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kenneth w miller teaching science methods online myths about inquiry based online learning the author addresses six myths about inquiry based online science delivery and offers some strategies to demonstrate ...

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                                                               Kenneth W. Miller
                                 Teaching Science Methods 
                   Online:  Myths about Inquiry-based 
                                                 Online Learning
                 The  author  addresses  six  myths  about  inquiry-based  online  science 
                 delivery and offers some strategies to demonstrate effective online science 
                 teaching.
                       Introduction                    the delivery of an online course are        David has a two-year associate degree 
              With universities, teacher education     provided.                                   from a community college, and he is 
           institutions, and high schools gearing         Katherine started her degree from        also a substitute teacher.
           up heavily in online course delivery        Montana State University-Billing by            Programs in teacher education for 
           in every discipline, science educators      driving three times a week from her         learning online have given both these 
           specifically  are  asking  themselves       home and family over 50 miles away.         students options to fulfill their dreams 
           “How do we provide this access to           The worst part was not the slippery         of becoming teachers that previously 
           our  students  and  still  maintain  our    roads during the winter or the two-         were not available to them. The ben-
           pedagogical  integrity  in  science         hour-a-day commute. The worst was           efits do not stop with the individual. 
           instruction?” This question seems to        that she often ran behind schedule to       Rural schools in the Northwest are in 
           be at the heart of a national discussion.   pick up her two sons after school in        dire need of elementary and second-
           The standards in science promote an         her hometown miles away.                    ary teachers. The state of Montana 
           inquiry-based  approach  at  both  the         David lives over 90 miles away           is a perfect example. Montana is the 
           national and state levels, therefore, an    from a community college or univer-         fourth  largest  state  geographically 
           arguable difficulty exists in adapting      sity. He helps his wife with their tamale   in  the  United States, with many of 
           a  reticent  online  inquiry  approach      company business which turns out over       its 900,000 people living in remote 
           that  is  more  consistent  with  the       600 tamales a week in a hometown            areas,  hundreds  of  miles  from  the 
           excitement of an inquiry based face-        kitchen, and he also drives a school        nearest  four-year  institution.  Many 
           to-face classroom approach. Today’s         bus route and works with the school         of those seek to finish their degrees in 
           students  require  coursework  when         district’s  technology  department.         elementary and secondary education 
           they want it, where it is convenient                                                    and teach in the schools where they 
           for them, and how it fits their needs.                                                  live, but it is emotionally, physically, 
           Many students need online delivery                                                      and  geographically  impossible  to 
           because of distance from the university     Given the plethora of online                restructure their lives and families to 
           or their already demanding schedules.       learning courses at most                    do so. Providing methods of teaching 
           Delivering coursework using scientific      post secondary institutions,                courses online within their regions and 
           inquiry techniques can be problematic.      we as science methods                       offering opportunities to intern in the 
           This paper discusses six myths about        instructors find ourselves                  schools where they weave theory into 
           inquiry-based online science delivery.      discussing the issues of                    practice helps these students to earn 
           Examples  of  how  to  design  and                                                      their bachelors or masters degrees and 
           promote inquiry that is embedded in         sound pedagogical delivery.                 become certified teachers.
           80                                                                                                            ScieNce educator
               Almost every community college                                                            Most  faculty,  though  quite 
            and  university  within  the  current        Instruction in an online                     pedagogically sound for on campus 
            milieu offers online course offerings,       format requires that faculty                 delivery, also understand that teaching 
            and science teacher educators often          re-think the tried and true                  online  requires  a  different  mindset 
            find  themselves  in  a  quandary.                                                        and  delivery  style.  A  small  on-
            Coursework and scheduling for online         methods they use to teach                    campus survey showed that 0 faculty 
            delivery  increases,  and  there  exists     on campus.                                   members  were  questioned  prior  to 
            a  philosophical  struggle  between                                                       experiencing, developing and teaching 
            perceived  appropriate  teaching             continue by stating that approaches          courses online. All responded that they 
            strategies that promote the national         should be used to help students to           were quite hesitant to teach online, 
            and state science standards and what         “construct  new  understandings,             and most reported they did not think 
            many believe we are capable of doing         through experiences that extend and          it was possible to teach their courses 
            in online delivery platforms. Given the      challenge what they already know” (p.        and their content totally online, void 
            plethora of online learning courses at       ). Loucks-Horsley et al., thoroughly        of face to face interaction. However, 
            most post secondary institutions, we         relate  these  practices  to  teacher        after  planning  online  delivery  and 
            as  science methods instructors find         education. They state that “engaging         actually experiencing teaching online, 
            ourselves  discussing  the  issues  of       teachers in learning experiences that        this  same  faculty  reported  a  new 
            sound pedagogical delivery.                  enhance their understanding” (p. 2)          understanding  of  delivery  methods 
               Mission  statements  of  public           of science concepts and appropriate          and  discussed  how  much  learning 
            universities have at their heart outreach    pedagogy  should  be  a  definite            took  place  in  their  online  courses 
            and  accessibility,  yet  many  state        priority. They suggest that teachers,        (Miller & Knuth, 2004). Some faculty 
            funded institutions do not provide, or       like  students,  learn  best  by  doing      echo, “It can’t be done! To prepare 
            cannot provide, outreach opportunities       science  in  an  inquiry  approach,          science  teachers  appropriately,  you 
            to  their  constituency  unless  those       investigating  and  constructing  their      have to be able to monitor student 
            opportunities  are  offered  online.         own understandings. Loucks-Horsley           learning,  model  teaching  strategies 
            Distance  to  universities,  in  many        suggests that professional development       for the student, and mentor students 
            rural states is a barrier to possible on-    must include the modeling of effective       in their teaching careers.” Generally, 
            campus attendance and participation;         learning environments.                       these  words  originate  from  faculty 
            however,  providing  access  to  state          These reasons make online learning        relatively  inexperienced  in  online 
            institutions  is  the  duty,  and  many      attractive and challenging. Gill (2003)      delivery  and/or  those  that  lack  the 
            times, the mission of those institutions.    suggests that almost 20% of training         technological expertise to format an 
            Access to institutional grounds should       in “world class organizations” is being      inquiry-based online course. Faculty 
            mean  more  than  being  physically          delivered online with an even greater        with  no  experiences  with  online 
            able  to  set  foot  on  the  university     percentage  foreseen  for  the  near         teaching  typically  made  comments 
            campus  quad.  Using  metaphoric             future. Change of any kind is difficult      such as these:
            language like “e-learning” or “open-         and hence, fraught with myths. This             • I think it will compromise quality, 
            education”  advocates  have  hailed          paper will discuss six myths of online            and that we will eventually lose 
            online learning as the harbinger of a        learning in an inquiry-based science              our share of the market to larger 
            complete transformation in teaching          methods course and begin to construct             universities with more attractive 
            and learning (Cox, 2005). A synthesis        a better understanding of the power of            transcripts.
            of  the  professional  development           online science content and pedagogical          • When I first heard about online 
            principles  found  in  the  standards,       learning.  Some  strategies  will  be             instruction,  I  thought,  ‘I  don’t 
            Loucks-Horsley, Stiles, and Hewson           provided  to  demonstrate  effective              like it  and I don’t think I will 
            (996)  suggest  that  there  should         online science teaching.                          ever do it.’
            be  an  emphasis  on  “inquiry-based            Myth One:  Good on campus face to            After  having  taught  their  course 
            learning,  problem-solving,  student         face instructors make good instructors       online, faculty became more aware of 
            investigation  and  discovery,  and          online.                                      the variety that online delivery could 
            application of knowledge” (p. ). They 
            Fall 2008  Vol. 17,  No. 2                                                                                                      8
            produce. They then made comments             who  teach  online  should  receive             information to make choices that 
            like these:                                  training  in  online  communications            arise every day. Everyone needs 
               • After teaching an online class,         and  course  facilitation  (Kleinman,           to be able to engage intelligently 
                 I  think  I  really  like  teaching     2005).                                          in public discourse and debate 
                 online. I get to know my students          Being void of visual cues, online            about important issues that 
                 individually. Each one becomes          teaching  forces  instruction  to  be           involve science and technology, 
                 unique, and I learn about each          more reflective  and  planned.  “It  is         and everyone deserves to share 
                 one’s strengths better than when        true that face-to-face pedagogy can             in the excitement and personal 
                 I had them in class. I also have        and should be used to inform online             fulfillment that can come from 
                 the opportunity to relate each unit     pedagogy. However, this in itself can           understanding and learning about 
                 with a field experience, which          not be the driving force to designing           the natural world. (National 
                 I am unable to do with face to          online  courses;  one  must  consider           Research Council, 996, para )
                 face,  since  we  have  so  many        ePedagogy to create a successful and            The  NSES  also  suggest  that 
                 restrictions on placements in our       meaningful  course”  (Li  &  Akins,          the  science  teacher  must  use  these 
                 college.                                2005).  Consequently,  a  weak  on           inquiry-based techniques to develop 
               • It  is  great!  It  forces  me  to  be  campus teacher will quite likely make        appropriate content development in 
                 more  constructivist.  I  lay  the      a weak online instructor. It can also        their students. However, an inquiry-
                 groundwork.  I  set  the  stage.  I     be suggested that without appropriate        based  online  science  course  is 
                 become a facilitator. The students      e-pedagogical decisions, a good on-          certainly  not  the  same  as  the  mail 
                 have  to  get  involved  and  take      campus instructor will not necessarily       delivered correspondence course of 
                 responsibility  for  their  own         make a good online instructor.               yore. In sharp contrast to some initial 
                 learning!                                  Myth  Two:  Online  delivery  is          perceptions,  online  courses  can  be 
            Instruction in an online format requires     similar to correspondence coursework         designed  to  simulate  constructivist 
            that  faculty  re-think  the  tried  and     and limited to content learning              teaching and inquiry approaches.
            true  methods  they  use  to  teach  on         The  definitions  of  inquiry  and           Figure  represents the continuum 
            campus. Online delivery, sometimes           constructivist teaching come into play       from  which  online  courses  can 
            call  ePedagogy,  does  not  provide         when we begin to think of training           be  designed.  If  the  nature  of  the 
            instructors  with  instantaneous  cues       science teachers to teach. Certainly, the    coursework is to develop a content 
            regarding  their  teaching  and  the         National Science Education Standards         knowledge base and provide student 
            students’  learning.  Online  delivery       (NSES) call for inquiry as a way of          access to information, feedback loops 
            must be well thought out in advance,         life in the science classroom.               from peers or the instructor do not need 
            as it is virtually impossible to ‘shoot         The world is filled with the              to be as prominent an embedded feature 
            from the hip’ and improvise online.             products of scientific inquiry,           in  the  course.  Hence,  an  instructor 
            Teaching  online  is  different  from           and scientific literacy has               could possibly design a content driven 
            teaching face-to- face, and instructors         become a necessity for everyone.          course  using  a  direct  instruction 
                                                            Everyone needs to use scientific          model with little instructor or peer 
            Figure 1.  Continuum from which online courses can be designed.
                       Direct                          Hands-on                           Guided                          Full Inquiry 
                     Instruction                    Verification Lab                      Inquiry                        Constructivist 
                                                                                                                           Teaching
            82                                                                                                               ScieNce educator
            feedback. Given such a scenario, an          as they discuss with each other pre-         Darling-Hammond,  990);  and  the 
            online student could sign into a course,     determined questions, rather than to         5E teaching model (BSCS, 989) in 
            determine  the  unit’s  requirements,        specific  individuals.  The  instructor      previous coursework. Now, you would 
            read,  do  activities,  research,  and       can  direct  or  re-direct  discussions      like to have your students do an activity 
            comply with the requirements of that         of  the  group,  thus  providing  the        to experience one of these. You choose 
            unit. The student would eventually be        necessary feedback loops. Assessment         the Conceptual Change Model (CCM) 
            assessed on those requirements. The          can be more individualized and can           because  you  are  fairly  sure  from 
            unit assessment, likely true/false or        provide the instructor with a deeper         previous courses that your students 
            multiple choice, could quite possibly        understanding of the students, as seen       need experiential opportunities with 
            be the only feedback that the students                                                    Bernoulli’s Principle. You are fairly 
            might receive. Further, in some cases,                                                    certain your students do not understand 
            that feedback can be totally computer                                                     the  CCM teaching model, and this 
            generated. For example, at a nearby          It can also be suggested                     becomes your primary objective for 
            university, a beginning personal health      that without appropriate                     this  unit.  Bernoulli’s  principle,  at 
            course is offered each semester with         e-pedagogical decisions, a                   a  basic  level,  suggests  that  a  fluid 
            almost one thousand students enrolled.       good on-campus instructor                    in motion has a lower pressure that 
            The students read the material and           will not necessarily make a                  surrounding  fluid.  Consequently, 
            respond to the content with exams                                                         the surrounding fluid (or air) tends 
            to determine content understanding.          good online instructor.                      to move from a higher pressure to a 
            Evaluation  is  multiple  choice  and                                                     lower pressure. You need to take into 
            true  or  false.  The  computer  scores                                                   account  that  your  students  do  not 
            each student and records the grade           in more interactive, discussion-based,       have access to equipment other than 
            in  the  online  gradebook. This  type       on-campus classrooms.                        most  household  materials.  Again, 
            of course is extremely efficient and            Myth  Three:  You  cannot  model          your major objective in this method 
            generates a large number of FTE for          constructivist  inquiry  teaching            of science teaching course is for the 
            the university. However, it is a course      strategies online.                           students is to understand the steps and 
            that is based upon content knowledge            Further along the continuum (see          stages of the CCM and how it is used 
            understanding;  not  pedagogical,            Figure ), we can establish a guided         in the classroom.
            attitudinal, and following the inquiry       inquiry  course  nearing  full  inquiry.        A series of digital video segments are 
            standards-based  understandings  as          How does  an  instructor  design  an         constructed by the instructor to model 
            prescribed by the NSES.                      online course that models appropriate        this  inquiry-based  activity.  These 
               Toward the middle of the continuum,       standards based teaching pedagogy?           videos represent a modeling of the 
            a course can be developed that would         Certainly, this is a daunting task. It       steps of the CCM and help to develop 
            enable  more  in-depth  instructor           requires that the instructor plan for        the activity sequentially, following the 
            feedback and can also include peer-          inquiry-based  activities  that  model       CCM format. Students are directed 
            to-peer  discussions  and  feedback.         appropriate constructivist techniques,       to watch a segment of a video and 
            Logistically,  this  type  of  feedback      yet with clearly defined e-pedagogical       respond online in a discussion format. 
            limits  the  total  number  of  students     objectives. Let’s see how this might         The following segments and directed 
            in  a  course  simply  because  of  the      be done.                                     student responses show how to model 
            time  required  by  the  instructor  to         Assume that you have introduced           inquiry-based teaching through online 
            interact with individuals and monitor        various  teaching  models,  i.e.  The        delivery.
            their  responses.  Should  there  be         Learning  Cycle  (Karplus,  974;               Video Segment One:  Show a video 
            a  large  number  of  students  in  the      Lawson, Abrahamn,  &  Renner,                where the instructor asks the students 
            course, the instructor may establish         989),  The  Conceptual  Change              to  predict  what  would  happen,  if 
            discussion groups to facilitate content      Model  (Hewson,  992;  Posner,              anything, to a strip of paper when you 
            understanding.  This  plan  allows           Strike,  Hewson,  &  Gertzog,  982)         blow across it. (the paper moves up 
            for  the  instructor  to  interact  and      The Instructional Theory Into Practice       and flutters). Have the students enter 
            provide  feedback  to  groups  of  5-8       (ITIP)  (Hunter,  as  described  by          into the discussion area of the online 
            Fall 2008  Vol. 17,  No. 2                                                                                                      83
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...Kenneth w miller teaching science methods online myths about inquiry based learning the author addresses six delivery and offers some strategies to demonstrate effective introduction of an course are david has a two year associate degree with universities teacher education provided from community college he is institutions high schools gearing katherine started her also substitute up heavily in montana state university billing by programs for every discipline educators driving three times week have given both these specifically asking themselves home family over miles away students options fulfill their dreams how do we provide this access worst part was not slippery becoming teachers that previously our still maintain roads during winter or were available them ben pedagogical integrity hour day commute efits stop individual instruction question seems she often ran behind schedule rural northwest be at heart national discussion pick sons after school dire need elementary second standar...

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