How I Came to Love Phenomenon-Based Science Teaching

Key points:

To be honest, I was terrified when my district switched to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and I had to start using phenomenon-based instruction. By standards, they are one giant, scary book!

However, once I decided to participate, it was exciting to see my students energized and engaged because they were able to see for themselves why science is relevant to their lives. This is how I was able to overcome my fear and get started, and why phenomenon-based science is so important for our students.

How does phenomenon-based teaching help?

Phenomenon-based learning is an inquiry-based model that asks students to investigate complicated phenomena using concepts and techniques from different scientific disciplines. Before adopting phenomenon-based instruction, most questions students asked were some variation of, “Will this be on the test?” They focused on whether they would have to memorize this fact or that process to pass a test.

With phenomenon-based instruction, students create the “driving question” they are trying to answer and therefore never ask me if it will be on the exam. Instead, they constantly ask themselves, “How does this relate to my driving question?”

I think most teachers have heard students ask over and over again, “Why do I need to learn this?” The interesting thing about phenomenon-based instruction is that they don't ask why what they are learning is relevant. They see how to make the connections for themselves. As teachers, we know that they need to learn science to be able to make informed decisions as adults and global citizens, and when they engage in phenomenon-based learning, they see for themselves how scientific information applies to everyday life. life. Even if they don't become a scientist or some other type of “science person,” I want them to understand how science works, how it affects their lives, and how it can help them develop their critical thinking skills. Phenomenon-based instruction provides the opportunity to practice all of that.

Challenges of phenomenon-based teaching

As a science teacher, I help students make connections between concepts and their lives every day, but coming up with phenomena for students to study can be overwhelming. A good phenomenon should be something:

• You can see it in your classroom.
• That both you and your students are interested
• Complex enough that students draw on multiple scientific disciplines to understand it.
• Aligned with appropriate standards
• It is not easy to search on Google

A recent example of a chemistry phenomenon relevant to students here in California is wildfires, which provide opportunities to explore the combustion reaction, why wildfires are more common than in recent history, how to perform a stoichiometry calculation to determine the amount of carbon dioxide. released, expanding the release of carbon dioxide from a stick to all wildfires in a particular year, and the effect on students and climate change.

Since adopting phenomenon-based instruction, I have been using the Kognity because it provides me with the phenomena so that I don't have to invent new ones day after day. I have found it easier to jump right in and start guiding my students as they ask questions and begin to explore their phenomena. The curriculum also includes an outline and suggestions for what to include and how to teach it, which I really appreciate because it allows me to sequence the lessons in a way that highlights the concepts relevant to the phenomena more clearly for my students.

Another challenge I have encountered since adopting phenomenon-based learning is the need to provide students with as many opportunities to discuss connections to the driving question of their phenomena over and over again. I really like class discussions and I always encourage students to think out loud and help each other in general, but I still had to remind myself to adopt the pattern of asking them at the end of class: ” What is your motivation?” question?” and “Tell your partner what you can explain about their driving question so far.” It's not like traditional instruction where you just teach the subject and move on. You have to give them time to synthesize the various connections. In addition, certain topics will appear again later in another unit, going deeper into the topic. This allows students to see that this is a relevant concept for many scientific topics, and they need to be made aware of it explicitly.

Another challenge that I see many teachers struggle with when it comes to phenomenon-based instruction is the fact that this is not how we learn science. We haven't taught this way before either. It is difficult to make changes during our careers, but in this case the better student results are worth it.

Embrace phenomenon-based teaching

For me, the key to diving into phenomenon-based instruction was finding a resource that offers high-quality phenomena to get my students started. Kognity is also a useful resource for reading and reviewing material, because each lesson includes several different sections that are easy to hide or highlight, depending on where I want my students to focus their attention. I love when my students are curious and want to learn as much as they can, but sometimes I don't want the most enthusiastic students in the class to get ahead of the rest.

Having those resources, along with homework and assessment options, made it possible for me to use the phenomena in the curriculum and see how I needed to reorganize things from the more traditional approach to science teaching that I used to use. I still use many of the same labs, activities, and even worksheets that I found effective before adopting phenomenon-based instruction. Like students, teachers learn best when we can explore and try new things and see how they relate to what we already understand and know to be effective.

Last year was the first time I used phenomenon-based instruction, and of course with a big change like that there are always some ups and downs. However, overall, I saw more engaged students from the beginning. In my second year, I figured out the flow a little better and those ups and downs have mostly evened out. My students understand chemistry better. For example, stoichiometry is a very math-focused concept that students had a hard time applying because it was just math and chemistry word problems. Connecting it to the combustion unit and its driving question: “How do scientists estimate the amount of carbon dioxide released in a wildfire?” Students were able to use their stoichiometry skills to calculate how much carbon dioxide was released in a lab, first in the classroom by burning two toothpicks and then expanding to all of the 2020 wildfires in California. After completing some additional research, they were not only able to see the relevance, but also evaluate the limitations of the method. Although it is still early, my students are also scoring well above average on state assessments, scoring 22 percent above the state's “met and exceeded standard” and 10 percent above the “met and exceeded standard.” ” from the county on its 2022-23 California Science Test. (CAST). Perhaps the most exciting part for me is that I have had more students asking how they can continue in science because they are now more comfortable with the subject.

To fellow science teachers considering a similar change, I'll say this: if you make the shift to phenomenon-based learning a continuous, gradual process, it will be easier to manage than you think, and it will not only benefit your students. students. students. It has made teaching exciting for me again. It has energized me and renewed my enthusiasm for teaching new things. When my students feel connected to the information they are learning, I feel confident that I am not only preparing them for a test, but also to spend their lives exploring and understanding the world around them.