On early graduation.

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

Everyone loves course registration time right? It’s the time of year when some students are busy choosing their classes and trying to work out their schedules so they can fit in all the courses they want to take. Others are modifying their choices because they might have failed a prerequisite course. Still others are trying to meet the minimum graduation requirements and get out of high school as quickly as possible.

Finsih Line That got me thinking. Our government sets graduation standards and requirements in terms of the courses students are required to pass – grade 12 English, grade 11 math, a life role development course and so on. These requirements are expressed in courses, not in time, so why not let students graduate once they’ve achieved the minimum requirements rather than after having served a minimum sentence? Let them check off the items on the list and then check out of high school. It won’t be a surprise to anyone to learn that some students really aren’t very keen on school. Might they benefit from being able to get the job done and get out? Wouldn’t it motivate students to work a little harder to finish early? Not to mention ease some of the pressure save education budgets by getting them on their way sooner.

In an article published in January, 2012 in Education Week, Caralee Adams wrote about this very thing. She points out that some states are adopting policies (23 states already allow it) that encourage early high school graduation with a variety of incentive programs.

Let’s decide that we want students to have certain skills rather than ask them to occupy seats in our classrooms for a certain length of time. Once they’ve demonstrated those skills why not let them graduate? Instead, we have classrooms (or more likely out-of-the-way places they like to hide during class) filled with apathetic students who have already reached the entrance requirements for college or university or who are anxious to enter the workforce. At my school students must take a full course load so they are stuck filling their schedules with classes they don’t need or have no interest in because they failed one grad requirement. I think it’s time we made a high school diploma a measure of achievement rather than a certificate of attendance.

The possibility of early graduation might actually light a fire under students who are currently disengaged from our system. It is reasonable to expect that student interest will rise and behavioural problems will decline if students become intrinsically motivated to reach the goal of early graduation. Seems like a great carrot to put in front of the horse.

Stop right there. I know what you’re thinking. You don’t even have to say it. Allow me take off my rose-colored glasses because this issue is certainly not as simple as just waving goodbye as students head, smiling, out the door, diploma in hand. There are students who are simply not ready to leave high school early for reasons of emotional immaturity, lack of work ethic or, responsibility or a variety of other reasons. Once we have identified the challenges students might face with early graduation we have to start finding solutions. We must begin to develop career-readiness programs and provide counselling to students who have questions, concerns or need direction. We don’t want to do more harm than good by sending students out to the world without the skills (academic and otherwise) they need to be successful.

At the same time, there are many students who have a clear plan for what they want to achieve and would be motivated to achieve it sooner rather than later. Why make them remain in school not being challenged and feeling like they are wasting time? Rather, let’s challenge them to meet the prescribed grad requirements so they can move to the next phase of their lives if that’s what they choose.

What would this system look like? I don’t know. To complete the required credits in less time, students could employ some combination of traditional classes, online courses, evening or summer courses, or even independent study. Maybe we could develop competency-based assessments to measure student proficiency rather than requiring their butts in seats for a given length of time. Can anyone see the elimination of grades and classes in the distant shadows of the future? I can.

Why be educated? Part 3: There must be more

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

Hopefully, we can agree that there must be more value to education than just earning more money in life (although that’s a pretty good reason to study for that history test). I mean, what about those of us who don’t see “the Dollar” as our primary motivator? What about art and music and the love of nature? What about creativity and ethics? Doesn’t education have some inherent value apart from future earning potential? Is there something we can find that makes educational invaluable?

T.S. Eliot said “It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time – for we are bound by that – but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time.” I won’t pretend to be able to say it better than that great poet but I can write a little about what I think he was trying to say.

Gunpowder Keg Education has the unique power of being able to lift us from our present circumstance to reach heights otherwise unattainable. Sure, you can earn more money and, yes, you’ll feel more like you fit in (as I wrote in my previous two articles) but there’s a far greater benefit – something altogether intangible. Education empowers you to change yourself – to change your mind. Through education we can exceed what our parents achieved. Through education we can overcome the limitations of our class or social status. Education is a great equalizer for the disadvantaged. It is the tool by which each of us can forge a new and unexpected future for ourselves. I can’t recall a single student who stood out from the rest simply because they memorized all the facts or had the highest grades. The students who separate themselves from the pack in my mind are those who can think. They are the ones who are intuitive, inquisitive and are developing insight. As Eliot said, with education we can change the way we think and that is a powerful force indeed.

Am I alone in this or is that concept EXHILARATING? A single idea can change a mindset. One new notion can reshape our thinking. American author Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “[One’s] mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” And there it is. There’s the spark to the powder keg. Once you know something, you can never un-know it. We can never go back to the way we thought before. The mind is changed by new ideas and as it changes, it is capable of new things we could have never dreamed. A new idea is the tiny pebble that sends ripples out to all corners of the mind. We open ourselves up to new potential and limitless possibility. By learning from others we use the synergy that comes from the collective knowledge of human kind to expand our own capability exponentially. Education opens our eyes to the world around us and the way it works. It changes the lens through which we view the world. We become more aware of nature and humanity; of injustice and inequality. We begin to understand our potential to effect change as we weave our tiny thread in the complex fabric of the world.

We can excuse inaction from ignorance. We can forgive complacency in those who are unaware, but the educated among us cannot hide behind such excuses. When we are educated we are held to a higher standard. With education comes the responsibility to act. The question is no longer “Why be educated?” The question, now, is “What can I do?”

Why be educated? Part 2: I don’t want to be left out

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

So now we all know about the earning power of education and our students are all jazzed up
about going to class. They’re hanging on our every word in anticipation of those big, fat pay cheques they’ll earn by getting all smarted up. What do you mean yours aren’t?! Did you show them that graph?

Teenagers nearly always have a hard time seeing into the future. They’re pretty present-oriented, so the promise of a better lifestyle might not be quite enough to get them to memorize the dates of the French Revolution or to really care about that physics project. Is there some value in education that they can grasp right here in the present? Is there something they might be able to relate to in their day-to-day life?

The answer is yes. It’s no fun to be part of a conversation and have no idea what the others are talking about. Whether it be with parents, teachers, or peers the feeling is the same. The experience leaves us feeling marginalized, alienated and inadequate. We feel like we have no contribution to make. Think about watching a documentary or reading news stories of current events and being unfamiliar with the topic. Or not “getting” pop culture references in novels, TV or movies. Not to mention the hilarious science jokes your biology teacher makes! Now take that feeling and imagine it happening again and again, day after day. Would this become your norm? Would you become accustomed to it? Maybe, but I don’t think so. Would we ever get used to feeling left out? Rather, these experiences would be a constant reminder of our inadequacy.

Education can change all that. I remember a student rushing into class one day a couple of years ago to announce excitedly “I heard on the news last night about mad cow disease. We just learned about that in class and I knew everything they were talking about!” Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about! The sense of pride that student felt simply by being informed on a topic she had heard about in the news was palpable. There was no inadequacy or feeling of disconnect. Education has that effect on students. I explain the importance of education to students by reminding of them of those times they felt unable to participate in a conversation. Then I ask them if they’ve ever had an experience like the one I just described. Lots of them have. They remember how it felt. They remember how good they felt to be able to participate. They say things like “I felt so smart” or “I knew more than my big brother.” Many times, parents tell me how excited their son or daughter is to talk around the dinner table about what they’ve learned. When students are talking about the curriculum at home you know they’re excited about education! The sense of empowerment that comes with education cannot be over-emphasized and we should make it our priority to be certain that students realize that.

Of course none of us can know everything, but that’s not the point. That’s the difference between memorization and education. The former equips you to participate in trivia contests; the latter gives you the skills to ask great questions. Even more importantly, it gives the courage. That’s the real value of education. It’s not what you know, but what you realize you have left to learn. The real potential lies in our ability to expand our knowledge and stretch our minds to accept and generate new ideas. Without education, those are very difficult (some might say impossible) things to do. With education comes an open, inquiring mind. Inquiry is both the mother and child of education. We’ve all heard the young child asking “but why?” over and over; their curiosity growing with each new question and, in turn, prompting more questions.

We all agree that intrinsic motivation is the key to student performance. We can’t force students to learn – not any kind of genuine learning anyway. We can motivate to some extent with grades or even with the threat of consequences, but true achievement comes only when a person recognizes the value in a given task. Only when they see purpose in what they are doing will they become truly invested in it. Of course, the same is true for education. Even more so I would argue. If we are to make any kind of lasting impression on our students we must make education relevant. So next time a student asks “when am I ever going to use this?” you can confidently answer “Likely never. But that’s not the point”

Why be educated? Part 1: Show me the money

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

“When am I ever going to use this stuff?” Every teacher has heard that countless times. Once in a while a student will ask that question and I always say the same thing: “Likely never, but that’s not the point.” Usually, they stare at me dumbfounded.

It’s true though isn’t it? When will they need to know how to factor a polynomial, or name the third president of the United States, or write the chemical formula for hydrochloric acid from memory? Likely never! But as I said, that’s not the point. We can’t blame students for wondering because we sure do spend a pile of time asking them to memorize stuff and recite it back to us. I think back to my early days of teaching and shudder when I recognize how much of what I wanted students to do was simple memorization. A typical lesson plan found me standing at the front talking while the students sat in rows trying to copy down what I was saying. A typical evaluation had them all sitting quietly for an hour answering test questions that demonstrated how well they had memorized a bunch of terms and definitions. It’s embarrassing really.

We’ve allowed public education to be a collection of facts to be memorized and assessment to be based on recall and low level thinking skills. Students are understandably tired of it and, frankly, so am I. How can we ever be surprised when students struggle to see the relevance of the curriculum? Most of the time I do too.

That brings us back to our question: why be educated? Well for one, with education comes higher earning potential. The United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released some telling data (http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm) in 2011 showing the dramatic difference education makes in weekly earnings and unemployment rate (check out the figure). They show that unemployment rates vary inversely with education while earning potential varies directly with it.

The Center for Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University reports that people holding bachelor’s degrees earn about $2.27 million over their lifetime, while those with master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees earn $2.67 million, $3.25 million, and $3.65 million, respectively. By comparison, having some college or university education will earn you $1.55 million in lifetime earnings while a high school diploma earns you $1.3 million in your lifetime. What does this tell us? All other things being equal and no matter what your field of study, simply earning a four-year degree makes a big contribution to financial success in life. You can read the report at http://cew.georgetown.edu/collegepayoff/.

Education can’t be the only way can it? To answer that, just check out the Forbes list (http://www.forbes.com/wealth/celebrities/list ) of wealthy celebrities. While some of them do have an education, many do not. With her bachelor’s degree Oprah earned $315 M between June, 2009 and June 2010 and has accumulated a net worth of $2.7 B. Lady Gaga dropped out of New York University and at 25 years old she earns about $90 M a year. At just a year older, LeBron James earns $48 M a year and he never even started university or college. We certainly can’t point to education in the case of Justin Bieber. Although his career prevents him from attending, he chose to continue high school with the help of a tutor but is at least “thinking” about going to college. At 17 he earns $53 M per year. Then again, he’s Canadian so maybe that’s his secret.

In fairness, Stefani (aka Lady Gaga), LeBron, and Justin may be poor examples because those three are exceptionally talented (you might argue about the later). We can’t expect many of our students to be able to follow that path. Ryan Seacrest has demonstrated that you don’t need talent or education to make money. The 36 year old University of Georgia dropout earns $61 M every year for doing . . . well, I’m not sure what he does. Finally, Charlie Sheen is a beacon of hope for every student who struggles with attendance, academics, or *ahem* self-medication. He was expelled from Santa Monica High School for poor grades and attendance a few weeks before graduation and never looked back. He now earns $45 M a year despite his ongoing battles with drugs and alcohol.

Celebrity, winning the lottery or inventing the iPad can certainly lead to great wealth but for most of us the best, most reliable, sure-fire way of increasing our financial success is to get an education and to get as much of it as we can. If you’re like me, you find equating the value of education with the ability to earn more money pretty depressing. I mean, I’m a teacher so you know I didn’t choose my career for the money. There must be something inherently valuable about education isn’t there? Why do teachers spend so much effort trying to reach students? Why do we get so invested in our student’s success? Why are we so passionate about our own subject? Why spend so many hours volunteering with extra-curricular activities? It can’t be to help students earn more money or simply to earn money ourselves. Next week, I’ll share what I think is the inherent value of education and why I value it.

What do you think? Should money be a motivator to pursue education?

What makes a good student?

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

I have a sign on the wall in my classroom with a heading that reads: “How to Pass.” Most students don’t follow the advice because most of them don’t even know the sign is there. Oh I’ve pointed it out – believe me – but as with everything the teacher says, it’s only the good students that hear me and they’re the ones who already do what the sign tells them anyway. Sound familiar?

So what is written on that little sign? Four statements:
Show up
Pay attention
Do your work
Behave

Simple. Let’s face it – public education is, by definition, designed so that nearly all students can make it. It’s an easy game! Adopt those four principles and you’ll be successful. Is it as easy as simply reading the sign and Shazaam! you’re a good student? Lots of students read those four statements and don’t really know exactly what they mean or where to start. Fine. Let’s get specific.

#1 Show up. We would hope that coming to class would make a big difference in student achievement. If coming to your class doesn’t make a big difference in student success, you need to take a hard look at how you’re spending your class time. If your presence is not adding value to class time, why are you there? The student could just learn from home. Struggling students often don’t like school and so they skip classes. Don’t we all sometimes try to avoid things we don’t like? The trouble is skipping classes negatively affects their outcome, which contributes to their dislike of school, and the cycle continues. Attendance policies and incentive programs help but they tend to target students who care about consequences and these are generally not the students we’re concerned about. Our school has a particularly powerful attendance policy which has the consequence of expelling students from school if they miss too many classes. It works very well, although the irony of kicking a kid out of school for missing too many classes has not escaped my attention. Nevertheless, it does send the message that we believe attending class is important.

#2 Pay attention. Easier said than done. Hands up if you’ve ever caught yourself day dreaming during a staff meeting. If you raised your hand don’t you dare get angry at students for doing the same thing. I tell my students straight up that I know some of them don’t care about biology (hard to imagine!) but they have to find a way to stay alert because the grade on their report card doesn’t depend on whether they enjoyed the class. They need to recognize when they’re drifting away and snap themselves back. I let them know that asking and answering questions can help them stay focused. Of course, we already know asking questions improves understanding too. Thus, asking questions helps them stay alert and strengthens understanding in a powerful synergy.

#3 Do your work. It’s discouraging that I even have to say anything about this one but some students simply don’t recognize the value in practicing what they’ve learned and completing assignments. I can’t blame them completely. When I first began teaching many of my assignments were poorly designed, didn’t relate well to the material, and probably seemed irrelevant. Many of them had pretty low learning outcomes. I’ll stop short of saying they were merely busy work. Why should I expect a student to become invested in an assignment that seems pointless? If the work we give students is meaningful and perceived as being beneficial they will be far more likely to complete it. If they have choice in the assignments they are required to do they are more likely to do them. Finally, whether we like it or not, giving students time in class also increases the likelihood of them actually doing it. Part of completing assignments might be getting help when they need it. Students need to be consistently reminded to ask for help and to make sure they are confident in their mastery of the skills and the material.

#4 Behave. I’ve already written about my thoughts on classroom rules so I won’t get into that here. Essentially, school is a pretty easy game to play. Follow a few simple rules and you’ll get along just fine. Keep your head down. Back away from a fight. Be respectful. I know that’s easy to say as someone who’s not an adolescent with a reputation to protect but I try to help my students see that if they just try to get along, life is much easier. Students who manage to stay out of trouble (and that’s the vast majority of students at my school) generally have more success than those who break the rules.
So there. It ain’t that difficult. All it takes is a little effort. Most students are lucky to have teachers who care about them and their future. If we encourage them to take advantage of what we offer them – resources, expertise, attention, compassion, understanding – they’ve got a recipe for success.

What do you think?

Why won’t students ask for help?

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

Picture it: you pop into Best Buy for a new SD card for your camera. Now, where are they? You wander around reading the signs: “TV and Home Theatre,” “Audio and MP3,” “Computers and Tablets”! That one sounds promising. You head that way and start scanning the shelves. “Desktop memory,” “Laptop Memory,” “Flash Memory.” Flash Memory? Is that it? Oh. Wait! “Memory cards”! There they are.

That scenario sounds all too familiar to me and I’m NOT a fan! Wandering around the store searching the shelves for something really bugs me, so a few years ago I decided I wasn’t going to do it anymore. Now, when I go into a store and I’m not familiar with the layout or not sure where to find what I’m looking for I ask an employee right away. I don’t look by myself for even a second. In short – I ask for help.

Why don’t more students do the same? I’ve asked myself that question many, many times. And I’m not talking about trying to find the AA batteries in the dollar store. After school help sessions are notoriously poorly attended – usually only have two or three students at any given session. And those sessions are nearly always for math, chemistry and physics while it’s rare for a student to ask for help in biology. I’ve even seen assignments submitted in which students wrote “We didn’t understand question 4.” As if it never occurred to them to ask for help before they actually handed it in. Furthermore, it seems to be the students who need help the most are the ones least likely to ask.

Most students are really nice kids who truly want to please the teacher. They look up to teachers and they think they might disappoint us if they don’t understand something. Students see the teacher as the “authority” on the subject so they just pretend instead of admitting when they don’t understand. Now take those concerns and multiply them by infinity! That’s the fear of looking stupid in front of their peers. The result? Students very often sit quietly when they should be asking questions.

I’d like to suggest that this problem is at least party (if not mostly) the fault of we teachers. Asking for help takes courage and it’s important for us to remember that. We need to constantly remind students that we’re all learning and the only way we can improve is by admitting we don’t know everything. When I ask them, students say they are afraid to ask questions in class or to ask for help after class because they think they will look stupid. And when they do ask for help, they say it often makes them feel stupid. Worse still, the more stupid they feel or the more confused they are the more difficult it is to ask. I can remember many times when a student asked a question and, after I answered, they said “Oh right. Wow do I feel stupid.” That’s my cue to say “You shouldn’t feel stupid. You just forgot” or “Nah, I didn’t really do much. You just needed a little nudge.” When I fail to say something to a student who claims to feel stupid I’m basically confirming their belief!

Sometimes, I can get students to appreciate the irony of not asking questions.

“Hey guys,” I say, “what’s one way to identify the strongest students in the class?”

“Good students always ask questions,” they reply.

“So if you ever feel a bit stupid and want to seem smart, what should you do?” I continue.

“Ask questions!” They get it.

Of course, I’m teasing them a little but there’s a nugget of truth there. One thing I have noticed is that as my classroom moves more and more toward skills and application students are more likely to ask for help. As the classroom environment becomes less about the “right” answer and more about “process,” students are less timid about asking questions. As I try to build an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competition, students become more at ease. When students are answering questions, I’ve also strived to use language like “That’s a good start – keep going” or “Great! Now who can add to that?” or “Not exactly but you’re on the right track” or “That’s a great question!” By letting students know it’s ok to try, I believe they are more likely to do just that.

So how do I handle the problem? I don’t offer extra help. Simple. Students know I’m always in my classroom every morning from 8-8:40 and anyone can drop in but I also encourage them to stop in anytime before or after class. That way, nobody has to actually admit in public that they need help or feel like they’re going to a formal extra help session. Students get the idea that extra help might be good for everyone. I think it makes it much more casual. It’s more like stopping in for a chat than extra help so students find it a little more relaxing and less intimidating. Of course, it’s still our responsibility to suggest to struggling students that they might need help but that can be done quietly in private.

I guess when I feel frustrated that students don’t want to ask for help I have to remind myself how long it took me to realize I should ask for help in a store instead of wandering around aimlessly (by the way, the same goes for asking for directions when I’m lost). Nobody likes to be the only one who doesn’t understand something. Nobody wants to be the last to “get it.” The classroom can be a scary place. Things are happening fast, questions and answers are flying, and there are plenty of distractions. It’s not always the easiest place to learn, especially for a struggling or shy student. Like all of us, students have different personalities and they learn in different ways and at different paces.

Let’s agree to never use cliché statements like “there’s no such thing as a stupid question.” Instead, let’s build a supportive atmosphere in which students are comfortable enough to ask questions without being made to feel dumb. What do you think? Don’t be afraid to speak up.

I love Wikipedia!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

“But my teacher says I can’t use Wikipedia!” I’ve heard it so many times. The internet has infiltrated nearly every aspect of our lives and its importance is ever-growing. Just think about how heavily we rely on it. I thought about listing a few things I use the internet for but then realized it would be completely pointless. Where would I even begin? How could I even begin to capture how huge a role it plays in my life every single day? I can’t. Period. So I won’t try.

And that brings me back to Wikipedia. I think it’s well past the time that teachers start to recognize the value in Wikipedia and toss aside the misgivings they once held. Sure, some of their concerns were justified back in the day, but Wikipedia has grown into something barely recognizable compared to what it was in the early days. In trying to understand why teachers resist (some have even said “hate”) Wikipedia I’ve heard things like “I require students to use several sources, not just one” or “I want students to use recent sources” or “Well, anyone can write anything on there.” I’m sure there are other arguments but these are the ones I hear most often and they always make me cringe. Let’s examine Wikipedia on all three of these charges using the article on DNA as an example.

When I talk to teachers, they usually say they want students to include 3-5 references and I agree. We should be teaching students to use a critical eye when researching any topic and to not rely solely on the opinion of one source. The article on DNA contains 156 references. Point: Wikipedia.

I agree that we should insist students use recent references. It’s important for students to realize that the material we teach is not static. Human knowledge continues to progress and expand. What was once considered accurate can be proved inaccurate over time as our understanding grows. What’s reasonable to demand of students? Trying to have sources that are no more than 5 years old? This might not be possible in all cases but we’d like them to be as current as they can. The article on DNA cites 4 references from 2011, 3 from 2010, 3 from 2009 and nearly 60% of all the references are more recent than 2000. Point: Wikipedia.

Most people are easily convinced on these points because the evidence is right there. The last complaint is a little tougher because it involves looking at parts of Wikipedia that very few users even know about. If I click the “View source” link (on some articles this might be “Edit” instead of “View source,” a difference that speaks volumes in itself) I learn that parts of the article are protected and cannot be edited. Specifically, if I try this from my school network, I learn that my IP address has been blocked to prevent students form changing the article. The article can be edited only by registered users.

Can anyone edit Wikipedia? Not always and not always easily. Point: Wikipedia.

You might accuse me of having cherry-picked my DNA example to meet all my criteria. Fair enough. If you’re not convinced go try it yourself in your own subject area with a topic of your choice. Evaluate the resource objectively before you judge it.

If you’re still not convinced, we can go further. The protection log for any article shows you the reasons why the article (or parts of it) has been protected. You can also click the “View history” link to gets loads of information including the history of all edits, the users who made the edits, and how many people are watching the page for changes. Watchers are notified of any edits so, although anyone can edit any article, those edits are usually quickly discovered and checked or corrected as needed. If you click the “Talk” link you can look at the discussions that happen between editors about ways to improve the article.

Also, notice the little star underneath the search box which tells us that the article is a featured article. That means it has been reviewed for accuracy, neutrality, completeness, and style according to the featured article criteria which you can also read about on Wikipedia. Fewer than 1 in 1000 articles are good enough to make this cut.

But we’re not finished there. When articles don’t make the cut we’re told about it. If you search “dark matter” you find this warning:

Once you begin to take notice, you’ll see lots of “citation needed” warnings scattered throughout articles which warn us of unsupported claims.

When an article does not contain sufficient references, we’re warned:

So maybe we need to be telling students how to use Wikipedia appropriately rather than trying to ban them from making use of a powerful resource and a great time saver. They always have the option of citing a reference directly rather than citing Wikipedia.

At the risk of sounding cliché, I want to students to work smart not hard. Why should I ask them to go look up individual sources on their own if someone (the contributors to Wikipedia) have already done that for them? Now send me a comment to throw your two cents worth into the discussion.

Does iBooks textbooks iChange everything?

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

I think so!

Does it make me a nerd if I’m excited that I can now read textbooks on iPad? I suppose, to be most accurate, I should say I can now “use” textbooks on iPad. On January 19, Apple announced the release of iBooks textbooks for iPad. Now I have to begin with a disclaimer: “I love technology.” I watched the demo video and was amazed. Absolutely. Surprised? No. I mean, COME ON! This is Apple we’re talking about. When have they ever done anything that wasn’t amazing? And I’m not alone. There were 350,000 textbooks downloaded in the first three days.

So what’s the big deal? If you haven’t seen the video let me hit the highlights for you. The text can have video and audio embedded right in it. Images are interactive, allowing students to pan and zoom. Entire photo galleries can be included. 3D objects can be rotated. Students can add digital highlighting, underlining and notes to the text. Finally, and maybe most importantly, students can take as many textbooks as they want wherever they take iPad.

We know that textbooks have some HUGE limitations. They’re expensive, they’re static, and they’re heavy. Not any more. Publishers can update textbooks continuously and instantly. Heavy? All a student’s books weigh only as much as their iPad. What about cost? Apple claims they want the cost for major titles to stay at $15 or less! Users have already recognized these advantages and they’re acting on it. Of course some of this is novelty and I’m sure it will slow down. Time will tell.

Now I’m not paid by Apple (although I wouldn’t turn it down if they offered). Heck, I don’t even own Apple stock. So I have to be honest and recognize the huge elephant in the room. The one key ingredient in the recipe for success here is, you guessed it, having an iPad. Cut through all the noble talk about helping students learn and giving teachers better tools to teach. Get past all those teachers in the promo video saying they just aren’t reaching students like they want to and try to put aside all the images of students everywhere glued to their iPads reading about photosynthesis or the French Revolution. Basically, this is a way to sell iPads. Plain and simple.

So what does it mean for us? Let’s do some simple math. Students at our school take 10 courses a year and let’s assume they need a textbook for only 8 of those (they might not need a text for some classes). Now let’s imagine a typical textbook costs $100 and lasts for five years (if you could see some of ours you’d know we try to make them last much longer). This means, on average, it costs us $160 per student per year to provide textbooks. iPad starts at $499. Yikes! You don’t need a calculator app to figure out that iBooks textbooks is a cheaper option only if students have iPads already. Of course, long term the iPad would be a cheaper option.

So where does that leave us? To be honest, I don’t know. This technology is super cool and I honestly think students would be engaged by it. I don’t know how we get an iPad into the hands of every student. Is there an app for that?

So does inquiry mean starting from scratch?

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

When I first tried inquiry I had a horrible experience. You can read about my disaster with inquiry labs if you want. After a few more years of being dissatisfied with the poor learning outcomes from my lab activities, I decided I had to either quit going to the lab, or change the way I did things. That’s when I decided to try inquiry again. The goal was to have students take the lead more and more in their own learning.

As I learned more about inquiry I began to panic thinking that I had to throw out all my activities and start from scratch! I had hundreds of hours investigated in those activities! Are you thinking something similar? If you are – relax. Don’t toss all those activities that have served you well for so long. The secret is to make some simple changes to those activities to move them in the direction of greater inquiry.

So how do we do that? For any given activity, think about what the student is expected to demonstrate or discover. Now, simply phrase that as a question and ask the student to figure out how to answer it. For example, some kind of diffusion lab is pretty standard in most biology courses. Consider a simple lab investigating the effect of temperature on diffusion. Rather than giving the students a procedure and telling them what to watch for and what to measure, why not give them a question? We could say something like “What kinds of things do you think might affect the rate of diffusion of this food coloring?” After they’ve had some time to think and talk about it, have them write a hypothesis and then make up and perform a procedure to test it. That’s inquiry! No need to reinvent the wheel. Of course, you can decide how complex you expect the procedure to be based on their grade and ability level. Remember that the students will be really timid at first and will need help getting started. If this is their first exposure to inquiry learning you might want to help them out by giving them a list of materials. You might say “You can use water, beakers, thermometers, a microwave oven, and ice.” That way, you can lead them in the right direction while still letting them do most of the thinking.

Remember that there is no right or wrong here. That’s the point! Students have to feel free to approach the problem with creativity in the way they choose. We have to help our students realize that it’s not about what is “supposed” to happen. We need to encourage them to take risks and to not be afraid to fail. Nobel Prize winning physicist Enrico Fermi said “There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you’ve made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you’ve made a discovery. “

Changing my activities to be more inquiry-based is going to be a big job and I know I won’t get them all done right away but I’m okay with that. As with all things in teaching, it’s a work in progress and the journey is at least as interesting as the destination. What do you think about inquiry learning? Are you thinking about trying it? Have you already started? Please tell me about it.

Ok, how do I DO inquiry learning?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Trevor Gallant

I’m sure I could never say it any better than Carl Sagan, who wrote in The Demon-Haunted World “When you make the finding yourself – even if you are the last person on Earth to see the light – you will never forget it.” That’s what makes inquiry-learning so powerful: it gets students involved in the learning process. It encourages them to come up with a question and, at higher levels of inquiry, figure out how to answer that question.

In “The nature of scientific enquiry” (Educational Psychologist 79 (2): 171–212) Marshal Herron proposed that we think in terms of four levels of inquiry. The most basic level of inquiry would have students simply confirming something they already knew going into the lab. They are investigating a question we provide using a procedure we provide. In other words, they know what to expect. Put that way, it seems a bit silly to even be doing such lab activities. I have to admit this was the level of ALL my labs when I started thinking about inquiry. Mind you most of the students didn’t realize they knew the answer (and it certainly didn’t show in their lab reports!).

At level two the students don’t know the answer to the question we’ve provided but they are given a procedure to use to get the answer. This level offers some discovery at least but the students are still following a procedure we have provided and, so, aren’t really doing science. We’re still telling them that science is simply following a set of instructions.

At the next level of inquiry students would investigate a question we’ve presented using a procedure they’ve designed. Here, the students have to really think about what is practical. They have to consider variables to control and what control group to use in the investigation. They have to consider what kind of data to collect and how they might collect it. This level gives them a much better idea of what it means to perform scientific investigations. Personally, this is what I’m shooting for and if I manage to get most of my lab activities to this level I would be really pleased with myself!

Our dream might be to have students investigate questions that arise from procedures they’ve designed or maybe selected from choices we’ve provided. That’s Herron’s fourth level but is way beyond my scope right now.

You might be thinking “Yeah, right! How am I going to get MY students to do THAT?!” That was my first reaction when I started thinking about inquiry. What I found was that it was actually easier than I expected. Most of the activities I was already using could be easily modified to move them a little further along the inquiry scale. In my next post, I’ll talk about how I’m changing some of my activities.

Although I teach high school biology, inquiry is important at all grades. I think all kids start out being really curious but that sense of curiosity is slowly smothered by the nature of our education system. If we give kids a little freedom to explore the world I think we’ll continually be surprised at the questions they’ll ask and the things they’ll discover. I’d love to hear your thoughts on inquiry. How can we do it at younger grades? What have you done to make use of inquiry learning?

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