Science Modeling Talks

In this episode, Mark talks with Jane Jackson, who has worked on modeling instruction for the last 27 years. She gives us insight into the history of modeling instruction as well as the challenges we face funding workshops. She also talks about the importance of science education, and specifically physics education.

Jane Jackson

I grew up in rural Connecticut, married an Arizonan at age 19, and began study at Arizona State University as a sophomore. I earned a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in physics at ASU, and loved the work. David Hestenes taught me two courses; he was one of my favorite professors. My husband and I taught at South Dakota State University until 1984, while raising our two children. Then we returned to Arizona, and I taught at Scottsdale Community College for 10 years. David Hestenes asked me in 1994 to be project director for his NSF grant for Modeling Instruction. "It'll only be part-time", he said. I still work nearly full-time on Modeling Instruction, 27 years later -- although mostly as a volunteer, because ASU requires our program to be self-supporting. Modeling Instruction is important in this portentous time of global climate change, for it helps people think with evidence while they connect with nature.

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[22:18] Jane Jackson, on becoming an expert: "research done by K. Anders Ericsson show that in any endeavor, it takes many years to become an expert. And you can't become an expert just by doing the job like teaching ...you have to do deliberate practice."

[27:51] Jane Jackson: "they need modeling instruction type physics because modeling instruction teaches you how to think with evidence. And that's absolutely crucial for humanity to tackle these huge problems that we face like global warming, sea level rise, these huge storms that we're getting now, these days, you know, these destructive wildfires and all these other problems..."

Transcript

Jane Transcript

Links

Modeling Instruction Program

Talk Jane gave about funding for workshops

PhysTEC Physics Teacher Education Coalition

In this episode, Mark talks with Kathy Harper, a senior lecturer in engineering education at The Ohio State University. She tells us about how she found her way to a modeling workshop half her lifetime ago, and how modeling has changed her life. They also talk about the work that Kathy has done bringing modeling workshops to Ohio, and then having workshops to develop small activities to bring tastes of engineering to our science courses. We hope you enjoy listening!

Kathy Harper

Kathy Harper is a senior lecturer in the Department of Engineering Education at The Ohio State University, teaching in the Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors program. Her involvement with Modeling Instruction began in 1995. She has directed dozens of workshops for Ohio science teachers in Modeling Instruction, piloting the first workshops to incorporate engineering content into the Modeling framework. Her research includes an array of educational topics, but most recently centers on assessing classroom-level innovations. She has made conference and workshop presentations on topics such as problem solving, cooperative learning, reflective journaling, first-year engineering courses, and, of course, Modeling.

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[26:05] Kathy Harper, talking about starting to develop engineering content using a modeling framework "what if we offer a one-week workshop for people that have already taken a modeling workshop to come in and we'll just work through ways that we can add engineering into an existing modeling curriculum. ...But one of the things I really remember was one teacher said "My advanced students are usually debating between a career in medicine or a career in engineering. And they all feel like they understand what medicine is. And so I think they're more likely to choose that, but they don't really understand what engineering is." ...So we worked then as a group to think about some activities that we could add, just to introduce students to engineering design that were largely independent of content."

[40:01] Kathy Harper, talking about funding for modeling workshops and state funding for professional development "we need to do something to get those mechanisms back in place so that we can support these state-level, or at least, you know, portion of state-level workshops, where again, like-minded teachers can get together, talk about the content and the pedagogy. Where we can teach these workshops for the people who teach these workshops are real K-12 classroom teachers. Not university people like me; people that teach in very similar circumstances to the people attending the workshops. Those are key."

Transcript

Kathy Transcript

In this episode, Mark talks with Karle Delo, who came to modeling as a middle school science teacher, and is now working as an instructional coach and technology integrationist in Michigan. She talks about the most important things that modeling has brought to her teaching practice and she talks about plans in her other new role in marketing for AMTA.

Karle Delo

Karle Delo taught middle school science for 10 years, and has been a Modeler since 2016. Currently, she is an Instructional Coach and Technology Integrationist in Mid-Michigan, and leads Middle School Modeling distance learning courses. Karle noticed the transformation in quality discussions, depth of knowledge, and student ownership of learning through the adoption of Modeling Instruction. As the new Director of Marketing for AMTA, she aims to expand AMTA's audience, and introduce more educators to the transformative nature of Modeling.

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[5:24] Karle Delo "I feel like especially now, the skill of mine that has improved the most would be questioning. So questioning students, in a way that gets them to think about the data in a different way, or to kind of help them like facilitate that discussion to help the class come to a consensus."

[27:15] Karle Delo "You can tell when you walk into a classroom that has clear norms. I think that sometimes teachers underestimate the power of what they say, but words really do matter."

Transcript

Karle Transcript

Links

AMTA Summer Course

In this episode, Mark talks with Erica Posthuma and her student Molly Bickle. This conversation explores passing the torch to a next generation science instructor.

Molly Bickle

Molly Bickle is a senior at University High School of Indiana. She is a varsity golfer in the fall and is heavily involved in her school’s musical in the spring. After taking three years of Chemistry, Molly is very excited to combine her love for the subject with her passion for and interest in education. Additionally, she spent January of 2020 student teaching for a Spanish 1 classroom. Although unsure of where she is going to study, she plans on pursuing an undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Spanish.

Erica Posthuma

Erica Posthuma has been a science educator since 2001, teaching in both public and private school settings. She attended her first modeling instruction workshop after ten years of teaching, and it completely changed her way of teaching. Erica serves on the board of AMTA and is very active on social media, supporting and sharing ideas with others from all over. Erica is also an associate editor for the Journal of Chemical Education's ChemEdXchange.

Transcript

Erica and Molly Transcript