Reflecting on Practice for STEM Educators: A Guide for Museums, Out-of-school, and Other Informal Settings

by Lynn Uyen Tran, Catherine Halversen

Overview

Reflecting on Practice for STEM Educators is a guidebook to lead a professional learning program for educators working in STEM learning environments.

Making research on the science of human learning accessible to educational professionals around the world, this book shows educators how to relate this research to their own practice. Educators’ collective work broadens the scope of an organization’s reach, and through this effort, the organization grows its social capital in its local community and beyond. This book offers opportunities to engage in processes that lead toward organizational learning by attending to the professional growth of the educators. Tran and Halversen show how learning together can shape the language and meanings by which educators do and talk about their work to support visitors’ experiences. The book provides guidance on how teams of educators can build community as they engage in reflective practice.

Reflecting on Practice for STEM Educators will be essential reading for leaders of any organization that aims to educate and engage the public in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It will be particularly useful to educators who work in museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, youth organizations, after-school programs, and nature, science, and conservation centres.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367488284
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/31/2021
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lynn Uyen Tran is Research Director in the Learning and Teaching Group at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California Berkeley, USA. Her work focuses on relating the science of learning to teaching practices of informal educators and university faculty, and cultivating reflective practice and professional learning among these communities.

Catherine Halversen is Senior Program Director in the Learning and Teaching Group at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California Berkeley, USA. Her work focuses on developing and disseminating inperson and online professional learning programs and instructional materials for STEM university/college faculty, informal educators, and K–12 teachers.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Acknowledgements & Credits viii

Introduction 1

Module 1 Learning, Reflections, and Science

Introduces the routines and foundations of the Reflecting on Practice program.

Overview 9

Session 1 Learning Beliefs, Behaviors, and Goals 10

Initiates exploration of foundational ideas on learning.

Session 2 Effective Reflective Practice 36

Examines professional learning and reflective practice, including participating in a Video Reflection in whole community.

Session 3 Nature and Practices of Science 68

Focuses on what is science, how science works, and science as a way of knowing.

Module 2 How People Learn

Articulates how learning builds on prior knowledge.

Overview 89

Session 1 How People Learn 90

Delves further into Five Foundational Ideas on Learning, and introduces the Learning Cycle.

Session 2 Learners' Prior Knowledge 122

Scrutinizes the connections between prior knowledge and conceptual change.

Session 3 Whole-Community Video Reflection on Prior Knowledge 156

Community engages in Video Reflections, first in whole community then small groups, focusing on prior knowledge.

Module 3 Learning Conversations

Emphasizes that talking is learning.

Overview 171

Session 1 Talking to Learn 172

Examines how talking is learning, and introduces Discussion Map and Teaching Purposes for facilitating learning conversations.

Session 2 Facilitating Conversations 208

Explores use of Facilitation Approaches to alleviate tension between everyday and disciplinary views and language, leverage power responsibly, and foster discourse.

Session 3 Whole-Community Video Reflection on Learning Conversations 240

Community engages in Video Reflections, in whole community and then small groups, focusing on facilitating conversations.

Module 4 Objects and Design

Spotlights how we use objects in our learning designs.

Overview 253

Session 1 Teaching with Objects 254

Determines limitations and potentials for learning from different types of objects.

Session 2 Designing Experiences for Learning 284

Revisits research and uses Rapid Design Feedback to revise the design of learning experiences.

Session 3 Whole-Community Video Reflection on Objects 300

Community engages in Video Reflections, and uses Critiquing Objects to reflect on their use of objects in learning experiences.

References 311

Appendix A Tools for Reflective Practice 315

Protocol, guides, checklists, and worksheets for making, observing, and discussing videos and other work products during reflection sessions.

Appendix B Design and Teaching Tools 333

Models, frameworks, and worksheets for designing and teaching learning experiences used and examined in the Reflecting on Practice program.

Index 344

Editorial Reviews

"Reflecting on Practice is an incredibly well-designed, well-tested and effective set of materials and practices for museum professionals. It’s a course of study and application that can transform and deepen staff understandings of themselves and their visitors."
Laura W. Martin, Ph.D., Senior Advisor, Arizona Science Center

"The Reflecting on Practice curriculum is a welcome, practical guide for advancing the informal STEM education field. It provides a detailed, research-based approach to build shared language, develop a culture of reflection, and cultivate a connected professional learning community. The timely release of this volume will help forge a post-pandemic era for our field."
Jamie Bell, Project Director, Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE)

"This curriculum has the potential to transform an organization’s approach to supporting each other as staff, make structured and systematic considerations on how to deepen effective pedagogical approaches used by the staff in working with audiences. Grounded in the latest understandings of how people learn, I highly recommend this book for any leader who is authentically interested in developing a sustainable professional learning program within their organization."
Preeti Gupta, Ph.D., Director of Youth Learning and Research, American Museum of Natural History

"The structure and content of the Reflecting on Practice guidebook and workshop really helped us understand how to improve our practice and to be confident of conducting such sessions ourselves as facilitators for our colleagues. The guide was detailed, well organised and planned as bite sized modules to plan our internal sessions to fit our schedules. Our staff are from diverse fields and all were able to benefit from Reflecting on Practice. I would recommend it for museum educators."
Anne Dhanaraj, Senior Director, Education Programmes, Science Centre Singapore

From the Publisher