What are some teaching practices that you either thought were valuable before or think are valuable now and how can you justify them in terms of learning theory? Choose a specific learning environment and talk about how this will change the way you teach/support learning in that environment.
Some teaching practices that I think are valuable and can now justify in terms of learning theory include: think-pair-share, co-exploration, project-based learning, inquiry-based learning and involving students in community science projects. Think-pair-share supports legitimate peripheral participation, co-exploration supports LPP and students negotiating collaboratively and project- and inquiry-based learning assists with incorporating authentic activity. Of course, all of these practices are justified by theory, providing that they are implemented with the necessary techniques and nuances. I can think of and am already seeing ways in which my new understanding of theory will change the way that I work at Shaver’s Creek, including my work and training with our education interns, program development and undergraduate teaching experiences. I’m also thinking more about how we work with formal teachers, and the need for unification between formal and informal ed and how we can bridge the existent gap, potentially with some professional development opportunities for teachers.
What are the things you are still not clear about that you want more clarity about? Are there parts of specific theories? Are there applications to teaching? Are there specific concepts or quotes that still have you puzzled? What things do you want to be clear about before we part ways?
I think my framework draft made it clear that I still have a lot of questions or thinking to do about how theories apply to teaching. I’m working on thinking more about: how authentic practices look in informal ed, what it looks like for students to negotiate explanations and to negotiate them collaboratively, how teachers create an environment that welcomes and encourages diverse identities in science. As I mentioned above, I’m also thinking about how we can curve the cycle by starting with training early in educator’s careers, as well as intervene later on. I’m still working on how to talk about transfer (or rather not talk about transfer) from a sociocultural perspective, and instead thinking about making learning environments more authentic. I’m also working to be more critical of my own field (informal outdoor ed) and balancing that with suggesting practices for formal classroom implementation. It’s all connected and maybe that’s part of the problem – formal and informal ed should be much more unified, but I’m having to think about it separately right now because that’s how the modern education system is structured.
Hi Alexa!
I really like your idea that there should be some kind of unification between formal and informal science education! I feel like there are so many benefits to doing so! Building programs with complimentary formal and informal portions would be a great way to implement new teaching practices, and potentially get students more engaged!