I really think that "fun" is an important word in high school Biology classrooms, and any classroom for that matter. If a teacher always gives multiple choice exams or if he/she always has his/her students write a formal paper the students will get bored and may shut down. If we, as teachers, are able to make our subject fun and unpredictable the students are more likely to be engaged. My personal opinion is that multiple choice exams and other techniques that are similar to it, in other words, general and expected assessment techniques limit the students. I don't think they are bad in every way but I do see some limitations. The students know what to expect, they know there is a right answer, and they don't have an opportunity to share their views. I think that many students prefer these types of assessments but I think all students will benefit with variety. I think it only enforces the ideas a teacher teaches and it encourages the students to look at topics with different lenses on.
I am going to ask my students to create their own experiments, write research papers that are the same as a professional paper, take tests, and produce diagrams or other 3D objects. I think this will really help my students and hopefully they will start seeing the fun side of science. I know I didn't really enjoy science in high school. In fact, I hated my Biology class, then I got to college. It was a whole different experience. All of the sudden I was a scientist. I was asked to analyze experiments and share my opinions. I really enjoyed it. My goal as a teacher is to show them that science is fun and it is useful in their lives. Maybe I can convince a few more people to pursue careers is science because it is a great field.
Believe it or not, biology was one of my favorite subjects in high school. I was just naturally good at it. I remember dissecting frogs, being totally disgusted by it, and loving that I understood everything I saw. It wasn't until high school that I moved away from biology. I had a teacher who had us copy down definitions from the glossary and handed out tests that came straight from the book. I still understood everything, but I lost interest in the topic because of the way it was presented. I love that you are aware of what motivates students. Students like to have fun. They like to experiment, and be surprised that something so lame could be so fun. I think that incorporating the different representations of knowledge in your class will really help your students to see that biology isn't just an A, B, C, or D kind of subject. It's one you can dig your hands into, literally! I also like that you include writing as an aspect in your future classroom. I think the more teachers who present writing as fun and functional, the more students will realize it's not a punishment to write, it's liberating.
ReplyDeleteAs a literacy teacher, this posting practically made my heart burst with joy. :) I love how you have such a strong sense of the motivational aspects of learning through emphasizing that learning should be FUN, and yes, you can give students the opportunity to express opinions and to make arguments from evidence, even in biology. Or maybe I should say ESPECIALLY in biology.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you had so many experiences with writing in biology because research suggests that typically science is a discipline in which students rarely write more than a few sentences at a time, even in the course of a a semester. But journals like Journal of Research in Science Teaching really suggest that writing in science is a HUGE vehicle for learning. Because you've had those experiences, you will be that much more prepared to actually integrate writing yourself.
Thanks for such a great posting.