EDUC 6470 Final Statement of Philosophy - Revision history

Shawn: /* References */

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References

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	==References==		==References==
	National Research Council, National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1996.		:National Research Council, National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1996.
	Sizer, Theodore, Horace's Compromise. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1985.		:Sizer, Theodore, Horace's Compromise. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1985.
	Project 2061, Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993.		:Project 2061, Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993.

Shawn: /* References */

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References

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	==References==		==References==
	Sizer, Theodore. Horace's Compromise. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1985.		National Research Council, National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1996.
			Sizer, Theodore, Horace's Compromise. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1985.
			Project 2061, Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993.

Shawn: zero sum game of field-based standards

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zero sum game of field-based standards

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	All the different tracks should lead to high places, but not the same place. There are many high places, too many to offer a single curriculum to all of the 60 million students in America.		All the different tracks should lead to high places, but not the same place. There are many high places, too many to offer a single curriculum to all of the 60 million students in America.

			At the high school level, the written standards are beginning to diversify, as begun in the Benchmarks for Science Literacy and the National Science Education Standards. The de-facto standards, however, are the SAT-II, the AP tests, and the statewide tests, driven by an un-diverse, older crowd of leading educators who act defensively to preserve their fields in a zero-sum game.

	===Education is part of life===		===Education is part of life===
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	A student who took my class as a high school junior mentioned in her exit interview at the end of her senior year that she distinctly recalled the value of a unit in electronics, where she freely chose and built a circuit, seeing it as part of science and science as a part of what she could do, even though she was going on to be an english major in college.		A student who took my class as a high school junior mentioned in her exit interview at the end of her senior year that she distinctly recalled the value of a unit in electronics, where she freely chose and built a circuit, seeing it as part of science and science as a part of what she could do, even though she was going on to be an english major in college.
	Focusing on how particular students are thinking about a novel subject, I am able to create new activities that address niches in their understanding. Recently I added a lesson to a unit on stereoscopic photography where students generated their own rules for a proper stereograph, and the students built these rules into their own understanding before we even were able to express them in words. I will assess them authentically not by having them write or say the rules, but use them to consistently create proper stereographs.		Focusing on how particular students are thinking about a novel subject, I am able to create new activities that address niches in their understanding. Recently I added a lesson to a unit on stereoscopic photography where students generated their own rules for a proper stereograph, and the students built these rules into their own understanding before we even were able to express them in words. I will assess them authentically not by having them write or say the rules, but use them to consistently create proper stereographs.

			==References==
			Sizer, Theodore. Horace's Compromise. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1985.

Shawn: titled main section

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titled main section

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	My philosophy about teaching grew first in comparing my teachers in the fifth and sixth grades, their approach to individuals, to homework, and to reading. In high school, I recall several experimental methods my science teachers used, such as unguided student research and concept maps, along with recognized curriculum that was considered excellent, such as PSSC physics. I distinctly recall the self-separation of students into those that could handle and enjoy physics and those that could or would not. In college I recall the difference between physics courses for majors and those for others, such as class size and expectations. All this history I use as a base to think about my own philosophy of teaching, and teaching science.		My philosophy about teaching grew first in comparing my teachers in the fifth and sixth grades, their approach to individuals, to homework, and to reading. In high school, I recall several experimental methods my science teachers used, such as unguided student research and concept maps, along with recognized curriculum that was considered excellent, such as PSSC physics. I distinctly recall the self-separation of students into those that could handle and enjoy physics and those that could or would not. In college I recall the difference between physics courses for majors and those for others, such as class size and expectations. All this history I use as a base to think about my own philosophy of teaching, and teaching science.
			==Statement of Philosophy==
	===Look to other subjects===		===Look to other subjects===
	I think science educators, including me, have a lot of reforms to consider seriously. First, something a bit more unique to my own philosophy, is to look for excellence in other subjects. As a member of a hiring committee for my latest school, I noticed that we had one to two applicants for each science position, but about ten for each english position. It stands to reason that our selective process allowed us to choose excellent english teachers, but we were forced to hire whomever we could for science teachers. I hope, having been hired by such a school, that that process doesn't reflect too closely on myself! But, looking through books at educational bookstores, reading journals, reading through the LB section at Mann Library, anyone can see that as a society we have really thought long and hard about teaching english and mathematics.		I think science educators, including me, have a lot of reforms to consider seriously. First, something a bit more unique to my own philosophy, is to look for excellence in other subjects. As a member of a hiring committee for my latest school, I noticed that we had one to two applicants for each science position, but about ten for each english position. It stands to reason that our selective process allowed us to choose excellent english teachers, but we were forced to hire whomever we could for science teachers. I hope, having been hired by such a school, that that process doesn't reflect too closely on myself! But, looking through books at educational bookstores, reading journals, reading through the LB section at Mann Library, anyone can see that as a society we have really thought long and hard about teaching english and mathematics.

Shawn: self-separation of students.

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self-separation of students.

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	Written for [[EDUC 6470]]. See the [[http://shawnreeves.net/wiki/index.php?title=EDUC_6470_Draft_Statement_of_Philosophy&oldid=627 Feb 10 2010 version]] for what I first submitted to Professor Crawford.		Written for [[EDUC 6470]]. See the [[http://shawnreeves.net/wiki/index.php?title=EDUC_6470_Draft_Statement_of_Philosophy&oldid=627 Feb 10 2010 version]] for what I first submitted to Professor Crawford.

	My philosophy about teaching grew first in comparing my teachers in the fifth and sixth grades, their approach to individuals, to homework, and to reading. In high school, I recall several experimental methods my science teachers used, such as unguided student research and concept maps, along with recognized curriculum that was considered excellent, such as PSSC physics. In college I recall the difference between physics courses for majors and those for others, such as class size and expectations. All this history I use as a base to think about my own philosophy of teaching, and teaching science.		My philosophy about teaching grew first in comparing my teachers in the fifth and sixth grades, their approach to individuals, to homework, and to reading. In high school, I recall several experimental methods my science teachers used, such as unguided student research and concept maps, along with recognized curriculum that was considered excellent, such as PSSC physics. I distinctly recall the self-separation of students into those that could handle and enjoy physics and those that could or would not. In college I recall the difference between physics courses for majors and those for others, such as class size and expectations. All this history I use as a base to think about my own philosophy of teaching, and teaching science.

	===Look to other subjects===		===Look to other subjects===
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	"What questions do you have about this topic?"		"What questions do you have about this topic?"
	"You will see something in the future and think about this."		"You will see something in the future and think about this."

			==Some successes attributable my philosophy==
			A student who took my class as a high school junior mentioned in her exit interview at the end of her senior year that she distinctly recalled the value of a unit in electronics, where she freely chose and built a circuit, seeing it as part of science and science as a part of what she could do, even though she was going on to be an english major in college.
			Focusing on how particular students are thinking about a novel subject, I am able to create new activities that address niches in their understanding. Recently I added a lesson to a unit on stereoscopic photography where students generated their own rules for a proper stereograph, and the students built these rules into their own understanding before we even were able to express them in words. I will assess them authentically not by having them write or say the rules, but use them to consistently create proper stereographs.

Shawn: Achievement

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Achievement

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	One interesting thing about authentic assessment is that it can be open to multiple paths. Since scientific concepts are caught up in complex frameworks, assessments can follow multiple paths, ranging from testing mathematical abilities to testing the making of analogies.		One interesting thing about authentic assessment is that it can be open to multiple paths. Since scientific concepts are caught up in complex frameworks, assessments can follow multiple paths, ranging from testing mathematical abilities to testing the making of analogies.

			===Achievement===
			What can be the meaningful measures of achievement in science education?
			#Students produce science.
			#Students alter the path of science. When students master science, they become leaders of it rather than slaves to it.
			#Students integrate science into their full lives. Science takes its proper part of society and the lives of those who practice it, used to serve the good goals of those people and that society.
			Most so-called achievement tests are tests of technical skill, and serve to measure none of these. In a tautological way they merely predict how a student will be ushered into achievement in the future.

	==What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy==		==What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy==

Shawn: /* What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy */

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What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy

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	==What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy==		==What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy==
	[[Recapitulation of historical science in science curriculum]]		[[Recapitulation of historical science in science curriculum]]
	Basics must come before the ideas built on those basics. This was not the case during the reductionism of the 19th century, arguably the gestation period of modern physics, so why should we reduce reductionism to basics-first? Basics-first is not the mode in first-language education, and it robs the student of a meaningful and motivating structure of socially important knowledge to which they can attach the basic ideas.		Basics must come before the ideas built on those basics. This was not the case during the reductionism of the 19th century, arguably the gestation period of modern physics, so why should we reduce reductionism to basics-first? Basics-first is not the mode in first-language education, and it robs the student of a meaningful and motivating structure of socially important knowledge to which they can attach the basic ideas. Furthermore, back-to-basics is a knee-jerk reaction against multi-culturalism, an ineluctable part of the information society.

	==What I tell my students about learning==		==What I tell my students about learning==

Shawn: /* What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy */ back to basics

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What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy: back to basics

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	==What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy==		==What is explicitly rejected from my philosophy==
	[[Recapitulation of historical science in science curriculum]]		[[Recapitulation of historical science in science curriculum]]
			Basics must come before the ideas built on those basics. This was not the case during the reductionism of the 19th century, arguably the gestation period of modern physics, so why should we reduce reductionism to basics-first? Basics-first is not the mode in first-language education, and it robs the student of a meaningful and motivating structure of socially important knowledge to which they can attach the basic ideas.

	==What I tell my students about learning==		==What I tell my students about learning==

Shawn: /* Constructivism */ theory dependence of observation

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Constructivism: theory dependence of observation

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	Constructivist inquiry can be very difficult because students accustomed to other methods will at first be uncomfortable with the teacher, especially if the teacher is modeling learning something for the first time, which is an excellent way to introduce constructivism to the classroom. I feel tense, but when it works, I rather enjoy learning something alongside the students. If I'm an expert in a subject, I need to step aside, often more than I ever do, to let the student find a working path to understanding. Physics teachers are known for hand-waving, a method of teaching that is the opposite of successful, where they say "thus and thus must be so" because "thus and thus." You've heard it enough to know what I'm describing.		Constructivist inquiry can be very difficult because students accustomed to other methods will at first be uncomfortable with the teacher, especially if the teacher is modeling learning something for the first time, which is an excellent way to introduce constructivism to the classroom. I feel tense, but when it works, I rather enjoy learning something alongside the students. If I'm an expert in a subject, I need to step aside, often more than I ever do, to let the student find a working path to understanding. Physics teachers are known for hand-waving, a method of teaching that is the opposite of successful, where they say "thus and thus must be so" because "thus and thus." You've heard it enough to know what I'm describing.

			Constructivist inquiry is well taught along with the oft-touted but rarely taught feature of scientific work, that observations are dependent on theory. Our theories are caught up in our technologies as well as in our previous frameworks. Revolutions often come from within, so dissatisfaction is fodder for good scientific work. Sometimes a teacher's job might be to breed dissatisfaction.

	===Reassess often===		===Reassess often===

Shawn: /* Relevance */ history

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Relevance: history

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	So, how do we make physics and students relate? Either bring the students to physics, or bring physics to the students. The first can be achieved by leading students down the same historical paths that made Newton interested in motion:Have students study planetary motion, and get to the point of appreciating how well Newton's laws help understand it. The opposite of this is done in classes: Students are forced to learn Newton's laws, almost kicking and screaming, and then told to apply them. Or, physics can be brought to students:Ask the students to choose inquiries that you know will lead to learning about the physical world. A physics classroom today uses many of the same inquiries Galileo used in the 16th and 17th centuries, but only because we are not allowing ourselves to be as inquisitive as Galileo about our own 21st century world. Galileo's tools led to Galileo's physics. The tools of our time should lead to the physics of our time.		So, how do we make physics and students relate? Either bring the students to physics, or bring physics to the students. The first can be achieved by leading students down the same historical paths that made Newton interested in motion:Have students study planetary motion, and get to the point of appreciating how well Newton's laws help understand it. The opposite of this is done in classes: Students are forced to learn Newton's laws, almost kicking and screaming, and then told to apply them. Or, physics can be brought to students:Ask the students to choose inquiries that you know will lead to learning about the physical world. A physics classroom today uses many of the same inquiries Galileo used in the 16th and 17th centuries, but only because we are not allowing ourselves to be as inquisitive as Galileo about our own 21st century world. Galileo's tools led to Galileo's physics. The tools of our time should lead to the physics of our time.

			A third option to make physics and students relate better is to demonstrate integration with other subjects. Historians study physics when they study physicists. Students shouldn't have to wait until college to learn some of the subtler lessons historians are learning about physics.

	===Constructivism===		===Constructivism===