Year 1: 2025 – 2026
Artifact 1:
This artifact comes from a discussion I had with my classmates. This discussion centered around how to identify quality sources of information over the internet. The discussion prompt was to look at popular scientific claims and then look for information online that’ll either corroborate or disprove the claim and then to use a flow-chart that focuses on how to determine if a source is accurate and should be trusted. This discussion is something that is important to me because one of the things that I’m really passionate about is making science more accessible through science communication. With my background in physics, I found that reading and participating in the scientific community was difficult for me and as a future science educator I feel like it’s part of my commitment to fostering an environment that centers social justice that ensures that my students are able to read and participate through accessible scientific communication. Osborne and Pimentel’s article focuses on what the tangible ways are for students to be able to identify which sources are credible to get news from and I find that this focus applies really well to not just scientific information but general news as well. This artifact follows Strand 5, in a more convoluted explanation, because I find that to start implementing proper science communication tactics start from the educators. By empowering students to be able to know what the qualities are of good scientific information, it shapes the way that students will interact with science from the top down.
Osborne, J., & Pimentel, D. (2023). Science education in an age of misinformation Science Education (Salem, Mass.), 107(3), 553–571.
Artifact 2:
This artifact comes from a project where I had to use citizen science to build investigations for future students. This presentation goes through a breakdown of how the project will be presented. This presentation focuses on the more earth science aspect so one of the things that I will want to revisit with this is rooting it in more of the physics behind climate change. I was nervous at first to write out this project because through physics there are a lot of labs that are possible but with citizen science, those projects tend to lean more biology or earth science. I think that to focus this more on the physics aspect will be an important way of tying this project to a future unit but for this example, it leans more earth science. Since climate change is directly explainable by quantum mechanics, this could be a great way to launch a unit on atomic science. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine discuss how citizen science allows for laypeople to be involved in the furthering of scientific knowledge. I find that that is an empowering ability to instill in future students as well, by inviting them into the room it gives them an opportunity to feel like they belong and are capable of contributing to the scientific community even without the fancy accolades. This artifact leans more towards Strand 2 for it’s focus on connecting with the community. The whole point of citizen science is to connect individuals with other like-minded people who want to further a scientific cause. This builds community and sets the foundation for something rooted in authentic partnership between the classroom and the school population.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Learning Through Citizen Science: Enhancing Opportunities by Design Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Year 2: 2026 – 2027
Artifact 1:
Artifact 2: