Final Vision Statement

Final Vision Statement

I believe science education is a difficult task to teach.  I believe for science education to be the most successful, an inquiry-based environment is necessary.  I believe for science education to be the most successful, the learning environment needs to become more student-directed and less teacher-directed.  As I have learned throughout the semester, science education needs to begin with probing students for misconceptions before and during activities.  For science lessons to be impactful, all five features of inquiry need to be included- engage, evidence, explanation, evaluate and communicate.  I have learned that it is vital to be able to teach to a diverse group of learners and the importance of formative assessment.

My current vision statement has varied from my initial vision statement at the beginning of the semester.  I believe I have matured my ideas regarding science education.  I now believe that before any science education can begin, teachers need to probe their students to determine student misconceptions.  A misconception is a model or theory that a student develops as a means to make sense of events in the world around him or her.  The student’s theory may cause him or her to make inaccurate predictions and can be very channeling to dislodge. Misconceptions can be troublesome for students because they can prevent students from understanding and making sense of new material.  I want to implement labs into my future science education in order to dislodge misconceptions.  As Richard Borst states, “labs are another way to prevent misconceptions” (The Science Teacher, page 68).  This is true because teachers can maintain close contact with their students during the lab activities.  Teachers can ask probing questions while students are exploring the lab activity, which acts as a tool for continually assessing students’ knowledge.

I anticipate teaching students science education with great enthusiasm.  I do not want students to feel overwhelmed by science material and want to be sure to teach science to all learning styles.  I want to have science lessons that accommodate all of my students’ learning styles.  As I teach to a diverse classroom I want to provide visual, auditory, and interactive activities to accommodate all students learning styles.  During my science practicum experience I was able to observe a diverse group of learners.  As I observed the students, I quickly noticed the more interactive the portion of the lesson was, the more the students were engaged and ultimately learned.  I also learned that classroom management issues disappeared when the students were involved in the lesson.  The more student-centered the lesson was, the more the students were engaged and enjoyed the lesson.

I believe connecting science material to students’ lives is essential to science education.  Students are much more concerned with concepts that they are able to relate to.  A great way to incorporate student’s lives into science education is by allowing students to explore and learn about their environment.  Braus and Wood state, “Getting students out into the environment on a regular basis is an important part of a comprehensive environmental education program.  Nothing can replace first-hand experiences to help students understand their community, natural systems and environmental issues” (Environmental Education in the Schools, page 9).  By allowing students to learn about their environments, they are able to make connections with other science related concepts.

Tell me, and I forget, Show me, and I remember, involve me, and I understand. I believe this statement perfectly describes how science education should be taught.  For students to become involved, students need to be in an inquiry-based setting where they are free to explore and develop new ideas.  The first feature of inquiry is engage.  Students need to engage in scientifically oriented questions for meaningful science lessons to be successful.  Students should be exploring questions that interest them. 

The second feature of inquiry is evidence.  The learner gives priority to the evidence they collect.   Students need to understand the data they are collecting and why it is meaningful and helpful to their education.  The students should be in charge of collecting their data and should be able to collect their data however they decide. The third feature of inquiry is explanation.  The learner will formulate explanations based on their data and create an explanation from that evidence.  Students should analyze their data and create an explanation for their findings.  Before any outside knowledge is provided, students will make meaning of their collected evidence.  The fourth feature of inquiry is to evaluate.  The learner compares their explanations to other explanations.  It is vital for students to have access to a variety of different materials.  Krajcik states, “learning is a continuous process that requires many new experiences in which students can construct and reconstruct knowledge by interacting with others and materials”.  This statement accurately describes the benefits of having the ability to interact with a variety of materials. The final feature of inquiry is to communicate.  Students will communicate and justify their explanations.  By communicating their information the student is displaying their knowledge.  This final feature of inquiry can also be used for assessment that is another extremely important aspect in science education. 

Keely states, “Classroom assessment serves multiple purposes, including diagnosing, monitoring, providing feedback, and measuring” (Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, page 1).  Classroom assessment should be a continuous process. Allowing assessment to become formative will greatly benefit the students and teacher.  With formative assessment, students are given feedback that allows them to determine areas of improvement.  Teachers are also able to assess their teaching and determine areas for improvement within their instruction.  Very rarely should assessment be summative.  Summative assessment provides feedback to students and the teacher; however, the feedback is somewhat meaningless because the material is already concluded when the feedback is provided.

I believe for science education to be meaningful to students, inquiry-based instruction is necessary.  Students should work through each stage of inquiry as they conduct science experiments.  Although teaching to a diverse group of learners can be challenging, with multiple forms of representation and activities, it can be done successfully.  It is also essential to relate science education to students’ lives.  Finally, formative assessment needs to be continuously implemented throughout the course of the year.