How Awesome Are We at Teaching Science?

[Image: http://25.media.tumblr.com/5KwO8p82JgilhvccvsumgOG7o1_500.jpg]

Not awesome. Now there is a lot of variance from school to school, but overall the United States is failing at teaching science. There are a number of tests, both intranational and international, which measure performance across school systems. I will focus this blog on PISA.


PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, is a test given every three years to fifteen-year-old students around the world with sixty currently participating countries. The purpose is to allow these countries to benchmark their progress in reading, mathematics, and science literacy over time and with other nations. Questions are organized into 13 testing booklets that students take selections from, each booklet with 2 clusters of questions. Every three years the test focuses more on one of the three areas, the most recent having focused on reading.


Reflecting a current trend and emphasis on open-ended inquiry, PISA offers some straightforward multiple choice questions as well as open-ended questions. They are grouped into units in with a few questions about a real-life topic. PISA uses the term “science literacy” to express a student’s knowledge of science content and ability to apply this knowledge to real-life situations and new contexts. They break this term down further into four aspects: context (recognizing science situations), knowledge (knowing science content information as well as science inquiry, experiments, and analysis), competencies (identifying science issues, and using evidence), and attitudes (showing interest and support in science as well as letting science inspire you to act responsibly with life choices). Furthermore, PISA also broke down units into sections of health, natural resources, environment, hazard, and frontiers of science and technology. At every level, the test asks students to consider science with regards to their personal lives, their surrounding community, and the world at large.


The cool thing about PISA is it takes a real-life dilemma and probes students about it. Although we don't often teach a unit directly on acid rain, we should train our students with the ability to assess questions on acid rain. A sample question on acid rain asked the students about an experiment in which a piece of marble was placed in regular water and rainwater and the student measured the mass loss after the marble was submerged for a day.


Sadly, students in the United States overall did pretty poorly. Only 9.2% of students scored at a 5 or 6 (out of 6) proficiency. Finland had 18.7% score at a 5 or 6, and many more students at level 3 and 4 than we did. Other countries that whipped our butts were New Zealand, Japan, Australia, and Germany.

Also, Finland is gorgeous.

[Image: http://www.mr-photography.com/galleries/helsinki_winter10/mr100111_img_1880.jpg]

Below is the 2009 PISA science data for the average score in the "science literary scale", a scale designed to have a mean of 500 with a standard deviation of 100. I took this off of the PISA report, which you can find for free online at this link http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011004.pdf. It's scary to see Shanghai being nearly a standard deviation higher than we are (so there is a lot of room for growth), but at least US is around the median score (so we aren't terrible by world standards, we are just mediocre).

I think the main thing to take from this is that clearly South and North Korea have united.

Now there is some room for hope. Certain states have performed on par with these countries in the past decade (New Hampshire, Michigan, Minnesota, and others). We have success in our backyard. I think the biggest thing we need to look at is how to recruit high-caliber teachers. I read a very sad fact in my book for class, Surpassing Shanghai (Link to Amazon). It quotes on p. 180: "The College Board reported in 2008 that when high school graduates going on to college were asked what their intended major was, those who had decided on education scored in the bottom third of their SATs. Their combined scores in mathematics and reading came in at fifty-seven points below the national average." Keep in mind, our national SAT average is not stalwart.


So if you are a reader out there and you are intelligent, please consider teaching because gosh darn it we need you! Furthermore, if you are an educator, let's be proud in our calling. We have the privilege of serving our youth. Believe that they can succeed and teach as if you are a student learning to get better at your craft daily. We can reach our kids if we work hard and love them.

I got 99 problems but to enrich (my students) ain't one

So today in Physics I wasn't sure of how well my students were sold on the content. We had discussed over the last several weeks Newton's Laws, making free-body diagrams, doing ramp problems, centripetal acceleration, and gravity. Crunch time is a week from today when we have our next test but I want to know that they have the material down before we get things started. I wanted to make sure they had it down.

Thank you xkcd [Image: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/centrifugal_force.png]

I had a couple things working against me. I wanted to work on problems, but problem solving by itself is seen as boring. An inquiry-based experiment would be cool, but would take time and couldn't get all the concepts and practice problem-solving I wanted. Furthermore, I had a fair bit of differentiation in my class and when I did group work, my better students tended to band together, leaving some of my weaker students in a group.

My solution? I divided the students up into random groups of 2. Over the weekend, I made 5 problems which were a good cumulative review of the last 3-4 weeks of class. Each problem was on a different sheet of paper and had the answer to the last problem on it. I made this into a scavenger hunt! The students got the first problem at the beginning of class. The answer to each problem gave them a clue as to which locker to find the next sheet over or which cabinet in my room to look in (I numbered all my cabinets and drawers 1 through 28). The last answer sheet (sheet #6) had only the answer to the last problem and also a small piece of extra credit on it (I call them high fives - students get +5 points on a homework or quiz). It took about an hour and a half to adjust the numbers to get things to work out, but was well worth the time. Of the 6 groups, 3 finished right at the end of class and I told the other 2 that they could continue working and get it done any time today. One group finished with about 15 minutes left and I told them to circulate the room and help others with their work. My students did a good job of identifying errors and walking the students through rather than telling them the answers.

One student told me her brain was stimulated and ready to go (my class was the first this morning). Other students raced through the assignment and were so excited to find each next page. Overall it was a huge success. My students learned, moved around, and had fun. The moral of the story here is to be creative with how you teach. Your kids will adore it if you show them you love them by doing something fun and innovative. Perhaps you're more open to failure but your students will appreciate you taking a risk and, furthermore, your chances of a successful lesson and of earning your kids' respect will be much, much higher.

Is' all about respek [Image: http://www.comecorrect.net/img/AliG.jpg]

Having Fun Yet?

What is the most important element in teaching? There is no one answer to that question. There are so many attributes to being a great teacher. Furthermore, there are so many different styles excellent teaching that it is impossible to box in the notion of being a great teacher into definable, consistent characteristics. However, there are some correlations. Here's one I want to focus on tonight: cooking dinner.


Yes please. [Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXkyIrrfp6k5LDfGN1Bbc4OQUSqbeLRVZ_KV7M2HJKh6DrsPJkO-70SUPqKRKappSWuuHEuKEJPQdpbM2YxrhDCSW1VqDcCC91G5FisBONYj__86CYuoe8oGvuQiRIQHdrtmeC4O_7EoQ/s400/Giant+Breakfast+Burrito.jpg]

Sorry I haven't eaten dinner or started cooking tonight. No, tonight I wanted to focus on having fun. I can't tell you how important it is to have fun while teaching. On so many occasions I've taken the world's most boring discussion on kinematic equations and made it fun by pretending like it was fun. No joke. Well, it's more than pretending: you have to actually believe its fun.

What do I mean? When you take the classroom, you have to be in love with what you're about to teach. The students will pick it up immediately in your body language. On the days when I convey a modicum of boredom or frustration, my kids don't work for me. But when I attack their attention by jumping up and down when I convey an idea, by showing bright, wide eyes, and by keeping a smile on, they pay attention and they will love it too. I've had students laugh at my dumbest jokes. Today in fact they literally laughed when I explained that it was silly if the gravitational constant G was equal to 1. I explained with a smile that in that universe they would feel a force of a few thousand Newtons and come slamming into each other at all times. Before that, they cachinnated (yeah I know it means laugh loudly but I hate the word guffaw) when I demonstrated what would happen if, as they suggested, the force you exert when swinging a bucket around a circle pointed up. I flung the bucket upwards at the top of its motion and it hit the ceiling and my kids went crazy. Not to brag, but I had a room full of 15-year-olds laughing as they integrated new physical concepts into their schema. OK that might have been bragging. Sorry.

The point is - if you believe your subject is fun and teach it with joy, your students will believe it's fun too. In a subject that inspires fear like Atilla the Hun piloting a Death Star, it's all too important to communicate to students that they can succeed. Not only does fun make the classroom climate palatable, it also makes them more likely to work for you. Furthermore, some students may even look forward to your class.

So take to every class with love and with excitement. You owe it to your students. Otherwise they will be evil, skeptical, and stupid.


Erm... Sorry I had to. [Image: http://i.qkme.me/DkF.jpg]

How Can we Learn From Great Teachers?

My ECU class has asked me to post the following questions and then report back to them with your insight. Please comment with your thoughts! I have included some of my own smarmy comments, filled with dry wit, vanity, and pretentiousness. Would you have demanded any less?


Results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test, called the Nation's Report Card, revealed disturbing results. Science scores for North Carolina students in Grade 4 were lower than those of students in schools located in 24 high-performing states. In grade 8, NC students' science scores were surpassed by scores of students in 25 high-performing states.

In other words, our state is terrible. Somewhere Petey Pablo is crying.

What can North Carolina science teachers learn from science teachers in schools located in high-performing states? What do you think?

I think we absolutely can learn by conferencing and collaborating. However, given our busy schedules, it is SO HARD to find the motivation to contact teachers from other areas. The internet has made this astronomically easier, but we still have this tendency of being lazy. Well, some of us do. Others of us have babies to take care of. Miles and miles of babies.

Image: http://babyanimalzoo.com/tag/baby-goats

While some of us have human babies, some are fortunate enough to have goat babies!

Will collaborating with science teachers in schools located in high-performing states help science teachers in North Carolina improve their students' learning and achievement? What do you think?

Nah, probably not. Of course so! It can't get much worse, can it? I think it absolutely can - you just need both parties to be willing participants and willing listeners. Listening means being willing to change; it requires participant teachers to be open to amending their teaching methods. That lab you do every year where you sleep in your chair while your students line up force vectors with rulers, get bored, make shivs out of the aforementioned rulers, and begin forming a Philip Zimbardo-style prison experiment may need a bit of work.

Image: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/136/902/memes-come-at-me-vancouver.jpg?1308517262

This is what happens when your students don't respect you [or if the Canucks lose to the Bruins despite being up 2-0 and 3-2 in games].

Isloation: How to Become a Better Science Teacher?

We all know the situation with public schools supporting teachers these days. The situation is, in a word, disappointing. Teachers get paid less than their peers with similar degrees. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, only 3 OECD countries pay their teachers less (when compared to other professions requiring the same level of education) than the United States. As a side note, any teacher who wants to get angry should read this (http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_50.htm), where it is comically suggested that teachers work 36-40 hours per week. If you assume I don't work in the summers or over Christmas break for 1 second, both of which I do, you'll get on average more than 40 hours a week. I call baloney. [The sad part of that study is also that Raleigh is mentioned explicitly as having one of the lowest teacher salaries per hour in the country]

In any event, many teachers feel unsupported both financially and professionally. Many teachers report feeling isolated in the classroom. With paperwork piling high, administrators breathing down your neck, parents not caring, and students suffering from little motivation to succeed, it creates an enormous pressure that cracks about half of new teachers within a few years. So how do teachers survive? Moreover, how do you survive whilst getting better at your job and at making positive differences in the lives of children? The answer:

Image: http://www.kcalfm.com/includes/wordpress/kelli-cluque/2011/09/27/for-one-thing-who-doesnt-like-doritos/


OK so Doritos can get you through the tough times, but they don't do much in the way of professional development. As it turns out, there are a number of options to get better at your craft. Here are my top 3, followed by a personal note.

#1) Use your colleagues
Stand up. Leave your room. Look out the hallway. Do you see those other doors? Other teachers live there, and some of them don't bite! Partner up with teachers in your subject and arrange to meet with them weekly, either at school, over dinner, or even over a beer on the weekend. I can't understate how important it is to get to know your fellow teachers. Not only might you get useful ideas for in-class activities, you can also get advice on how to conduct your class and swap stories about classroom experiences. I talk with my chemistry teacher every day and consider her to be one of the greatest assets at St. David's. Even if you don't think highly of your co-workers, get to know them and maybe your outlook will change. Or maybe they are demon-people and you can purge their evil souls. Always worth a shot.


#2) Join a Community of Practice (CoP)
Sounds like edu-speak to me. Skeptical? I understand. But you've read this far so you might as well finish the job. A Community of Practice is a group of individuals who convene to improve upon their craft. This could be the engineers who meet every other day in an office building or the group of painters who discuss form at a cafe. Try to find an existing CoP online (something like this: http://prettygoodphysics.wikispaces.com/) or in person (through teachers at your school or nearby schools). Or start one yourself! Inevitably, there are flaws in your teaching that you can't see and won't improve upon unless you network with others and seek their feedback.


#3) Use your students
So often I have heard teachers complain their students aren't getting something. They aren't bright enough or working hard enough. Although it is true that there is only so much a good teacher can do, it must be said that that amount is a whole heck of a lot. Quick quiz: what correlates more with student performance at the end of a class: socioeconomic status, race, school, region of the country, public vs. private, or teacher quality? You guessed right - socioeconomic status.

Sorry so it is teacher quality, yes. What I'm getting at is that oftentimes if most of your students aren't getting it, it's probably YOU that aren't getting it. Set up some structure for your kids to evaluate you. This could be an anonymous box outside your room, an anonymous submission online, or an anonymous evaluation forms during or at the end of a school year. Remember - keep it anonymous so that you can get more honest responses. Although you will get some silly responses, (my favorite was the kid who said I ruined music for them permanently because I told them that sound waves were patterns of compressed and rarefied air) for the most part you'll get useful feedback. If you see a trend, that means you should consider changing your style or at least better communicating why you do what you do. The kids you teach are very smart and will often give you invaluable advice if you let them.


Though these 3 steps are incredibly useful, it must be said that improvement first and foremost comes from within. If you want to be Mr. Awesome at your school, you must be committed to pulling many 60+ hour weeks. You have to re-create a lab for the third time to get it just perfect and you have to re-think every lesson plan to get the students even more jazzed this year about kinematics. To really get better, you have to put your job as a huge priority in your life. Teaching isn't a job you put down when you drive home, it's a calling. Live it, breathe it, and just as importantly, enjoy it. Let's all be a little bit more like this guy:

Image: http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/30-awesome-teachers-you-wish-you-had (warning, some foul language)

Friday Competition

One of the most effective teaching methods I have encountered - ever - is a good ole' competition. In particular, I love doing competitions on a Friday. Student mood is always good: the weekend is waiting in the bushes and dreams of sleeping in and hours of Facebook are at hand. As a side note, the vast majority of students say when I ask if they have any cool plans for this weekend "not really." Bunch of boring little tykes those St. David's ones are.

In any event, kids are a little extra restless on a Friday and so I had the fortune of running some sort of problem-solving activity or competition in 3 of my 4 classes today. They split into teams of 2 and got a white board. I posted a problem on the board and dramatically revealed it. Before doing so, the kids knew that the first group to get it right would earn the best thing I could give them: my laptop. So the kids went hard to work for me, sweating out the problem with their partner. The rule was if they submitted and got it wrong, they were out permanently. Thus, there was an extra incentive for being careful. They also had to show their work. OK so I gave a piece of candy to each member of the first group to finish. No laptops were harmed.

Incredibly, both classes with this competition were able to get 2 challenging, never-seen-before problems done in 12 minutes total. I was so impressed with them. Not only did it shake away the boredom of lecture, it also got them doing some problem solving mental reps. Furthermore, they were communicating like pros. I saw kids discussing strategy, saying things like "you can't use that equation, we don't know the final velocity" and "can we assume the final position is also zero?" Not only that, they got so INTO the physics. Honestly, it was adorable.

Fellow teachers - I encourage you to use competition whenever you can. Do you have any great stories of doing this in your class? I'd love to know.

Grains of sand, stars in the sky

Disclaimer - I promise not to make every post overtly Christian. My faith is so important to me, but at the same time I don't want this blog to be considered inaccessible to nonbelievers. That said, the inspiration for this post came from when I read the Bible this morning.

I am reading through Genesis and got through this passage this morning: 

I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.

What would you rather have? Offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky or as numerous as the grains of sand on the earth? Which is a bigger number? This is a classic exercise in the difficulty in describing big numbers. We just aren't equipped to fathom the difference between big and huge and absurdly huge and holy Batman that's a big number huge. 

So which is bigger? Surprisingly, there are more stars out there than grains of sand on this earth. Proof? Carl Sagan said it. :)

This blogger (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~gmackie/billions.html) estimates there are "2000 billion billion grains of sand". That's 2 x 10²¹ or 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 grains! A Yale astronomer (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/12/01/the-estimated-number-of-stars-in-the-universe-just-tripled/) estimates there are 300 million billion billion stars, or 3 x 10²³ or 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. According to these estimates, there are one hundred and fifty stars per grain of sand on the earth. Yeah. I'll say it again.

There are one hundred and fifty stars PER grain of sand on earth. Mind = blown.

Going back to the Genesis quote, this means that it was entirely superfluous for the angel of the Lord to mention the number of sand grains. Come on! Either that or a ton of stars were made in the past several thousand years. In case you couldn't see my face as I constructed this post, that was sarcasm.

I'm going to now collect a bunch of sand, because apparently it is a rarer thing than stars. By a lot.