What makes a good classroom activity and student experience?
1. Translating Scientific
Research into Effective
Classroom Use
What makes a good
classroom activity and
student experience?
Karin Kirk
Science Education Resource Center
Carleton College
3. Think 1:00
Pair 2:00
Share :20
In your experience what
makes an effective student
activity?
4. Some attributes of effective activities
• Students engaged and working • Working (sometimes) in groups
hard - interesting, • They are responsible for
contextualized, relevant, learning/contributing/reporting/t
something they think they can eaching
do • Entertaining
• Scaffolded to the level of the • Exploring real/complex
students problems--not black and white;
• Authentic or open ended - multiple solutions
freedom to explore, answer is • Visually engaging/supported
not previously known, group
working on different things • Structured Discussions
• Clear objective/goal - start with • Comfortable/supportive
a question environment
• Passionate delivery • Writing-communicating
• So what--learning has to • Quantitative reasoning
contextulize in terms of what • Clear understanding of success
already know and mechanism for assessment
(individual/culture/history) • Encourages creativity and
• Addresses critical thinking and curiosity,
values • Relevant to curriculum
• Understand policy impacts • Build difficulty through course
9. Teaching the
Process of Science
• Scientific thinking is widely
misunderstood.
• Consider expert vs novice
approach to problem solving.
• Scaffold problems so each
assignment builds on skills
developed in previous activities.
• Teach scientific thinking hand in
hand with content.
10. A Design Strategy
• Setting Goals:
What do I want them to be able to do?
• Measuring Success:
How will I know that they can do this?
• Designing for Success:
How will they gain the skills, knowledge and
experience they need to succeed?
• Designing for Engagement:
How will the activity draw them in and hold their
attention?
11. Set goals first!
• Upon completion of this activity,
students should be able to…
12. How do you measure if
goals have been met?
• Assessment is much easier when
it’s not an afterthought.
13. Design activities to meet
goals
• Designing for Success:
How will they gain the skills, knowledge and
experience they need to succeed?
• Designing for Engagement:
How will the activity draw them in and hold
their attention?
14. Principles of Design
1) Students must be engaged to learn
How does the activity engage them?
2) Students must construct new knowledge
incrementally as a results of experience.
What experiences will they have in this activity?
3) Students must refine and connect their
knowledge to be able to use it further
How will the activity promote reflection on and
application of the new knowledge?
Edelson, 2001, Learning for Use
A Framework for the Design of Technology-Supported Inquiry Activities: Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, vol 38, no 3, p 355-385
15. A few strategies worth
mentioning
• Using visualizations
• Using data
• Authentic
problem-
solving
16. Design Checklist:
Does the activity…
• Encourage student interest and attention?
• Include opportunities for students to
reflect, discuss, and synthesize?
• Engage students in data analysis and
synthesis?
• Help students visualize data relationships,
geologic processes, or other relationships?
• Provide opportunities for students to
confirm their understanding?
• Require students to integrate
ideas/information from different sources?
17. Instructions for working
groups
• Possible topics
• Interpreting sediment cores
• Reconstructing lake levels
• Great Lakes climate history
• Dune geomorphology
• Form groups of 2-3 people around
similar topics or approaches
18. • Go to the workspace page for your
group number
• Login to SERC account to access
workspace page
• Work in the workspace page:
• Add text, links, images, indefinitely
editable
• 4:45 – show and tell of your
activity page
