Impact
Before WiPRO
Before WiPRO, I had served several leadership roles within the science education community. In 2006, I was elected to be Middle-Level Director for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). This was a national position as I sat on their board of directors for a three-year term. In this position, I was chair of the Middle-Level Committee, which meant that I worked with a group of 10 to 12 educators from all over the country as we supported the vision of NSTA. In 2010, I was elected as the President-Elect of the Science Teachers of Missouri (STOM). This term was a three-year term as well. I set the direction of STOM for that period. While those two positions are elected positions, I also have volunteered and been a part of both organizations in other capacities as a committee member for over 20 years.
After Acceptance
My acceptance to WiPRO was at the same time as I was accepted to the doctoral program in the School of Information Science and Learning Technology, which is part of the University of Missouri - Columbia. While my studies have focused me on the intricacies of research, WiPRO allowed me to focus on my classroom teaching. Our first group in WiPRO was the vertical team, V-CCLS. I was part of the Physics group. Our group decided to look into the importance of academic talk in the science classroom, something I influenced the group to try out. My reasons were selfish; I wanted to study this to provide myself the push to focus on using academic talk. It is something I knew about before WiPRO and dabbled in, but did not have any concerted effort.
V-CCLS
As part of the V-CCLS, we had to video a lesson to share within our group for their analysis. In preparation for the video, I practiced using the questions in my classroom until they became more natural for me to use in the classroom. My students enjoyed the interactions and often commented about how it assisted them in their thinking. I usually would schedule a session after students had done some writing. After discussing the information, students often wanted to go back to their writing and make changes. I especially liked it when a student who struggles in my classroom brings up a point that a student who has it easier did not think of first. It is those moments that improves the culture of my class the most.
I also found adding academic talk when I give professional development to other science teachers. I do this in two formats. At times, I am using the educational conversation to mimic what I do in the classroom. I am treating the teachers as students. The teachers in the professional development know what I am doing and that the purpose is for the teachers to see the thinking their students would be engaged in. The other goal is for them to know the teaching technique in action. I try to focus my PD on teaching techniques and best practices, not individual activities or topics. Teachers need to understand it is less about the activity and more about what they (the teacher) do in the classroom. The right questioning strategy can elicit deeper thinking about simple materials and events, just as it can if you have a larger budget.
GPS Project
As part of my GPS, I have been incorporating physical computing into my science classroom. One of the failings of computer science materials is the assertions that computer science can teach science. I agree that both topics share the word, science, but the similarity ends there. Physical computing can assist students in learning science. The approach that I took was to use Micro:bits. Micro:bits have sensors incorporated. The sensors include temperature, light level, and accelerometer. This makes for a useful tool for students to use to collect data. I instituted a “Tech Friday” in my classroom. It was a day where students received a mini-lesson regarding coding then engaged in a small coding project. Students worked on variables, conditionals, loops, and inputs/outputs. The assigned project was designed to give students practice. Arguably, all I have focused on was the computer science aspect, but for students to do more complicated projects, they needed the basics of computer science. When I gave students the semester project, a simple inquiry in which they must use the Micro:bit to collect data, students commented how easy the programming was for the project. So, hopefully, but taking away the hurdle of the programming, students can focus on creative ways using the Micro:bits to assist in learning science.
The second part of my GPS project with the students is to study how physical computing increases students’ ability to engage in computational thinking. In NGSS, Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking is a science and engineering practice. The description provided by NGSS: “In both science and engineering, mathematics and computation are fundamental tools for representing physical variables and their relationships. They are used for a range of tasks such as constructing simulations; statistically analyzing data; and recognizing, expressing, and applying quantitative relationships.” I used a Computational Thinking test (CTt) developed by Marcos Román-González, Juan-Carlos Pérez-González, and Carmen Jiménez-Fernández from Universidad Nacional de Educación, a Distancia (UNED). I gave the students the test as a pre-test before doing any lesson and a post-test after the lessons were completed.
Next Steps
The “Tech Friday” instructional decision was part of my action research to improve my instruction. Since completing the first semester, I have received permission from my principal to request parent permission to use the data as part of a research project. I hope to spend more time this semester working on analyzing the data with the help of Dr. Matthew Easter from the University of Missouri - Columbia. He has been my Quantitative Methods professor and is kind enough to continue assisting me if I need help. I look forward to seeing this through to completion for a couple of reasons. First, I have one qualitative research project I see through to submission to publication. This project is decidedly quantitative, giving me experience with both types of research as part of my doctoral program. Second, I am curious about what the data will tell me. I noticed that some of my students who worked hard in class on the Micro:bit project demonstrated gains of 30 percent between their pre-test and post-test scores.
Beyond my plan to complete a doctorate, my learnings from my science fellowship are being leveraged in my graduate research assistantship. The project we are working on is a large SEED grant given to the eMINTS program at MU. The award is to provide equipment and professional development in the STEM disciplines for rural school teachers. The professional development is entirely online. My experience with WiPRO has broadened my skills, knowledge, and maybe wisdom to facilitate the learnings of the participating teachers in this project. Within my school district, I am the lead technology teacher for my middle school. As part of the responsibilities for that position, I provide professional development to the staff. I have had the job for a year and a half, during which time I have diligently worked with the team at the middle school to improve their integration of technology into their lessons. During my short tenure, we have moved from 10 Chromebooks in one cart to 55 Chromebooks between two carts with plans for adding a third cart with another class set of Chromebooks.
WiPRO can leverage my project as an example of a project which leads to adding to research literature. I cannot be the only teacher to have done something such as this. Within my area of Columbia MO, the advisors at WiPRO can use teachers who have extensive experience with NGSS or three-dimensional learning, technology, and assessment such as myself or Betsy O'Day to provide professional development to new fellows. Further, WiPRO can connect teachers who are interested in physical computing with me to have someone to bounce ideas off of as well as I could provide tips I have learned along the way. Finally, graduated fellows from the program could serve as a group of practicing teachers that college professors could draw upon to send pre-service teachers to learn and observe.