Remote Teaching and Learning: Part 4 Optimizing Critical Thinking in a Synchronous Video Classroom
(Tu June 16, 12-1:30pm EDT) This 1.5-hour workshop will address teaching techniques that can be used while conducting a class via live video streaming where all students would meet at the same time (aka synchronous teaching) using a platform such as Google Meets, Zoom, Teams, etc. During this 1.5-hour workshop, you will take part in […]
Student-designed Experiments: Part 1 Developing Curiosity
(Tu June 16, 2-3:30pm EDT) In this workshop we will practice a repeatable structure for introducing a topic that will be studied through scientific exploration using a remote teaching and learning platform. We will help our students conduct a preliminary investigation at home developing interest in a particular phenomenon by generating data and making observations […]
Math-infused Science: Data-generating Activities for Science and Math
(Tu June 16, 4-5:30pm EDT) Even when learning online, students can be placed at the center of the learning experience to increase their level of engagement and self-reliance. In this workshop, teachers will learn how to use any materials at hand to generate data for mathematical analysis. I will help you develop techniques for seeing […]
Statistics for General Level Science: Part 2 When is the Mean a Poor Choice?
(W June 17, 2-3:30 pm EDT) Often by middle school and certainly by high school, students default to the mean as the best way to describe data. So, you might think, what’s the harm in that? Everyone knows what is meant by this descriptor, it is familiar and understandable, easy to calculate, and informative, right? […]
Student-designed Experiments: Part 2 Writing a Procedure
(W June 17, 6-7:30 pm EDT) In this workshop we will pick up where Part 1 of this series left off. We begin with a list of variables our students have identified as potentially impacting a particular phenomenon they have explored. Using a think-pair-share process, we will give students the structure needed to write steps […]
Online Teaching Techniques: Using Stop-animation Videos in an Online Class
(M June 22, 2-3:30 pm EDT) Combat attrition with engaging assignments that can be sculpted to the student’s abilities and interest. Stop-animation videos are a short movies made with a series of photos taken from the same position and a handful of items that can be moved about to create story. In this workshop you […]
In Case I Am Teaching Biology Online in 2020-21: Part 1 Biochemistry Unit Topics
(M June 22, 4-5:30 pm EDT) In this series, we will rework one unit of the biology curriculum each week with a goal of stripping down the content and skills to create a list of priorities in case students are working online at a time when this unit is taught. As a group of peers, […]
Math-infused Science: Data Modeling Activities for Ecology – Lincoln’s and Simpson’s Indices
(M June 22, 6-7:30 pm EDT) Using manipulatives found in our homes, we will simulate two common field science experiments: Lincoln’s Index for measuring abundance and Simpson’s Index for measuring biodiversity. Participants will gather evidence and make calculations that can be used to describe the health of and changes in an ecosystem. Each activity will […]
Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: Helping Students Discern Fact from Fiction
(Tu June 23, 12-1:30pm EDT) Information is available from an unlimited number of sources and accessible to anyone. And, anyone who desires can make information available to the masses regardless of its factual or fictitious nature. How are we able to determine what information is reliable and what is suspect? In this workshop, we will […]
Student-designed Experiments: Part 3 Analyzing Collected Data
(Tu June 23, 2-3:30pm EDT) Teachers will play the role of the students, collecting data in their own homes and pooling their observations and measurements in a spreadsheet shared by their lab partners. We will conduct data analysis within lab groups during the workshop to experience how this process can be performed using remote teaching […]