ASTE in Hartfort, CT

I attended the ASTE (Association for Science Teacher Education) Annual Meeting in frosty Hartford, Connecticut, January 7th- 10th, 2009. You can find the conference program at: http://theaste.org/meetings/2009conference/ASTE%20Program%20Final.pdf
ASTE Mission Statement
The Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) promotes leadership and support for professionals involved in the education and development of teachers of science at all levels. ASTE advances practice and policy through scholarship, collaboration and innovation in science teacher education across the world.
I have served this organization in various capacities for well over a decade and presently serve on its board of directors. One of my responsibilities as a board member is to attend as many presentations as possible, to ensure that a broad range of science education pedagogy and practice is being equitably represented at the conference.
Unlike the larger education organizations like AERA (American Education Research Association), which boast a ten thousand-member attendance rate at its annual meeting, ASTE has only several hundred members attend its meetings. This serves to make the conference much more intimate and allows for a great deal of collegial interaction. In addition to the fare you would typically expect from a professional conference, ASTE holds a number of pre-conference, hands-on workshops for science teacher educators. This year, science teacher educators were engaged in learning about such topics as responsible chemical management in K-12 schools, integrating environmental education in preservice science courses, the use of geometric principles in teaching and understanding scientific phenomena, developing leadership abilities and translating student questions into student-designed investigations.
One of the features that I most enjoy about this conference is the emphasis placed on collegial interaction. Interactive sessions are included throughout the program. At these sessions, several presenters provide a brief overview of their work around a particular theme. Then, the audience is asked to speak for the remainder of the session with the presenters directly and informally about their work. This allows for rich conversation and development of professional collaborations. Many graduate students attend and present these sessions and they are mentored by senior researchers and practitioners in science education. This helps to prepare them for the more formal presentations expected at NARST (National Association for Research in Science Teaching).
I also had the opportunity to meet with the other members of WISE (Women in Science Education). WISE is a group of female science educators who began their own organization in support of ASTE. At the annual dinner, WISE members shared their stories and celebrated their accomplishments since the founding of the organization. I was particularly gratified to see the increase of women of color represented. As you might suspect, the number of female science educators of color is extremely small but is steadily growing.
Of particular interest to HBCU faculty is the ASTE’s interest in the inclusion of scholarly research and practice emanating from HBCUs and Tribal Colleges and Universities. This conference attracts a broad range of people associated with science education. I had the opportunity to speak extensively with NSF (National Science Foundation) officers about securing funds for HBCU science education research. They seemed genuinely interested in making funding more accessible to HBCUs and in assisting faculty in seeking that funding. If you are interested in studying either your students or your own K-16 science teaching practice, I invite you to attend this conference. The strategies, tips and collegial spirit are invaluable in furthering your own professional practice.

Helping student perform better in Science Courses

Last month, I had an opportunity to attend a conference on Teaching and Learning (TLC) at San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA (March 17-20, 2008 IABR &TLC). A few presentations during conference reinforced my own approach to help student perform better in science courses.

I was particularly impressed by the approach of William Amadio from Rider University in NJ who delivered a lecture on “Self Expression in Technical Courses: Making it Happen”. We had a lengthy discussion after his lecture and compared our approaches which were similar in many respect. As some of you may know, I am strong proponent of students taking ownership of their learning process. In the courses I teach, I facilitate team learning in the class rooms. Because this process provides me with the opportunity to observe possible flaws or need of improvement in a student’s learning. It also provides me with insight into their minds which some time is missed during formal class room settings. In all my courses, I include group projects, group research and presentations along with conventional lectures by me. I make sure that at least one lecture from the syllabus is taught by team of students. This activity in my classes provides students an opportunity to gather analyze and present information in a logical manner on their own (all higher level of learning). I have seen during student’s presentations, other students are better motivated to analyze and critique information presented to them which, they failed to do when a teacher is presenting the same information. This way I have found a way to interject analysis, synthesis and evaluation in student’s learning process.

This team learning activity also provides student an opportunity to peep into minds of their teachers during class room lectures and a basis for comparison to evaluate their subject matter presentation vis a vis of their teacher. William Amadio and I agreed that there are enormous advantages of team learning. We have seen best student work and best student-teacher and student-student interaction ever. Since students are working on their projects that might have sprung a few problems, their questions were always focused and they were highly motivated during discussion.

One thing on which we agreed to disagree, during our discussion, was team composition. I mix student from higher-medium and low GPA pools representing a team, where as, he believed forming teams from similar GPA groups. I believe a low GPA student can learn a lot from high GPA student on punctuality, study behavior, self motivation, responsibility for ones learning and better communication skills. It also helps a low GPA student to know why he or she may not be getting better grades. In my opinion this realization opens up ones mind to propel him/her for better learning. Bill thought it makes better sense to group high GPA student and low GA student separately. That way low GPA student is also forced to do their group project on their own and not be dependent on a high GPA student.

We also discussed about benefits of small groups, assigning professional level problems, student teach themselves and their participation in a community to make students more responsible individuals. Over all it was a very enjoyable conference which was organized in a beautiful setting of San Juan.

Dinesh K. Singh, DVM, PhD
Department of Life Sciences, WSSU (4/4/08)