Philosophy of Teaching
I began my teaching career in a secondary science classroom after graduating with a science degree in 1990. In 2005 I completed a PhD focusing on education in a science context and initiating sustained and meaningful teacher change (see CV). Subsequently I juggled parenthood and taught part-time in a number of Western Australian Universities until my full-time appointment to the Curtin staff in January 2012. As an early-career university educator, I see it as my task to translate my industry experience as a science teacher to my teacher training students in a manner that helps them to build their own professional identity (Bennett, Rowley, Dunbar-Hall, Hitchcock, & Blom, 2014).
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This is more than career planning or building portfolios of graduate attributes. It is about building a community of primary teacher practitioners who are scientifically literate, confident and competent to inspire and empower their own students and to help them to make sense of their world through science. I have a particular responsibility to engage students with science not only because it is a national objective to educate more maths and science students but also because many students arrive at university somewhat science phobic . So what can be done to break the circuit and educate future teachers to become the most inspiring science teacher they can be?
I chart my way into university teaching with constructivist pedagogies (Ausubel, 1968) and an approach to teaching and curriculum development that I have adapted from Bybee’s (1997) Five E approach to teaching. I have added to the model a 6th E, ‘Evolve’, to incorporate the meta-cognition required of training teachers.
My Six E’s are:
1) Engaging; 2) Exploring; 3) Explaining; 4) Elaborating; 5) Evaluating and 6) Evolving
Since arriving at Curtin I have used this model to create new science units and I have been instrumental in doubling the amount of science taught in the Bachelor of Education. I designed and then taught the common first year unit and second year unit in primary education as unit coordinator for internal and regional students and for the Open University cohort as unit champion[1]. My current cohorts are the first year *students participating in the common year unit 'Inquiring about the World' and second Year Bachelor of Primary Education students participating in ‘Inquiring in the Science Classroom’. A full account of my teaching responsibilities is listed in my Curriculum Vitae (CV).
As an early career teacher with responsibilities for students studying in a range of locations I have provided leadership in the use of synchronous and asynchronous collaborative learning technologies including Web 2.0 tools. This has resulted in the creation of a flipped classroom approach deploying active learning strategies that challenge students to become independent learners (Gao, Choy, Wong, & Wu, 2010; Won Hur, Cullen, & Brush, 2010). An overview of my engagement with emerging technologies can be seen in my website (here). It shows the creation of a web platform, videos and other forms of evidence and enables me to hyperlink and embed evidence into my narrative to craft my professional identity as an early career university teacher (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004).
Currently I am embracing the scholarship of teaching, researching my tertiary classrooms and using the data to refine my classroom practice. I have received two Curtin University grants to examine the impact of new technological approaches from the students’ perspective and also curriculum writing. My presentations in national, international and Curtin University conferences have provided opportunities for me to share aspects of my practice with my peers particularly focusing on the flipped class approach and embedding technology into classroom practice. My focus into the future is on meeting the needs of 21st century learners. In just over three years of teaching at Curtin, I have 12 publications including books, book chapters, articles and conference papers on science teaching and learning, and sustained leadership roles in the regional science teaching professional association.
[1] The unit champion oversees the implementation of the unit to ensure all iterations of the units across all learning platforms are consistent.
* The term pre-service teacher and student are used interchangeably.
I chart my way into university teaching with constructivist pedagogies (Ausubel, 1968) and an approach to teaching and curriculum development that I have adapted from Bybee’s (1997) Five E approach to teaching. I have added to the model a 6th E, ‘Evolve’, to incorporate the meta-cognition required of training teachers.
My Six E’s are:
1) Engaging; 2) Exploring; 3) Explaining; 4) Elaborating; 5) Evaluating and 6) Evolving
Since arriving at Curtin I have used this model to create new science units and I have been instrumental in doubling the amount of science taught in the Bachelor of Education. I designed and then taught the common first year unit and second year unit in primary education as unit coordinator for internal and regional students and for the Open University cohort as unit champion[1]. My current cohorts are the first year *students participating in the common year unit 'Inquiring about the World' and second Year Bachelor of Primary Education students participating in ‘Inquiring in the Science Classroom’. A full account of my teaching responsibilities is listed in my Curriculum Vitae (CV).
As an early career teacher with responsibilities for students studying in a range of locations I have provided leadership in the use of synchronous and asynchronous collaborative learning technologies including Web 2.0 tools. This has resulted in the creation of a flipped classroom approach deploying active learning strategies that challenge students to become independent learners (Gao, Choy, Wong, & Wu, 2010; Won Hur, Cullen, & Brush, 2010). An overview of my engagement with emerging technologies can be seen in my website (here). It shows the creation of a web platform, videos and other forms of evidence and enables me to hyperlink and embed evidence into my narrative to craft my professional identity as an early career university teacher (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004).
Currently I am embracing the scholarship of teaching, researching my tertiary classrooms and using the data to refine my classroom practice. I have received two Curtin University grants to examine the impact of new technological approaches from the students’ perspective and also curriculum writing. My presentations in national, international and Curtin University conferences have provided opportunities for me to share aspects of my practice with my peers particularly focusing on the flipped class approach and embedding technology into classroom practice. My focus into the future is on meeting the needs of 21st century learners. In just over three years of teaching at Curtin, I have 12 publications including books, book chapters, articles and conference papers on science teaching and learning, and sustained leadership roles in the regional science teaching professional association.
[1] The unit champion oversees the implementation of the unit to ensure all iterations of the units across all learning platforms are consistent.
* The term pre-service teacher and student are used interchangeably.