UtSTA 2024: Out-Of-This-World Science Teaching

It can be disorienting to approach a science or engineering topic with which we expect students to be familiar, only to be met with confusion, misconceptions, or blank stares. Luckily, a “funds of knowledge” approach to Three-Dimensional instruction can help us engage our students and activate their everyday STEM expertise so they can authentically connect to the SEEd Standards. Strategies discussed in this presentation will include self-documentation, community asset mapping, culturally relevant communication, place-based learning, and more.

Principled leadership in professional development requires a set of standards describing the attributes of effective professional learning experience. The Science Professional Learning Standards (SPLS) describe a set of attributes of professional learning consistent with the NASEM Framework for Science Education. This session focuses on Attribute 6 - “Model classroom instruction and instructional materials consistent with the desired instructional shifts.” The role of effective classroom discourse will be featured and how to support teachers in changing the focus of discourse toward students centered science learning experience while implementing Utah’s SEEd Standards. The session will present a phenomenon-driven lesson aligned to a SEEd Standards, model classroom discourse, and provide educational leaders with resources to establish more effective learning cultures.

STEM programs not only equip students with essential skills for the future but also fosters a deep-seated love for learning. Utah's SEEd standards align closely with student STEM competitions by emphasizing inquiry-based learning, integration of science and engineering practices, exploration of crosscutting concepts, interdisciplinary thinking, and the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. AI is a tool that can revolutionize STEM experiences, and data collecting with students. Discover an abundance of different AI tools to help aid your STEM endeavors.

Come learn and get hands-on experience on how to teach gel electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting in a single classroom session. You will pour, load, and run a gel, capture gel image, analyze the results, and deduce a probable conclusion for a whale of a forensic mystery. This hands-on lab can be used to support Strand Bio 3 - Genetic Patterns.