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Unpack Everything: Science Education Reform in the Real World
By Unpack Everything PodcastEducation
Unpack Everything: Science Education Reform in the Real World episodes
- What are Sam and Dan up to?
To wrap up 2024, Sam and Dan share a bit about what's been going on lately personally and professionally. We'll be back to sharing our regular conversations with science education folks in the new year!
In case you'd like to jump around, here's a general outline of the ground covered:
- 00:48 - Dan shares about his newborn baby and reflections on becoming a parent
- 13:27 - Sam shares about what’s happening in her classroom before the holiday break
- 24:43 - Sam shares about her school’s accreditation process and her role in this work
- 33:43 - Sam and Dan share about an OpenSciEd Middle School project, funded by Amazon Future Engineer, which is revising some of the original OpenSciEd Middle School units to incorporate computer science learning using micro:bits (You can learn more about this project here.)
- 47:27 - Dan shares about his grad work
- 50:25 - Some final reflections
Follow along and send us the questions YOU have about science education!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0
55 min - How can politics impact science education?
This week, Dan and Sam unpack the Franklin Standards. These standards have been developed by the National Association of Scholars and Freedom in Education as an alternative to the NGSS. Unfortunately, they are on the road to adoption in at least one state. As we dug in, we found that these standards have very little to do with what we know science to be and show evidence of being politically motivated by forces on the right. Since this week's episode discusses partisan politics, we wanted to share a bit more about where each of us stands politically. You can find that below. As a reminder, everything we share through this podcast represents our own thoughts and opinions and does not reflect that of our employers or any other entities.
Dan places the highest value on good governance, support for democratic norms, and measures that strengthen communities. This has led him to supporting a variety of candidates, including writing in John McCain with a different running mate in 2008, voting for Barack Obama in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 (after earlier support for John Kasich in the primaries). In 2018, he supported a primary challenge to Iowa's GOP governor and served as a delegate at the Iowa Republican State Convention in a (failed) attempt to push the party in a more productive direction, accompanied by additional work advocating for ranked-choice voting and other measures to improve our political system. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Dan has generally voted straight-ticket for the Democratic Party, but would welcome other parties putting up candidates who propose their own, thoughtful solutions to our most urgent local and global problems.
Sam has been a Democratic voter since she was first able to vote in the 2012 election. She has aligned herself with candidates who stand for values she believes in, such as promoting green energy and reducing emissions, protecting access to and funding for public education, supporting common sense gun laws, and protecting women's reproductive rights. Since 2020, she has volunteered with Postcards to Swing States to write hundreds of postcards to rally voters across the country, from presidential swing states to competitive state legislative districts.
If you'd like to do your own digging into the Franklin Standards, these are the resources we consulted for this episode:
- Reporting from Wendy Suares from Fox 25 in Oklahoma City
- Franklin Standards - developed by the National Association of Scholars and Freedom in Education
- Final Evaluation of the Next Generation Science Standards by the Fordham Institute
- The Franklin Standards are said to be based on the following: 2006 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Standards and 1996 New York Science Core Curriculum Standards
Resources:
- Drilled Podcast
- National Center for Science Education
- Article from The Conversation about attempts to undermine the teaching of evolution
- A Framework for K-12 Science Education
- Next Generation Science Standards
Follow along and send us questions YOU have about science education!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
49 min - How do we teach science with attention to language needs? (with Myra Lam)
This week, Dan and Sam are joined by elementary school teacher, Myra Lam, to talk about teaching science with attention to language needs. She discusses the strategies she uses in her classroom that have supported her multilingual students.
Resources:
- Why you should stop pre-teaching science vocabulary and focus on students developing conceptual meaning first (STEM Teaching Tool #66)
- Science in the City by Bryan Brown
- Thinking and Feedback Protocol
- Knowles Teaching Fellowship
- Pedagogy of Hope by Paulo Freire
Follow along and send us the questions YOU have about science education!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
58 min - What role does language play in making sense of science phenomena? (with Dr. Enrique Suarez)
This week, Dan and Sam are joined by Dr. Enrique (Henry) Suarez to talk about language and the role it plays in science sensemaking. He discusses translanguaging and how it describes the process multilingual students undergo as they engage and interact with the world. He also shares some helpful steps we can take to better support students in this work.
Resources:
- @SciEdHenry on Twitter
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
- Retiring the term English language learners: Moving toward linguistic justice through asset-oriented framing
- Translanguaging in Bilingual Education (Ofelia Garcia)
- Language views for scientific sensemaking matter: A synthesis of research on multilingual students' experiences with science practices through a translanguaging lens
- Read more about Lev Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Development
- Why you should stop pre-teaching science vocabulary and focus on students developing conceptual meaning first (STEM Teaching Tool #66)
- Translingual Writing in a Linguistically Diverse Primary Classroom (Emily Machado)
- Look out for the Journal of Research in Science Teaching's Special Issue on "Examining translanguaging in science and engineering education research" coming soon!
Follow along and send us the questions YOU have about science education!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
55 min - How can we teach with social justice science issues? (with Nina Hike)
This week, Dan and Sam are joined by Nina Hike, a Chicago Public Schools teacher who teaches with social justice science issues like we heard about in Transformative Science Teaching. She gives a lot of context and depth to what this can look like in the classroom.
Resources:
- @ninahike06 on Twitter
- Pushing Praxis - Nina's podcast!!
- Near-Space Science: A Ballooning Project to Engage Students with Science Beyond the Big Screen (Nina's experimental design article published in NSTA's The Science Teacher)
- Using the Science Writing Heuristic to Support NGSS-Aligned Instruction (Nina's experimental design article published by ACS)
- Read more about Dr. Charles Drew on ACS and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
- PAEMST
- Transformative Science Teaching: A Catalyst for Justice and Sustainability by Daniel Morales-Doyle - Use code TRSC24 for 20% off when you order directly from Harvard Education Press.
Follow along and send us the questions YOU have about science education!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
56 min - Why should we teach with social justice science issues? (with Dr. Daniel Morales-Doyle)
Sam and Dan are back with Season 3! This week, we are joined by the author of Transformative Science Teaching: A Catalyst for Justice and Sustainability, Dr. Daniel Morales-Doyle!! After our summer book club, we were so excited for the chance to chat with the author about the book and to unpack more about why we should teach with social justice science issues.
Resources:
- @dmoralesdoyle on Twitter
- Transformative Science Teaching: A Catalyst for Justice and Sustainability by Daniel Morales-Doyle - Use code TRSC24 for 20% off when you order directly from Harvard Education Press.
- Creative Insubordination
- Transdisciplinarity in STEM Education
Follow along and send us the questions YOU have about science education!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
55 min - Coming Soon... Unpack Everything: Season 3
Season 3 of Unpack Everything: Science Education Reform in the Real World is coming soon!
Join us this season as we unpack what it means for a classroom to be student-centered and student-driven.
Follow along and send us the questions YOU have about science education!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
2 min - Transformative Science Teaching Book Club: Chapters 4-6
Our summer book club book is Transformative Science Teaching: A Catalyst for Justice and Sustainability by Daniel Morales-Doyle!!
Dr. Morales-Doyle and Harvard Education Press have kindly provided us with a discount code. When buying directly from Harvard Education Press, enter promo code TRSC24 at checkout to receive 20% off your book order.
Resources:
- Fund for Teachers
Let's keep the conversation going!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
51 min - Transformative Science Teaching Book Club: Chapters 2-3
Our summer book club book is Transformative Science Teaching: A Catalyst for Justice and Sustainability by Daniel Morales-Doyle!!
Dr. Morales-Doyle and Harvard Education Press have kindly provided us with a discount code. When buying directly from Harvard Education Press, enter the promo code TRSC24 at checkout to receive 20% off your book order.
We will discuss Chapters 4 through 6 on July 27.
Let's keep the conversation going!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
51 min - Transformative Science Teaching Book Club: Intro - Chapter 1
Our summer book club book is Transformative Science Teaching: A Catalyst for Justice and Sustainability by Daniel Morales-Doyle!!
Dr. Morales-Doyle and Harvard Education Press have kindly provided us with a discount code. When buying directly from Harvard Education Press, enter the promo code TRSC24 at checkout to receive 20% off your book order.
We will discuss Chapters 2 and 3 on July 13 and Chapters 4 through 6 on July 27.
Let's keep the conversation going!
@SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter
Our music is 'Rainbows' by Scott Buckley released under CC BY 4.0.
58 min
About Unpack Everything: Science Education Reform in the Real World
From the publisher's feed
Conversations with teachers, researchers, and other folks who are helping make science education better for students, hosted by Sam Pinter and Dan Voss.
Follow along and send us the questions YOU have about science education! @SciEdPod on Instagram and Twitter