6 A Journey in Learning

Theoretical Frameworks

I view teaching as a journey in learning.  It is a process that unfolds over time, intellectual, involves reflexive and metacognitive thinking, and is complex and situated (Lampert, 2010[1]). Second, I am a teacher/scholar. My research, whether focused on practitioner inquiry, development of scientific inquiry and evidenced based arguments and conclusions, inclusion of underrepresented youth in science and mathematics classrooms, or disciplinary literacy in science and math education, inform my practice as a teacher educator.

Context for Teaching

My current teaching load includes one section of EDU 371: Elementary Science Methods and Materials (.5 credit) and EDU 373: Elementary Mathematics Methods and Materials (.5 credit) each semester. I co-teach EDU 385: Teaching and Learning Curriculum (1 credit) with colleagues Dr. Valerie Walker and Dr. Katrina Imison Mázy. Every other spring, I teach EDU 248 Science Connections (.25 credit). I taught CUR 260: The Natural World (1 credit) in Spring 2012 and Fall 2014. In Fall 2013 I taught EDU 241: Educational Technology (.5 credit). I led many independent study courses (EDU 391) in recent semesters two each in spring 2015 and 2016. Finally, I co-taught EDU 246/247, Science for Elementary Educators I and II for many years, courses I am not teaching currently because of two course releases from the DR[2] K-12 NSF.

Each semester Professors Walker, Imison-Mázy and I teach the Elementary Methods Block (Social Studies, Language Arts, Reading, Science, Mathematics, and Kindergarten), a sequence of courses required of elementary education majors before they student teach, sharing the same cohort of students between our 6 courses. Methods courses meet for the first half of the sixteen-week semester in two-hour blocks. About week nine, the candidates begin a full day, every day, 3-4-week practicum placement. The practicum experience concludes at week thirteen and students return to campus for the final weeks of the semester. Additionally, the three of us co-teach EDU 385: Elementary Interdisciplinary Methods and Materials or Teaching and Learning Curriculum. This course allows teacher candidates to build bridges from their education coursework into public school elementary classrooms. Drs. Walker and Imison-Mázy and I meet regularly to plan this course.

Many of our education students come to our department with positive experiences as former K-12 students and with a knack at being good at schooling. For the most part, their schooling experiences used more traditional methods of teaching and learning, especially in math and science. Missing for many of our students is an understanding of why something works the way it does in math or in science. Much of our learning in math and science methods (EDU 371 & 373) involves building greater understanding for students themselves, first, as learners and second as future teachers of the content in math and science. Our education students, like their peers across campus, are learning how to learn in ways that most have not experienced before. I ask them to think critically, to question, and to become, at least somewhat, comfortable with uncertainty. Learning is messy not neat and tidy. When a student points out on their SETS that they “taught themselves” a great deal, I feel actually proud as their instructor. They are indeed, learning how to learn.

Continuing Excellence[3]

Concern for Student Learning. I care deeply about my students and their learning. I meet with students outside of class frequently or mentor them through e-mail regarding lesson plans or assignments. Student comments and SETs scores provide evidence of my commitment to their learning.

•  Michele is one of the most helpful professors on campus. She is dedicated to what she does, and always goes above and beyond for providing her students with what they need. She gives the best feedback I have received from a professor yet. The way she gives feedback, probes myself and another student to think in a way to better our teaching strategies.
  

• Michele is a wonderful professor! First of all, she cares very deeply not only about the content but also with all of her students. She wants to ensure that we get the best possible experience and with her tips, her experience, her knowledge, and more, I am going to become a great teacher, just learning from her. She is also very passionate about math! We read a book about math phobias and that helped us put our minds into a student’s perspective about math, which was great, especially when a teacher needs to think of those things while teaching. She is always willing to help and she goes above and beyond to ensure that we have the best experience possible when learning about how to teach math.
  

• Michele really cares about her students. She is passionate about education and she wants to help create the best teachers that she possibly can. She puts in a lot of time on and off campus to make sure that her students get what they need to become successful. I think another strength of this teacher is that she communicates very well with her students. She is always just an email or a phone call away. That might sound like not an important strength, but I think people would be surprised at how well she does at this.

 Table 1: Compiled Scores for Gustavus SETs Questions 1, 2 and 4

Note: SP=spring; F= Fall. *SETs administered for EDU 371 (Science Methods) and EDU 373 (Math Methods) as one course.

Interest in Subject Matter and Enthusiasm for Work. I care about the content that I teach in science and math and thus my teaching is passionate and heartfelt as noted in recent SETs.

• Michele is always very enthusiastic to teach, she is always here and excited to be doing whatever it is we are doing in class that day. Always on time and prepared for class time.

• Her depth of knowledge is incredible! She knows so much and translates her knowledge to a level where we as future teachers can take it and translates ourselves for our future students. She also cares about each of us as individuals and really wants us to succeed and push ourselves to our highest potential.
  

• Michele is a very passionate professor about the objectives that she is teaching for not only this course but the others as well. She cares very deeply for science and she makes sure that we all get the best possible experience with science materials. She believes that it is important for students to get a great experience learning about science and that way, those students will be passionate as well about science and the connection to everyday life. Michele is also very dedicated. She goes above and beyond when it comes to us and what we are learning to become great science teachers. She has many opportunities for us to show what we learned and with that I am grateful for all the experiences she has given. She wants to make sure that we are enjoying class and our experiences and is very flexible when it comes to conflicts and understanding material.

Table 2: Compiled Scores for Gustavus SETs Questions 7 and 8

Note: SP=spring; F= Fall. *SETS administered for EDU 371 (Science Methods) and EDU 373 (Math Methods) as one course.

Effectiveness of Methods. Student SETs comments and scores assert that the methods used in my courses are effective.

• She is always easy to talk to and contact with problems and questions that I may have. She has helped me learn a great amount and has helped me succeed in testing due to her course at Gustavus. She gives me good feedback and tells me exactly what I need to work on to do better in different areas. She also is very clear with what she expects from me, we have worked together to make a clear guide of what is due when and how it needs to be done.
  

• She gives great feedback. She is caring about how well we do and wants us to do our very best. She will point out the great things, as well as help us to improve on the struggles that we encountered in our lessons. She is dedicated and passionate and I have learned a great deal from her. I know others will too!
  

• I would recommend this course by this professor because she is very passionate about what she teaches. I firmly believe that she wouldn’t be a teacher if she wasn’t this dedicated and with her knowledge and experiences that she shares with us, I feel that I will learn how to become an effective teacher and so will others from taking this course.
  

• Michele has gotten me over my math phobia! Her choice of readings for the class really helped me understand not necessarily just math concepts, but how to teach it. She showed several types of assessment, and tools on how to teach the subject. 

 Table 3: Compiled Scores for Gustavus SETSs Questions 6 and 10

Note: SP=spring; F= Fall. *SETs administered for EDU 371 (Science Methods) and EDU 373 (Math Methods) as one course.

Course and Program Development

Developing Course Goals

Over the past several semesters, the science and mathematics students and I have worked together to co-construct goals for the science and mathematics methods course. These goals allow me to focus on the needs and expectations of my students from the beginning of our semester together. Each semester the co-constructed goals are different. Below are the co-constructed goals for the Fall 2016 science and math methods:

• Gain confidence in math and science
• Gain knowledge about specific teaching strategies in science and math that can be used in the classroom
• Get students outside with science
• Incorporate games in Math
• Inspire curiosity
• Learn how to explain math or science in different ways
• Learn how to teach to different student types
• Be clear when giving directions
• Use evidence-based reasoning to support claims and arguments
• Stay caught up
• Support individual goals in science and math

The co-constructed goals offer junctures for assessment and feedback of the student’s own progress, but also inform the direction of the course content. Students complete feedback on their own progress at midterm and separately provide feedback to me (anonymously) regarding what is working in the course and what is not. For example, I use a Course Packet in the methods courses. Feedback from students indicated that it was hard to find selected articles, even with a Table of Contents. I have incorporated their suggestions to organize the course packet chronologically. I also will pilot both an online course packet (organized by topics on Moodle) and a paper version in the spring of 2017, thus creating separate Math and Science methods course packets (SETs comments).

Capstone Project

A capstone assignment for the science and mathematics methods courses is called a Study of Teaching (SOT) where teacher candidates apply qualitative research methods of practitioner inquiry to improve their own teaching (see Supplemental Folder in Google Drive for this and other major assignments). This particular assignment allows students to really bring together their own synthesis of the Department of Education’ s Conceptual Framework as a three-part cycle of learning — knowledge > experience > reflection. While in practicum, teacher candidates videotape their lessons in math and science. After watching the teaching episodes, the teacher candidates identify a practice, phenomenon or dynamic for deeper study. The use of video paves the way for an “analytic mind set,” and promotes a different kind of knowledge beyond the conundrum of “what to do next?,” and offers an opportunity to interpret and reflect on classroom practice” (Sherin & Han, 2004, p. 12-14). The completed research projects are presented to the whole class in a symposium on the last day of class. The SOT project allows emerging teacher candidates to learn how to learn from practice with lasting implications (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009).

Professional Development

I continue to grow as a teacher through professional development opportunities. First, I attend and present at practitioner conferences regularly, including NCTM, NSTA, and MnSTA[4], where I learn and experience new methods that are incorporated into my teaching. I regularly bring my students to these conferences to expose them to exemplary professional development in the field (NCTM Regional Conference: 2015; NSTA Regional Conference: 2016; MnSTA 2011 through 2016).

AAUP Critical Thinking Pilot Study Group. In Fall 2014 I submitted work to be evaluated using the AAC&U rubrics for Critical Thinking. The outcome of that evaluation lead to a revision in my own teaching about how to use evidence and draw conclusions for the Study of Teaching assignment.

I am currently a Co-PI in an NSF funded DR K-12 project titled: Driven to Discover: Citizen Science Inspires Classroom Investigation with the University of Minnesota. The project utilizes existing citizen science projects as springboards for professional development for teachers. I lead the research team, teach sessions related in disciplinary literacy, and assist with curricular development, initiatives that continue my growth as a teacher.

Context for SET Scores

As I finish this section on teaching, I would like to offer some context for my EDU 371, 373 and 385 SETs scores.  First, our Education Department and all of my courses have high expectations for students. These high expectations may frustrate some students who think teaching is easy-all you have to do is use the “teacher manual.” The SETs scores also lean toward a bi-model distribution. That bi-modal distribution is an indication to me about how challenging it is for teacher candidates to apply course content and theory, into their teaching philosophies and into the work they do in the schools. In the capstone project and scholarship sections of this statement, I talk about Cognitive Load Theory. The SETs scores may represent that some of the students are experiencing what is called cognitive overload. The working memory of teacher candidates must incorporate vast amounts of novel information all at the same time when they are learning to teach. Their scores may be an example of their working memory being stretched too thin with methods of teaching that are not automatic. They also may not make the connection that the math “games” that are practiced within the methods classrooms are the methods of research-based best practice in mathematics that allow K-6 students to think and reason, embed math computation in other math strands, provide students with flexibility with numbers and computation, help students to develop a positive attitude about math, help students understand why they need to know a certain math concept or function, and help them to apply math to real world situations outside of the classroom. Those games are not the typical worksheet with 20-30 computational problems that was the focus of math for many years and was part of the experiences of the methods students when they were in elementary school.

Like most college courses at Gustavus there is a reading assignment for each session of my methods courses, or any other course that I have taught at Gustavus. These reading assignments may be a chapter or two for each session or there may be 1-2 research articles. I work with the students to understand how those readings illustrate the “knowledge” portion of the Education Department’s Conceptual Framework.  With the readings and the class activities they are building their knowledge of best practice in math, science and interdisciplinary methods for teaching. The amount of reading is a high expectation that we would like all our students to achieve; it may be that some students have not yet learned to balance their lives to find the time to accomplish the assignments that I give. Additionally, challenges of teaching today are very demanding and some students choose to spend time on other Gustavus activities, etc., which limits their time focusing on their assignments. The SETs show some contradictions – some students state they have learned a lot; some say the opposite. Students do not always understand the implications of what they were taught in the moment of the methods courses, however, the feedback from former students and our partner schools, provide evidence that as they move into the field they feel well prepared to teach science and math and other areas of the elementary curriculum. At the end of the methods semester they may not have confidence in their own abilities because they are still emerging teachers.

Additionally, some comments in the SETs report a lack of clarity in directions, despite very detailed assignment descriptions (see supplemental materials, including reading assignments), and a course packet with a Table of Contents. Many of our Education students are very linear. As I noted earlier, they are good at “doing school” and checking off requirements completed. They are used to having everything spelled out for them, a level of detail they will not have in their schools.