Subject: Curriculum - Biology (Burke)

Posted by John Heinbokel on 12/7/2004
In Reply To:Collaboration on Curricula Posted by Daniel D Burke on 11/21/2005

Message:

Dan (and others),



I’m sorry to be so delayed in responding to your note (copied below) - first Thanksgiving, then another commitment, and frankly some curiosity to see what sort of response the K-12 List might produce. As we’ve been chatting about curricular ideas within the CLE, the idea of “Trojan Horses” has been a central theme, that is, to use SD to help address topics and motivations (like high stakes disciplinary testing!) that already exist. Essentially that would be to “sneak up” with the more general SD stuff under the cover of materials that meet other needs in terms of state/nat’l standards or high stakes testing. Your concern/requirement in this project that SD be secondary to biology benefits is completely consistent with that view.



Of course that also presents some interesting limits, in that, without that explicit SD focus, we are unlikely to be working with teachers with the foundation for actively and creatively guiding SD applications; the exercises will have to be largely self-contained and self-directing. Not an insurmountable problem, but a significant constraining challenge!



Now to address your basic inquiry and begin to tie it to the objectives of the CLE in the curricular domain:

-- I’d love to see us begin to develop/adapt/utilize a set of exercises to augment basic biology learning at the high school level.

-- What I hear in your initial inquiry is a need or opportunity that must be replicated at lots of schools and not just to support performance goals of minority students (OTHERS LURKING ON THIS LIST – IS THAT AN ACCURATE ASSUMPTION?). As such, investments made for this specific setting would pay off more broadly, including application of, at least some of, the components at middle-school or post-secondary levels.

-- I think the opportunity that your connection and interest provides and the support that the CLE/EME can provide are necessary but not sufficient elements to make this project work.

-- What would also be needed is clear guidance on what topics need to be addressed and covered with such exercises and what enhanced, test-measured improvements need to be supported by such self-contained SD units. This seems like it will be interesting to the participants and a valuable component of their program ONLY if we successfully “teach to the test.” The guidance I anticipate needing would need to come, at least partly, from the teachers in the school(s) you’ve identified; other support could come from members of this List-serve who have both a fundamental knowledge of/appreciation for SD and experience in the biology or science classroom. The latter is a limitation in my credentials, despite (perhaps because of) some years of teaching biology at the college level.



Logistic questions come to mind (directed at anyone with insights and suggestions, not just at Dan!):

-- How quickly do we have to get off the dime on this?

-- How many exercises would constitute a sufficient first contribution?

-- In what specific areas of the biology curriculum would they be needed? Are there simulations in those areas ‘out there,’ but not (yet?!) in the CLE collection, that members of the ListServe could help make available, either for immediate use or for adaptation?

-- Are there significant technology/software constraints (e.g. is STELLA available?)?

-- Is there currently, or might there be in the future, funding support for this activity? Is this likely to grow into a project that will exceed the capacity of those funds to support? If so, we should begin looking for that support. CLE’s resources are largely limited to the relatively small amount of time that Jeff Potash and I can contribute; that won’t go too far, especially if this in one of several curricular projects underway!

-- What else am I missing that could be critical?



One final inquiry for you, Dan. You specifically mentioned performance problems with ‘minority’ students (and, no – that didn’t surprise me J). Do you anticipate that these tools would be specifically provided to those needful students, or to a wider audience with the idea that a “rising tide will float all boats”?



All for now from me. Again, I’m sorry for the delay and hope we (and lots of folks out there in ListServe Land) can continue the conversation.



John

Follow Ups:

Curriculum - Biology (Burke) - Daniel D Burke 12/18/2005 
Curriculum - Biology (Burke) - Steve Kipp 12/7/2005 
Curriculum - Biology (Burke) - Della Robertson 12/7/2005 
Curriculum - Biology (Burke) - Susan Ragan 12/7/2005