Scientific Modeling for Inquiring Teachers Network (SMIT'N)

Project Director: Valarie Akerson

SMIT'N is a three-year sustained professional development program using a combination of summer institutes, school year workshops, and classroom support. The program was designed in collaboration with partners from the Monroe County Community School Corporation and Indiana University biology department. The program focuses on using scientific modeling to improve K-6 teachers' (a) understandings of and abilities to teach using scientific inquiry and the learning cycle; (b) abilities to teach problem-solving process skills including observing, questioning, hypothesizing, predicting, collecting, analyzing data, and forming conclusions as described by the Indiana Academic Standards; (c) understandings of and abilities to teach nature of science (NOS); (d) abilities to teach life science concepts using scientific modeling; and (e) teachers' and students' understandings of life science content knowledge as required and described by the Indiana Academic Standards. The proposal that funded this project was written in a graduate science education course, with different parts of the proposal written by teams of graduate students.

Summer 2005 marked the first two-week institute with the MCCSC teacher participants. We explored various modeling activities, scientific inquiry, nature of science, science process skills, and biology content, through the overarching theme of scientific modeling. We also explored the new FOSS curriculum that was adopted by MCCSC, through the lens of inquiry, nature of science, and scientific modeling. Data analysis from the first summer indicates that teachers made growth in their understandings of the target goals, but of course, more work needs to be done.

We will support the teachers this year through school year workshops and on-site school support to ensure they are able to implement new ideas in their classroom instruction. We will help them track the influence of their instruction on students' understandings. We will follow up with subsequent summer workshops.