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Welcome
This
13-week graduate level course was developed at the Center for Educational
Technologies, Wheeling Jesuit University. This course is structured
as a collaborative, inquiry-based model and is held in an electronic environment
where educators can study Earth system science. Dr. Mark Turski of Plymouth State University is constantly updating (messing) with it so will meet the needs of teachers, i.e. so it never works quite right.
This
course is designed around essential questions for you and your students
to address. Essential questions allow students to take more responsibility
for learning in every lesson because they provide clear expectations of
what students should know and be able to do. Essential questions
- are posed within the context of important life
questions;
- are written so students can understand them;
- have no obvious right or simple answers;
- require higher order thinking and
problem-solving or decision-making skills;
- use
concepts which require students to organize their knowledge to uncover
important ideas now and in the future.
Asking
and answering essential questions serve as powerful educational tools
because they help teachers and students focus learning on building relevant
knowledge centered around a particular idea or concept.
Course Goal: To
identify how students develop Earth system science concepts through hands-on
activities.
Specifically, answer
the following questions:
- How do you know what students are learning
about content and process from hands-on activities?
- What are the characteristics of hands-on
activities which effectively help students to develop knowledge about
Earth as a system?
- What is the relationship between how you teach
during a hands-on activity and what students learn?
- How will you use
what you have learned to help your students address essential questions
in Earth System Science?
Methodology:
To address the questions above as an action researcher, scholar, and designer
you will:
- collaborate in learning teams of four to six
teachers;
- work with a facilitator and an Earth Science
mentor;
- engage in weekly online discussions;
- use Earth system science activities with your
students;
- offer feedback to the other participants; and
- reflect on your
own learning in an online portfolio.
Outcomes: As
a result of your research, interaction, reading, and reflection, you will:
- develop action
research skills for assessing student growth in addressing the essential
questions of Earth system science;
- develop criteria for activities that are
effective in helping students address the essential questions of Earth
system science;
- increase your own
scholarly knowledge of Earth system science by
locating and posting resources to answer essential questions.
Course Structure: The first meeting of the course will provide
an introduction to the other course participants, your team members, and
Earth system science. In
the 2nd week of the course, you will begin the first of four, three-week
cycles during which you will examine a different sphere (land, living
things, water, air). During
each cycle, you will work on individual and team assignments.
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Week
A: Teacher As Researcher
Weeks 2, 3, 6
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Individual:
Study the effect hands-on activities have on your students.
Team: Develop
criteria for effective concept-building activities with your teammates.
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Week
B: Teacher
As Scholar
Weeks 4,5,7,8,9,10,11
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Individual:
Learn more about Earth system science by asking and answering questions.
Team: Answer
essential questions with your teammates.
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See Participation
for detailed diagrams of the flow of the activities.
[
Welcome ] [Earth's Spheres
] [ Earth System Science ] [ Participation
]
[ Assessment Overview ] [ Course
Sections ]
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Home ] [ Guide
] [ Outline ] [
Classroom ]
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