369-398
Chapter 10
Facilitating Learning in the Science
Classroom
370
How to Read This Chapter
• This chapter focuses on the role of the teacher in facilitating learning
in the science classroom. You will find four aspects of facilitation and
management are presented in the chapter, and you can explore them in
any order. These aspects include the facilitative role of the teacher,
getting off to good start at the beginning of the year, managing science
materials and facilities, and safety in the classroom. One of the key
ideas of this chapter is the concept of leadership in the social process
of the classroom. To aid in the development of leadership abilities,
several inquiry activities have been designed to have you observe and
interview teachers and colleague (The Effective Leader Project),
establish a classroom management plan, plan classroom activities for
an extended period of time, prepare an equipment order, and design a
hands-on science tool kit.
370
Invitations to Inquiry
• What are effective management behaviors?
• What are some effective methods of facilitating laboratory
and small group work?
• How can teachers facilitate high-level thinking tasks?
• What are effective management procedures for the
beginning of the school year?
• What are the elements of an effective classroom plan?
• What principles should guide the management of science
materials and facilities?
• What considerations should be made to ensure a safe
classroom-learning environment?
• What do teachers need to know about handling and using
living things in the classroom?
369-398
Chapter 10 Map
Facilitating
Learning
Facilitative
Science
Teacher
Leadership
Inquiry
10.1:
Effective
Teacher
Project
Effective
Behaviors
Inquiry
10.2:
Windows
Effective
Teaching,
Beginning
of Year
Managing
Small
Group
Work
Inquiry 10.3:
Management
Plan
First
Lessons
and Beyond
Managing
Classroom
Materials
and
Facilities
The First
Day
Inquiry
10.4:
Planning
for Three
Weeks
Inquiry
10.5:
Equipment
Order
Inquiry
10.6:
Science
Tool Kit
Safety
Chemicals
and
Animals
Case Study: Ecosystem Study
• As part of a biology project in
which students are studying the
ecosystem of a Sandy Creek the
teacher wishes to collect
tadpoles and put them in a
classroom aquarium so that
students can observe them
before they metamorphose.
The teacher then plans to use
some of the frogs for the
dissection unit that follows.
Problem: You are a member of a school-wide
review board and you are at a meeting convened
by the chair of the committee to review this proposal,
as well as some others. Is the proposal permissible,
in your view? What permission do you think is required?
What are the ethical issues in the proposal?
What other concerns do you and the committee
have about the teacher’s proposal?
370-371
Leadership in the Science
Classroom
• Leadership is a social
influence process. In this
book, I’ve based the
notion of leadership on the
work of Harry and
Rosemary Wong, in their
book, The First Days of
School.
• To understand this concept
more fully, you should
participate in Inquiry 10.1.
370-371
Inquiry 10.1: Effective Teacher
Project
•
•
•
This has been a popular project with
students in our program. During an
internship, or in connection with a
graduate course, you can interview a
teacher to find out how he or she
manages the classroom using the Wong
scheme for effective teaching attributes
(Table 10.1)
Collect “data” such as interviews,
digital pictures, sketches, samples of
student work, etc. to help answer the
leadership attribute question you are
investigating.
Prepare a presentation, accompanied
with a multimedia slide show, a web
site, or a low tech three-panel board
display.
372-375
Effective Management Behaviors
• What do you know about the
following group management
behaviors? Turn to a peer and
identify an example of each in
the science classroom.
–
–
–
–
–
With-it-Ness
Overlapping
Smoothness
Momentum
Group Focus and
Accountability
375-377
Facilitating Laboratory and Small
Group Work
• Five key management
behaviors for small group
work:
– Positive Interdependence
– Individual Accountability
– Face-to-face
Communication
– Interpersonal Skills
– Processing--shown here
Giving teams time to ask, “What
do we do well together in our
team?
• What are some practical
ways of integrating
positive interdependence
into a laboratory/small
group lesson?
376-377
Management Plan for Lab and
Small Group Activities
• The phases shown here
and described in the Art of
Teaching Science facilitate
laboratory and small
group activities.
• Design a lesson plan for
30-45 minute lab activity
that incorporates these
phases.
leads to
Phases of a
Lab or Small
Group Activity
Phase IV:
Postactivity
Processing
starts with
Phase I:
Preparation
leads to
leads to
Phase III:
Activity
Monitoring
leads to
Phase II:
Preactivity
Discussion
378-380
Facilitating High Level Thinking
Tasks
• High thinking in Peter’s
class? Tell me it isn’t so
Peter!
• Read the excerpt from
Peter’s class in which
there is an exchange
between Peter (the
teacher), and Jeffrey (one
of his students).
• How could high level
thinking be facilitated in
this case?
379
Inquiry Activity 10.2: Windows
into Science Classrooms
• In this activity you will
observe teachers in their
classrooms, or observe
videos of science teaching.
You’ll observe and collect
data on management
behaviors outlined in
Figure 10.1
• Summarize your results
into a series of findings
using the questions in the
Minds-On Strategies
section of the Inquiry.
379-381
Effective Teaching for the
Beginning of the Year
• Work with a peer and
share with other the
management procedures
you are currently using, or
ones you have seen that
think are valid and
appropriate. How do you
deal with:
Students in a Russian class at
Moscow School 710.
– Room Arrangements
– Establishing Rules
– The beginning and end of
class
– Handling materials and
equipment
382
Inquiry Activity 10.3: Developing a
Classroom Management Plan
• In this Inquiry, you’ll
develop the details for a
classroom management
plan that you’ll implement
in your class or as an
intern.
• Present your findings in a
manner that you will
present them to your
students.
382-385
First Day Lessons--2 Models
•
•
Using these principles, and after reading the
two models of first day lessons, design a First
Day Lesson for one of the following: middle
school earth science class, high school
chemistry.
First Day Principles:
– Establish the teacher as the leader of the
class
– Provide as much opportunity for
teacher-student contact.
– Present the class rules, consequences
and reward system
– Involve the students in an interesting
activity
– Establish appropriate opening and
closing lesson routines
386
Inquiry Activity 10.4: Planning
for the Three Weeks
• In this activity you will make
brief plans (on a chart--Figure
10.2) for three weeks of
instruction.
• If you are in an internship, you
should share these with your
mentor; if you are an in-service
or graduate course, meet with a
peer and present your plans for
feedback.
• How coherent are your plans?
After feedback, how would you
change them?
387-388
Inquiry Activity 10.5: Preparing a
Science Equipment Order
• In this activity you will go
online and make an
equipment order for a
$1,000 budget for a
middle school team (of 4)
or high school science
department (of 8).
• After you brainstorm and
prioritize, visit the online
sites (see Inquiry 10.5)
and make your order.
• Did you have adequate
funding for your needs?
389-390
Inquiry Activity 10.6: Designing
a Science Tool Kit
• In this activity, you’ll develop a
science teaching kit, called a
“science tool kit.” It will
contain a lesson plan and all the
equipment needed for a class of
25 students.
• Review the two kits that are
described in the Inquiry, then
select a content area to design
your kit.
• If possible, field test your kit
with students, or review your
plan with a peer and present the
results to your class.
391-395
Safety in the Science Classroom
• What principles would
you identify to create a
safe science learning
environment?
• What does the
Laboratory Safety
Institute contribute to
your understanding of
safety?
395
Think Piece
• What special safety
precautions should be
taken given each of the
following situations?
– Middle school life science
course
– High school physics course
– High school chemistry
course
– Middle school earth science
course
396
Science Teachers Talk
•
•
•
"How do you manage your classroom
and what is the most important piece of
advice you would give a prospective
teacher concerning classroom
management?"
Carol Myronuk (Canada) reports:
Initially, I gather and give out lab
equipment, materials and supplies, to
demonstrate an efficient distribution
system. As soon as possible, students
assume the facilitator role to design and
take responsibility for organizing lab
distribution, collection and cleaning of
equipment, recycling and disposal of
materials, and general
inventory. "Mean what you say and say
what you mean.”
What would your response be to the
question?