Reflection on the Learner

Science has a culture all its own with certain norms, materials, and actions, Settlage, J et al. (2012) Just

as any culture can be reduced to stereotypes, science can be represented in ways that are not fully

accurate. The notion of a scientist as a white man with wild, uncontrollable hair who is wearing a lab

coat and works in a disorganized and dangerous environment is far from the truth. Every human being

is inquisitive and curious about something. The desire to find out about something is what a scientist

does, and therefore, every human is a scientist by nature. One of my responsibilities as a teacher is to

displace stereotype, including those that persist for science and scientists. To accomplish this, I must

immerse my students in activities, conversations, and other experiences that truly represent scientific

culture. If I can help my students understand what it means to be a scientist, which includes developing

their competence with the cultural norms of science, then more students will believe they can think like

scientists and use these ways of thinking to understand their lives and the world they live in. Science

must be for all students regardless of race, cultural or ethnic background, not just for those who pursue

careers in science, engineering, or technology, (National Research Council, 1996, p.20)

One of the main reasons students are not very enthused about taking science classes in schools is that

most school teachers use lectures, note taking and worksheets as the main aspects of their lessons.

Science lessons must be made fun to the students. I have combined the familiar way with new ways.

Science must be learned by students engaging on hand-on activities, demonstrations, computer

simulations, projects, real-world examples. Students must relate the activities to what the observe or

have experience about. Piaget constructivism theory of learning says; learners build personal

interpretations of the world based on experiences and interactions, Colburn, A. (2007).

Science inquiry has been a push led by new learning standards and much research. A way to promote

inquiry is by allowing students to design their own experiments. According to research led by Rivera
Maulucci et al. (2014)., allowing students to design their own experiment promotes better and deeper

learning by allowing students to act as “experts” on their experimental procedures and gain knowledge

through scientific discourse and problem solving. Furthermore, when students feel in control of their

learning, they are more likely to engage and take away knowledge from an activity (Fay & Funk, 1995).

By allowing students to design experiments, I allow students at different levels to investigate at different

levels of detail.

Lastly, modeling a real-life scientific community in the classroom has been well researched and supports

greater level of understanding by students (Herrenkohl et al., 2000). This modeling involves grouping

students together to talk about their theories and the evidence that supports them. Not only does it

benefit the students individually, but it also benefits the class as whole as they are presented with only

the logical theories that have stood the test of a scientific discussion group. It also allows them to form

explanations for their observations rather than stating or memorizing a few facts (Herrenkohl et al.,

2000).]

References:
Colburn, A. (2007), Constructivism and conceptual change, Part I, The science Teacher, 74(8) 10 – 14
Fay, J. & Funk, D. (1995). Teaching with love and logic. Golden, CO: The Love and Logic
Press.
Herrenkohl, L. R., Palincsar, A. S., DeWater, L. S., & Kawasaki, K. (1999). Developing scientific
communities in classrooms: A sociocognitive approach.Journal of the Learning
Sciences, 8(3-4), 451-493.
National Research Council. (1996), National Science Education Standards, Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
Rivera Maulucci, M.S., Brown, B.A., Grey, S.T., & Sullican, S. (2014). Urban middle school
students’ reflections on authentic scientific inquiry. Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, 51(9), 1119-1149
Settlage, J, et al. (2012), Teaching Science to Every Child: Using Culture as a Starting Point (3rd Edition):
Routledge.