 Electronic PortfolioThe University of Pennsylvania's Science Teacher Institute Master of Integrated Science Education Program |
|
| Reflective
Practice – The participant demonstrates a disposition toward inquiry on teaching, and an ability to apply educational theory to do research on teaching and learning in his or her own classroom. |
|
Related Course: EDUC 545 - LEADERSHIP FOR MIDDLE LEVEL SCIENCE
I chose to include my Classroom Based Research Project to illustrate this rubric category because it is the perfect assignment that encompasses the essence of this rubric category. In our second Education course, I undertook a research project where I was the researcher and my students were the subject. It was difficult to decide what I wanted to research but after teaching day after day I realized that I had been experimenting with an idea all along. I wondered if group work was productive in my classroom or was I just giving students an easier opportunity to socialize. I took this topic to heart and decided to have it be the focus of my investigation.
This assignment was unlike anything I had ever done before. In our first Education course I gave my students a pre-assessment and collected data from the students' results. That was helpful, and allowed me to make changes to my teaching, but those changes were specific to the related content. This research venture was on another level. It allowed me to question my own pedagogical technique and make changes if the results of my research led me to do so. In this particular study the results were inconclusive, but I still learned the most important lesson: I can do this! I can conduct a research study to determine if what I am doing is worthwhile or if it is possibly ineffective. It was very empowering to take on the responsibility of evaluating myself as a teacher. Researching in my own classroom was not intimidating or embarrassing, as it would be if someone else were evaluating me. The questions raised by the other teachers in my cohort were excellent. I will definitely try a couple of their research ideas to conduct in my own class.This shows that I am capable of evaluating my own teaching, and that I know how to conduct research scientifically.
