liberal arts institutions, comprehensive regional campuses, and flagship research universities. In keeping with Wieman’s challenge, our primary focus has been on identifying classroom practices that encourage and support meaningful learning and conceptual understanding in the natural sciences. The content is structured as follows: after an Introduction based on Constructivist Learning Theory (Section I), the practices we explore are Eliciting Ideas and Encouraging Reflection (Section II); Using Clickers to Engage Students (Section III); Supporting Peer Interaction through Small Group Activities (Section IV); Restructuring Curriculum and Instruction (Section V); Rethinking the Physical Environment (Section VI); Enhancing Understanding with Technology (Section VII), and Assessing Understanding (Section VIII). The book’s final section (IX) is devoted to Professional Issues facing college and university faculty who choose to adopt active learning in their courses. The common feature underlying all of the strategies described in this book is their emphasis on actively engaging students who seek to make sense of natural objects and events. Many of the strategies we highlight emerge from a constructivist view of learning that has gained widespread acceptance in recent years. In this view, learners make sense of the world by forging connections between new ideas and those that are part of their existing knowledge base. For most students, that knowledge base is riddled with a host of naïve notions, misconceptions and alternative conceptions they have acquired throughout their lives. To a considerable extent, the job of the teacher is to coax out these ideas; to help students understand how their ideas differ from the scientifically accepted view; to assist as students restructure and reconcile their newly acquired knowledge; and to provide opportunities for students to evaluate what they have learned and apply it in novel circumstances. Clearly, this prescription demands far more than most college and university scientists have been prepared for.

How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom builds on the discoveries detailed in the best-selling How People Learn. Now these findings are presented in a way that teachers can use immediately, to revitalize their work in the classroom for even greater effectiveness. Organized for utility, the book explores how the principles of learning can be applied in science at three levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Leading educators explain in detail how they developed successful curricula and teaching approaches, presenting strategies that serve as models for curriculum development and classroom instruction. Their recounting of personal teaching experiences lends strength and warmth to this volume. This book discusses how to build straightforward science experiments into true understanding of scientific principles. It also features illustrated suggestions for classroom activities.

Formerly a SkyLight publication. Are you looking for new ideas to get students motivated about science? Do you want science lessons that have a high "WOW" factor for students? Hands-On Science for the Active Learning Classroom is a must-have resource for science teachers, offering 90 exciting, inexpensive, and easy-to-use experiments that can be implemented immediately into your daily science lessons. You also can use these activities as high-interest homework assignments, allowing students to take science beyond the classroom and into real-world applications. Hands-On Science reveals active learning at its best and helps you plan activities that motivate and engage student thinking processes in applying scientific knowledge.

Are you still using 20th century techniques to teach science to 21st century students? Update your practices as you learn about current theory and research with the authoritative Handbook of College Science Teaching. The Handbook offers models of teaching and learning that go beyond the typical lecture-laboratory format and provides rationales for updated practices in the college classroom. The 38 chapters, each written by experienced, award-wining science faculty, are organized into eight sections: attitudes and motivations; active learning; factors affecting learning; innovative teaching approaches; use for technology, for both teaching and student research; special challenges, such as teaching effectively to culturally diverse or learning disabled students; pre-college science instruction; and improving instruction. No other book fills the Handbook's unique niche as a definitive guide for science professors in all content areas. It even includes special help for those who teach non-science majors at the freshman and sophomore levels. The Handbook is ideal for graduate teaching assistants in need of a solid introduction, senior faculty and graduate cooridinators in charge of training new faculty and grad students, and mid-career professors in search of invigoration.

Keys to engaging secondary students Research shows that all students—regardless of learning style, disability category, or language difference—learn more effectively when they are engaged in active learning. This book shows teachers how to help all students achieve positive learning outcomes. The authors provide a compilation of strategies that serve as blueprints for instructional design and directions for using them across a variety of content areas. The many benefits of active learning include: A more engaged and interactive classroom Increased self-directed learning Development of higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation Improved reading, discussion, and writing competencies

Inspired by the recent proliferation of online courses necessitated by the COVID 19 pandemic, researcher and educational innovator Stephen M. Kosslyn offers instructors and course designers (as well as school administrations and teacher-education students) a treasure trove of active learning principles and activities for implementation in online, hybrid and in-person courses. Whether your course is synchronous (e.g., live with Zoom) or asynchronous (e.g., using video content on Canvas), this book will inject active learning into existing courses or into courses designed from scratch. In both cases, active learning will make the courses not only more interesting but also more effective; student engagement will increase, learning outcomes will be reached, and general teaching and learning experiences will be enriched.