EDC G 677 - Strategies to improve Instruction and Assessment in Middle Grades Science Course I

3 Credit(s)

Description:
In this course we will study various data based methods for evaluating student learning. Every week, school leaders and teachers make hundreds if not thousands of judgements affecting the instruction that students receive. Whether or not they use data to support their decision making, school staff decide what and how to teach every student in every class. The course will assist upper elementary and middle grades teachers in providing equal access to learning in science for all students, with a special focus on the connections between the Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Standards and the Curriculum Framework for Mathematics (with particular emphasis on the Standards for Mathematical Practice). Through course readings and activities you will analyze tasks and link salient characteristics of scientific concepts with approaches proven to increase student success. You will be introduced to the theories and specific strategies to make science content comprehensible. This course will focus on the creation and adaptions of instruments designed to provide useful and reliable data through a systematic process of collection, reviewing, and using information about students’ problems of practice, address them explicitly, and reflect on possible solutions.

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