Tell us about your background in teaching.
I have been teaching at West Essex Regional High School for thirteen years. Prior to teaching, I worked for a short time for one of the leading plastics manufacturers as a research associate. Although I found the science fascinating, I was looking for a career path that would allow me to have more interaction with people while continuing to stay involved in the sciences.
I enjoy teaching because it gives me the opportunity to interact with students and my colleagues. It is a career that is always exciting. Each day is new and different. As a teacher of science, I must keep abreast of all the changes in science, so I continually learning something new about many aspects of science.
Describe a typical instructional unit in terms of the strategies and structures of the learner-active classroom.
I
began the Population Dynamics task (see task and rubric) with a short video to introduce population issues in the US and developing countries. The video contrasted a typical family in the United States with a typical family in Nepal. Students then began discussing whether the problem is the rapid growth in developing countries or resource consumption in the US.
Throughout the unit, students scheduled their own time around the dates of the benchmark lesson. (See the student activity sheet and the teacher's "Scaffold for Learning".) Students used Microsoft Excel to create population pyramids. They were given a "how-to" sheet as a guide to create the pyramids. Students who wanted to achieve the "expert" column used Stella modeling software to generate graphs with population projections. (See how-to sheet for Stella modeling.)
In addition to the task and rubric, students completed other activities in which they used population formulas to calculate percent growth and doubling time. (See Age Pyramid Activity, Demographic Facts of Life, and Population Formulas.)
What impact does the learner-active approach have on student performance in your classroom?
Student achievement on the test following the population pyramid test was very good. In fact, class
averages were the highest they had been all year! This was certainly due to the fact that the task focused on the content in the AP curriculum. The task was constructed so that the students had to make higher-order connections when approaching the content. Students had to project pyramids based on their research and therefore, had to learn about the different types of pyramids to accomplish the task.
The learner-active approach helps to prepare the students for the free-response questions they will encounter on the AP exam. The free-response questions are problem-based and they often ask students to integrate and analyze many of the concepts they have learned rather than focusing on one topic, much like a well-written problem-based task.
What do you like best about running a learner-active classroom?
I like the learner-active classroom because it has helped me to re-evaluate how I approach my subject matter in the classroom.
I like that the students take responsibility for learning by scheduling their own time and choosing from varied activities. The learner active classroom empowers students because they create the goals for their performance.
What advice would you have for teachers beginning to run learner-active classrooms?
I would advise teachers beginning learner-active classes to continually evaluate and re-evaluate
how they are approaching instruction in the classroom. They should also keep in mind that this is a new approach for their students as well.
I would also advise them to work collaboratively with their colleagues to support each other. It is important that they use all of the resources and support they have available to make a successful transition from the traditional classroom to a more learner-active classroom.
You can contact Deanna to discuss her learner-active, technology-infused science classroom at dlippi@westex.org.