The opportunity to work side-by-side with scientists on real life research helped two Maple Hill High School science teachers improve how they teach students in the classroom.
Last summer, Kaitlin McGann and Nate Porter took part in Questar III’s Summer Research Program for Science Teachers which partners teachers with researchers in local industry. They were two of five teachers selected for the first class of science fellows.
Ms. McGann worked at Momentive Chemical, investigating why a plastic was not performing the way the company had hoped. Through research they discovered the plastic was molded at a higher temperature than what was recommended, which affected its properties.
The experience helped Ms. McGann not only in terms of teaching polymers in organic chemistry and material sciences in nanotechnology, but also how she designs problems for students to solve.
“It really has increased student engagement because I think I’m doing a better job of molding lab assignments as a real problem and not just this classroom problem,” said Ms. McGann. “That really makes students feel like they’re solving something. They’re interested in the problem and they’re getting the skills they need along the way.”
Mr. Porter had a similar experience working at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering where he used gold nanoparticles to sense the type of gases that exist in a high temperature, combustion environment like a turbine.
When he got back to the classroom, Mr. Porter said he had a better sense of how to design less “cookbook-type” labs where students followed a set of instructions. Instead, he focused on “one sentence” labs where he gave students only a sentence and they had to design their own lab and work through the process.
“I see more confidence in my students,” said Mr. Porter. “I think going through the program has given me a better idea of how to scaffold the inquiry process with them, where they need to start and where they need to be at the end. Seeing the process in the lab allowed me to concentrate on what I can help students more with and where I can let them flounder a little bit.”
Ms. McGann came to a similar finding: allowing students to struggle on their own helps them learn.
“The thing that struck me the most was that I really need to give students many more opportunities to fail. I think we structure things too carefully to make sure they get the right answer and that’s not the way it works when you’re doing research,” said Ms. McGann. “I have built in many more opportunities when I’m doing inquiry design for them to not just get the wrong answer but go with the wrong answer and see where that takes them so that they can figure out why that answer isn’t right.”
The two teachers also found that participating in real scientific research reinvigorated their passion for science when they got back to the classroom.
“It was a great experience,” said Ms. McGann. “It’s very important to get ourselves in active real science that’s going on in industry because it re-excites us about what we do. Every time I do something like this program, or any kind of research over the summer, I always come back to school much more excited about what I do.”
“I really enjoyed the time in the lab again,” agreed Mr. Porter. “I think it gave me another chance to really experience the scientific process which, as a science teacher, you live for.”
To learn more about the Summer Research Program for Science Teachers, please attend the Workshop and Information Session on Wednesday, Jan. 21 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Questar III Conference Center…
An application form for the program can be found here… Please note, the application deadline is Friday, Jan. 30.
