All three articles made the argument for the effectiveness of using modeling as a core approach to teaching science. They all also agreed that the benefits of modeling, like student engagement and inquiry, far outweighed the costs, like not being able to “cover all the material”. (Essentially depth vs. breadth) The Braunschweig article also raised the point of teachers learning to take a back seat to student discussion and resisting the temptation to provide input all of the time. I think this is an especially important idea - it can be extremely difficult to watch students explore a path that may not be correct and not try to correct them.
interconnections with themes across readings in the class
The biggest theme that I saw connecting across readings was the value in letting students discover for themselves. These articles provided actually data to support the idea that learning through modeling help students make stronger connections to the content.
affordances and obstacles of modeling instruction
Certainly time is a great constraint for modeling. Braunschweig discussed the benefits of block scheduling versus traditional scheduling, where classes only meet for 40-50 minutes at a time. The longer periods allow students to get deeper into experiments and reduce the need for superfluous homework assignments. Schools also need to be onboard with the idea of covering fewer topics in greater detail. However, the practices that students use to learn will far outweigh any specific equations or definitions they might miss while using modeling.
describe the relationship between computational and physical/representational modeling in your future classroom
Even in our class we have talked about the benefits of designing or building a physical or representational model before trying a computational model. I would imagine that many of the intro labs that start a modeling cycle would be a physical model, rather than computational, just to allow students easier access to the different variables in play. I also think that the content will drive the type of model that is used. In mechanics, physical models would be more accessible and easy to interact with. With topics like E&M, it might be valuable to build computational models to explore how these forces work at their base level.
describe the role of modeling in your future classroom
It is hard to predict at this point exactly to what extent modeling will used in my classroom. I would want to explore resources for physics topics and see what types of projects and questions have been successful. It is certainly a method I want to explore more, but it is hard to say “I want to use modeling exclusively” with 100% certainty.
how were these testimonies helpful or not helpful
I enjoyed reading these testimonials because they explore some actual practices that teachers use in their classrooms, rather than just the theory of modeling. It was also nice to see some concrete data of how much modeling helped students improve.
include one or two questions to which other class members can respond, possibly including a science question for the class to explore and model
The articles seemed to be describing the same process or cycle for modeling. Is this the most common method? What other processes are teachers using?
The biggest theme that I saw connecting across readings was the value in letting students discover for themselves. These articles provided actually data to support the idea that learning through modeling help students make stronger connections to the content.
affordances and obstacles of modeling instruction
Certainly time is a great constraint for modeling. Braunschweig discussed the benefits of block scheduling versus traditional scheduling, where classes only meet for 40-50 minutes at a time. The longer periods allow students to get deeper into experiments and reduce the need for superfluous homework assignments. Schools also need to be onboard with the idea of covering fewer topics in greater detail. However, the practices that students use to learn will far outweigh any specific equations or definitions they might miss while using modeling.
describe the relationship between computational and physical/representational modeling in your future classroom
Even in our class we have talked about the benefits of designing or building a physical or representational model before trying a computational model. I would imagine that many of the intro labs that start a modeling cycle would be a physical model, rather than computational, just to allow students easier access to the different variables in play. I also think that the content will drive the type of model that is used. In mechanics, physical models would be more accessible and easy to interact with. With topics like E&M, it might be valuable to build computational models to explore how these forces work at their base level.
describe the role of modeling in your future classroom
It is hard to predict at this point exactly to what extent modeling will used in my classroom. I would want to explore resources for physics topics and see what types of projects and questions have been successful. It is certainly a method I want to explore more, but it is hard to say “I want to use modeling exclusively” with 100% certainty.
how were these testimonies helpful or not helpful
I enjoyed reading these testimonials because they explore some actual practices that teachers use in their classrooms, rather than just the theory of modeling. It was also nice to see some concrete data of how much modeling helped students improve.
include one or two questions to which other class members can respond, possibly including a science question for the class to explore and model
The articles seemed to be describing the same process or cycle for modeling. Is this the most common method? What other processes are teachers using?
In response to the breadth vs depth idea, I feel like states who adopt the NGSS standards, will not have to worry as much about not covering the material. The NGSS standards were written with depth over breadth in mind, as well as with the modeling method. Standardized tests, of course, might be a problem, but as Frinkbeiner said, he wasn't able to cover all the material, but his students's scores still rose. When the students understand and can use information to predict, they have the potential to figure out other concepts. I do not know if there are other processes for modeling teachers are using. I think the modeling method is to simulate what scientists and engineers do, and usually, that process is the same. If teachers are using other processes, then they are probably using some method other than modeling. Or, at least, are borrowing parts of the modeling cycle. Though it would be interesting to learn about those methods as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your response about modeling in your own class. I definitely want to do a lot of modeling in my class but not 100% of the time. I also like what you said about how useful the testimonials were to hear about teachers actually using this method instead of just reading about how great it could be.
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