My research project will explore best practices for first year teachers implementing rich inquiry-based curriculum. I would like to simplify best practices that also align with standards (NGSS mostly). I am excited to reach out to veteran teachers who have been doing this effectively for some time to see what routines they have established. I am also interested to see what "fads" in education they tend to steer clear of to maintain their vision for effective teaching. I picked this topic because I feel strongly that inquiry-based curriculum works best for student comprehension rather than memorization. However, it can be nearly impossible for first year teacher to effectively implement it without having the time and experience to build rich units.
I hope to reach a wide audience and deploy a google form to help summarize any best practices and "what to avoid" as it relates to those short term trends in inquiry-based education that seem great, but may not have much merit. The process of creating a framework for collecting useful data has been a journey for me. With a heavy background in science, I have relied heavily on quantitative data. The comfort of finding trends in numbers to inform my understanding has been pushed aside slightly as I navigate how to conduct "people research!" Knowing myself, I worked to formulate a question that would keep me away from the Internal Review Board (IRB) if at all possible, while still being able to focus on something that was important to me. After spending most of my summer reading journal articles on the topic, I finally focused my question down. How does a first year teacher provide a rich, hands-on science curriculum without the years of experience it takes to do it right?! While I don't look forward to formally summarizing my findings during my first year in my new position as a 6th grade science teacher, I do find solace in perhaps digging through my findings to make teaching inquiry-based science curriculum a little more efficient for myself!
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AuthorI'm Kylie, a science enthusiast working to build my skills as an educator and share what I learn along the way. Archives
March 2023
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