Fisher Hosts Science Teachers for Chemistry Institute
From July 18-21, the St. John Fisher College campus became home to a group of adolescence science teachers for the Advanced Inquiry-Based Chemistry Institute.
The four-day program was led by Fisher faculty members Dr. Kris Lantzky, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, and Dr. Bernard Ricca, Associate Professor, Mathematical and Computing Sciences. The pair received an $18,800 grant from the Rochester Area Colleges Chemistry Center for Excellence in Math and Science to fund the program, which used the Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning (POGIL) approach to help participating teachers develop inquiry-based curriculum material to implement in their classrooms.
POGIL is a student-centered approach to teaching science showing that students learn a concept better when they construct the knowledge from their own experience. The approach focuses on developing student learning skills, including information processing, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, communication, management, and assessment. The goal of the program was to prepare the teachers to develop an effective learning environment, assist their students in focusing on important parts of concepts, and model appropriate ways of questioning and arguing.
The attendees worked together to develop and modify curricular activities, and implement the activities in a classroom representative of their own. At the end, they received feedback on the activities.
Through follow-up meetings, classroom observations, and participant presentations that will take place through the next academic year, faculty leaders will measure the effectiveness of the program.