Motivating Underachieving Students in Math and Science

Posted by David R. Wetzel, Ph.D.

Hands-On Learning Using Math and Science

Your students’ future and education needs are not like yours and mine. For the most part, we are a product of an education system heavily influenced by the industrial age – lectures and rote memorization. This style of teaching was primarily designed to produce factory and skilled trade workers.

Due to the dynamics of today’s world economy, most students no longer have the same types of jobs waiting for them when they graduate. Their future is in the service, health, and technology career fields. However, there is still a demand for skilled trade workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010).

A Need for a Shift in Teaching Strategies

Today’s education system is still following the demands of the industrial age. So how does this clash with students’ needs for the future?

When students are forced to sit in straight rows and listen to the industrial revolution style of teaching — lectures and rote memorization of facts — countless become bored underachievers! Primarily because education system is out of step with the information age.

Unfortunately, many students view math and science as the two hardest subjects to master. Why? Because there is way too much emphasis on lectures and memorization. This contributes to their boredom in school and does motivate them to learn.

So what must be done to stimulate their curiosity and engagement in a manner that makes them to want to learn math and science?

Tips for Increasing Student Engagement

Motivating underachieving students requires moving away from demonstration, telling, showing, and rote recall. Today’s math and science students need hands-on, minds-on experiences to stimulate and challenge them to think. The following are example strategies.

Technology Tools – must have specific learning objectives, along with real-world applications. Students use technology tools every day, so why not use their prior knowledge and experiences with these tools to challenge them to learn concepts.

Online Interactive Math or Science Programs – must address specific learning concepts. Not just means of keeping students occupied or as a reward for good behavior.

Problem Solving - solving real world problems frequently motivate underachieving students. Why? Because they are allowed to think out of the box to solve problems. Also, this strategy takes advantage of challenging higher-order thinking skills. This strategy works well for all students, not just underachievers. In addition, many students do not understand how to solve problems. These students must be taught how to solve problems.

Concepts – help students understand the critical features of a concept. This includes requiring students to develop examples and non-examples of a concept, assessing their true level of understanding. Also, require them to provide examples of a concept linked to one or more other concepts.

Lessons – must include opportunities for students to shift to a new, although still related to lesson objective, activity every 15 to 20 minutes. Examples include giving students opportunities to analyze, use or demonstrate what they learned, and show how to or explain what would happen if… This paradigm moves beyond completing worksheets (which in my experience, students view as busy work).

Higher Order Thinking (HOT) – requires the use of higher-order thinking questions. Open-ended questions to stimulate discussion. Do not use “yes or no answer” questions. Effective use of wait time “I” and “II.” Do not use questions which contain the answer. Example higher-order thinking questions, include:

• What might happen if ____?
• Can you summarize ____?
• What evidence supports ____?
• How is this similar or different to ____?
• How might you organize ____ into categories?
• What other ways can you show or illustrate ____?

Math Example

Instead of showing your students the formula in geometry for determining the volume of an object, labeling variables, and how to solve the equation. Followed by endless drill and practice. Give them concrete and tangible objects to explore, touch, and measure. This leads to higher levels of thinking as they analyze and apply the concept of volume. After providing them with a variety of objects (regular and irregular shapes), ask them how they will determine the volume of these objects. Example higher-level questions include:

• Which object has the greatest volume?
• How do you know this true?
• How many ways are there to determine the volume of an object?
• How could you visually represent your solution? (looking for a graph, table, equation, pictures, etc.)

Science Example

Instead of showing, demonstrating, or watching a video of a discrepant event. Allow students to participant through hands-on discrepant event investigations. For example: Air Pressure Materials – One Set for Each Group: one aluminum pan pie (non-smooth bottom), water, one 16oz clear glass, one candle (about 3 inches tall), and matches.

1. Students attach the candle to the center, bottom of the pie pan.
2. Now they pour water into the pie pan, about three quarters of an inch deep.
3. Students light the candle.
4. Now they place glass over the candle and observe what happens.
5. Allow students to repeat as necessary.

After they have observed and recorded their observations, ask them higher-level science questions, for example:

• Why is ____ happening?
• What do you think is causing ____?
• You seem to be assuming that ____?
• What conclusions may be draw from ____?
• How is ____ different (like) ____?

Motivating underachieving students to learn math and science can be difficult or even challenging on occasions. With these teaching strategies students will no longer be bored by traditional lessons. They will find that math and science are not that difficult, because they are allowed to participate, think outside the box, and make connections.

Now it is your turn, do you have any additions to these strategies?

Sources

Occupations with the Largest Job Growth, Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 08, 2010.

HOT Skills Question Templates, Russellville Science Department Professional Learning Community

Science Education Programs Require a Cultural Change

Posted by David R. Wetzel, Ph.D.

Hands-On, Minds-on Science

The science community needs to develop better ways to assess students’ understanding and skills, not just their science factual knowledge.

For many years, education has traditionally been about standing in front of a classroom and giving a great lecture, or just a lecture. What people rarely do is try to work out whether or not the students have actually learned anything.

A student’s ability to regurgitate facts on a multiple choice proves little. Most any student can memorize enough facts to earn a minimal passing score. However, what have they learned – minimal! No wonder most students are turned off by science by the time they complete high school.

Students need to understand scientific literature, along with the ability to design an experiment and interpret data. This ability to make informed decisions not only has its implications in learning science, this ability is transformed to everyday decisions in a real world.

Educating students in science is important because they’re going to be the leaders of the future. These leaders will need to be able to make policy decisions by analyzing scientific evidence, instead of throwing up their hands in confusion or making wrong decisions.

When students understand the scientific process they become informed citizens. They have the ability distinguish between fact and fiction. Whenever scientists disagree, informed citizens realize that they are conducting scientific research and there are many paths. Rarely is there one correct path to an answer in science. Science is like Times Square – there are many paths that will take you and all are correct.

Students need to learn how to critically analyze science information and argue points from evidence, data, or observations. Educators need to get rid of the lecture format and let students do more in class to facilitate their learning.

We have to stop telling and let them work with scientific information. A hands-on, minds-on approach is best. This means to let them design experiments under teacher facilitation so then learn that there are many methods for finding an answer.

Canned laboratory investigations leave little to the scientific imagination. Although they may be hands-on, students do not use a minds-on approach or critical thinking.

Students also need to use the power of technology to conduct their experiments.

Teaching Strategies

These are three excellent teaching strategies for hands-on and minds-on:

Problem Solving

Problem Based Learning

Discrepant Events

When students are allowed to think and not just memorize they will learn science facts, along with the ability to make connections between facts. This is what assessments should focus on, the ability of students to use critical thinking skills to make scientific connections. This will make them more informed citizens of the world.

Your Turn

Any suggestions for additional strategies to make science learning more meaningful?

More Discrepant Events in Science

Posted by David R. Wetzel, Ph.D.

Science Discrepant Events

The following are discrepant events that does not turn out as expected.

These anomalies challenge students’ beliefs and makes them more receptive to learning what you want them to learn.

Alcohol and Water Miscibility: Discrepant Event

Miscibility means how completely two or more liquids dissolve in each other.

Materials Needed per Group: two 50 mL beakers, 0ne 100 mL beaker, 100 mL water, 100 mL ethanol

Students complete the following:

Add 50 mL of water to 50 mL of water. They

Add 50 mL of ethanol to 50 mL of ethanol, you get 100 mL of ethanol.

However, when 50 mL of water is added with 50 mL of ethanol?

They get a 96 mL solution.

Why?

The water and ethanol molecules are different sizes, with the ethanol molecules are smaller. Some of the ethanol fits in the spaces between the water molecules.

Think about two other materials: a liter of sand and a liter of pebbles. If you pour the sand into the pebbles, the total volume will be less than two liters, because some of the sand fills in the spaces between the pebbles.

Bernoulli’s Principle: Discrepant Event

Materials Needed per Group: two empty soda cans, 23 straws, one metric ruler

Students complete the following:

Place 22 straws side-by-side 1 cm apart.

Place the two empty soda cans on the straws 5 cm apart.

Two empty soft drink cans are placed on several drinking straws. Air pressure forces the cans to roll toward each other.

Using the remaining straw, blow between the cans.

The cans roll towards each other until they collide.

Why?

As the velocity of the air between the two cans increases (being blown away), the pressure the air it applies to the inner sides of the cans decreases.

This allows the air on the opposing sides of the cans to push the cans towards to the area of lower pressure.

Ensure students understand that the air pressure on the outer sides did not increase, rather it was the decrease in pressure between the cans that allowed the cans to roll towards each other.

The cans were not “sucked” together. They were pushed together.

Additional Resources

Teaching Science using Discrepant Events

Mysterious Floating Cork

May the Force Be With You

More Discrepant Event