Does the development of new science curriculum like the Next Generation Science Standards mean multiple choice questions are no longer acceptable? Does it mean that short answer or essay/written responses are the only responses that assess critical thinking? The short answer is no. Written responses are not the only way to assess critical thinking. Multiple…
Category Archive for: Critical Thinking
Density is an awesome property of matter. Density can help identify unknown materials (circa Archimedes and the Gold crown). Differences in density determine the relative position of objects (ie. Which objects sink and which objects float). Unfortunately, students too often learn that density is just a formula. A calculation. That it’s not applicable to the…
What are some science skills students need to know how to do? I can sum it up in one statement: we want students to be able to think (and do) like a scientist. Therefore, science students need to know how to design and run experiments, collect and analyze data, draw conclusions and defend them. (Refer…
Team building is an important part of running a class. And, it requires constant upkeep. If I want my car to run smoothly throughout the year, I can’t change the oil once a year and expect it to last. Similarly, I can’t just do a science team building activity at the beginning of the year…
Is there something we can do to start teaching STEM in a simple way? STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is an increasingly popular way to teach science and math in a holistic, applied way by using the engineering design process. Teaching stem gives off the impression that it requires teachers to go well beyond…
Students are always looking for a “right answer” in science, which leads students to be myopic when it comes to analyzing data. “What am I supposed to get” or “What is supposed to happen?” are common lines I hear from students as a result of the quest for a right answer. In labs, the expectation…
A periodic table lesson can be boring because it focuses on facts. We should focus on the application – it’s much more exciting! So, what’s the most amazing application with regards to the periodic table? It’s that it allowed Mendeleev (who first proposed a version of the periodic table that led to development of the…
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