HIlldale- Project Based Science

Courtney WaggleUncategorized

Ultimately our goal for this program was to increase the interest and curiosity of students in the area of science. It was amazing the level of involvement we saw as student worked in groups and interacted with programs through their Chromebooks. Our teachers discovered very quickly that with the use of technology our students’ attention was increased and the motivation of students to participate was much greater than in the past.

Students worked in groups on real world problems to determine questions they needed to find answers to in order to make a difference. It was a real eye-opening discovery for teachers to learn how students viewed situations and how they processed what questions to asked and what questions were being asked. This sounds simple but it is actually upper level thinking and processing skills. The use of the Nearpod program added a level of discovery and excitement.

The next thing we noticed was the focus of students. When they worked with standards that have to do with cells, atoms, or inside of the body organs it was a great opportunity for students to actually see what the text was talking about. We are unsure if this program has boosted our students desire to take the upper level science or honors science due to the different kind of enrollment we did this year due to COVID-19. We are anxious to see this next school year as we will be able to have those conversations with students in person.

Attached are some picture that show our students working and learning together. There is also a picture of one of our teachers working with students in a one on one situation. The way this program is set up it allows time for teachers to talk through problems and ideas with students.