Download St. Catherine`s School, Armfield Science Center

The Center for Inquiry-Based Education
Summer Teacher Institute
“Designing Inquiry-Based Curriculum Units for Environmental Science and STEM”
July 25-July 27, 2016
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
St. Catherine’s School, Armfield Science Center
Who:
Are you interested in implementing hands-on learning through differentiated instruction? Would you like to be able to
design your own multidisciplinary inquiry-based curriculum units that are aligned to the latest educational standards? If
so, this institute is designed for you. Teachers from kindergarten through college level are welcome.
When:
Monday July 25-Wednesday July 27, 2016
Where:
St. Catherine’s School
6001 Grove Avenue, Richmond, VA 23226
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

incorporate new and effective inquiry-based teaching strategies

develop curriculum units best suited for your individual needs

empower students to become more active and engaged in the learning process

implement experimental design techniques

integrate differentiated instruction to align with current educational standards

use the school campus as an outdoor classroom
Facilitators:
Dean Goodwin, Ph.D., Tatnall School, Wilmington, DE, Upper School Teacher, and Jeannette Adkins, M.A., St.
Catherine’s Upper School Teacher, who have been using this teaching and learning approach since the early 1990’s.
Together, they have designed a successful format for sharing this process with other educators, ranging from Kindergarten
to College.
Cost and Registration:
$300.00 includes lunch and conference materials for the three days. Registration is limited to 20 participants. To sign up,
please fill out the attached Google form http://goo.gl/forms/tzBepjRZ28
The Center for Inquiry-Based Education
Summer Teacher Institute
“Designing Inquiry-Based Curriculum Units for Environmental Science and STEM”
July 25-July 27, 2016
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
St. Catherine’s School, Armfield Science Center
Why is inquiry-based learning important?
Schools across the nation are implementing interdisciplinary science initiatives in response to current
educational research that addresses the needs of the 21st-century workforce. A curriculum that is centered on a
hands-on, inquiry-based approach that utilizes place-based experiential learning opportunities will be described
in this workshop. The interdisciplinary science content of biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental
science, can be coordinated in a manner that also embraces the humanities, social science, and all other school
disciplines. This methodology is consistent with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), the proven strategies in SciGirls7, and other discipline specific
recommendations. Problems, which focus on real-life environmental situations, show how science, and other
disciplines such as humanities, language, arts, and the social sciences, can be effectively combined. The
presenters have successfully utilized this methodology in their own classrooms for many years.
What you will learn
 Participants will be introduced to inquiry-based problems that allow students to engage in higher-order
thinking skills while learning the principles of scientific discovery and research.
 Participants will be guided through a stepwise method to write an open-ended curriculum unit using
“place” as the vehicle for solving a local environmental issue within their community. They will be
introduced on how to engage students in the issue and what steps should be included in the solving of a
problem.
 Each participant will leave with a compendium of all the units that are designed by every participant
during the workshop. Participants are encouraged to attend with a colleague from another discipline in
developing the transdisciplinary unit.
Expected results:
During this workshop, you will develop a course unit that will:
 introduce students to the basic concepts of the physical and biological sciences and show the links to
other subject areas
 cultivate a lifelong interest in the field of science and the natural world
 provide a strong inquiry-based curriculum aimed at developing a student’s innate curiosity and creativity
regardless of a student’s weaknesses or strengths
The presenters utilize an approach that married traditional instruction methods with inquiry-based components
such as problem-based instruction, hands-on laboratory activities, class discussions, group activities in addition
to traditional instructional methods.
Students of all abilities become engaged and excited about education by being part of a real-world problemsolving team. The unit that you will design in this program allows students to actively engage in their own
learning through authentic intellectual work. Students learn to be scientific investigators not just passive
learners of science, as they link topics to other subjects. Participants’ students will find that investigations in the
natural world can be fun and engaging. This program can change the attitude of students towards learning and
make them engaged and more interested in their education. Inquiry-based learning is a dynamic educational
experience, actively involving the students at each stage in the higher-order metacognitive skills of critical
thinking, experimental design, obtaining data through active research, and data analysis. Inquiry-based
education allows teachers to act as facilitators as students take responsibility for their own learning. The
students also develop a feeling of self-worth by being able to provide solutions to legitimate issues and gain
self-confidence as they openly defend their knowledge and viewpoint. As students become more actively
involved in their own learning process, it has been shown that they learn and retain more knowledge. This type
of inquiry-based curriculum unit allows teachers to present a differentiation of instruction that addresses
multiple intelligences. Such an inquiry process approach enables the students not only to investigate and
understand specific content material, but also enables them to investigate to understand!
Using such strategies, students at develop skills needed to become environmentally aware 21 century global
citizens. This fully-integrated unique and innovative curriculum embeds hands-on, experiential, inquiry-based,
and community focused learning within a placed-based structure; connecting local issues to global concerns. St.
Catherine’s School campus on Grove Avenue and at Goochland Fields offers opportunities to experience the
natural world providing the chance to do science like real scientists and to understand how authentic research is
done. By attending the workshop, you will be able to introduce this approach to your own students, and utilize
your school campus as an outdoor classroom.
st
Questions?
Jeannette Adkins, [email protected]
St. Catherine’s School, 6001 Grove Ave, Richmond, VA 23226