Exhibit Demonstrates Science Teaching Innovation

Katherine Friedrich

What is it about science that puts a sparkle in the eyes of students? According to a recent group exhibit, there are many ways to make science student-friendly. The exhibit, "Striving to Improve Teaching and Learning: Examples from Participants in the Delta Program in Research, Teaching and Learning and the Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching," showed examples of how science practitioners at the UW-Madison envision new ideas for the classroom.

The groups presented four creative projects. The first presentation, "Do You See What I See?", demonstrated how animals see the world in different ways. The second, "Engage Children in Science," showcased a course on young children's cognitive development, meeting diverse needs, and inquiry-based science instruction. (Inquiry-based instruction teaches students to develop and answer scientific questions.) Students in the course put their newfound knowledge to work by leading after-school science clubs. The third, "Cooperative Group Learning: A Workshop for TAs," discussed a 90-minute workshop that modeled active, cooperative learning while teaching TAs to practice these methods in class. The fourth, "The Four States of Matter," explained the relationship between solids, liquids, gases, and materials in the highest-temperature state of matter - plasmas.

7/1/2008

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