Video Transcript

Hi Science Teachers,

Welcome to Science Teacher Summer School, Episode 11.

I’m Kent Lui, and something you may not know about me is that I’m a middle child. And, I’m the worst kind of middle child – where I have an older brother and younger sister. The oldest sibling will always be the first (and, in my family, he’s a boy which is a big deal) and the youngest will always be the baby but, in my family, is also the only girl. So, the middle, who’s not the oldest or the baby, who isn’t the first girl or boy – has nothing special. So, he gets neglected. Perhaps, that explains a lot about me. Now, let’s get to work.

This is the last episode of Science Teacher Summer School. I’ve enjoyed making this series of videos. I’m working on a new series of videos right now and my focus is still on better science education. Please subscribe to my youtube channel and email list at realsciencechallenge.com to stay posted on when new episodes will be published.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this discussion question, “What’s missing from science education” in a Facebook community chat for parents. I wanted to know the parents’ perspective of the science classroom and how I should refocus my practice this year- assuming their concerns, of course, were legitimate or logical. The question received 126 responses. So, what did parents say, and what does this mean for us as science teachers? We look at some of the most popular responses and ask what it could mean for us.

The most common theme coming from parent responses is that parents wanted their kids to learn to think like a scientist. For example,

One parent wrote, “What scientific research actually involves and that it is not equally valid to the “research” you do by googling something while you’re on the toilet.”

Another wrote, “How to find credible information…and developing and honing their critical thinking and reading skills to spot inaccurate or misleading information might well save their lives.”

And another wrote, “Switch focus from learning specific facts and information to learning how to think like a scientist.”

Finally, one of my favourite responses wrote, “On the whole as a society, we are scientifically illiterate, anti-education, and consider science a political tool of the left and acts against God. Like when Bill Nye was booed fiercely when saying “the moon reflects the sun’s light.”

This response is surprising because I think most teachers have the goal of teaching students to think like a scientist or being scientifically literate. That’s why we do lab reports and scientific method, science fair, inquiry projects, etc. Yet, parents still feel it needs to be taught. But, why? I have a few theories:

My first theory is that some teachers don’t teach scientific thinking. But, this is not simply because teachers don’t want to. For example, in the lower grades, the focus for most teachers is still reading, writing, and arithmetic. Thus, science is merely a means to help with reading and, therefore, science skill isn’t really a focus. Also, teachers in elementary school may not have a science background and may feel as though they have the science skills to teach science skills. Thus, scientific thinking may not be practiced or taught. Therefore, the one option is for teachers to get some more pro-d in scientific thinking. Another option is to bring parents who have a science background come in to share their skills for some lessons. But, what about high school science teachers – many of whom have a science background?

As a high school science teacher myself, I think we do teach scientific thinking – but many of us may not do it very effectively right now. Time is the typical reason or excuse we use – like, “there’s not enough time for me to go through all the foundational content and do scientific literacy or science fair” or “there isn’t enough time for me to prep another unit or lab activity”. But, there are teachers who are able to do both – teach science literacy and content – well. And, I think, it’s because they’ve learned how to do content and scientific thinking together. Yes, if we treat both goals – teaching foundational content and teaching scientific thinking – as separate goals – then, yes, we’ll do a terrible job of it and probably run out of time. But, weaving content and scientific thinking more frequently and consciously will save time and allow scientific thinking to be taught. I’m not saying it’s easy to do – but, that’s what needs to happen to have both goals met..

Lastly, we may do a great job of integrating content and scientific thinking together. We do a great job of teaching scientific thinking. But, parents still don’t see it. Then what? I think it’s because parents only see a snapshot of what is going on in the class. We give parents report cards and mid-term reports. We may even call home once in a while. But, they really don’t know what’s going on in class. So, we need to include them in the classroom. For example, we can include parental involvement in some of the tasks we ask students to do. I remember in Grade 7, my science teacher wanted us to track how efficient our family car was. So, everyday, we were told to write down the odometer reading on the car. And, every evening, when my dad got home from work, I asked to borrow the car keys so I could take down the odometer reading. There wasn’t a lot of parental involvement, but the project definitely started more than one conversation between my dad and I about science class.

That’s all the time we have for this episode. Please leave questions in the comments section below. As mentioned before, this is the last of science teacher summer school 2021. However, I’ll be starting a new Science Ed series soon and I’m pretty excited about it. More details are to come.. Subscribe and stay tuned!

Thanks for watching. And, remember to science everywhere everyday.

Resources

Handout(s): The following handout is to be used with the movie, Behind the Curve. 52 – Flat Earth _ April Fools Day Lesson Handout

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