Enhancing Student Learning

Learning is a social process, and students must be able to construct and assign meaning to ideas that are new to them.  One way to encourage this is to utilize tools that emphasize different elements -- visual, auditory, interactive, etc.  Below are three websites that may be valuable in teaching a science class.  From simply encouraging discussion, to having students actively contribute to scientific research, these tools afford the teacher with countless options to enhance learning. 

http://storyofstuff.org/bottledwater/

The Story of Bottled Water

This is from a fantastic website called The Story of Stuff, featuring videos pertaining to environmental, social, and economic issues.  This particular video covers a topic that that should have relevance to students’ everyday experiences (assuming that they have, at one time or another, consumed a bottle of water).  It will allow them to construct meaning and think critically about why we consume bottled water and the consequences of doing so, and can spark a discussion on why these consequences are not widely known (cui bono?).  By leading students to challenge the dominant discourse (bottled water is way better than tap water!) and exposing them to contradictions, we as teachers can engage them in a discussion on how to mitigate the problems that arise from our increasing use of this ubiquitous product.  

http://www.hhmi.org/askascientist/ask.html

Ask a Scientist

One of the key aspects of doing science (and learning in general) is collaboration.  There are countless ways in which teachers can foster collaboration among students, but what about connecting with an actual, practicing scientist?  This site allows students to enhance the social process of learning by communicating with someone who works in the field of study that the class is covering.  Teachers could have students simply post a question, but they would better serve their students by guiding them to deeper understandings.  For instance, if learning about the use of the scientific method, students could post a question such as “Our class has been working on an experiment.  We hypothesized “A” and tested this by doing “B”.  Our conclusion was “C”.  Is our methodology sound?  How would you conduct such an experiment?”  By including a scientist with more practical training than the teacher may have, a further layer of scaffolded interaction can be introduced into a unit that may enhance their ability to give meaning to the given content.

http://scienceforcitizens.net/

Science For Citizens

Students learn by actively constructing and assigning meaning to new ideas.  An important part of this process must be interactivity, and Science for Citizens is a great tool to use.  This site is a place for students to actively contribute to already constructed scientific activities and research.  Teachers can choose from a variety of different in-class activities, or may even have students take part in hands-on research.  For example, one activity involves tracking American robins.  Students record the date and location of any robin that they see over some time period, make note of their activity, and add to a database that researchers will use in their study of bird behavior – a great way for students to explore  how living organisms interact with the environment, and how scientists study such phenomena.