STEM Pride Grant Spiraling into Control – October 22 nd, 2015

Day 4, Part I Reviewing the Bigger Picture

The Grant Objectives Objective 1: Develop pre-service and in-service middle and high school teachers’ understanding and application of STEM practices. Objective 2: Develop pre-service and in-service middle and high school teachers’ integration of STEM practices into the development of learning experiences. Objective 3: Develop and implement an undergraduate course for pre-service teachers that will help them understand the needs of the 21 st -century STEM workforce and count toward their degree program. Objective 4: Increase middle and high school students’ understanding and application of STEM practices. Objective 5: Increase students’ awareness, understanding and interest in STEM careers.

The Grant Activity Flow Chart

Identifying the Practices

Intersections of Practices

It’s the Question That Drives Us Day 4, Part II

A Reasonable Question Should you pay to have your tires filled with nitrogen? What is the value of building your curriculum and learning experiences around a question like this?

It Helps Us to … Give rigor and relevance to our curriculum Create a connecting thread (storyline) through our lessons Support sustained inquiry through selected learning experience s Use that sustained inquiry to develop the science and engineering practices

A Second Example: Recycling Shenanigans

Supporting the Inquiry What science content can this DQ and this kit support students in exploring?

Asking Questions and Communicating the Goal of Science Can your curricular materials create an opportunity for exploring a thought-provoking question like the ones explored here?

Developing Good Driving Questions

Driving Questions Driving questions should be the thread that ties the different parts of a PBL – and, ideally, a unit -- together so that students can see the connectedness.

Crafting the Driving Question Consider the ‘question evolution’ as the group goes from its initial question to this final DQ.

Guidelines for Developing Good DQs DQs … … are provocative … are provocative … are open-ended … are open-ended … go to the heart of a discipline or topic … go to the heart of a discipline or topic … are challenging … are challenging … can arise from real-world dilemmas that students find interesting … can arise from real-world dilemmas that students find interesting … are consistent with curricular standards and frameworks … are consistent with curricular standards and frameworks

The Driving Question Board

DQs and INs “I just wanted to let you know that I have been using interactive notebooks in my 7th and 8th grade science classes and the kids love them! I modified our class Ah Ha pages to a group class questioning page so that the kids have a say in the types of questions we answer while we learn, and so they can see how we progress through the material and slowly answer all of their questions. We also are putting page numbers where we have more information in their notes as reference.” –Kate Topley, FA 14

“My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: Brooklyn would ask her child after school: ‘So? Did you learn anything ‘So? Did you learn anything today?’ But not my mother. today?’ But not my mother. She always asked me a different She always asked me a different question. “Izzy, she would say, question. “Izzy, she would say, “did you ask a good question “did you ask a good question today?” That difference – today?” That difference – asking good questions – asking good questions – made me a scientist!” I. Rabi made me a scientist!” I. Rabi

Intersections Questions that are important to business/industry: 1. How much power do my customers have? 2. Am I measuring the right things? 3. Are incentives aligned with business goals? 4. Are my assumptions still reasonable? Questions that are important to education: 1. How do we tap into all learners’ sense of agency? 2. Why does cultivating … curiosity … matter? 3. Why is it more important than ever to make education relevant? 4. When is the last time you paused to reconsider a bias?

Intersections Creating empathy with our questions: 1. Ask open-ended questions 2. Ask follow-up questions 3. Listen to the answers 4. Build off of the ideas Constructing meaning with our questions: 1.??? 2.??? 3.??? 4.???

An Asking Question / Defining Problems Progression