TPCK Chapter 9 Reflection

Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 9- Science, technology, and teaching: The topic-specific challenges of TPCK in science
Due: March 18, 2009

As one of my integrated unit partners is the science teacher, I began reading this chapter not just for myself but also to aid Tom Piekart in his incorporation of technology rich experiences in our integrated Wabanaki unit. But as I was reading, it became increasingly clear that Tom is one of those exemplary science teachers whose knowledge in this area exceeds the standard. He worked as the technology integration specialist for our school before becoming the science teacher, so he is not only familiar with the available technology but probably aided in its acquisition.
I did, however, learn quite a bit myself about the difference between technology being used to enrich a lesson and technology that is the lesson. My former colleague used to set up cat dissections in her anatomy and physiology course. It was not only extremely expensive but also ridiculously messy and foul smelling. In these tough budget days, it only makes sense for her to switch to a digital version. The lesson will be far more effective when mistakes can be redone and someone going ahead incorrectly can’t ruin the experiment. On the other hand, this chapter also mentioned those technologies that are so fundamental to the lesson that they are themselves the lesson, such as the microscope or the telescope. I found myself thinking about which technologies, if any, are like that for the English teachers. I have come to the decision that word-processing for English teachers is much like the microscope to the science classroom. The lessons could be done without it, yet the lack of the tool limits the student’s application to real life and real understanding.
In the real world, students are going to be expected to use word-processing programs and other technological skills that we take for granted, and yet they all have to start somewhere. I learned the hard way that all students start at different levels and that it is the teacher’s job to be aware of those differences. Having worked with high school students for so long, I set my 5th graders up in the lab right away to start typing and formatting a newspaper article based on a walk that we had taken. It wasn’t until every child’s screen with covered in funky colors, crazy fonts, and jumbo print that I realized that we had never discussed what I expected for behaviors. They couldn’t do the things I asked and were so excited by the options that they could manipulate that they got completely off track. It took awhile, but I eventually did return to the “lab from hell.” I had to learn, as the book suggests, to take risks, learn from past experience, and hear my students. I needed to hear where they were and ease them into the typing pond with floaties instead of dropping them off in the middle of the ocean without a life jacket. It isn’t just science that requires faith and experimentation; that comes in all fields. It is the requirement of teaching.
As for the Wabanaki unit, I was thinking that models and data collection based on those models might help students to get the full Wabanaki perspective. We can’t go back in time to explore the actual hunting grounds and forests of those time periods, but Tom might be able to recreate the conditions and methodologies of the hunters using computer simulations or models. He may even want to consider having the students track the data of hunting and fishing impacts through the ages to draw conclusions about the laws and ethics. Whatever he does, I know he will effectively use the technological tools in his possession.