WHAT AM I DOING TO HELP KIDS ACHIEVE?
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THEY ARE THERE?
WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?
I am in the Target Inquiry Program at Miami University. It is one of the most comprehensive RET experiences that exists. We ( a cohort of 12 teachers) are taking a class on modern research methods. We will then spend the summer working with a scientist. Our goal is to do research this summer, write an abstract and present at a conference. Next, we will then spend next year doing the same thing but with educational research and finally do an action research project in our classrooms.
We are now learning to take complicated technical articles from science journal and word for word translate them in a way that an undergraduate can understand. It is hard but fascinating. I will be doing Raman spectroscopy this summer. I have spent the last two weeks reading reams of papers on Raman spectroscopy. I was so proud of myself because I felt like I was working the research process (thanks "google scholar") and getting the basic ideas. You can imagine how I felt when I got to class and found out that one of my basic ideas that I felt I was sure about was....completely wrong. I couldn't believe how I was able to think that I understood so much and could explain so much with a wrong idea. It was kind of scary. It was like the phrase, "believing is seeing". I believed something so much I was seeing what I wanted to see.
Here is the question...how often do our students do that and how important is it for us to uncover misconceptions? Page Keeley has books about beginning formative assessment and uncovering misconceptions. I have used them with great success and I think I will try to get back to using them. Essentially, you provide examples of some science and answers that contain the truth and also contain common misconceptions. It is interesting to take 5 minutes and find out what kids know or do not know from the start.
In case you would like to know about Raman spectroscopy and hopefully take care of misconceptions, then check out my presentation.
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