Teaching Science: Syllabus
- Donna McDermott
- Dec 13, 2019
- 4 min read
IBS 796R Advanced Topics in PBEE
Science Education and Pedagogy
Spring 2020
Donna McDermott
Learning objectives
· By the end of the first unit, students will be able to develop a lesson plan based on backwards design and universal design principles.
· By the end of the semester, students will be able to describe a few popular trends in pedagogy (e.g. PBL, flipped classes, PLTL, etc.) and incorporate these principles and activities into their lesson plans.
· Throughout the course, students will reflect on their own experiences of learning and teaching and compare those with conclusions made in pedagogy research.
· Throughout the course, students will create components of their teaching portfolio to be used when they are applying for jobs.
Assessment
Formative Assessment:
Students will be presented with 10 “minor” assignments. 3 of those will be mandatory, and they must complete 2 others.
(Students will have the option of replacing a minor assignment with research and a video presentation on a teaching interest topic not covered on our syllabus.)
Summative Assessment:
The summative assessment is the creation of a Teachable Unit. This includes a syllabus with learning objectives, a planned assessment, and one fleshed-out lesson that uses the elective interest topics we’ve discussed in class (a flipped class, an online class, etc.) Most of these components will have already been completed by the student as part of the “mandatory assignments.”
This class plan will be sent to a faculty reviewer who the student has already approached as a mentor earlier in the semester (e.g. their advisor or teaching faculty in their department.) The student will make revisions based on this feedback and submit a final Teachable Unit at the end of the course.
Class Schedule
Assignments with an * are mandatory for course grade. In addition to these, you must complete 2 other minor assignments.
Class 1. Our goals, expectations, topic selection, and btw What is a teaching portfolio?
*Follow-up assignment: Your hypothetical course proposal posted on Canvas discussion board. ALSO reach out to potential faculty reviewer.
Class 2. Universal Design
To prepare: Read “Universal Design for Instruction: A Framework”
Follow up assignment: Find an existing assignment for a course you have taken or a course you find online. Modify that assignment using the universal design framework
Class 3. Diversity & Inclusion
To prepare: Read your specifically chosen paper from the SCERJ archive on race, gender, sexuality, or SES and be ready to “present” it
Follow up assignment: Outline a diversity statement to include in your teaching portfolio. More info here: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/developing-and-writing-a-diversity-statement/
* Confirm that you have found a faculty reviewer on discussion board
Class 4. Backward Design
To prepare: Read “Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Learning Objectives”
*Follow up assignment: Post at least 3 learning objectives for your proposed course on the Canvas discussion board.
Class 5. Assessment
To prepare: Read “Enhancing Diversity in Undergraduate Science: Self-Efficacy Drives Performance Gains with Active Learning”
*Follow up assignment: Create instructions for 1 formative and 1 summative assignment for your hypothetical course. Post on Canvas Discussion Board.
Class 6. Teaching Statements
To prepare: Read Chapter 5 of Scientific Teaching “A Framework for Constructing a Teachable Unit”
*Major assignment due by next class: A draft of your teaching statement, with gaps that describe what you’ll fill in later
Class 7. Giving Feedback
To prepare: Read “Responding to Student Writing”
*Follow up assignment: Revise your Teaching Statement with peer feedback in mind
Class 8. Flipped Classes and PLTL
To prepare: Read “PLTL helps minority students succeed”
Follow up assignment: Create a <5 minute video lecture for your course using the technology we’ve discussed in class. Post a link to your video (or embed the video) in a Canvas discussion board.
Class 9. Group Work and PBL
To prepare: Read “Coming out in Class: Challenges and Benefits of Active Learning in a Biology Classroom for LGBTQIA students”
Follow up assignment: Complete your PBL case study and post on Canvas discussion board.
Class 10. CUREs and/or lab courses
To prepare: Read “A comparative study of traditional, inquiry based, and research based laboratory curricula”
*Major assignment due by next class: Complete the Teachable Unit you’ve been working on, including your fleshed-out lesson. Submit it to your faculty reviewers and me via email.
Class 11. Online Courses
To prepare: Read “Insidious Pedagogy of Learning Management Systems”
Follow up assignment: Create an online quiz on our Canvas page.
Class 12. Mentoring
To prepare: Read “Why Feedback Rarely Does What Its Meant To”
Follow up assignment: Outline your own “Grad Student Guidelines” document or contract
Class 13. Topic decided by majority vote Options include metacognition, writing-to-learn, community engaged learning, interdisciplinarity, teaching kids, constructivism, SoTL/TaR, guest lecturing, job hunting, reading & feedback of each other’s teachable units, someone want to take over for some teaching chops?
To prepare: TBD
*Major assignment due before next class: Revise class proposal with reviewer feedback and post on Canvas discussion board by end of course.
Class 14. Teaching Portfolios, Statements, and Evaluations
To prepare: Reread your teaching statement from earlier this semester. Print a copy and bring it to class.
Potential classes to put in the Class 13 spot:
Alt Class. Community or Interdisciplinarity
To prepare: Read “Introduction” from Interdisciplinarity or TBD
Activity: Work in groups to brainstorm how your courses could work with a community organization (or another field). What are the goals and expected outcomes for both your students and the community organization ( or other field’s students)?
Alt Class. Writing-to-learn
To prepare: Read “Writing to learn ecology: a study of three populations of college students”
Activity: Describe a biology essay assignments. How could you distinguish between Balgopal’s ways of thinking (superficial -> authentic) in student writing?
Alt Class. Teaching Kids
To prepare: Read chapters 9,11, and 20 of “The First Days of School” (They are very short)
Activity: Create a lesson plan with proposed venue for an outreach event on Canvas discussion board.
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