ProjectGoalsTheDigitalTeachingBoxesprogramformiddleandhighschoollifescienceteacherswasdesignedtobringcontentrelatedtohealthandbiomedicalresearchtostudentsinsupportofimplementingtheNextGenerationScienceStandards(NGSS).ThisprogrambroughttogethertheexpertiseoftheExploratorium,researchscientists,andlifescienceteacherstoworkinsmallcollaborativegroups,mentoringoneanotherastheyassembledresourcesanddevelopedcurriculummaterials.Workshopsintheprogramcoveredabroadrangeoflifesciencecontent,fromcellbiologytogenomicstohumanevolution.DigitalTeachingBoxesweremodeledafterthephysicalteachingboxesthatteachershavebeencreatingforover20yearsattheExploratoriumTeacherInstitute.Teachingboxeshaveeverythingateacherneedstoteachacurricularunitorseriesoflessons,andserveasaplanningtoolforprofessionaldevelopment.Overthecourseofthisproject,weaimedtoanswerthefollowingquestions:•  Whatprofessionaldevelopmentexperiencesarenecessaryforteachersneedtoimplementthe

NextGenerationScienceStandardsintheirclassrooms?•  HowcaninformalscienceinstitutionsandtheresearchcommunitybesthelpwithNGSS

implementation?

MainFindings

Wefound,basedonsurveysandinterviewswithteacherparticipants:

•  Teachersmustexperiencefirst-handthesamephenomena-basedlearningopportunitiesthattheirstudents.Then,teachersneedtobegiventimeandspacetomakesenseofthatlearningexperienceandre-engineeritfortheirownstudents.Informalscienceeducationinstitutionscanprovidetheseexperiencesandcollaborativespace.

•  Whilestand-aloneclassroomresourcessuchashands-onactivities,videos,andreadingsare

valuable,toshiftpedagogytowardsNGSSrequiresteacherstofocusoncoherenceandsequencingofactivities:whyandhoweachactivitysupportsstudentsaskingandansweringquestionstoexplainandunderstandanaturalphenomenon.Teachersrequirespecialsupportsforlessonplanningfromthisperspective.

•  Researchscientistscanprovideavaluableresourcetoteachersinmodelingreal-lifeuseoftheScienceandEngineeringPractices,oneofthethreedimensionsofNGSS.

GLJLWDOWHDFKLQJ�ER[HV

LearningAboutProfessionalLearningforNGSSHillearyOsheroff,JulieYu,&KristinaYu

ThisprojectwassupportedbytheOfficeOfTheDirector,NationalInstitutesofHealthunderAwardNumberR250D016525.ThecontentissolelytheresponsibilityoftheauthorsanddoesnotnecessarilyrepresenttheofficialviewsoftheNationalInstitutesofHealth.

PlanningforStudentQuestions:aSequencingToolforTeachers

Wehavechangedthe‘why’wedoit.–TeacherLeaderParticipantTosupportteachersindesigningclassroomexperiencesinwhichstudentstrulyhavetheopportunityto“figuresomethingout,”wedevelopedasimpleplanningtooltohelpteacherscreateinstructionalsequencesthatcenterstudents’observationsandquestions.SingleactivitiesinwhichstudentsusetheScienceandEngineeringPracticestoconstructknowledgeaboutcontentaretherawmaterialforanNGSS-alignedlesson.Thissequencingtoolcanbeusedtoplanasinglelessonoranentiresemesterofinstructionandpromptsteacherstolookatclassroomactivitiesthroughthelensofthestudent.Activitiesaresequencedbasedonthequestionsraisedorunansweredbypreviousactivities,sothatanticipatedstudentobservationsandquestionsdeterminehowlearningunfolds.

TeacherInstitutestaffcreatedsamplesequencestoserveasmodels,focusedonbiologicalexamples,suchastheOsmosissequenceabove.

ThesequencingtoolwastestedandrefinedinastatewideprofessionaldevelopmentworkshopwithteacherleaderswhoworkinschoolsanddistrictsacrossCalifornia,allofwhomsupportotherteachersinNGSSimplementation.OneTLsaid,“Ilovedthistool…Ithinkitwillreallyhelpteachersfeelliketheycantaketheirideasandapplythemtothestandards.Itmodelshowthesameactivitiescanteachsuchvaryingideas.”Byshiftingfromstand-aloneresourcestotoolsthatsupportteacherstorevisetheirowncurricula,thisprofessionallearningapproachmirrorsthevisiondescribedbyNGSS—helpingteacherstodesigntheirownsolutionstoindividualquestionsaroundthelessonstheyteach.

page 1

7KLV�SODQQLQJ�WRRO�LV�GHVLJQHG�WR�KHOS�\RX�FUHDWH�D�VHTXHQFH�RI�FODVVURRP�DFWLYLWLHVôZKHWKHU�\RX�XVH�([SORUDWRULXP�6FLHQFH�6QDFNV��DFWLYLWLHV�IURP�RWKHU�VRXUFHV��RU�D�PL[�RI�ERWKôWKDW�HQJDJHV�VWXGHQWV�LQ�JDWKHULQJ�HYLGHQFH�WR�H[SODLQ�D�SKHQRPHQRQ�RU�DQVZHU�D�JXLGLQJ�TXHVWLRQ��DV�RXWOLQHG�LQ�WKH�1H[W�*HQHUDWLRQ�6FLHQFH�6WDQGDUGV��1*66��

)RU�PRUH�LQIRUPDWLRQ�DERXW�WKLV�SODQQLQJ�WRRO�DQG�WR�VHH�DQ�H[DPSOH�RI�DQ�DFWLYLW\�VHTXHQFH��JR�WR��KWWSV���ZZZ�H[SORUDWRULXP�HGX�VQDFNV�QJVV

&UHDWLQJ�$FWLYLW\�6HTXHQFHV�IRU�1*66

teacher institute

Teacher Institute | 3ODQQLQJ�7RRO��&UHDWLQJ�$FWLYLW\�6HTXHQFHV�IRU�1*66 page �

Ť��)RU�HDFK�DFWLYLW\��LGHQWLI\�ZKDW�\RX�H[SHFW�VWXGHQWV�WR�OHDUQ�RU�ZKDW�FRQFOXVLRQV�WKH\�PD\�GUDZ��$GG�\RXUQRWHV�WR�WKH�XSSHU�ULJKW�TXDGUDQW��DV�VKRZQ�EHORZ��7KHQ��XVH�WKH�ORZHU�ULJKW�TXDGUDQW�WR�QRWH�VRPH�RI�WKH�TXHVWLRQV�\RX�WKLQN�PLJKW�DULVH�IRU�VWXGHQWV�GXULQJ�RU�DIWHU�WKH�DFWLYLW\��

6FLHQFH�&RQFHSW

$FWLYLW\

:KDW�ZLOO�VWXGHQWV��OHDUQ"

:KDW�PLJKW�VWXGHQWV�ZRQGHU"

ť��1RZ�VRUW�WKH�FDUGV�LQWR�WKH�RUGHU�\RX�WKLQN�PDNHV�WKH�PRVW�VHQVH�IRU�VWXGHQW�OHDUQLQJ��7KLQN�DERXW�WKH�IROORZLQJ��

,I�\RX�QHHG�KHOS��WU\�XVLQJ�RXU�$GDSWLQJ�DQ�$FWLYLW\�IRU�1*66�SODQQLQJ�WRRO�ORFDWHG�DW�

+RZ�FDQ�\RX�OHYHUDJH�WKH�TXHVWLRQV�UDLVHG�E\�VWXGHQWV�WR�PDNH�FRQQHFWLRQV�EHWZHHQ�RQH�DFWLYLW\�DQG�WKH�QH[W"��$UH�WKHUH�DQ\�FRQFHSWV�WKDW�VWXGHQWV�QHHG�WR�XQGHUVWDQG�EHIRUH�OHDUQLQJ�RWKHUV"�:KLFK�DFWLYLW\�ZRXOG�\RX�SODFH�ILUVW"�&RQVLGHU�DQ�DFWLYLW\�WKDW�UDLVHV�PRUH�TXHVWLRQV�WKDQ�LW�DQVZHUV�DQG�PLJKW�QDWXUDOO\�OHDG�WR�RWKHU�DFWLYLWLHV��$OWHUQDWHO\��LV�WKHUH�D�UHDO�ZRUOG�SKHQRPHQRQ�WKDW�FRXOG�NLFN�RII�WKH�VHTXHQFH"

WhatSupportsDoTeachersNeedtoPlanforNGSS?

ScientistsSupportingNGSSImplementation

ThecourseoftheDigitalTeachingBoxprojectalignedwiththeadoptionandlaunchofNGSSinCalifornia.Inthefirstyearsofimplementation,teachers,schools,districts,professionallearningprovidersliketheExploratorium,andotherstakeholdersbegantointerpretthestandardsintoclassroompractice.OurinitialhypothesiswasthatafocusontheScienceandEngineeringPractices(SEPs)wouldbeahigh-leveragepracticeforteachers,andthattheinspirationofthepracticesofworkingscientistsmighthelpteacherstocreatenewNGSS-alignedresourcesfortheirclassrooms.WecarriedoutthisapproachoverthefirstseveralyearsofDigitalTeachingBoxworkshops,integratingresearchscientistsintolifescienceworkshops.Scientists’researchinspiredExploratorium-ledclassroomactivities,andteachersusedworkshoptimetoassembledigitalresourcecollectionsforuseintheirownclassrooms.Teachersannotatedthesecollectionswithnotesonimplementationforotherteachers’use,withtheintentionofcreatingsharableandadaptablestand-aloneresources.

AnexampleofthisapproachistheHomeostasisandTraitsofLifeDigitalTeachingBox,createdbyateacherinthe3rdyearoftheproject.Thisteacherdescribedherprocessinassemblingthisteachingbox:“Backthen,itwasalotofwhatmadesensetomeinmymindbuttherewerenoattachedphenomena,andIdidn’treallythinkabout,‘whataretheSEPsthatstudentsaregoingtobeusingforeachoftheseactivities?’and‘amIgivingstudentsabreadthofSEPsandcross-cuttingconcepts?’Noneofthatwasinmyplanningprocessatall.”WelearnedfromteacherexperienceslikethesethatplanningforNGSSimplementationrequiredmorethaninspiration,modeledexperiencesandareviewofthestandards.Furthermore,whenotherteachersreviewedandassessedpreviously-createdDigitalTeachingBoxesfortheirownclassroomuse,theyappreciatedthecontentandteachingnotes,buttheresourcesweresospecificallydesignedforaparticularcourse,teachersdidnotfeelthattheywereeasilyapplicabletotheirsettings.

DigitalTeachingBoxes2.0TheteacherintheaboveexamplesubsequentlycreatedasecondGeneticsDigitalTeachingBoxduringayearasaTeacher-in-ResidenceattheExploratorium.Thisteachingboxhadasimilarformattoherfirst,buthadsignificantdifferences:•  Itwasexplicitlydesignedaroundexplainingaphenomenon(inthiscase,thesimilarities

anddifferencesbetweensiblingsofthesameparents).•  Thesequenceofactivitieswasguidedbytheprinciplethateachactivityintheteaching

boxledtostudentsfiguringoutthisphenomenon.Foreachactivity,sheasked“whathavethestudentsfiguredoutfromthisactivityandwhatquestionsaretheystillgoingtohave,andthenwhatactivitiesshouldcomenexttoaddressthosequestions?”

•  Thisteachingboxwasamoretime-intensiveprocessthanherfirst,andwashighlycollaborative,withinputsfromTeacherInstituteeducators,scientists,andteachers.

Forthisteacher,herexperiencepinpointedthechallengeofNGSS.ThevisionofNGSSrelieslessonstand-alone,NGSS-alignedclassroomresources,andmoreonhowaresourceisusedtochallengestudentstousetheSEPstoaskandanswerquestions.Inresponsetothesefindings,wemovedtowardscreatingbroadlyapplicabletoolstosupportteachersinansweringthequestion:

Howareclassroomresourcessequencedandframedsothataskingandansweringquestionsguidesthelearningprocess?

Overthecourseofthisproject,wehavedevelopedseveraldesignprinciplestomaximizetheimpactofincorporatingresearchscientistsasguestspresentersinanNGSSlearningenvironment.Thesedesignprinciplesleveragetheuniquewaysthatresearchersarepositionedtocontributetophenomena-based,inquiry-richlearningoutlinedintheNGSS.•  FamiliarizescientistswiththebasicsofNGSSpriortoclassroom

visits,andleveragetheiruniquestrengthsbyfocusingontheScienceandEngineeringPracticesusedintheirresearch.

•  IdentifycontentconnectionstoDisciplinaryCoreIdeas,andmaketheseconnectionsexplicittostudentswithhands-onactivitiespriortoexposuretocurrentresearch

•  Groundresearchinphenomena-basedexperiences,suchasfirst-handobservationsofmodelsystemsororganisms.Encouragescientiststobringphysicalartifactsandexperienceswhenpossible,andtoaskaudiencestomaketheirownobservationsofphenomena.Designexperiencessothatparticipantscanengagedirectlywithdata.

DigitalTeachingBoxes1.0:WhatclassroomresourcesareneededforNGSSimplementation?