There are two components to my WISE portfolio:
1) WISE Questions and Reflections
2) The WISE I explored and modified: Plate Tectonics and Indigenous Ways of Knowing
Part 1 – WISE – Web Integrated Science Inquiry Questions and Reflections
WISE was designed to engage students in inquiry-based learning in the sciences. It also offers teachers a whole platform of curriculum that is accessible and modifiable to suit their purposes/needs/interests. Through SKI (scaffolded knowledge integration) teachers can design a unit/project and scaffold the steps so that their students are interacting, viewing, and designing as they construct knowledge. There are many opportunities for students to check their understanding and have misconceptions can be addressed. Students with a variety of learning styles have opportunities to learn and to display their knowledge. In comparison to the Jasper adventure, SKI was much appeared much more “modern” and savvy. I believe that students would gravitate to it right away without a teacher having to revise the videos as you would with Jasper. Teachers being part of the design process with WISE is definitely an added benefit, except for those who may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable creating material in this program; it could be time consuming. Students are not able to interact with the material in Jasper the same way they are with WISE. The customizability of WISE is a positive feature and one that I could definitely see me using in at my school. In the future, I would like WISE to include the ability to be more cross-curricular in nature. There are a number of fantastic inquiry project that could be developed through a platform such as WISE.
Part 2:
PLATE TECTONICS AND INDIGENOUS WAYS OF KNOWING
My first impression of WISE is that there are a lot of opportunities. I enjoy that students are able to receive feedback quickly. The layout is very conducive for building on previous knowledge. While I am not a fan of multiple choice, I see how it could easily show a snapshot of student content knowledge allowing us to see if students were on the right track. I struggled with adding some images to the “remixed” plan and general editing – perhaps this would be easier if I was starting from scratch. Overall, WISE forces the educator to examine their PCK and scaffold the learning experience for their students.
After my exploration of the WISE library for Grades 6-8, I chose to customize Plate Tectonics ID 6311. This WISE explores a number of important areas: earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains. The summary states: “ Students investigate geologic patterns in the United States, then delve deeper into Earth’s layers to understand how surface features and events arise from invisible inner processes”. I chose this particular WISE because I have enjoyed teaching plate tectonics in the past. While I liked this start of this project and the scaffolding it provided for students by accessing their background knowledge (Linn, Clark, and Slotta, 2002), I chose to add Big Ideas, Guiding Questions, and First Peoples Ways of Knowing from the B.C. Science 8 Curriculum (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2017). I decided to add this into the Introduction to provide more of a framework for this WISE project and to add some depth and discussion to the content. I also began to add Canadian content (maps, statistics, etc) to make it more relevant to our B.C. learners.
The framework I used was: Keeping the First Peoples Ways of Knowing in mind students will respond to the Guiding Question:
How can different ways of knowing complement our understanding of earthquakes and other geological activity?
Using the information provided in the current WISE, and from outside sources (First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2015) that I started to add, students will research and create their own narrative to share – one that is influenced by story and science. Students can use the WISE program to capture their thinking, reflections, and planning (Williams, Linn, Ammon, & Gearhart, 2004) as they work through this narrative. Students would have the opportunity to individualize their story but pull from scientific concepts. Prior to presenting this WISE to students, I would continue adding First Peoples knowledge of geological formations and local geological events from other resources, as well as Canadian maps and images. Perhaps the addition of oral histories, or ways geological events have been represented in art would also be included. Adding First Peoples Ways of Knowing is just a start and something I have only just started thinking about, but it is something that I believe could be very powerful in a format such as WISE and one I would like to explore beyond ETEC 533.
References
British Columbia Ministry of Education (2017). Science 8 https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/science/8
First Nations Education Steering Committee (2015). Science First Peoples: Teacher Resource Guide (Grades 5-9).
Linn, M., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. (2002). Wise design for knowledge integration. Science Education, 87(4), 517-538.
Williams, M., Linn, M.C., Ammon, P., & Gearhart, M. (2004). Learning to Teach Inquiry Science in a Technology-Based Environment: A Case Study. Journal of Science Education & Technology, 13(2), 189-206.