Tag Archives: Teacher Use

by | August 2, 2024 · 2:47 pm

Unit Planning: one teacher’s approach

Guest post by Ariane faria-dos santos, Peer Mentor, PHD student EDCP 2022

The BC curriculum presents some challenges for teachers to plan because it requires that teachers combine Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies. The purpose is to create clear goals which will guide teachers to design assessments and activities to develop concepts and skills in their students.

However, given the multiple possibilities of combining Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies, teachers or teacher candidates may feel overwhelmed while planning without understanding how to balance these three elements.

With this challenge in mind, I’ve tried to unpack the steps of planning and propose a possible teacher’s journey through an iterative process of design using the new BC curriculum.

This video titled: Know Do Understand Model provides a very brief overview of the initial stages of the approach noted below (thank you Lexie, peer mentor 2021-22, for included it)

Step 1: integrating Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies

 

 

As a first step, one might be select a Big Idea that a teacher wants to develop with their students through this Unit Plan.

For example, if teachers want to develop the Big Idea that “Numbers to 20 represent quantities that can be decomposed into 10s and 1s” (first-graders Big Idea), teachers will need to choose the Content and Competencies aligned with that Big Idea. (Keep in mind, that Core Competencies wrap around this process and are selected for inclusion based on what is the most needed or appropriate for the context/activity)

The math example beside shows some first-grade Content and Competencies that teachers can choose to develop this Big Idea. In this sense, teachers can choose the contents of “numbers concepts to 20” and “ways to make 10”. Teachers can also choose several competencies that students will do to demonstrate that they have learned the Contents and Big Ideas of this unit planning.

In addition, it is essential to pay attention that any Content or Competence that does not help to develop this Big Idea should not be included to not generate a loss of focus on this lesson planning. For example, the Content “addition and subtraction to 20 (understanding of operation and process)” should not be included because it does not help to develop the big idea chosen as the main focus of the lesson planning.

Step 2: integrating other relevant principles, subjects, and purposes

As a next step, I like to consider other principles, subjects, and purposes that I might include to make this lesson planning richer and more interested to their students.

  • Are there any first peoples principles of learning that are aligned with step 1?
  • Are there any ADST skills that I can include in this lesson planning?
  • Are there other subjects that may be integrated into this lesson planning?
  • Are there any other important principles to me as a teacher that can be integrated and aligned into this plan?

The only caution is that teachers should pay attention if the other points chosen are coherent with step 1 or if they are changing the main focus of the lesson planning.

Step 3: understanding my students’ prior knowledge, needs, and curiousities

My third step is to understand what students already know about these Big Ideas, Content, and Competencies with the purpose to discover the entry point in planning a sequence of lesson briefs (or, one might call this a pathway).

For example, in the example above a teacher should understand (or learn) their students’ background knowledge related to number sequence, how they count, if they are able to skip and compare numbers, etc. This prior knowledge will be essential to teachers design the more appropriate sequence for students to learn the Big Ideas, Content, and Competencies of this lesson planning. For a teacher just meeting their learners, they will want to incorporate some prior learning assessment during the first few lessons in a given Unit.

As you plan assessment and lessons, it is invaluable  to consider the needs of students regarding learning. Teachers should think about the diverse learners in their classroom and plan to attend to their needs which can be related to ELL, modified programs, career, etc.  Universal Design (UDL) suggests incorporating multiple ways of communicating and allowing students to represent learning in varied, multi-modal forms.

Finally, I like to consider the particular interests and curiosities of my students, planning lessons that engage students in the teaching and learning process.

Step 4: designing the units of my lesson planning

Now that teachers know the point they should start (step 3) and what they want to achieve (step 1), teachers should divide their lesson planning into several units (step 4) to design a pedagogical path to students achieve the lessons’ goals.

There are many ways of answering these questions and teachers should consider what will more support their students’ learning process.

If you want some suggestions and ideas, you can visit the Learning Design Blog

Step 5: designing the assessments

The fifth step is related to designing all formative and summative assessments for this lesson planning. Teachers should plan when they need to understand if their students have learned and design assessments to collect pieces of evidence of learning. Teachers should also consider when to choose formative or summative assessments and the format of each of them (written, oral, in a group, etc).

  • How should I give feedback to my students regarding their learning process?
  • When do I need formative assessments throughout the lesson planning?
  • When do I need summative assessments throughout the lesson planning?
  • What format should they have?
  • Should I propose performance assessments?
  • Should I use technology to support my assessment practices?

If you want some suggestions and ideas, you can visit the Learning Design Blog

Step 6: designing the learning activities

My next step in pre-planning is to design an outline of the learning activities that will give opportunities for students to develop skills and knowledge. These activities will ‘lead’ students to proficiency on the final Big Idea, Contents, Competencies in the Unit.

  • How long do I have for each lesson (may vary depending on your schedule and how much this unit integrates across the curriculum)
  • What are my objectives for each lesson? How do these link back to the overall unit objectives?
  • How many activities will my students develop in each class? Should they work individually, peers, in a group? What resources or strategies might I include? What digital tools or other manipulatives/hands-on learning will I integrate?
  • What kind of assessment will I incorporate? Initially, Assessment as and for learning including formative assessment to help guide the teaching and learning.

Video Overview

Below you can see a wonderful example of Language and Art Unit Planning from the BC Curriculum designed by Janis Sawatzky, Langley School district:

Planning Templates:

There is no ‘one way’ – that said, here are a couple that some teacher candidates have found helpful

For more on Planning for BCs Curriculum include examples, templates and tips, please visit:

Designing Learning Blog, UBC, Teacher Ed

Guest post by Peer Tutor Ariane Faria dos Santos (Ph.D. EDCP), Dec. 2021; Edited by Yvonne Dawydiak, Learning Design Manager, Teacher Education

KDU image reference: BC Ministry of Education https://youtu.be/lXyyZql2PZQ

Modified image (shown above with curriculum filled in) courtesy A.F.S Template – BC Curriculum

2 Comments

Filed under Blog Posts, Lesson & Unit Planning, Planning

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | June 30, 2024 · 7:02 pm

Know Do Understand (KDU): a starting point in planning

section header - what is it?

The BC curriculum’s more concept and competency based curriculum, expects that teachers combine Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies as they plan learning experiences for their students. The purpose is to create clear goals which will guide teachers to design assessments and activities to develop concepts and skills in their students.

section header - why is it relevant

The KDU Planning Model can provide a simple initial planning structure and can support planning with the end in mind (backwards planning). It allows you to consider the connection with and between areas of the curriculum. and how the core competencies ‘wrap’ around or are foundational to this learning. Think of it as a cycle – The big idea is what you want the students to ultimately understand as a result of their learning; The Know section is the curricular content… they need to know this in order to develop their understanding of the Big Idea; The DO section is what you want the students to be able to Do by the end of the unit (the skills they will practice throughout the Unit that help them learn the content and develop their understanding of the Big Idea(s)!) Wrapped around all of this are the Core Competencies (more about those in the video below and later posts)

 

The BC Ministry provides background on the KDU model in this “Starting Points in Planning” PDF. The video below, titled: KDU Model, was created by Lexie, UBC Teacher Ed Peer Mentor 2020-21, and provides a very brief overview of how to consider Know-Do-Understand as you plan for teaching and learning in your context.

Here is a blog post from Ariane, peer mentor Winter 2021-22, sharing her approach to planning as she learns more about our BC curriculum.

Planning Templates as starting points:

Below we offer a few templates that align with the KDU approach. Please remember, there is no ONE approach or specific template that is required when planning for your learners. Please feel free to use, modify, adapt & share. Additional samples can be found on the Teacher Education ‘Designing Learning’ blog.

The BC Ministry of Education provides some instructional samples including this overview or lesson brief of a primary Math Unit “Patterns and Circles” and this more elaborated lesson plan example “Collapse of a Society” for Middle Years learners.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Lesson & Unit Planning, Planning

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | May 14, 2024 · 11:03 am

Decolonizing and Indigenizing our Practices

Whether you are new to the profession or a seasoned professional, teachers in BC are called to consider how they might decolonize their practices and include Indigenous perspectives including the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL) into their classrooms and schools.  

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action and the BC curriculum requires teachers to consider and incorporate Indigenous voice, issues, resources and perspectives in our teaching. Jo Chrona provides a background of FPPL and Current Contexts on her blog:

In 2006/2007, The BC Ministry of Education partnered with the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) to create the English 12 First Peoples course. The development of this curriculum included significant input from Indigenous knowledge-keepers and educators from BC….to ensure that the course was able to authentically embody aspects of First Peoples’ values around teaching and learning.  

These voices were previously left out and systemically excluded from the current educational experience. Included in this process of course creation was the development of the FPPL so that First Peoples’ experiences, values, beliefs, and lived realities could be more authentically reflected in the course.  

Since then, the BC Ministry of Education has made an increased commitment to including Indigenous perspectives in education. According to Chrona, the initial integration of First Peoples’ content was first intended to support Indigenous learners “as the province and country continues on the path toward Reconciliation.” Now, more educators “are recognizing that the [FPPL] promote educational practices that are also powerfully effective for non-Indigenous learners…. that is replacing the post-industrial model of education” ; this is teaching that is “more responsive to the contexts and needs of learners, and the explicit inclusion of what are termed ‘Core Competencies’” (Chrona, 2024).

In 2019, Standard 9 was added to the Professional Standards for Educators requiring K12 teachers to actively contribute to truth, reconciliation, and healing, acknowledging the history and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.

As you begin your work, please consider on whose traditional lands or territories you reside (worldwide on https://native-land.ca/https://native-land.ca/ Map of Indigenous territories from the first people's Map of BC

Read & View

The full text of Standard 9 on the PDF provided by the BC Teachers’ Council.

The video, Truth & Reconciliation Moving Forward Together is intended to “build awareness of the ninth Professional Standard for BC Educators and to encourage BC certified educators to embrace their professional responsibility. Examine your own biases, do your own learning, incorporate Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum, and develop respectful relationships with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.”

Watch:

    1. The introductory video, Continuing our Learning Journey: Indigenous Education provides an overview of Indigenous ed in BC and explores challenging common assumptions about Indigenous learners.
    2. In the second video, ways to use the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL) to support and transform teaching are explored. You can also visit the FNESC website to download a copy of the FPPL and access additional resources including subject specific resources for secondary educators. 
    3. This third video discusses finding and using authentic First Peoples resources, as well as frequently asked questions with responses from B.C. educators.

    4. The concluding video in the series includes reflections from educators in BC and an invitation to all educators to contribute to inclusive education in BC.

      The videos shown above are a part of a more comprehensive set of resources available on an Indigenous Resources section of the BC Curriculum website. 

Reflect

  • How will you respond to the Calls to Action and Standard 9?
  • What are some ways you might incorporate Indigenous perspectives in your teaching?
  • What questions do you have moving forward?

Continue your Learning

For some additional resources to support integrating FPPL and connecting them to core competencies, please visit these blog posts:

 

References 

Chrona, J. (2024, April 10) Background of FPPL and Current Contexts. https://firstpeoplesprinciplesoflearning.wordpress.com/background-and-current-context/ 

 

adapted from a post by Greta Bartsch, Program Manager (Practicum- Secondary), 2024; editing & contributions by Yvonne Dawydiak, Learning Design Manager, Teacher Education.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Blog Posts, Curriculum, Inclusive Practices, Not Subject Specific, Planning, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by | October 15, 2022 · 8:26 am

Student-centered classrooms

What are student-centered classrooms?

The following video discussed that student-centered classrooms are focused on students’ interests and curiosities. In this sense, students choose not only what but also how they will learn. Consequently, student-centered classrooms have many specific characteristics different from traditional ones. However, these features can bring many advantages to students learning.

Source: Edutopia (2022, May 3).

Characteristics and advantages of student-centered classrooms

  • Focus on both content and competency skills: student-centered classrooms aspire to develop both academic and non-academic students’ skills. Hence, teachers design lessons focused on content and competencies which is aligned with BC Curriculum.
  • Student voice & choice: listening to student voices and designing lessons based on students’ choices and interests can improve engagement (links to external resource) in the classroom, and consequently learning. In this sense, teachers align curriculum goals with student voice and choice to produce a more engaged and even personalized teaching and learning environment. One example of this approach would be a choice board of activities or a choice in how students represent their learning.
  • Differentiation: teachers should design lessons that support students with different backgrounds and needs. To achieve all types of diversity, teachers should vary what knowledge is taught, how they present curriculum content and competencies through activities, and how they assess students learning.  Offering several teaching and learning process help to engage and reduce inequalities among students.

How do teachers design student-centered classrooms?

Stanford University explains that the process of designing student-centered classrooms may be different from more teacher-centric course design. While teacher-centered lessons prioritize content, student-centered classrooms start by selecting the learning goals that students will achieve at the end of a lesson. Student-centered design, also known as Backward Design, inverts the order of more traditional classrooms.

5 aspects of student-centered learning design: content, learning activity, assessment, learning objective, learning goal.

Stanford University (2022, May 3). Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered course design.

Source: Stanford University (2022, May 3).

References:

Edutopia (2022, May 3). Student-Centered Learning: Building Agency and Engagement. George Lucas Education Foundation. https://www.edutopia.org/video/student-centered-learning-building-agency-and-engagement.

 https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/explore-teaching-guides/online-teaching-guide/theory-practice/teacher-centered-vs-student-centered

Guest post by Peer Tutor Ariane Faria dos Santos (Ph.D. EDCP), May. 2022.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Active Learning, Inclusive Practices, Lesson & Unit Planning, Planning

Tagged as ,

by | February 23, 2022 · 1:02 pm

Concept Maps for teaching and learning

What are concept maps?

“A concept map is a type of graphic organizer used to represent knowledge of a topic, forge connections between ideas and create visual representations of one’s understandings. Concept maps begin with a main idea (or concept) and then branch out to show how that main idea can be broken down into specific topics” (Novak & Canas, 2006).  Visit the Concept Mapping resource post on this blog for a brief overview and links to resources.

Features of concept maps

There are four essential features represented differently in a concept map:

  1. Concepts: are words that try to represent a phenomenon, object, or idea. They may synthesize patterns in events or knowledge produced over time. In concept maps, these are depicted as shapes in the diagram.
  2. Linking words/phrases:  are used to connect two or more concepts and express some kind of relationship between them. They may indicate cause, consequences, conditions. In general, are written using a verb or few words.
  3. Focus concept or question: it is the main goal of a concept map.  It may be a question, an explanation, or a general idea that conducts your thought and organize all ideas around in the concept map. It is highlighted in the concept map, depending on the hierarchy chosen (top, center, etc.).
  4. Hierarchical and structure: it is how you will choose to organize the main concepts and their connections. It can be hierarchical (the main concept in the top), circle (the main concept in the middle), or other shapes appropriated to the idea you want to express.

Read more on  about the ‘concept’ of ‘concept mapping’ in this blog post on the “Inspiration” website and how teachers and their students might use concept maps, mind maps, or outlines to support writing, idea generation, and organization, planning and more. Inspiration is a software commonly found on school district devices.

You can also find a step-by-step construction of a concept map about the solar system in the Lucidchart or in the example below:

When to use concept maps in education?

Concept maps are powerful graphic organizers that can be used in many ways to illustrate and explore connections across ideas. In this sense, concept maps allow students to formulate their understanding in a non-linear way of thinking, showing their process of thinking during understanding a new idea or content.

Teachers can use concept maps to:

  1. Build new knowledge, deepen students’ understanding: designing a concept map provides students and teachers with an opportunity to construct and share their understanding of a topic, theme, concept, area of interest. This Edutopia article provides a good starting point for learning more about the power of concept maps and other strategies to support deeper thinking.
  2. Identify possible misconceptions: during the process of designing a concept map, teachers can understand better the logic used for students to build their knowledge and the origin of misconceptions. Curtis Chandler, a former Kansas teacher of the year shares how concept maps can be used to understand some students’ misconceptions or not use accurate language in a ‘middleweb’ blog post.
  3. Designing lessons: concept maps can even be used by teachers as a format for planning units or lessons of instruction, allowing teachers to visualize the logic used to connect several lessons into a unit plan or make cross-curricular connections.
  4. Assessment: concept maps can help students illustrate the connections between their ideas, concepts, or content in meaningful ways and can be used as formative and summative assessments. The University of Waterloo has some guides about what is important to consider when designing rubrics for assessing concepts maps.
  5. Create study habits: teachers can have students create concept maps summarizing the main ideas of a unit, creating the habit of continuum revision of the knowledge learned.
  6. Encourage collaboration and communication: a mind map might be collaboratively constructed in real time or asynchronously (using appropriate apps) allowing students to negotiate, think critically and communicate their ideas and understandings with others.

How to get started? mindmap

As mentioned, CMaps, concept maps can be analogue or digital. Teachers might consider providing students with a choice in developing their map using high tech or low/no-tech approaches depending on the objectives. If the objective is to widely share the map, then digital may be preferable (of course, students might also take a photo of a map ‘in process’ and one that is ‘completed’ in order to share as part of a portfolio or published work/project).

Some higher-tech options

  • Mindmaps: it is a tool that allows you to create concept maps without the need for an account. It also allows you to save your map in the cloud or download it to your computer.
  • Inspiration or Kidspiration as computer based or iPad apps Highly visual concept mapping software that allows the user to easily insert images from a large media folder. School districts commonly license these applications for use on their devices.
  • Bubbl.us is an online collaborative concept mapping software – each individual with an account can be invited to contribute to a given map being created in the cloud. With a paid educator account, a teacher can invite students using a link to either view or collaborate (students do not need to provide their information or sign up for an account). Paid app with Free trial options for Educator accounts.
  • For schools using ‘Google Classroom’   MindMup or Miro offer collaborative mindmapping (login required)
    • Teachers should always be aware of appropriate permissions in their context/school districts. These might include parental consent, student informed consent or it may not be permitted to have students sign up using gmail or other account information.

No/Low Tech Options

Collaborative or Individual drawing on chart paper or using sticky notes on a whiteboard or a table with a group of students are great options for kinesthetic or non-digital mind mapping. A primary teacher might even have students use kinesthetic, solid objects to create their mind map. Teachers might begin helping students develop their ability to connect ideas by providing a skeleton. This will help scaffold learning and introduce students to different ways to connect ideas.

Freeform Concept maps can be drawn by hand or using some of the available draw applications made for smartphones and tablets!

References:

Novak, J. and Cañas, A (2006): The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct Them (Technical Report IHMC CMap Tools 2006-11). Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.

Original post YD 2017 adapted by Peer Tutor Ariane Faria dos Santos (Ph.D. EDCP), Feb. 2022.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Active Learning, Assessment, Blog Posts, Curriculum, Digital Tools and Apps, Inclusive Practices, Inquiry, Not Subject Specific, Planning, Remote teaching & learning, Resources, STEAM

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | April 19, 2021 · 4:19 pm

Resources for Indigenizing and Decolonizing Education

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to action and the BC curriculum requires teachers to consider and incorporate Indigenous voice, issues, resources and perspectives in their teaching. Teachers in BC are also reminded that the 9th Professional Standard (link to BCTC Resource with full text) requires educators to authentically engage in decolonizing their practices. The video, Professional Standard 9 – Truth and Reconciliation, Moving Forward Together offers a moving call to action.

Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

The aftermath of the Summer 2020 anti-racism protests sparked an international conversation on the urgency of racial justice for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour, a conversation that continues today. As we reflect on how to be anti-racist and how to decolonize our societies, we must discuss the importance of education in achieving this. I believe that highlighting the histories and cultures of marginalized groups in the education system is essential to creating a truly anti-racist society. Finding resources to begin incorporating these ideas into classrooms can be daunting for many.

This post attempts to highlight a handful of Indigenous education-related resources that can help guide teachers in creating anti-racist lessons and activities that highlight the importance of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. It is important to seek authentic, local resources and avoid ‘pan-Indigenous’ perspectives.

Resource Collections:

Curriculum Bundles have been assembled by Indigenous educators from around British Columbia, most of whom are students and graduates of the NITEP program.  Each bundle focuses on a particular skill, resource, or place, and connects with BC curriculum.

The UBC based website, https://indigenizinglearning.educ.ubc.ca/  includes well-curated resource links and information about ‘welcomes’ and ‘land acknowledgements’.

Indigenous educators are creating and openly sharing their resource collections:

Subject Specific Resources

At a glance documents representing implicit and explicit connections to each grade level and subject area are part of the Indigenous Education Resources shared by the BC Ministry of Education.  On their main page, you’ll also find videos and a Resource Inventory to help teachers incorporate First Peoples Knowledge and Perspectives.

English First Peoples

  • The FNESC Planning for Instruction, Grades 10-12 document (2018) is meant for English teachers (specifically for the course English First Peoples, but with some great ideas for any English teacher)

Physical Health Education

  • The BC Ministry of Ed has created a document to support incorporating FPPL in planning for PHE k-12. This document makes it quite clear that incorporating Indigenous knowledge and perspectives is implicit in the PHE curriculum across all grade levels (while also being explicit in PHE Outdoor Ed at the senior secondary level)

Cultural Maps:

Native Land is a website that maps out the ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples from

Here is a screen capture of a map of the territories of Indigenous groups in North America.

around the world. The main feature of the website is an interactive map that can filter the lands by linguistic groups, territories, and treaties. Another local BC website, The First People’s Map of BC, shares Indigenous language, art and heritage in an interactive format perfect for students seeking to learn more about local language and culture or connect with artists. You can even hear audio clips of native language speakers.

The Indigenous Ed team in SD61, Victoria shares a variety of maps in their Social Studies Resource area for Secondary teachers.

FNESC:

The First Nations Education Steering Committee, or FNESC, is an organization that advocates for the inclusion of Indigenous history and cultures into the curriculum as well as the well-being of Indigenous students in British Columbia. They offer a plethora of resources for teachers to make use of in classrooms, including lesson-planning documents across subject areas.

UBC Booklists:

The UBC Education Library booklists are available for educators and teacher candidates, offering an abundance of resources ranging from picture books to use in the classroom to lesson-planning guides. The library offers multiple booklists regarding Indigenous culture and history. These booklists cover topics such as residential schools, storytelling resources and literature written by Indigenous authors.

Puppets at Xwi7xwa:

In addition to their vast textual resources, the Xwi7xwa Library at UBC has a collection of puppets created by Indigenous artists to help engage students using storytelling. There are a variety of collections that can be borrowed from the library, including the “Grace the Eagle“, “Splash the Orca” and “Streamer the Salmon” collections.

Digital Stories:

Indigenous Storybooks (post en francais – Storybooks Autochtons) is a repository of free openly licensed online stories written by Indigenous peoples in Canada. Inspired by, and utilizing, the open-licensed stories from Little Cree Books, this project aims to make the text, images, and audio of stories available in Indigenous languages as well as English, French, and some of the most widely spoken immigrant and refugee languages of Canada.

Witness Blanket is a unique and striking digital collection. This large-scale work of art carries items and stories, accompanied by the voices of residential school survivors. The site also houses a Teacher’s guide that helps teachers build empathy with their students and develop a human rights culture in their classroom.

Strong Nations:

Strong Nations

Strong Nations is an online store and publishing house that sells authentic Indigenous-created art and literature. They are a BC-based organization, however they offer resources from Indigenous groups from all over Canada. One interesting resource that I found on Strong Nations is the “This Land is our Storybook” series, which is a series written from the perspective of Indigenous children living in the Northwest Territories.

As we navigate conversations surrounding anti-racism and reconciliation, we must continue this discussion in teacher education and in the education system more broadly. You may wish to visit SFU’s “Think before you Appropriate”  resource as you explore and learn. I hope you will explore the resources in this post so that you can begin this work in your own classroom.

 

Guest post by Naomi Hudson, Scarfe Sandbox Project Assistant and Virtual Peer Mentor, Winter 2020; edited by Yvonne Dawydiak, Winter 2022, Fall 2023.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Blog Posts, Inclusive Practices, Not Subject Specific, Planning, Remote teaching & learning, Resources, Storytelling

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | March 29, 2021 · 2:22 pm

Storytelling for STEM Subjects

Using the art of storytelling to teach STEM subjects.

“Maybe stories are just data with soul”

– from TED Talk “The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown

Storytelling can be an effective method for engaging students with STEM subject areas – and this has been shown to be the case for girls especially (1, 3, 4). According to an article by Catalyst.org, Women in STEM (1), a gender gap in STEM persists across the world. This is a problem because the same systems of bias that push women and people of color out of STEM careers, also influence the products and services created by STEM organizations.

Some female students do not further pursue the STEM subjects, and enrolment in math, computer science and engineering programs can become lop-sided, as a result. This creates many issues, such as the creation of AI and other technologies that do not include women’s perspectives in the algorithms. The use of storytelling is therefore important for developing technologies such as AI products because it engages female students at a higher rate with computer science and engineering-related subjects. This way, females stay in the field and later contribute their perspectives and ideas to AI technology development. Females also tend to care about the environment, and might consider this when developing new technologies (2).

The references below explain some approaches & resources to support you in developing your own stories in the classroom. According to a blog article by Scientific American (3), stories and art can be used to help teach math and science subjects. You might also consider how Indigenous perspectives and first people’s principles of learning are supported through a storytelling approach (links to post in this blog).

Storytelling to Teach Math & Science:

  1. Math teachers can analyze the intricacies of M.C. Escher’s artwork with their students or read “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” by Katherine Boo in order to take into account different perspectives. (3)
  2. Science teachers can read aloud the poetic observations of Dr. David George Haskell, and biology teachers can share the story of the HeLa cells. In other words, they can incorporate some interesting and odd facts into their science teachings that are very memorable. (3)
  3. The National Council Teachers of Math website has some excellent resources to support storytelling in math. Use the search box at the top right to search for storytelling and to find a plethora of articles on this subject including: Trigonometry Comes Alive through Digital Storytelling and Storytelling + Origami = Storigami Mathematics. The nctm.org website also includes articles involving strategies and benefits of math discussion (refer to refs 9, 10).

Computing Science and Storytelling:


For computer science related subjects, it can be especially encouraging to hear that there have been many great female computer scientists all throughout history, who have contributed much to this subject area. This 2015 article by The Guardian (4), is mostly focused on Ada Lovelace, known by many as the first computer programmer, and presents interesting ideas to incorporate STEM (2015 article). You may wish to include some of the fun ideas below into your cross-curricular storytelling!

  1. Create a historical timeline or a collection of curious facts
  2. Demonstrate some science tricks
  3. Solve some mysteries
  4. Create a DIY model

A 2019 article by Edutopia explains how the teachers used a story about dragons to help engage their students with science content. In this case, the content was about anatomy and characteristics, such as bone structure. According to the article, “lessons like these help students make connections between what they’re learning and their prior knowledge.”

Some tools for coding for storytelling:

There are various options for students engaging in coding stories with many being accessible for even younger students due to the ‘drag and drop’ nature of some block coding languages. There are even many unplugged or more kinesthetic opportunities to practice computational thinking as they make their stories! A few tools that might help you get started:

  1. Scratch is a simple drag and drop programming language that allows even young learners to create animations, stories and games.
  2. Twine can be used to create interactive digital stories and support the development of literacies including computational thinking skills. Likely best for upper intermediate and high school.
  3. Ozobots are little robots that students can code to tell stories that can be physically ‘acted out’ or ‘enacted’ by the robot on a drawn story map or other surface in the classroom.
  4. Unplugged coding activities support a range of activities including storytelling.

For more information on why it is important to incorporate storytelling into computer science subjects, please refer to the BC curriculum. In particular, you can look to the Applied Design Skills & Technologies (ADST) and computer science curriculum.

  1. Critically analyze how competing social, ethical, and sustainability considerations impact designed solutions to meet global needs for preferred futures
  2. Evaluate impacts, including unintended negative consequences, of choices made about technology use
  3. Analyze the role technologies play in societal change
  4. Examine how cultural beliefs, values, and ethical positions affect the development and use of technologies

Storytelling: Indigenous Perspectives & First People’s Principles of Learning

Incorporating story in teaching & learning, provides students with opportunities to engage in the first people’s principles of learning (FNESC has a wonderful poster) and can support a deeper connection to place, content and varied perspectives. Inviting elders into the classroom to share story or accessing authentic voice via digital stories published online is one approach.

More recently, digital storytelling is being employed to help preserve cultural knowledge and language.

Incorporating storytelling into classroom studies is an important part of the current BC curriculum across subject areas. Within the computer science curriculum, for example, there are standards related to being culturally aware, and recognizing the impact that technology can have. Storytelling can also help create a greater awareness of other cultures, the environment, and gender-based issues.

 

Guest Post: Jacqueline Boivin, Project Assistant 2021; Edits, Y. Dawydiak, Learning Design Manager, TEO

References:

  1. https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem/
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/06/eco-gender-gap-why-saving-planet-seen-womens-work
  3. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/budding-scientist/to-attract-more-girls-to-stem-bring-storytelling-to-science/
  4. https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2015/oct/05/six-creative-ways-inspire-girls-science-lessons
  5. https://www.edutopia.org/article/dragons-and-fairy-tales-science-class
  6. https://www.banffcentre.ca/indigenous-arts
  7. https://fullcircle.ca/full-circle/about-us/vision/
  8. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst
  9. https://www.nctm.org/Research-and-Advocacy/Research-Brief-and-Clips/Strategies-for-Discussion/
  10. https://pubs.nctm.org/view/journals/tcm/14/4/article-p206.xml
  11. https://blogs.ubc.ca/scarfesandbox/drag-and-drop-programming-scratch/
  12. https://blogs.ubc.ca/scarfesandbox/computational-participation-creating-interactive-digital-stories-with-twine/
  13. Simone Hausknecht, Shannon Freeman, Jenny Martin, Carrie Nash & Kelly Skinner (2021) Sharing Indigenous Knowledge through intergenerational digital storytelling: Design of a workshop engaging Elders and youth, Educational Gerontology, 47:7, 285-296, DOI: 10.1080/03601277.2021.1927484

Leave a Comment

Filed under Blog Posts, Digital & Media Literacy, Inclusive Practices, Planning, Remote teaching & learning

Tagged as , , , , , ,