References:
Yin, R. K. (2008). The Math and Science Partnership Program Evaluation: Overview of the First Two Years. Peabody Journal Of Education, 83(4), 486-508
When would program evaluation in science and mathematics be necessary? Explain your answer.1/17/2012 Program evaluation in science and mathematics is necessary throughout the school year. It is critical that we are ensuring the success and understanding of material for students. Evaluating the program several times throughout the school year is a way to ensure that the needs of students are being met and the state standards are being met. According to Yin (2008), a program evaluation of the Math and Science Partnership was necessary and they were looking for the following: “The purpose of the study presented here is to convey the MSP-PE’s ongoing design and implementation. To show how they reflect the nature of the MSP Program, the study addresses four questions: 1. What are the MSP Program’s main themes?, 2. What kinds of activities have the program’s awardees been putting into place?, 3. What are the awardees doing to assess K-12 student achievement outcomes?, and given the preceding conditions, 4. What is the framework and design for the MSP-PE?” I believe that Yin (2008) was correct to ask those questions. Asking questions like this in program evaluations is critical to understand how they operate and are working towards their goals. Evaluating approximately 4 times a school year will help to maintain the overall goals of the program.
References: Yin, R. K. (2008). The Math and Science Partnership Program Evaluation: Overview of the First Two Years. Peabody Journal Of Education, 83(4), 486-508
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According to Anspaugh and Ezell (2010), the Healthy People 2010 guidelines specify the following for physical activity and fitness, “Research has demonstrated that virtually all individuals will benefit from regular physical activity. A Surgeon General’s report on physical activity and health concluded that moderate physical activity can reduce substantially the risk of developing or dying from heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, and high blood pressure.” In the educational codes, Anspaugh and Ezell (2010) mention, “Goal 1 states, “All children [in America] will start school ready to learn.” A component of this goal states that every child would receive nutrition, physical activity experiences, and health care to enable them to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies.” I believe these goals coincide with one another and allow school districts to create and promote a comprehensive health and physical education program. Keeping in line with the educational and Healthy People goals, allow programs to teach children an appropriate dietary and physical lifestyle which is crucial to their health and development. When students are educated appropriately that their lifestyle choice in diet and exercise have an effect on their physical well being, it can have an impact. It is up to the teacher to create meaningful lessons which can impact the students viewpoints and experiences.
References: Anspaugh, D. J., & Ezell, G. (2010). Teaching today’s health (9th ed.). San Francisco: Pearson/B. Cummings. One approach I use to integrate math into science instruction is through cooking activities. At the school I currently am in, we incorporate cooking activities into the curriculum as a way to introduce the science of physical properties such as liquid to a solid, and mathematics such as early number recognition and number concepts. At first, prior to actually using this method, I was skeptical at how interactive this could actually be. When implemented, this approach is highly interactive and works towards student-centered activities with the teacher acting as the facilitator. For example, this morning, we discussed our cooking activity broccoli quiche. In our circle time, we introduce the ingredients we will be using, and demonstrate how they will go together. In small groups, they are able, under teacher guidance and support, to recreate this activity, then cook their ingredients in an oven. Throughout this activity, they are involved in the beginning steps of science by mixing the items together. Mathematics is integrated by practicing measuring. We then allow the students to further explore their experiments by tasting their creation, which is the best part of course. Following the taste test, we chart our results: Did you like the recipe? Yes or no.
“Many science educators forget that inquiry is not merely a process or method of instruction. This strategy defines the teacher’s job as assisting students in the process of discovering knowledge, not providing knowledge for them. Longo (2011) quotes Hammerman (2006) “Asking theoretical questions, making observations, developing hypotheses, engaging in experimentation, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, making inferences, and formulating new questions are some of the exciting processes that are practiced through inquiry-based science” (Longo, 2011, p. 6). It is my belief that while all of these components are important in inquiry based learning, it is important for the teacher to ask the questions to develop a student centered classroom. With this guidance the students are then able to develop a course of action in a science experiment. Otherwise, there is no direction for them to follow, and inquiry just becomes chaos. To avoid that, a teacher should act as a guide, becoming a facilitator within the classroom. As the facilitator, a teacher can go through the classroom, have students in small groups, as they work on a science experiment. Discovering this information, and being able to manipulate it themselves is an important part of the learning process. Having a process to follow through the inquiry and discovery, helps the learning process understand the materials. I believe it is all about questions.
Reference Longo, C. M. (2011). Designing inquiry-oriented science lab activities. Middle School Journal, 43(1), 6-15. |
Lindsey PietrocolaSince 2010, I've been incorporating technology (in some form or another) into a classroom as a teacher. Archives
April 2019
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