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Module 5: Assessment and inquiry II

Congratulations, you have arrived to the last module of this MOOC!

In this final section, we will place the focus on a “peer to peer” (P2P) activity.

Therefore, throughout this module, you will:

·   First, create a lesson plan for an inquiry based lesson, using the Learning Designer

·   And secondly, receive 3 lesson plans from your peers which you will have to assess, using the guidelines presented.

5.1 Webinar: Inquiring into classroom assessment practices

Webinar: Inquiring into classroom assessment practices on Tuesday, 7 May 2019, 17:00-18:00 (CEST)

Using inquiry-based learning approaches in the classroom can provide opportunities to think about what, where and how we assess student learning. The role and purpose of assessment in classroom practice has been the focus of much research in science education in recent years. However, the most insightful exemplars of assessment practices have been highlighted through research-practice collaborations that have supported science teacher’s processes of formative assessment task design, interpretation of student ideas, and planning for feedback over a period of time. But how can these assessment practices be adopted by all teachers? This session will draw on teacher experiences and examples from Amgen Biotech Experience program  (https://www.amgenbiotechexperience.com/) and Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science (http://sails-project.eu/index.html)

This session will discuss and debate the following five questions:

1.            How do inquiry-based approaches benefit student’s learning?

2.            What are the different purposes of classroom-based assessment?

3.            How do we support teachers in shifting their assessment strategies?

4.            How do teachers make judgements on student learning and progression?

5.            How do you plan for giving feedback?

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Module 4: Assessment and inquiry I

If in previous modules you acquired new knowledge about inquiry-based teaching and learning, the objective of Module 4 is to learn how to assess inquiry-based teaching and learning.

Therefore, throughout this module, you will:

1.Become familiarized with several assessment approaches for inquiry-based learning: rubrics, reports, digital portfolios/learning diaries and writing to learn activities

2.Reflect on your own assessment practice through the help of already established educational practices of other teachers.

3.Practice with and explore the various assessment methods presented.

4.1. Writing to Learn: a Brief Explanation

During the first half of this module, we will look at writing to learn activities. These are short writing tasks for students that help them think through key concepts and definitions of a certain topic. It allows them to adapt the information in a way that is comfortable for them, hence helping them to learn.

Incorporating informal writing strategies into all the subject area disciplines is known as writing to learn (Connally, 1989; Rivard, 1994). There is a wide range of writing strategies that can be used in learning and teaching processes. These activities can generally be grouped into three groups according to the affective and cognitive engagement:

·   Poetic forms

·   Expressive forms

·   Transactional forms

Poetic writing can be defined as the language of novels and poems. The aim of writing poetry is to separate yourself from action and to think reflectively about experiences and feelings.

Expressive writing both includes information and reflections about that information. Since expressive writing is usually done informally, without concern for the judgment of others, the writer may concentrate on making connections with prior knowledge, clarifying understanding, and otherwise “explaining the matter to oneself” (Britton et al., 1975, p. 28). Because expressive writing can be a very powerful tool for associating concepts with language, it has come to be known as writing to learn (Connally, 1989).

Transactional writing, which is mostly used by science writers, is characterized by the voice of the participant in action. Transactional forms of writing have often been called “writing to inform” or “writing to communicate” (Freisinger, 1980).

Please watch the following video interviews with prof. Dr. Murat Gunel to discover more about writing to learn activities: what exactly is the connection between writing and learning, how these activities are connected to science education and how to assess them. After watching the videos, please let us know your opinion in the Padlet below.

4.2 The Effects of Writing to Learn Activities on Students’ Learning Outcomes

Theorists agree that writing can be a valuable tool for learning content because while writing students explore ideas, discover relationships, observe contrasts, sequence ideas, and process information (Fulwiler & Young, 1982). Moreover, Walshe (1987) concluded that writing activities increase the quality of learning by helping students clarify ideas and relationships between them. Parker and Goodkin (1987) claim that the physical act of writing has mental/cognitive consequences. As students write about information, they reconstruct the thinking process; they internalize the activity and meaningful learning occurs.

Some studies (e.g., Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004; Gunel, Hand, & Prain, 2007; Sampson, Enderle, Grooms, & Witte, 2013; Uzoglu, 2010) have shown that writing to learn activities have significant effects on:

·   Achievement scores

·   Attitudes towards science

·   Scientific process skills

·   Conceptual understanding

·   Scientific literacy

·   Self-responsible learning

·   Argumentation skills

·   The use of multiple modes of representation

·   Peer interaction

·   Critical thinking and problem solving skills.

In the following videos, prof. Dr. Murat Gunel discusses effects of writing to learn activities on students’ results and the role of writing to learn activities in science education.

4.3 Examples of Writing to Learn Activities

In this section, we present examples of writing to learn activities, poems and letters written by students.

Letters were written at the end of the ‘Electricity unit’ in the Turkish Physics curriculum by 6th graders. Click the link to reach the letters and the instructions that were given to students.

Poems were also written at the end of the ‘Electricity unit’ in the 5th grade, ‘Matter unit’ in the 6th grade, and ‘Force and Energy unit’ in the 7th grade of Turkish curriculum. Click the link to reach student’s poems written in different class levels.

4.4 Evaluation of Writing to Learn Activities

Writing to learn activities promote students’ learning by improving their critical thinking skills. They also enhance students’ scientific literacy. At the end of the writing to learn activities, teachers can use the written products as an alternative measurement and assessment tool. As mentioned in earlier sections, there are various writing to learn activities such as journals, letters, lab reports, poems, diaries or stories. Therefore, each writing to learn activity can be evaluated from different perspectives with various rubrics. Rubrics are provided below with a brief explanation.

·   Science journals could be evaluated with respect to different themes, such as science vocabulary, accuracy, organization, content, model representation, self-reflection, etc. Find some examples of rubrics with which to evaluate science journals in Appendix A, Appendix B, and Appendix C.

·   Letters could be evaluated with respect to cognitive actions, such as observation, measurement, comparison, analogy, clarification, claim, cause/effect, induction/generalization, deduction, investigation design and argumentation. Find a rubric to be used for text analysis of letters in Appendix D.

·   There are various templates one can use to write lab reports. In the science writing heuristic (SWH) approach, students use a template as in Appendix E. This template could be evaluated with respect to different themes, such as (a) the quality of questions, claims, and evidence, (b) the relationship between claim and evidence, (c) the quality of the argument, etc. Find a rubric with which to evaluate the student template of SWH in Appendix F.

·   Poems could be evaluated with respect to different themes, such as form, word usage, poetic elements, language conventions, effort, illustration, etc. Find a rubric with which to evaluate poems in Appendix G.

4.6. The Experimenter Report

After a general overview of writing to learn activities and some examples, we focus on two particular examples. The first one, the Experimenter Report, can be viewed as a “reversed” writing to learn activity, since it a method primarily for teachers.

The experimenter report is a tool that helps teachers to document, reflect and share their IBSE activity. Teachers document their implementation of an IBSE lesson in an online space to which both students and teacher have access, and on which peer feedback can be provided by other teachers.

Watch the following video to know more:

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Module 1: Experience inquiry as a learner

We think of children as unconditionally curious beings. Yet, often as adults, we forget how important it is never to stop inquiring. Inquiry-based science education helps students to approach learning from an investigative point of view. However, before you are able to implement inquiry-based teaching in your classroom, you will have to understand the process your pupils go through when they experience inquiry-based learning.

Therefore, we prepared this first module for you to:

·             Understand the steps & methodology of inquiry-based learning

·             Experience inquiry in life sciences as an adult learner (by completing one or more activities)

·             Identify and reflect on the steps followed along your inquiry path

·             Compare your own practice with a given example

1.1. Introduction

You are about to experience a life science investigation for adults, using very simple material. Please use your own adult knowledge and competences to tackle the problem, following the instructions given in the videos. Do not forget to take notes of all ideas you have, of the prior scientific knowledge you use to build your reasoning, of the questions that arise during the investigation process, etc. That is to say: document the investigation path you follow, in order to be able to reflect on this path afterwards.

Have a nice investigation!

1.2. From the situation to the hypothesis

Now that you have made comparisons and produced a list of hypotheses, we will give you some additional information to help you focus on a single hypothesis. Watch the following video and study the additional information (two downloadable documents and a web link).

1.3 Testing a hypothesis

Thank you for sharing your hypothesis! At this point in the exercise, we propose to focus our analysis on one hypothesis. This does not mean that you should not pursue your other hypotheses; you can do so in parallel.

The main hypothesis is as follows:

The sugar content in a medium affects the level of activity of yeast cells, and thus the quantity of gas they produce in a given time.

1.4 Inquiry path steps

In the following video, we present our own experimental approach, its results and their interpretation. We also insist on a key characteristic that any experimental protocol should possess.

There are many ways to approach a problem: different people may have completely different questions and solutions. In this video, we present our own experimental approach, its results and their interpretation. To help you, we also share some key characteristics of our protocol that we think can be useful for any experiment you encounter.

1.5 Summary: what is IBL?

Throughout the first module, you were able to experience inquiry-based learning, but you may still wonder about a few definitions, such as:

·             How does inquiry-based learning differ from problem-based learning and discovery-based learning?

·             What exactly is inquiry-based learning?

You will find answers in the following video, as well as an overview of the previous activities of this module:

1.6 How to create inquiry-based learning questions (OPTIONAL)

In this optional task, you will acquire the skill of identifying and creating inquiry-based learning questions. You will do this by watching two narrated videos about the importance of observation and investigation, the first using mandarins and the second using eggs. It is important to note that you can reproduce this activity with your students to put inquiry-based learning into practice, using the documents below. Then, you will learn about what makes a question an inquiry-based learning question and how to create one, after which we will test your knowledge with a little exercise. Enjoy!

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Module 2: Implement inquiry in the classroom

After experiencing inquiry-based learning as adults, we move on to study the implementation of inquiry-based teaching in your classroom!

Therefore, in Module 2 you will discover:

·             How to build your skills and confidence to implement inquiry-based teaching in the classroom

·             How to analyse different implementations of IBSE in life sciences

·             Several examples of classroom implementations

·             Tips and good practices from successful practitioners

2.1. Why is it important to reflect on our implementations?

In the following section, we will look at a series of classroom implementations from teachers and professionals across Europe. The purpose of this module is to look at teachers’ professional characteristics that promote investigation. Therefore, using a classroom video, we will focus on how the teacher frames the investigation, manages time and space, and interacts with students.

The purpose of these videos is not reproducing the activity yourself in the classroom but analysing examples and learning from what peers are doing.

Firstly, there is a positive aspect of learning from our mistakes. Reflection on our classroom implementations helps us to develop professionally. Secondly, it can help our students! Looking back at a lesson can reveal unclear explanations from our side and induces to clarify with students during the following class. Moreover, it can help group cohesion and teach your students to reflect on their work, too.

Here are a few important questions you can ask yourself to reflect on your classroom implementation:

·               What was the aim of the class?

·               How did I deliver?

·               How did students react?

·               How can I improve?

We remind you here of this self-reflection tool, which is an adaptation of the self-assessment tool of the Tools for Enhancing Inquiry in Science Education booklet developed in the Fibonacci project.

2.2. Analysis of classroom implementations – 1st Example

First of all, a few contextual elements: in this particular section, you will view video excerpts from three investigation sessions (total duration: 3 hours), filmed in a 7th grade class, prepared and animated by a Life and Earth Sciences teacher and a Physics and Chemistry teacher.

It is important to know that these videos are the result of an editing process and they do not show the sessions in their entirety.

In the first video, you will see a classroom implementation of an IBSE activity.

The initial situation is presented to the class in the form of a challenge: supposedly isolated in a hostile environment, the students have no fuel left to find help. They have to feed themselves and have enough material left to burn as fuel. Their resources are reduced to one package of nuts and one package of wheat noodles. The challenge is how to get the most energy from these foods.

We ask that you watch the video to identify the professional gestures that organise and promote investigation. Which of these strategies do you also use?

You can post your analysis in this forum thread and check out what other peers are saying!

2.3. Analysis of classroom implementations – 2nd Example

The following videos are also examples of a classroom implementation of inquiry-based teaching. The videos were filmed in ALTIS Grammar School in the Czech Republic. Private schools are still quite rare in the Czech Republic – they make up less than 10% of all schools. For the AmgenTeach project, the most relevant educational area in the Czech education system is “Man and Nature” with the minimum time allotment of 21 lessons for 4 years. At the ALTIS, where the video was shot, Chemistry is taught for 4 hours, Physics for 5 hours, Biology for 7 hours, and Geography and Geology (one subject) for 7 hours (23 lessons in total). Students in the video are in their 3rd grade (age 13-14) and this is their first year of studying Chemistry. The video was recorded after 9 months of learning Chemistry and using IBSE lab exercises. As there is no chemistry lab, they do all laboratory exercises in their classroom.

The topic of this lesson was "Starch in food products" - but the pupils did not learn how to detect starch (using iodine solutions) before the lesson. They were given three solutions as specific reagents - baking soda, citric acid and iodine (Jodisol - antiseptic agent). They did not know what a "specific reagent" means. After they finished working, the teacher and the class together evaluated the students’ research, added more information about starch and made general conclusions.

Below you can watch the entire inquiry-based lesson broken down into smaller sections. You will be given 1-3 questions to keep in mind whilst watching the videos. In the end, you can add your answers to all the questions in the forum and compare them to the ones given by the teacher.

2.4 Analysis of classroom implementations – 3rd Example

In this section we will present two different experiments: one about testing sunscreen and one about testing CO2 levels. For each activity you will be able to access the full activity (see downloadable pdfs) as well as an interview with the teachers and instructors involved in the experiment. While watching, try to identify what strategies, activities and approaches do the teachers implement when using inquiry with their students?

At the end of the section you will find a Padlet where you can post your reflections.

Testing sunscreen - An experiment about the effect of UV rays on the skin and the mitigation that sun creams can provide

The didactic sequence of this practice entails 14-16-year-old students experimenting on the effects of UV rays on the skin and the attenuation that several filters can provide, such as solar creams. It is also intended that students develop a proposal to promote responsible exposure to the sun using solar filters. In this way, students are expected to learn how to make decisions based on scientific aspects related to their daily lives. The purpose of the practice is to develop a vision of science as a discipline close to day-to-day life i2.6. Tips and advice from successful practitioners

It is important to hear as many different opinions as possible; therefore, in the videos below you can watch a few tips and professional advice from teachers who have successfully implemented Inquiry in their classrooms.

This first set of videos feature Laura Matthys, agronomist engineer who is in charge of the Science Expo project of the Jeunesses Scientifiques organization in Belgium. These videos aim to give you some advice about how to manage an IBSE project with your students: from helping them to choose a project to promoting their work.

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Module 3: Conceptual understanding of life sciences

In previous modules, you had the opportunity to explore Inquiry as an adult learner and to implement Inquiry in the classroom.

In Module 3, you will:

·             Understand the relevance of new discoveries in other sciences that will be used in life sciences.

·             Understand how ethics relates to the study of the life sciences.

·             Try and implement activities referring to the values and assumptions inherent to scientific knowledge and the development of scientific knowledge.

3.1 The relevance of new discoveries in life sciences

To start with, watch an interview with a scientist from Leicester University, who discusses the relevance of new discoveries in the life sciences. Please discuss your initial thoughts in the Padlet below the video.

3.2 Ethics, life sciences and CRISPR

CRISPR - An example of how DNA technology is creating new possibilities - and ethical issues.

The ethical issues arising from genetic technology are increasingly topical and addressing them is more important as scientific tools available to us become more powerful. An example of such a tool is CRISPR. Please read the following introduction to CRISPR technology, and watch the short information video.

3.4 Ethics using a Philosophy for Children approach: Part 1

We start this part of the module with a brief introduction to the Philosophy for Children (P4C)method. Review this brief presentation on the method prepared by the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) organisation in Ireland.

Philosophy for Children (P4C) is an approach that prompts critical thinking among students, where they get the opportunity to employ other key life skills, such as communication, creativity and collaborating with others. The idea is that by engaging in philosophical inquiry, students can better prepare to become citizens in society. Although the name suggests that P4C is for primary school children, it is actually a method widely used among high school teachers.

A P4C can include the following sequence of steps:

1.Warm-up (could involve introductions or an icebreaker game)

2.Stimulus (we will use a video clip later in the module, but it can range from a newspaper article to a photograph)

3.Private reflections (thinking time on stimulus)

4.Question creation (individually developing a question related to a stimulus)

5.Question-airing (collaborating in separate groups to describe the generated questions; the most relevant question from those generated within the group can be picked by consensus)

6.Question-choosing (sorting and classifying the questions generated by all groups as philosophical or otherwise; we will use a quadrant to do this; one philosophical question is chosen by the whole class on a vote)

7.First thoughts (on the question chosen by students in the class)

8.Inquiry (students may sit in a circle and inquire on the question while the teacher acts as a facilitator)

9.Last words

10.  Review and evaluation of the process/content

3.5 Ethics using a Philosophy for Children approach: Part 2

In this section, we would like to introduce a possible activity, which you can also try in its entirety with your students. This activity involves using the movie trailer of Gattaca (1997).

Steps:

1. Preparing for progression

Students and teacher sit in a circle. The teacher may decide to remind students about the importance of respectful dialogue and argumentation, all voices being given a fair chance to be heard, etc.

2. Sharing the text (stimulus)

The ‘text’ in this case is the trailer of the movie GATTACA. Students are asked to privately identify and note down what they feel are the ‘juicy’ concepts and questions that arise for them.

GATTACA is a 1997 science fiction film that presents “a biopunk vision of a future society driven by eugenics where potential children are conceived through genetic manipulation to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents” (Wikipedia).

Take some time to reflect on what questions arise for you after watching the trailer - write 3-4 of these down in this forum thread. At this point, you have carried out steps 2 to 4 from this sequence.

3. Private reflections (think time)

Students spend a few minutes quietly reflecting on their own, writing down the questions that came up for them while watching the movie clip.

4. Choosing questions

Students may be asked to briefly get into small groups of 3-5 to discuss each other’s questions, and to choose one question that the group conjectures will elicit the most dialogue.

5. Question-airing

Each group is then asked to read out their question in turn, and perhaps explain the thinking behind it.

The first student to do this is given a soft “speaking ball” or other object that gets passed around to the person who is allowed to speak while others listen. Comments, clarification questions and opposing views can thus be issued by any student.

A question quadrant can be used to help students to sort and identify types of questions, and in particular those (philosophical) questions that encourage dialogue (see next section).

6. Inquiry

Opinions are still expressed, but final judgements are held back until other points of view have been explored. In a good dialogue, people disagree without getting angry with each other and want to understand what others are trying to say. Careful listening is as important as careful speaking, and active listening will show in the questions learners ask each other.

The teacher will elicit appropriate ‘moves’ from pupils in response to what others have said. Such moves might include: thinking of alternative points of view; speculating about the assumptions behind the question; identifying bias; giving examples; noticing similarities and differences; examining alternatives; establishing whether statements about people and things apply to ‘all’, ‘many’, ‘some’ and/ or ‘none’.

The teacher may have to clarify, summarise and re-frame the discussion at some point(s). This is sometimes necessary to keep dialogue on track. A concept map, diagram or written summary may be used to this end.

7. Last words

At the end of the dialogue, there is a summary and an opportunity for pupils to have their ‘last words’, either in response to the content of the dialogue or to the process. Last words could be given as an oral response or in writing.

3.6 Identifying philosophical questions: Parts 1 & 2

It is important for students to learn to identify philosophical questions.

Philosophical questions:

·   are not answered through scientific investigation or accumulation of factual knowledge and information

·   are open to examination, further questioning and inquiry

·   look at meaning, truth, value, knowledge and reality

Philosophical questions can often be deceptively simple, but their consideration encourages complex reasoning and the ability to see different perspectives. The ability to think in deep and complex ways is a skill that is beneficial to students across the curriculum.

Susan Andrews, author of Philosophy (a short course, part of the Junior Cycle curriculum in Ireland), has this to say about identifying philosophical questions:

Click here to hide the excerpt

For example, the question “How does the brain function when we learn?” can be given a settled answer that we discover by scientific research. “How has education changed?” invites historical analysis. “What subjects are taught in Irish schools?” is answered by collecting information about the school system in Ireland. “Does student inquiry lead to improved Leaving Cert results?” requires empirical research.

Philosophical questions such as “What does it mean to understand something?” and “How do we know what we know?” are answered in a different way. They cannot be given settled answers by gathering empirical facts, consulting expert opinions or doing calculations. These questions arise even when we have all the settled knowledge. “Philosophy attempts to clarify and illuminate unsettled, controversial issues that are so generic that no scientific discipline is equipped to deal with them” (Matthew Lipman, 1988). No matter how much information is gathered about what happens when we learn, this will not be enough to answer our question “What does it mean to understand something?”

Philosophical or ethical questions that arise in science or genetic engineering are problematic and contestable. When does a human being begin? GATTACA/Bioethics raises questions that address fundamental issues and beliefs and require complex thinking rather than empirical/scientific research/experiments to answer. When we take a philosophical approach to these questions, we are not trying to get settled answers for students but to develop new perspectives and alternative ideas so they can try make sense of perplexing issues that will confront them in the science course. Using philosophy that constantly questions assumptions will help students develop as scientists.

In the next video, teachers discuss the pedagogy behind Philosophy for Children, how to use it and how to establish a dialogue between students by sharing questions:

3.7 Philosophical inquiry activity (OPTIONAL)

Here we will share here an inquiry activity which you can try with your students based on the stimulus provided - you can decide how you wish to introduce the stimulus, in this case the controversy surrounding sperm banks. Steps 8 and 9 of the P4C inquiry have now taken place.

Key Elements of Thinking and Facilitation

(from Fisher R, ‘Teaching Thinking’, Cassell 1998)

Thinking includes a number of important elements that a facilitator can model and encourage to provide forward movement in a discussion. The facilitator is there to provide positive cognitive interventions that help move the discussion forward.

During the discussion, the facilitator needs to be aware of opportunities to focus attention on the key elements of thinking.

These include:

·   Questioning – asking good questions to provide a focus for the inquiry.

·   Reasoning – requesting reasons or evidence to support arguments and judgements.

·   Defining – clarifying concepts through making connections, distinctions and comparisons.

·   Speculating – generating ideas and alternative viewpoints through imaginative thinking.

·   Testing for truth – gathering information, evaluating evidence, examples and counterexamples.

·   Expanding ideas – sustaining and extending lines of thought and argument.

·   Summarising – abstracting key points or general rules from a number of ideas or instances.

Strategies to extend and develop student thinking include:

·   Thinking time – encourage pauses for thought or some moments of quiet meditation on a topic. Remember to provide at least 3 seconds thinking time after you have asked a question and 3 seconds thinking time after a child gives an answer.

·   Think—pair—share – allow individual thinking time for a question, invite discussion of the question with a partner, then open up for class discussion.

·   Ask follow-ups – ask students to extend or qualify what they said by asking questions that challenge their thinking, such as ’Why?’, ‘Do you agree or disagree?’, ’Can you say more?’, ’Can you give an example?’, ’Describe how you arrived at that answer’.

·   Withhold judgement – respond to student answers in a non-evaluative way, e.g. a positive but neutral response such as ‘Thank you’, ‘Ok’, ‘That’s interesting’, ‘A-ha’, ‘I see’.

·   Invite the whole group to respond – encourage a response from the whole group by saying things such as; ‘How many people agree/disagree with that point of view?’ (hands/thumbs up, down or to side). You can also ask questions such as ‘Having heard that, what questions might we ask?’

·   Ask for a summary – promote active listening by asking for a summary of what has been said, e.g. ‘Could you summarise Kim’s point?’, ‘Can you explain what Jane has just said?’, ‘Can you tell me the arguments so far?’

·   Play devil’s advocate – challenge students to give reasons for their views by presenting opposing points of view, or by asking students to be devil’s advocates, e.g., ‘Who can think of a different point of view / an argument against that?’

·   Invite a range of responses – model open-mindedness by inviting students to consider different viewpoints: ‘There is no single correct answer to this question. I want you to consider alternatives’.

·   Encourage student questioning – invite students to ask their own questions before/during and/or after discussion. ’Does anyone have a question about what has been said?’, etc.