Students entering high school science classes in the ninth grade typically have a good grasp of science knowledge -- facts, definitions, and trivial information. However, the ability to manipulate this basic knowledge to function at the high school level requires higher-level thinking skills -- prediction, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation -- which ninth graders often lack. It is these higher order skills that allow students to think like scientists and experience success in high school science. These same skills are indicators of future success in college and are measured in the Science Reasoning portion of the ACT exam.
This year, the freshman science classes are improving their science reasoning skills through ACT Science Reasoning Bellringers. A bellringer is an activity used to open class. The science reasoning bellringers focus student attention on a single ACT science reasoning question at the beginning of class each day. Students use the information in one of thirteen sample ACT science reasoning passages to answer a question projected on the board at the beginning of class each day. Like the ACT, the bellringers are timed to allow students to experience the process of a timed test. Students answer the question in their science notebooks. They are also required to write down why they chose the answer they did. After the time is up, we spend a few minutes as a class discussing the thought process needed to correctly answer the question. Multiple thought processes that lead to the correct answer are recognized and encouraged. We also look for hints and "tricks" that will help students successfully answer the questions.
The need for this activity was identified through analysis of the science scores of incoming ninth grade students on the EXPLORE test taken in September of their eighth grade year. The EXPLORE test is the first in a series of tests that culminate in the ACT in the spring of the students' junior year. As a means of measuring progress toward better ACT scores (needed to enter most colleges and universities in the Southeast and the primary means by which scholarships are awarded -- including the Tennesse Hope Scholarships), students take the PLAN test in the fall of their sophomore year. In order to measure the success of the bellringer activity, we will compare the students' EXPLORE scores from last year with their PLAN scores in the fall next year.
Stay tuned for the results next fall!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Our Primary Goals for the School Year
Science is thinking. It is collecting available information and processing that information so that we arrive at an understanding of some aspect of our universe. Science is a verb, not a noun. It is something students must do, not something that they sit there and have done for them or to them.
From the very first day of class this school year, we have focused on three goals:
1. Learn to think like scientists.
2. Learn some science concepts at the same time.
3. Have fun while we strive for the other two.
To achieve the first goal, we focus on metacognition; we think about how we think when we solve a problem.
To achieve the second goal, we rely on the Tennessee State Curriculum Framework for Physical Science (3202).
To achieve the third goal, we enjoy the process of science.
From the very first day of class this school year, we have focused on three goals:
1. Learn to think like scientists.
2. Learn some science concepts at the same time.
3. Have fun while we strive for the other two.
To achieve the first goal, we focus on metacognition; we think about how we think when we solve a problem.
To achieve the second goal, we rely on the Tennessee State Curriculum Framework for Physical Science (3202).
To achieve the third goal, we enjoy the process of science.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
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