Science Modeling Talks

For this episode, Mark caught up with physics modeler Bryan Battaglia, during a modeling instruction workshop on computational modeling, physics first with bootstrap. They talked about Bryan's teaching journey and how modeling meshes quite well with the IB curriculum. They spend time talking about things we may do as teachers that actually stand in the way of student understanding, and talk about things we can do that help lead students to deeper understanding.

Guests

Bryan Battaglia is a 24 year science teacher from Macomb, Michigan. He earned a B.S. in Genetic Biology from Purdue University intending to go into cell biology or marine biology in grad school, but his journey took him to teaching, first middle school, and now high school physics. He has led modeling workshops and has helped to develop the computational modeling physics first with bootstrap curriculum.

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Highlights

[8:00] Bryan Battaglia "I had considered myself to be a constructivist style teacher, but I didn't actually know what that really meant until I took my modeling workshop and I'm like, oh, this is how you do that."

[18:32] Bryan Battaglia "being able to think about energy and develop some sort of useful model for energy that we can use in all contexts is way more important to me than Newton's second law."

[19:55] Bryan Battaglia "one of the things that I strive to do in class is develop that culture where kids feel safe to bring up ideas. We celebrate incorrect answers as much as we celebrate correct answers because it's through disproving ideas that we have more confidence in what we eventually deem to be the correct answer."

Resources

Ep 35 Transcript

International Baccalaureate

In this episode, Mark talks with Dr. Gloria Kreischer Gajewicz about her experience finding modeling instruction as a veteran teacher, about shifting to standards-based grading, and about her Ph.D. research into improving student outcomes through modeling instruction.

Guests

Dr. Gloria Kreischer Gajewicz has been a high school science educator for more than 23 years, teaching various science courses in Ohio including Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Physics, Earth Science, and Chemistry. Currently, she teaches Chemistry and AP Chemistry at Ottawa Hills High School in Toledo Ohio.

She began using Modeling Instruction in 2011 after taking a workshop at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. She earned her doctorate in education in 2019 from Bowling Green State University.

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Highlights

[25:50] Dr. Gloria Kreischer Gajewicz: "a lot of our content knowledge as science teachers really comes from our training at the university level as an undergrad. The trick is then how do we take that content knowledge and turn that into something that's understandable for our students."

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Ep 34 Transcript

In this episode, Mark talks with Earl Legleiter about what it is like to be a science teacher in a rural school, and how modeling instruction helped Earl to improve his skills both in physics and as a physics, chemistry, and biology teacher. They talk about ways Earl helps students to think on their own, rather than waiting for a teacher to tell them what to think, and they talk about the work Earl is doing training teachers.

Guests

Earl Legleiter has taught various science courses for over 20 years in rural schools, some of those years as the sole member of the science department. Earl Legleiter is the director of the Science and Math Education Institute at Fort Hays State University improving STEM instruction and learning in western Kansas. He provides NGSS and Modeling Instruction professional development for in-service teachers throughout the nation. He also coordinates the STEM Noyce Scholars Rural Education Program, and teaches a Rural STEM Education Seminar at FHSU.

Highlights

[13:57] Earl Legleiter: "I think, for teachers, it's a journey. It is a process where by you can get started with modeling and you can implement it in your classroom, but it takes repeated practice to become good at it."

[16:51] Earl Legleiter: "what you're doing is you're developing and using models, which is one of those science and engineering practices from NGSS. And they come to realize, this is what science instruction is supposed to be like. "

Resources

Ep 33 Transcript

In this episode, Mark talks with Jeff Steinert, a physics modeler with 24 years of experience with modeling instruction.

They talk about building a storyline for the course and about changing lab activities to better suit the students you have at a given time. They also talk about the way students learn and some of the latest research in science education.

Guests

Jeff first became aware of physics education research in 1990. He read about the research, finding topics discussed to be the very topics he found to be most challenging in his own classroom. Jeff was able to be part of a cohort of teachers trained in modeling instruction in 1998 and 1999. He has continued to teach, learn, lead modeling workshops, and modify labs ever since.

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Highlights

[34:47] Jeff Steinert "it's good for students to actually have algorithms for doing things because when they're learning the concepts, ... they need more of their working memory for those concepts. They can't be figuring out process at the same time, but if they practice the process while they're applying the new concepts and the process is laid out for them on paper they learn better]."

Resources

Ep 32 Transcript

Mark talks with Anita Schuchardt about her experience teaching using modeling methodology in biology at the university level. They talk about the value of having students develop mathematical models as well as pictorial representations of concepts they study. They also talk about the development of the modeling curriculum resources for biology as well as the research happening today for biology education.

Guests

Anita Schuchardt is an assistant professor of biology education research in the Department of Biology Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota. Anita has received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in genetics and development and from the University of Pittsburgh in learning sciences and policy. After receiving training in Modeling Instruction in physics at ASU, Anita and her colleagues at Shady Side Academy developed Modeling Instruction in high school biology. She participated in refinement of the Modeling Instruction in biology units through the MoBILiSE program led by Dr. Kathy Malone. Modeling Instruction principles continues to inform Dr. Schuchardt’s work and teaching. She has published articles on the effect of mathematical modeling curriculum on students’ problem solving and conceptual understanding in statistics and genetics. Her research interests include developing and understanding student sensemaking in biology and mathematics and creating and assessing model-based interventions that promote sensemaking.

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Highlights

[27:03] Anita Schuchardt "I try to give them lots of different tools and lots of different representations and lots of different ways to access the material. "

[33:13] Anita Schuchardt "the reason that's so important is because it's been shown that when students do connect science ideas with mathematics ideas, that's when they're better able to solve problems."

Resources

Ep 31 Transcript

Schuchardt Research Group

In this episode, Mark talks with Jess Dykes and Melissa Girmscheid, who are both modeling instructors and have spent time developing the modeling curriculum for Computational Modeling Physics First with Bootstrap, CMPF-B. They talk about that project as well as a number of other things going on in their schools and at AMTA.

Guests

Melissa has been a fan of Modeling Instruction since she learned physics through Modeling in high school. She is a graduate of Arizona State University where she was fortunate to learn Modeling as her teaching methods course and has since returned to earn a Masters of Natural Science. In 2017, Melissa became part of the Computational Modeling in Physics First with Bootstrap project and has worked since as a curriculum developer and workshop leader for the project. Melissa is a board member for STEMteachersPHX, the High School Representative for the Arizona section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and currently serves as the AMTA Board President.

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Jess started teaching in 2000 in NJ. When switching schools, he was hired to teach freshmen physics, and the school district hiring him decided to send him to an intensive 5 day - 9 hours per day crash course in modeling instruction. The following summer he went to ASU for three weeks of modeling instruction training. In 2017, he attended the CMPF-B development workshop. The CMPF-B course went through a massive revision and Jess and Melissa were selected as primary editors and trainers. They held the first training in Chicago in 2018, followed by training at ASU in 2019. They also have now led two online versions, one during the Spring Semester through NC State University, and one last summer through AMTA.

Highlights

[15:02] Melissa Girmscheid, on E&M in the modeling curriculum: "I love the electricity and magnetism portion we have because I think it lends itself so well to a great partnership with what students are learning in chemistry. So when they have a chemistry modeler, and they've learned E&M from a physics modeler, the depth that students are able to explore, with how particles interact, I think is, pretty powerful."

[32:12] Jess Dykes: "there's something really cool about programming something into the computer and having it break the law of physics because you told it to, and then you go back and you get the computer to follow the laws of physics, which shows that you actually understand the laws of physics."

Resources

Ep 30 Transcript

CASTLE (Capacitor-Aided System for Teaching and Learning Electricity)

Mark talks with Jamie Vesenka, "Dr. V." to his students about modeling instruction at the university level, developing a physics course for students who intend to pursue life science careers, challenges of pandemic learning, and a sensor tool that has been incredibly useful for physics instruction even while studying remotely, iOLab. Finally, they talk about gaps in student learning over the years, and challenges they see teaching higher-order skills today.

Guest Bio

Dr. James Vesenka, "Jamie" or "Dr. V" to his students, is a professor of physics at the University of New England.

In 1995, Jamie was appointed to his first assistant professorship at California State University Fresno, where his research focus was the characterization of quadruplex DNA using the atomic force microscope (AFM). AFMs can now image individual atoms. Figuring out how to reliably image DNA became the dominant theme in Jamie's publication record, now about 60 articles long. At tge University of New England since 2000, Jamie has enjoyed teaching undergraduates. This year, he is spending his sabbatical in Germany working on research and taking some time to talk with college professors about modeling instruction.

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Highlights

[28:39] Jamie Vesenka, about physics for life science majors: "to do a good introductory physics for life science course, you want to get rid of those things that aren't gonna be necessary and cover things that really are"

[36:38] Jamie Vesenka, about the iOLab: "having an inexpensive, physics in a box unit is essential for good hands-on learning and to do it remotely. And this is exactly the perfect tool for it. And so yeah, I'm a big advocate for it because it really takes very high-quality data and it's easy to operate and the software does a lot of great stuff."

Resources

Dr. James Transcript

iOLab Science

MacMillan store for iOLab

In this episode, Mark talks with middle school teacher David Bates about his experience with modeling instruction at the middle school level. They talk about how middle schoolers are developing as individuals and as learners, and they talk about how modeling gives each student a voice, regardless of their prior experience with science education.

Guest Bio

David Bates is an educator who has served in a variety of educational settings over his 34 year career. He earned a BS in Special Education and MA in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University. He has taught Special Education CI adult classes, 1st grade, 3rd grade and 5th grade, served as summer school principal, elementary foreign exchange teacher, and has taught middle school science for the last 17 years in the Dearborn Public Schools. He served on the Board of education for the Ypsilanti Public Schools from 2006 to 2014. Training in Reading Apprenticeship program in 2015 and in Modeling for Science in 2016 have had the most significant impact on his educational philosophy and practice.

Highlights

[12:28] David Bates "I find that... Kids are amazingly honest, at least maybe middle school kids are amazingly honest, brutally honest, sometimes even about whether or not they really understand something or they don't. And that, as a teacher, that's your best feedback in terms of where you are in your own instruction, and what direction you need to go in next. "

[30:23] David Bates: "the environment that that I'm trying to create is an environment where students walk in and bring their curiosity with them"

[31:43] David Bates: "our goal really needs to be not to find out who the smartest kid is in the classroom. But our goal really needs to help everybody in the classroom be the smartest kid in the classroom, by sharing our thinking, sharing our questions, encouraging each other, and supporting each other. And that requires building up a very, very high trust environment"

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David Transcript

This month, Mark talks with John Baunach, a modeler and teacher of ninth-grade physics. He talks about his career journey as well as the ways that modeling changed his teaching. They talk about computational modeling in physics first using code to help students understand mechanics. They also talk about the flow of courses at John's school and the newest modeling workshop, modeling astronomy. Finally, they talk about tips for new modelers and advice to all teachers.

Guest Bio

John has been teaching for nearly a decade, in public, private, and parochial high schools (and briefly in a university setting). He was born and raised in Louisville, KY, before attending Vanderbilt for his Bachelor's in Physics and Astronomy. He taught briefly after graduation at a local public high school, before returning for a Master's in Physics, where he was blessed to volunteer at NASA's Langley Research Center while finishing his thesis on space radiation protection modeling. He returned to education in the Nashville area, and in 2014 he attended a modeling workshop at Western Kentucky University, which had a career-changing impact on his teaching philosophy. He worked for three years at a school with a Physics First curriculum and Modeling Instruction integrated at all levels of science.

He currently teaches Physics (9th Grade) and Statistics at Doane Academy, an independent K-12 day school in Burlington, NJ, just north of Philadelphia, where he is also the Science Department Chair and Director of Technology. He has led modeling workshops since 2020.

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Highlights

[13:13] John Baunach, on why computational modeling helps students to learn: "what I find is most important is that it changes how students see math and its relationship to physics. Because oftentimes we go from motion maps to graphs and then jump from graphs and kind of derive the equations of motion from a graph. And I find coding is another nice half step between that point. And it is a different way... it lets us look at the world in one more different way and one more useful way."

Resources

John Transcript

In this episode, Mark talks with Jeremy Secaur, a modeling instructor and physics teacher from the Cleveland, Ohio area. They talk about his introduction to modeling, bringing modeling workshops to the Cleveland area, whiteboarding, and Socratic questioning methods. Jeremy talks about being aware of societal norms about "who does science," and how we need to be both careful and intentional about managing discourse in our classrooms. Jeremy's description of how he communicates to students the importance of every voice is particularly worth hearing. Finally, they talk about the importance of support systems, for both the beginning modeler and the experienced one.

Guest Bio

Jeremy Secaur has been teaching for 23 years, all at Elyria High School outside of Cleveland OH. He teaches Honors Physics and AP Physics C. Early in his career, Jeremy was introduced to the work of Lillian McDermott and others involved in active learning pedagogy in physics and that had a profound influence on his teaching philosophy and career trajectory. He finally took his first modeling workshop in 2015 and immediately found that it transformed his teaching for the better. Jeremy has led modeling physics workshops since 2019.

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Highlights

[11:57] Jeremy, on professional development: "I know in my own school district, our most popular professional development days are the ones that are teacher-led because teachers want to hear from other teachers, you know, like what ideas are you doing that work?"

[16:37] Jeremy, on whiteboarding: "So the mental processes are different if they're working on one shared space versus their own spaces. And also it's just so much easier to take intellectual risks on a whiteboard because nothing is permanent on a whiteboard."

Resources

Jeremy Transcript

The Talk Science Primer (22:43)

STEP UP (31:39)