Lisa M. Blank

A metacognitive learning cycle: A better warranty for student understanding?

The Science Curriculum Improvement Study Learning Cycle provides opportunities for students to reveal their science ideas, but no formal, structured opportunities exist for students to reflect on their science ideas. This study proposes a revised learning cycle model, termed the Metacognitive Learning Cycle, which emphasizes formal opportunities for teachers and students to talk about their science ideas. Working collaboratively, the researcher and a seventh-grade science teacher developed a 3-month ecology unit based on the revised model. Two science classrooms studied identical ecology content using different pedagogical orientations. One class was taught using the SCIS approach and one was taught using the metacognitive approach. Only in the metacognitive classroom were students asked to reveal their science ideas and to discuss the status of their conceptions throughout the instruction. Results showed that students in the metacognitive classroom did not gain a greater content knowledge of ecology, but they did experience more permanent restructuring of their ecology understandings.

Spatial Sci: Forwarding Geospatial Technology Innovations in the Classroom

We implemented a professional development program using the Next Practice Innovation Model to improve teacher skill and use of geospatial technologies in science classrooms. We recruited cohorts of teachers with each teacher cohort participating in a week-long geospatial technologies summer institute designed to (1) stimulate teachers’ imagination by exposing participating teachers to the depth and variety of spatial data sets produced and in use by university, agency (e.g., United States Forest Service), and agricultural GIS users across Montana; (2) incubate and cultivate a community of geospatial technology practitioners; (3) challenge each teacher to develop a curriculum module and spatial data set that was unique to their geographic setting and community. Participating GTEC teachers completed a pre-institute survey as well as end-of-year and end-of-project surveys. We discuss how participation in the GTEC program participation in the GTEC program increased teachers’ adoption of geospatial technologies into the classroom by providing teachers technology support and time to practice GIS skills and develop geographically relevant spatial data sets and curriculum with a community of peers. We close with a brief discussion of how the program could be scaled to reach more teachers.

Field-Based Research Partnerships: Teachers, Students, and Scientists Investigate the Geologic History of Eastern Montana Using Geospatial Technologies

The Paleo Exploration Project (PEP) was a University of Montana (UM) professional development program serving K-12 teachers from eastern Montana. Two cohorts of 25 teachers each completed the program. Each cohort was engaged in the training for 12–18 months. The program began with several 2-day teachers’ weekend workshops during the spring semester. The following summer, teachers attended a weeklong summer research institute with middle-school-aged students. Over the next academic year, teachers took part in a final weekend workshop and developed, and in most cases implemented, their own learning activities with their students. Using a design experiment framework, we learned that teachers needed (1) additional hands-on practice with the technologies, (2) a curriculum component that was targeted more directly on scientific inquiry, and (3) more practice with project design.