Krstovic's Thoughts on Education

Here is a list of 20 statements that I came up with to assess my students’ views about the nature of science. They need to consider each of the following statements about the nature of products and practices in science. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree, they need to indicate their position on each statement.

	1	2	3	4	5
When you think of science, making observations through experimentation, often comes to your mind
Science always starts with observations from which scientists develop theories to explain phenomena
Scientists give equal credit to each other when they make a big discovery
Scientists are imaginative people whose ideas are sometimes born in their imagination
When predicted and observed results of an experiment match, hypothesis is proven
Scientists share their ideas, methods and findings with other scientists in the scientific community
Scientists engage in scientific work in unbiased and objective ways, unaffected by any irrational effects, like emotions
It is acceptable for scientists to tweak their data on ‘scientific basis’ in order to get the ‘right’ answers
Technology is simply applied science
Corporate control, dictated by profits, influences the practices and products of scientists
Gender, race, ethnicity and cultural background play  no role in the processes and products of science
Scientific methods will ultimately allow humans to reach the ‘truth’ about laws and theories governing natural phenomena
Knowledge in science is socially constructed by community of scientists in a particular time and a particular place
Science inquiries support the ideas that scientists (and students of science) already hold
Students should set aside their cultural views of the material world when they study science at school
All new explanations in science must be subjected to critical scrutiny and peer review before gaining wider acceptance
Some of the outcomes of science and technology are unintended, which can create social problems
There are no strict methodological rules that are always used by scientists – anything goes
Science education in high school should prepare all students to be scientists and engineers
All citizens need to understand the characteristics of the work of scientists/engineers and the value of their products

This semester I teach a Grade 9 Applied/Locally Developed split class. For those of you who are not familiar with the Ontario public education system, the are three streams at the high school level: Academic/University, Applied/College and Locally Developed/Work-place. The students who are in the LD/Work-place stream often struggle with literacy and numeracy, and are far behind their peers in terms of basic skills such are reading, writing, and in some cases, thinking.

This blog is about one LD student whose writing is much below the level of his peers. Let’s call him T.J., which is not his real name.

The other day I was performing several chemistry demos in Grade 9 Applied/LD class. In the past, I would have given the students a handout on which they would record their observations for each demo that I did. But the students hated me for asking them to write down observation, while they tried to enjoy the catchy demos.

What was I thinking? The demos are a form of entertainment for the kids. They love fire, explosions, colour changes, and other chemical concoctions. So why am I spoiling this for them by asking them to write down stuff? All they want is to watch the show first!

I decided that I was not going to do that anymore. Instead, I asked the students to video record my demos. Most of them seem to have either a Blackberry, an , or a digital . As soon as I said: “Why don’t you guys record my demos while I do them,” half of the class got up and positioned themselves so that they got the best view of the demos.  A light bulb went on in my head: “Why didn’t I think of this before? Look how excited they are about what they’re about to see!”

The class was definitely excited and amazed by each of the demos – from the disappearing Styrofoam cup to the explosion of hydrogen balloon. They played their videos over and over, and even shared some of their videos with each other. I also asked to see a couple of the videos. They were proud to show me what they recorded commenting on how certain demos made them feel, and questioning what they observed. This is exactly what I wanted them to be doing – and in in an organic kind of way.

However, I still wanted the kids to have some written record of the demos in their notes. They were not keen when I told them that, but I quickly thought of something and told them that they could record themselves speaking about the demos, then submit that to me.  T.J. was the first student to jump right on that idea.

T.J. went to a quiet area in the classroom, and within five to ten minutes he came to me with his phone in his hand. He handed me his phone with his white earphones, and asked me if I could listen to his voice recording.

I was in awe!

T.J’s recount of the demos was precise and detailed. He communicated it slowly and eloquently. I praised his work immediately and I recognized how such a powerful tool can be an even more powerful aid in T.J’s learning.  T.J. felt great about his work, and took my praise with great deal of pride.

I went on to explain to T.J. that he can now listen to his own voice recoding, and use that to write down a paragraph or two. I encouraged T.J. to use this strategy in his other classes when teachers ask him to write about a subject.

I struck a goldmine with T.J. I found what works for him, and what could improve his writing. T.J.’s biggest challenge was to generate ideas on paper, and to express those ideas in proper sentences. In past, his sentences were incomplete, lacking proper punctuation. As a result, the paragraphs were highly underdeveloped. T.J. had no motivation to write given these obstacles. However, that may change soon.

T.J. and other kids who struggle with certain areas of literacy need to learn an alternative way to express their thinking. T.J. was excited to see that his smart phone could actually be an antidote to his weak writing skills.

From now and on before I ask T.J. to write anything I will ask him to first record himself speaking freely about the topic, then we can work together to transcribe his own oral report into a written document.

Technology is a good friend to those who learn to use it in way that will make one’s life easier.

The integration of instructional processes (think/pair/share, place mats, graffiti, community circle and paired-learning investigations) which foster small group collaboration has proven to be both powerful and effective in terms of developing science literacy skills of a group of students in Grade 9 Applied Science class.  When various instructional tactics are integrated in class students’ communication skills as well as their knowledge and understanding of the key concepts improve. The results of this project indicate that students’ overall academic achievement improved from first half to the second half of the semester. This correlated well to increased amount of time that was invested in various instructional tactics. In addition, over 70% of the students in this class performed at, or above, the provincial standard, which is significantly greater when compared to the other sections of Grade 9 Applied Science class.The other critical insight that gleaned from this study is that students’ level of interest and engagement improves when students perceive the teachers’ instructional repertoire as being more fun than what they have experience before. Moreover, students need time to adjust to the non-traditional teaching and learning styles and to develop the skills required for various instructional tactics which may be new to them. By integrating instructional tactics such as think/pair/share, place mats, graffiti and other instructional methods that that invoke individual accountability, face-to-face interaction and positive interdependence students’ subject-area literacy skills are enhanced and their overall academic progress improves.

To learn more about the specific details of this project, please visit http://iiactionresearch.wetpaint.com

I would like to acknowledge the Ontario Ministry of Education and Ontario Teacher Federation (OTF) for funding this project through the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP), which is an annual project-based professional learning opportunity for experienced classroom teachers. To learn more about TLLP please visit: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/tllp.html

It has been two months since the start of the first semester. The early progress reports were due last week. This is usually the time when I think more deeply about each student’s performance in my class. I consider students’ marks on quizzes, assignments and tests and I look at various other indicators of success such as attendance and behavior. Also, I assessed students’ learning skills which include: responsibility, initiative, organization, cooperation, independent work and self-regulation.

It is during this time that I realize that there are students who are seriously struggling in Grade 11University level Chemistry, and whose credit is at serious risk. I usually give all students a chance in the beginning, and some students are very good at fooling me in believing that they are doing well. They also fail to inform me of their struggles, and I fail to diagnose them early. But being their teacher and a professional, it is my responsibility to diagnose early sings of “at-riskness”. After all, early diagnosis means better prognosis.  With large class sizes (31 students in each of my Grade 11 Chemistry classes), it is easy for struggling students to hide and go undetected by my at-risk radar.  In future, I will have to screen the students better in the first month and detect those who are misplaced so that they can be removed early on in the semester.

I have about five students who are misplaced in the course right now. They achieved a mark of 50%  to 55% in Grade 10 Science. Their math marks were also in the low 50s. One student is taking Workplace mathematics in Grade 11, suggesting that her math skills are much below the level that is expected for a Grade 11 University level course.  This student was removed from my class, while the others are still struggling with the concepts and there is no place for them to go at this point in the semester.

It is painful for me as a teacher to see some students struggle so much in the course. It is also emotionally (and thus mentally) exhausting for me to bring these students up to the level where they can feel comfortable with the content. Their foundation is weak, and while we continue to construct new knowledge and skills, these students are falling behind. With so many demands and so little free time, I am looking for novel and efficient ways of helping struggling students catch up and achieve success with Grade 11 Chemistry curriculum.

This semester I teach two Grade 11 University Prep Chemistry classes. I have 31 students in each class. This past Friday just before the Thanksgiving long weekend both of my classes wrote their first unit test. That means I took home 62 test papers.

I started to mark the tests, and after four hours I finished one set of tests. I took a thirty minute lunch break. After the four hours I was in no shape to continue marking the second set of tests. I dreaded marking the first set of 32 test papers that had questions which ranged from one word answers to paragraph long answers. It was those paragraph long answers that ate up most of my time. I thought, why did I do this to myself? Why did I design a test that would consume so much of my time? How could I have done this differently so that I have more free time to actually enjoy my Thanksgiving? What are the short term and long term benefits to students when they write tests? I forgot to mention that I also collected 62 lab reports each about 4 – 5 pages long, but I knew I was not going to get through those this weekend anyways.

The point I am trying to make is that I have to change the way I assess and evaluate how much students have learned at end of the unit. There is no point in complaining about how much marking I have to do, as if I am the only one doing it. But instead I have to think about the value of tests…in fact, I don’t see much value in written tests at all. For as long as schools have been around, students have been writing tests, and teachers like myself have been complaining about marking them. I am not so sure that writing tests is the way to go into the 21^st century.  With so much focus on assessment for learning and assessment as learning, we have to re-think how writing tests for 60 or more minutes in individual seats with all kinds of pressures benefits students in any way.  The argument that we are preparing the students for college/university where they have to write midterms, finals and graduate admission tests is a weak argument for subjecting students under the pressures of 60 minute tests in our classes, or even 120 minute exams for that matter. Does writing tests in high school make one better at writing tests/exams in college/university? Does writing tests prepare students for success after high school? I don’t know if anyone ever did a study to answer this question, but my guess would be that writing tests in high school has little to no bearing on students’ success at college/university, or in students’ lives in general after high school. Feel free to disagree with me.

Although we hear things like ‘test-taking skills’, we rarely ever teach students these skills. And how many of us teachers take the time to go over the test thoroughly and discuss the answers with students, so that they can learn from their mistakes? It is for these reasons, and some others, that I do not believe that doing tests has many benefits for students after they graduate from high school. Instead, I am proposing a collaborative approach to assessing and evaluating how much students have learned at the end of the unit. I will write more about alternative end-of-the unit assessment in my next blog. For now, feel free to post a comment. Let me know how you feel about tests.

Last year I read a book called “How to give effective feedback to your students” by Susan M. Brookhart (ISBN: 978-1-4166-0736-6). One of the vice-principals from my school suggested that I read this book so that I can learn more about how effective feedback helps students learn.

As I was reading the book I was trying to relate my experiences to  what Susan M. Brookhart had to say about effective feedback.  Here are a few points that I reflected on in my personal journal while I was reading the book:

• Feedback strategies can vary in:

i)  timing – when given, how often

ii) amount – how many points made, how much about each point

iii) mode – is it oral? written? visual?

iv) audience – individual feedback vs. group/class

• Feedback content can vary in

- focus: on the work itself, on the process, on student self-regulation

- comparison: criterion based or self-referenced

- function: descriptive vs. evaluative; describe, don’t judge

- valence: positive/negative; accompany negative with positive comments

- clarity: clear to the student; use vocabulary that students will understand

- specificity: just right amount – not too much and not too little

- tone: implications/what the student will hear

Reflections on Important Lessons from the book:

• Feedback isn’t feedback unless it can truly feed something: Susan M. Brookhart is suggesting that teachers must make sure when they give feedback to their students that there is time built in to actually use the information, otherwise students quickly learn to ignore feedback. Ask yourself this question: What do I ask my students to do after I give them back an assignment or a test/quiz?

• Start giving feedback without a grade: Brookhart is suggesting that we teach kids to learn to incorporate our feedback and that we should design similar assignments in which students have opportunity to use the feedback. Research has shown that writing comments is more effective for learning that giving grades (Page, 1958; Butler and Nisan, 1986; Gioka, 2006). I tried this with my Grade 11 Chemistry students after they wrote in their reflection journals. I commented on various points that they made in their journals without giving them a grade. The quality of students’ reflections increased over time.  

• Encourage students’ self-assessment: In order to increases students’ interest in feedback Brookhart suggests that teachers incorporate self-assessment in their classes. I see this as a stepping stone to assessment as learning. The idea is to get our students to self-assess, to answer their own questions and to develop self-regulation skills. All of this is necessary for using any feedback. It is also important that we encourage students to look for patterns in their errors and that we give them time to review their work.

• Self-referenced feedback helps ‘at-risk’ students: I was immediately applying this in my Grade 10 Locally Developed class with my at-risk students. Self-referenced feedback compares a students work today with his/her own past performance. If a students is not completing work one day for whatever reason try to find an example of work which he/she completed previously and show the student he/she is capable. It is both empowering and encouraging for the students to know that their teachers recognize their potential. Struggling students will benefit from feedback that helps them connect the process they used with the results they obtained.

• The tone of our feedback may be the key to helping reluctant students: Brookhart suggests that we pay special attention to the tone of our feedback. I ask myself the following question: How do I treat my unsuccessful students compared to my  successful students? Is the tone of my feedback different? Am I more judgemental with my reluctant students?  Students who may be reluctant learners need not be judged. They need to hear clear and specific feedback about how they can improve their performance and become more motivated learners. Adjusting feedback is one part of differentiating instruction.

This are some of my key learning points from this book. There is a lot more that I can say about feedback but I will end by saying that I have learned that “feedback can lead to learning only if the students have opportunities to actually use it.” So next time you give feedback to your students you may want to reflect on the content of your feedback!