Modeling Methology

Thanks to the opportunities that have been provided through the N.E.W. 200 Foundation and CUSD 200 over the past 3 years, 19 High School science staff members from our district (14 from South and 5 from North) have been trained in the Modeling Methodolgy of science teaching. Of those 19, 11 have gone through at least 2 years of workshop training, and 8 have applied the Modeling Methodology training they have received to the Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, Geology and Astonomy courses they teach. All of South's staff teaching the physical sciences have now been trained in the Modeling approach. (In addition, both Tom Todd and James Stankevitz have been workshop leaders, training science teachers from schools outside of our district, at the University of Akron, Illinois State University, the University of Notre Dame, and Dominican University. Tom and James will be conducting a second year of workshops this coming summer at Dominican University that are aimed at training Chicago Public School teachers in the Modeling Methodology.)

As a result of this training, our district's students have had the opportunity to experience the scientific rigor required to plan and carry out their own laboratory procedures, collect and analyze laboratory data using computer interfaced probes and software, articulate lab results and problem solving strategies in peer-review presentations, and defend their conclusions both in writing and in oral presentations. In brief, they are required to act like scientists, using scientifically appropriate tools and arguments. Although we realize that not all of our students will go on to be scientists, we believe that with the implementation of the Modeling Methodology in our classrooms, our students will be able to scientifically question and evaluate related claims and arguments that arise in the societal context of their everyday lives.

Click here to read an article describing the Modeling Methodology being used in a Physics application.