"Success does not mean never making mistakes, but in never making the same one the second time." - H. W. Shaw
Some helpful information on the technique of Modeling Instruction.....
The documents posted below courtesy of the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA). Please click on the words (AMTA) to visit their website.
PARENTS: Please visit: http://modelinginstruction.org/parents/ for information specifically for parents.
STUDENTS: Please visit: http://modelinginstruction.org/students/ for information specifically for students.
PARENTS: Please visit: http://modelinginstruction.org/parents/ for information specifically for parents.
STUDENTS: Please visit: http://modelinginstruction.org/students/ for information specifically for students.
Why teach with Modeling? courtesy of Larry Dukerich, Modeling Instruction Program, ASU
•It presumes two kinds of knowledge: facts and knowhow.
•Facts and ideas are things that can be packaged into words and distributed to students.
•Knowhow can be packaged as rules or procedures.
•We come to understand the structure and behavior of real objects only by constructing models.
•Students usually miss the point of what we tell them.
•Key words or concepts do not elicit the same “schema” for students as they do for us.
•Watching the teacher solve problems does not improve student problem-solving skills.
•Facts and ideas are things that can be packaged into words and distributed to students.
•Knowhow can be packaged as rules or procedures.
•We come to understand the structure and behavior of real objects only by constructing models.
•Students usually miss the point of what we tell them.
•Key words or concepts do not elicit the same “schema” for students as they do for us.
•Watching the teacher solve problems does not improve student problem-solving skills.
Excellent Articles on the Fundamentals of Modeling Instruction
naz_a.___nasreen_a.__2013_.__an_exploration_of_students’_misconceptions_about_the_concept.pdf | |
File Size: | 542 kb |
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misconceptions_as_stepping_stones.pdf | |
File Size: | 159 kb |
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whiteboards.pdf | |
File Size: | 1297 kb |
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lt2_10_slater-good_day_bad_thing.pdf | |
File Size: | 1234 kb |
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questioningstrategieswtbi.pdf | |
File Size: | 393 kb |
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Modeling Instruction: An Effective Model for Science Education
Modeling Instruction: An Effective Model for Science Education (Science Educator, Vol. 17, #1. Spring 2008 NSELA, http://www.nsela.org). By Jane Jackson, Larry Dukerich, and David Hestenes
modinstrarticle_nselaspr08.pdf | |
File Size: | 201 kb |
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workshop_newspaper_article.jpg | |
File Size: | 855 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
"Teachers Become Students"
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/06/clearview_regional_high_school_3.html
Clearview Regional High School holds teacher training in scientific modeling instruction Published: Friday, June 29, 2012, 7:00 AM By Jessica Driscoll/ Gloucester County Times
Glassboro High School chemisty teacher Jim Moore and Clearview High School chemistry and physics teacher Heidi Abbott play the role as student as they laugh at an answer to a question during modeling instruction training at Clearview Hih School June 28, 2012. They are holding up drawings of how dye goes through warm and cold water. (Staff photo by Tim Hawk/Gloucester County Times)
HARRISON TWP. — On Thursday morning, teachers gathered around lab tables and raced to shovel water into plastic cups using only forks — a rather unique way of demonstrating survival of the fittest in evolution.
The teachers attending Clearview Regional High School for modeling instruction training were acting as a population of birds with tined beaks — represented by the forks. The “birds” were either blue or gold and had to compete for food — represented by the water — by shoveling it as quickly as possible into their stomachs — the cups.
“Students don’t really understand that evolution is change in a population over time,” said Angela Gard, an instructional coach for teachers from North Carolina State University who is running this week’s modeling training in biology. “In this demonstration, those who don’t feed enough will ‘die out.’ The ones who feed the most will have the energy to produce extra offspring.”
Gard explained that the experiment tests various scenarios — how feeding would be affected in competitive environments, in the case of a drought and if a population of eggs was exposed to radioactivity causing the offspring’s beaks to be fused into a spoon-like shape.
“We can see what might change the population, how pressure, natural disasters and mutations influence survival,” she said.
Kristina Newman, a biology teacher from Ohio, and Chris Resch a biology teacher from Montgomery NJ, play the role of birds as they simulate the competition for food by shoveling water into plastic cups using forks during modeling instruction training at Clearview High School June 28, 2012. (Staff Photo by Tim Hawk/Gloucester County Times)Biology is one of three focus areas at Clearview’s three-week program. On Tuesday, the board of education received a $23,000 grant from the Boeing Company to support the modeling instruction. Modeling, developed at Arizona State University in the early 1990s, is an inquiry-based, hands-on teaching method in which students design experiments, collect data and develop concepts and models. Students then use these models and concepts to solve problems, and data has shown the method improves performance on standardized tests.
Over the last few years, Clearview has been training some of its — and other district’s — teachers in the pedagogy and offers modeling-based courses in the three subject areas.
In the chemistry session, Clearview teacher Jim Navins was helping to train visiting teachers in the method.
“Right now, we’re looking at the way dye moves through warm and cold water,” said Navins. “We’re starting to introduce the ideas of diffusion and thermal energy and establish an understanding of kinetic and molecular energy. We want to give students a better idea of what’s going on at the macro level, so it’s taught as inquiry-based science. We start at the macro and then get students to explain it at the micro level.”
Navins said the teaching method allows students to use what they’ve previously learned as well as dispel misconceptions.
“This is not a traditional classroom,” he said. “The teacher is a facilitator, not a gatekeeper.”
In the physics session, Doug Vallette — a teacher from Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pa. — said Thursday’s lab practicum dealt with predicting collisions between two moving objects.
“I’ve been teaching this way since 1998,” said Vallette. “I’ve seen growth in how well students have learned, and they routinely score very well on post-tests. Nationally, students who are educated in this way score well on standardized tests. And it’s a lot more fun way to teach.”
Vallette said the methodology teaches students to think for themselves, and Navins said — at Clearview — the amount of students who are interested in taking the courses is growing as is the retention rate.
“Students are very engaged and they enjoy it,” he said. “Last year we had our own chemistry modeling students pushing for a biology curriculum.”
Contact reporter Jessica Driscoll at jdriscoll@southjerseymedia.com.
© 2012 NJ.com. All rights reserved.
Clearview Regional High School holds teacher training in scientific modeling instruction Published: Friday, June 29, 2012, 7:00 AM By Jessica Driscoll/ Gloucester County Times
Glassboro High School chemisty teacher Jim Moore and Clearview High School chemistry and physics teacher Heidi Abbott play the role as student as they laugh at an answer to a question during modeling instruction training at Clearview Hih School June 28, 2012. They are holding up drawings of how dye goes through warm and cold water. (Staff photo by Tim Hawk/Gloucester County Times)
HARRISON TWP. — On Thursday morning, teachers gathered around lab tables and raced to shovel water into plastic cups using only forks — a rather unique way of demonstrating survival of the fittest in evolution.
The teachers attending Clearview Regional High School for modeling instruction training were acting as a population of birds with tined beaks — represented by the forks. The “birds” were either blue or gold and had to compete for food — represented by the water — by shoveling it as quickly as possible into their stomachs — the cups.
“Students don’t really understand that evolution is change in a population over time,” said Angela Gard, an instructional coach for teachers from North Carolina State University who is running this week’s modeling training in biology. “In this demonstration, those who don’t feed enough will ‘die out.’ The ones who feed the most will have the energy to produce extra offspring.”
Gard explained that the experiment tests various scenarios — how feeding would be affected in competitive environments, in the case of a drought and if a population of eggs was exposed to radioactivity causing the offspring’s beaks to be fused into a spoon-like shape.
“We can see what might change the population, how pressure, natural disasters and mutations influence survival,” she said.
Kristina Newman, a biology teacher from Ohio, and Chris Resch a biology teacher from Montgomery NJ, play the role of birds as they simulate the competition for food by shoveling water into plastic cups using forks during modeling instruction training at Clearview High School June 28, 2012. (Staff Photo by Tim Hawk/Gloucester County Times)Biology is one of three focus areas at Clearview’s three-week program. On Tuesday, the board of education received a $23,000 grant from the Boeing Company to support the modeling instruction. Modeling, developed at Arizona State University in the early 1990s, is an inquiry-based, hands-on teaching method in which students design experiments, collect data and develop concepts and models. Students then use these models and concepts to solve problems, and data has shown the method improves performance on standardized tests.
Over the last few years, Clearview has been training some of its — and other district’s — teachers in the pedagogy and offers modeling-based courses in the three subject areas.
In the chemistry session, Clearview teacher Jim Navins was helping to train visiting teachers in the method.
“Right now, we’re looking at the way dye moves through warm and cold water,” said Navins. “We’re starting to introduce the ideas of diffusion and thermal energy and establish an understanding of kinetic and molecular energy. We want to give students a better idea of what’s going on at the macro level, so it’s taught as inquiry-based science. We start at the macro and then get students to explain it at the micro level.”
Navins said the teaching method allows students to use what they’ve previously learned as well as dispel misconceptions.
“This is not a traditional classroom,” he said. “The teacher is a facilitator, not a gatekeeper.”
In the physics session, Doug Vallette — a teacher from Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pa. — said Thursday’s lab practicum dealt with predicting collisions between two moving objects.
“I’ve been teaching this way since 1998,” said Vallette. “I’ve seen growth in how well students have learned, and they routinely score very well on post-tests. Nationally, students who are educated in this way score well on standardized tests. And it’s a lot more fun way to teach.”
Vallette said the methodology teaches students to think for themselves, and Navins said — at Clearview — the amount of students who are interested in taking the courses is growing as is the retention rate.
“Students are very engaged and they enjoy it,” he said. “Last year we had our own chemistry modeling students pushing for a biology curriculum.”
Contact reporter Jessica Driscoll at jdriscoll@southjerseymedia.com.
© 2012 NJ.com. All rights reserved.