Girls and Science

In my opinion, for several young people (especially girls) there is a sort of stigma attached with science.  Unfortunately, I think for many young girls "this" is passed down from parents, society, and lack of strong role models associated with science.  The stigma being that science is for men, it's nerdy, you work in isolation, etc.  I feel lucky that as a very young child I was exposed to science through my grandma, who was a high school biology teacher; I was continually encouraged to be curious and be informed of my surroundings.  That aside, I did not have any female friends that were interested in science, nor did I have many female science teachers.  Just from talking with some elementary teachers, I have heard comments such as "I hate teaching science..., etc."  The same goes for math and art.  There is a fear present, which may stem from their own education; the cycle continues. 

First of all, I think that girls and young women need teachers (female and male) that are enthusiastic about teaching science, and clearly express the nature of science.  Before discussing in this class, I had never heard about the collaborative nature of science or fully understood the essence of what science really is.  Most girls are probably not going to enter my classroom intrigued and curious about science, so I think it is my job to be a strong role model for the subject and advocate the "truth" of science.  Second, I think that I need to provide real world examples of science- not just concocted, unauthentic activities that show science working in a classroom.  If young girls were able to see that science is all around them, and what they are learning is worthwhile, then they may show more interest in the subject.

Class so far...

My thoughts and opinions of our science methods class are constantly changing and evloving into a wonderful, yet challenging, learning experience for me.  As so many classmates have suggested, the class format has been so completely different for me; I'm not used to the "vagueness" and seeming lack of structure.  Although, now I do know that there is a structure and purpose to everything we are doing in class.  I, too, was introduced to science education as being very strict procedurally and not having much leeway to explore my own curiosities.  Given that, and the fact that I have not taken a science class since "Rocks for Jocks" my sophomore year of college, I have been feeling pretty uneasy about this new method of learning and teaching science.

As the last couple weeks have passed, many of my frustrations and confusions have begun to fade, and I have been excited to learn how to learn again...if that makes sense.  And also how to best teach my future students.  I think that my only lingering frustration- or maybe it's more of a challenge- with this class is the open discussion format.  As I have learned about myself and my own learning, I am much more internal and prefer to express my thoughts, opinions, ideas, etc. through writing.  I have appreciated classes that balance "discussion" through both in-class and written formats, which is why I think I enjoy blogging so much.  That aside, I have been learning a lot through actually hearing (and reading) my classmates' ideas, so I have been trying to audibly express my thoughts some in class as well.  

All in all, I feel that this class has been a welcome change, and will continue to help me approach methods for teaching across subjects.  When I have been in my math class, I can't help but think how much I have learned about problem solving, etc. in this class that applies so well to teaching math.  I'm excited to learn more, and I think that the "Learners First" project we are about to begin will be an excellent supplement to my learning.

Teaching the "essence" of science

As the majority of our class professed on Monday, I too was educated in science classrooms that focused heavily on the scientific method and prescribed assignments.  I feel fortunate to have been heavily influenced by grandparents who both had careers in science, which sparked my initial curiosity.  Beyond that, I remember loving a cell biology/zoology class in 10th grade, in which the teacher was "different" and made science fun and interesting.  Unfortunately, that was about the only fond memory of a science class in my education.  As a future teacher, I want the science education of my students to be different.

Particularly in elementary school, I believe that a teacher can "make or break" students' opinions of science.  The method in which we teach science needs to be composed of curiosity, collaboration, questions, reflections, revisions, observations, evidence...all elements that we mentioned in class as a part of our quest to figure out how science works.  These steps are recursive, and don't follow a singular pattern, like so many of us were taught.  I think that for a lot of us, science seems so rigid and tense, with thoughts of messed-up chemistry experiments coming to mind- at least for me.  That's not how I want my students to feel.  I think that as teachers, if we approach science in a more collaborative, exploratory manner encouraging creativity and building off students' past experiences (and discouraging right vs. wrong and the final product) , we can enable our students to appreciate the essence of science. 

Thoughts on Science

In class last week, we had the opportunity to explore science.  We had some insightful and thought-provoking discussions about science; particularly about theories and laws, as well as science versus technology.  To make our discussions and ideas "useful," we were given cylindrical models containing rope; making observations and inferences about how the model works.
For me, having the opportunity to investigate, explore, make observations and some inferences about the model, was in essence how science works.  My partner and I were handed the model without being given any real instruction by the professor, and were simply driven by our own curiosity to figure out how the object worked and also what function the object would serve.  In my opinion, that's the cool thing about science; curiosity and a desire to learn.  Being motivated by curiosity is the foundation of science, and then one's observations build upon that desire to learn.  As Prof. Kruse mentioned, and I completely agree, our past experiences bring also bring so much to our observations.  Essentially, my partner and I were observing the "same" object and what happened when we pulled one rope, etc., but we were also forming different observations and building off one another's own inferences.  Collaboration was key.  The idea that scientists communicate and share ideas was somewhat enlightening for me.  I'm not sure why, but I was resigned to thinking that science was more of a solitary process.
I guess I could go on and on about how I think science works, but I believe that as a future teacher I need to first instill that sense of curiosity in my students.  I think having a tangible object like we did class and being able to make observations and inferences, and also being able to collaborate- to bounce ideas off one another- makes science so much more approachable and fun. 

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