Albion College
Education Department
The Chronicles of Technology Aided Teaching
Science Pedagogy: Effective Instruction and Effective SchoolsEducation 230, Spring 2000
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| Class Lab |
Tu/Th, 2:10-4:00 pm 2 hrs/wk as arranged once field placements are made |
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| Vulgamore Hall 304 | ||
| Reuben Rubio 308 Vulgamore Hall x0228 |
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You can get your own colorful copy of the course syllabus in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.
In this course, we will consider a family of enactments for effective instruction in the context of science and science education. The concept of a general methods course can be somewhat tricky, because I am a firm believer in the notion that our teaching and our content understanding are highly correlated, which makes it uncomfortable for me to delineate what "any good teacher" should do. By the same token, there are numerous principles of good teaching which can be elaborated upon in the abstract as long as they quickly reach out to specific content areas, and this will be the approach for this class.
My notion of this class is that it will require quite a bit from you. It will be not only academically demanding, but a test of your integrity as well. My teaching philosophy is akin to tossing a baby out in the pool, quickly deciding whether or not she/he is drowning, and then doing something about it. No doubt, sometimes you will feel like you have been tossed out in the water without a clue as to how to swim. If that happens, please have the sense to call to me for help, but realize that I may jump in with you and show you how to dog paddle or do the crawl without necessarily taking you out of the water.
If you turn everything in with a high degree of quality, you will receive a good grade. I have no qualms about giving out high grades to those who earn them. However, this semester together is going to involve a lot of work. Let me rephrase that: This course is going to involve a lot of work. In a very real sense this class will be like a marathon, with a big runner's wall waiting for you somewhere around spring break. I don't say that to scare you, but to make sure you set your mind to the task and are focused. The rich rewards of teaching, learning, and enjoying fellowship will be well worth it. I expect you to attend every scheduled class session, to keep up with course readings and assignments, and to participate in various dialogues. In turn, you may expect me to make myself available to you to talk, to return assignments promptly, and to respect your creativity and your ideas.
Our goal is to explore some solutions to the following questions:
- How do children learn? What is constructivism, and what does it have to do with how children learn?
- What are multiple intelligences? Once I understand them, how do I accommodate or target them in my curriculum and students?
- What is effective pedagogy? How do I plan science lessons, units, and projects?
- How can I increase my own science content knowledge? my own information literacy?
- How can I cultivate learning communities which support children's learning?
- How can computer technology meaningfully serve teaching and learning?
- How do I become a scholarly and reflective practitioner?