Project Description
This project orients around a transition in how scientific literacy is defined by educators through a professional learning conference focused on this shift within the context of the new New York state science standards. We provided professional educators with to opportunity to experience this new definition of science literacy through direct instruction and learning experiences supportive of our new definition. The primary mode through which this occurred was the professional learning conference conducted on April 24th. This was a two hour professional development for pre- and in-service science educators. The event began with a keynote presentation of our new definition for science literacy, given by 4 members of the GRS 2017 Cohort. The presenters made the argument that this new definition was needed within the context of social justice and the shifting role that science is playing in our society. This presentation can be found here.
Following this keynote conference participants chose from 3 presenters that presented material oriented around application of this new science literacy in science education. Patrick Bond, a Warner Masters Student, and Brianne Walsh, a Science Communicator from IAN, presented on physical modeling of concepts as a form of specialized language within science literacy. Slides from their presentation can be found here. Michael Occhino presented on the next generation of professional learning and preparing practitioners to meet the challenge. This presentation was organized around the professional development that would bring science educators into a more reform based definition of science literacy. Andrea Palanski presented on using peer interviews to help students support each other in conducting their own investigations. Videos of presentations can be found by following this link.
Finally conference participants engaged with a debriefing and conversational component called, Vexations and Ventures. This component of the evening was organized by April Luehmann and Warner Master Teachers. This activity bridged theory and practice and engaged with research in ways we become more sure-footed as practitioners. As a means to authentically engage with what it means to be a reform-minded science teacher, we had an opportunity to bring a current problem, challenge, or question for us to wrestle with and help advise you. We used a protocol for our discussion and each take on roles to practice being part of a school-based learning team. Video from this portion of the evening can be found here.
In order to gage the success of the evening in terms of the definition shift we were attempting, conference participants completed pre-conference and post-conference surveys. These surveys attempted to tease out the shifts in how educators viewed scientific literacy, and what makes an individual scientifically literate.
Pre-Survey Responses
Fig. 1
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Fig. 3
Post-Survey Responses
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
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Fig. 7
While the overall event was a success and did have impact (Fig. 5 and 7), we did not have the expansive impact we were hoping for (Fig. 4). Something we came to realize was that while our peer group and network of science educators within Rochester is extensive due to our association with Warner as students, we are in some ways limited to having (currently) access to only Warner associated educators. We found that we were essentially preaching to the choir. Considering Fig. 1 in particular, a number of the participants in the conference arrived with the more expansive and inclusive definition of scientific literacy we were aiming and arguing for throughout the event. Which makes sense as many of the participants were graduates from or current students of Warner, or in other ways already associated with the school. Participants therefore came with an already strong, expansive, and inclusive definition of scientific literacy, even if it was not yet integrated with the NGSS.
All was not a loss however. Fig. 7 clearly displays that participants were engaged and invigorated by the conversations being had and the presentations that they participated in. Fig. 2 also points to a need to address further the meta-cognition and meta-discourse that students need to participate in to understand fully science as a practice and the actions that scientists engage in to be considered scientific. We also discussed changes for future conferences and emphasized some things already mentioned (lack of exposure beyond Warner Science) and some new ideas. For instance, one aspect we would like to pursue for the future is the inclusion of other disciplines to expand the conversation to other disciplinary specific literacies.