1 EDTE 316 Science Methods Fall 2007 Module 1 To properly navigate through this PowerPoint, go to “View” and click on “Slide Show”

2 Purpose of this PowerPoint  To provide an interactive walk-through of each week of your online class  To guide you in the process of acquiring the knowledge and skills to become an excellent science teacher  To connect you to whatever resources you need for building a rich teaching repertoire

3 Textbook & lab manual  Teaching the Science Class You Never Had, by David Jelinek, Ph.D., is included electronically at no extra charge with the understanding that you will only download and print one copy for yourself. This is the PDF version of the textbook that will be published by McGraw-Hill in All legal copyright issues apply.  Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It, by William C. Robertson. You will choose a content area to master, then select one book from the following series: (a)Light, (b)Sound, (c) Force & Motion, (d)Electricity & Magnetism, (e)Air, Water & Weather, or (f) Energy You should order ASAP directly from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Borders

4 Accompanying Resources  Lab materials: expect to spend between $10 and $15 in materials for your mini-unit and related activities  Most of the additional resources for this class can be accessed online.  You will find it useful to have internet access while viewing the PowerPoint. That way you can click on the links provided and be brought to the relevant web site.  You are also encouraged to search for your own web sites, then share your discoveries with the rest of us. There is a Useful Web Sites section on the course web page. More about this as we get into the class.

5 Let’s get started... Course Overview

6 Week 1:  Class Overview  Student Learning Profiles What to DoWhat to Submit/Post  View Week 1 PowerPoint  Read Preface and Chapter 1  Complete Student Learning Profiles  Respond to online discussion postings  Post “Introductions” in the first part of the week  Post initial prompt to “Student Learning Profiles” before the end of the week  Post a classmate reply prompt by the end of the week  Submit “Classroom Community Profile” to me

7 Course Overview  You should expect to spend the same amount of time you would spend in a face-to-face class, which is 3 hours per class session plus at least that amount again to complete assignments.  This does not mean you’ll have to spend 3 straight hours online. But it does mean that you should allot that amount of time during each week to work through the PowerPoint, read the material, respond to online discussion prompts, and participate in field and other online activities as instructed.  You should then plan to spend another 3 hours (on average) to work on your assignments and conduct field activities with your classmates and/or students in the classroom.

8 Here’s how the course works  The course is divided into 6 modules. Each module covers 2 or 3 weekly sessions.  Each session is introduced through a PowerPoint (PPT) presentation, so you need to have the PPT program or PPT Viewer (a free download available. Click on the link on the course website). All you have to remember when you open the PPT show is to watch the show in Slide Show (Presentation) mode.  You may access each PPT module by logging onto the course website at click on EDTE 316 under “Courses”.  Although you can watch the PPT show online, you may want to download it onto your hard drive. That way you don’t have to rely on the internet the whole time you are viewing it.  The PPT modules replace the traditional classroom lecture.  Just as there is much more to a classroom session than a lecture, so there will be much more to these sessions than a PowerPoint. That’s where the TaskStream course website comes in. You will find a place to post questions, respond to prompts, participate in small and whole group discussions, work on assignments, submit work, and get feedback.  You will use the TaskStream site to electronically submit assignments. Each assignment is different, but in general you’ll usually submit your assignment as a Microsoft WORD attachment. All this will be discussed once we get into the course.

9 Stop here and read the Preface.  If you have not already done so, click on Teaching the Science Class You Never Had textbook link on the course website. You can either read the preface online or print it.  When you are finished reading the preface, log onto the course website and respond to the first Forum posting for Week 1. See the next page for guidelines.

10 Respond to “Introductions” Forum Topic  Log onto the TaskStream website at  Click on EDTE 316 (UTEC Fall 07).  You will see the Forum title, “1. Introductions”. Click on this and it will bring you to the prompt.  When you click on “Introductions” you’ll be brought to the first posting -- a prompt from me. Reply to the prompt.  This is an open-ended prompt but please DO reply. It’s my way of meeting you. It’s also my way of knowing that you are in class. Or put another way, it’s my way of taking attendance for the week.  Your reply will also alert me to any questions or problems so they can be addressed early on.  It is also a chance for you and your classmates to share your initial thoughts about this class, hear each others’ questions, and respond accordingly.

11 Student Learning Profiles  Read Chapter 1, Getting to Know Who You Are Teaching.  Then log onto the course website and respond to the Student Learning Profiles prompt.  Also respond to at least one of your classmates’ postings.  Submit your Classroom Community Profile to me.

12 Getting started on Week 2  Congratulations, you have completed the first week.  You are encouraged to get started on Week 2 as soon as possible since it covers a lot.  When you are ready, click on the arrow to move on.

13 Week 2:  Deciding What to Teach (Content)  Big Ideas What to DoWhat to Submit/Post  View Module 1 PowerPoint, Week 2  Read Chapter 2, Textbook  Read Stop Faking It  Select mini-unit topic & complete the unit sign-up sheet  Respond to online discussion postings  Post “Big Ideas” for your selected content area (based on Stop Faking It)  Post a classmate reply by the end of the week

14 Stop here and read Chapter 2, Deciding What to Teach  Click on Teaching the Science Class You Never Had textbook link on the course website. You can either read Chapter 2 online or print it.  Read through the first one or two sections of Stop Faking It and be sure to do the accompanying activities.

15 Mini-Unit  Now it is time to take the information you read about and narrow in on a mini-unit theme  Eventually, you will be asked (as a small group) to teach a mini-unit of 6 activities/lessons to your classmates, then to the Jed Smith students during “Science Day”  Decide on a specific theme for your group of students (e.g., 4 th Grade Static Electricity)  Based on this theme, generate a list of “Big Ideas”  See next slide for “Big Ideas” guidelines

16 Big Ideas  Review the discussion of “Big Ideas” in Chapter 2 and work through the various strategies to generate your list of Big Ideas  Narrow this list down to no more than 5 or 6 “Big Ideas”  Then log onto the course website and respond to the Big Ideas prompt.  See next slide for guidelines

17 Respond to “Big Ideas” Forum Topic  Log onto the TaskStream website.  Click on “Module 1 Forum”.  Under the second week, you will see the Forum title, “Big Ideas”. Click on this and you will be brought to a prompt from me. Reply to the prompt.  You will be asked to post and discuss 3 to 5 “Big Ideas” related to the content of your mini-unit theme.  Also respond to at least one of your classmates’ postings.

18 Congratulations  You have successfully completed the first module.  Module 2 will guide you through the process of deciding how to teach the content, then you’ll get started on unit planning.