Assignment Ideas
The Science Autobiography (adapted from Koch, 1990) is a reflective essay in which preservice teachers analyze their K12 science learning experiences for patterns related to their attitudes and interests in science and how they define science.
I use this to get to know my students, and the models of science teaching to which they've been exposed. I reference these essays throughout the quarter, and we re-analyze their expreriences through the framework of new concepts and ideas we are learning (e.g., questioning strategies or the nature of science). More recently, I have been working on ways to use these to draw attention to issues of equity in science teaching, grounded in their own experiences.
Click here for pdf of assignment.
Tags: learners/learning, instructional strategies/pedagogy
I find It gets them outside observing their environment
Click here for pdf of assignment.
Tags: instructional strategies/pedagogy
This is a case study assignment from my elementary and secondary science methods courses that asks pre-service teachers to get to know two diverse students in their practicum classrooms academically, personally, and culturally/linguistically. PSTs write a case study analysis for each student, then use that information to differentiate the lessons in their semester-end unit plan, with explicit descriptions of how they're considering the two case study students, in an effort to build on the assets and meet the needs of their diverse students.
This assignment is part of a major unit assignment. I find it useful because it helps pre-service teachers practice gathering relevant information about their students that goes beyond academics, and then asks them to consider how to USE that information (which I've often seen as an area of struggle in practice).
Tags: assessment, learners/learning, practica/field experience, diversity