Teaching Science at University

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/teachingscience

Introduction

**Course Review: Teaching Science at University on Coursera** **Overview** In the evolving landscape of higher education, effective teaching is as important as research. The course "Teaching Science at University" on Coursera is designed to equip educators—whether they are seasoned academics or new teaching assistants—with the essential tools and strategies needed to teach science effectively. This comprehensive five-week MOOC covers a range of pedagogical approaches, emphasizing evidence-based methods and the latest educational findings in science teaching. **Detailed Course Breakdown** 1. **Introduction: Teaching and Learning Science** The first week introduces participants to the course’s primary objectives: to cultivate excellent lecturing and teaching skills rooted in research. It emphasizes the importance of evidence-based teaching and offers insights into cognitive theories that influence how people learn. Engaging interviews with professors in various fields provide real-world applications and enrich the theoretical foundation. By the week’s end, participants will be prepared to implement at least one evidence-based teaching strategy in their own practice. 2. **Conceptual Change** In the second week, the focus shifts to helping students overcome pre-existing misconceptions about scientific concepts—the key to successful science education. Learners will discover strategies for assessing and addressing these misconceptions, transforming them into entry points for deeper understanding. Effective engagement techniques are discussed, preparing educators to foster an interactive learning environment. 3. **Teaching with Analogies** The third week tackles the complex topic of using analogies in science education. The course highlights the effectiveness of analogies in making abstract concepts more relatable and comprehensible. Participants will learn how to select and implement impactful analogies, thereby enhancing students’ understanding of difficult subjects, such as molecular biology and geophysics. 4. **(Re-)Frame Your Science Teaching** Week four discusses the framing of science education—how to present scientific topics in a way that is relevant to students' lives. Educators will learn to design their courses around real-world problems, enhancing student motivation and interest. Techniques for articulating goals, monitoring student progression, and addressing uncertainty and risk in scientific communication are also emphasized. 5. **Teaching Science in a Lab or Field** The final week dives into teaching methodologies specifically tailored for lab and fieldwork. Participants are guided through designing effective lab classes, employing gestalt principles for clearer presentations, and supporting inquiry-based learning. The importance of model competence in teaching science is examined, allowing educators to better track their students’ conceptual development in practical settings. **Final Thoughts and Recommendations** "Teaching Science at University" is an indispensable course for anyone involved in science education. The structured approach combined with practical tools and research-based strategies ensures that participants emerge as more effective educators. Each week builds upon the last, culminating in a rich understanding of the nuances of teaching science in a higher education context. For those looking to enhance their teaching skills, or for new educators seeking a foundational course that is both insightful and actionable, I wholeheartedly recommend this MOOC. It not only prepares you to convey complex scientific concepts but also inspires confidence in your teaching ability—an essential trait for fostering the next generation of scientists. Enroll in this course on Coursera today and unlock the potential to make a lasting impact in the realm of science education!

Syllabus

Introduction: Teaching and Learning Science

Welcome to your first week of Teaching Science at University! In this first module we will give you an overview of what you will learn during our 5-week course and show you what you can achieve as an excellent lecturer or teaching assistant at your university! In the first lesson our focus is on evidence-based teaching. We will show you how you can base your lectures, lab classes, and courses on science education research. You will learn about main principles of visible learning and mind frames which will help you to embrace these principles. Then we will adapt learning theories to science teaching, starting with behaviorism up to cognitivism, constructivism, and neurodidactics. Interviews with a Professor in Animal Behaviour and a Professor in Neuroscience give further insight in the way we learn. At the end of the first week, you should be able to implement and reflect upon one evidence-based teaching strategy in your own teaching. Have fun!

Understanding scientific concepts is the core of learning science, but often our pre-instructional conceptions act as barriers to reach an appropriate understanding. In this module we will show how to guide students from their everyday conceptions to scientific ones. You will learn how to use your students’ pre-conceptions not as obstacles but as starting points for teaching science. We will show you some methods for a quick assessment of your students’ conceptions. We look at strategies how we can change our students’ conceptions and how we can help your students to change their ideas. Finally we consider how you as a teacher can foster student engagement in class. At the end of the second week you should be able to address the pre- instructional conceptions of your students in your teaching.

This week we would like to show how invisible concepts become visible. In everyday life we learn so many things by comparing and contrasting. From research we know that the use of analogies and metaphors are important features in the scientific endeavor, and their use in teaching science seems a natural extension. We raise the question whether analogies are just excellent communication tools or if they can generate new knowledge. What do the majority of students really understand when analogies are used to explain abstract and difficult ideas such as molecular structures, diffusion, and plate tectonics? We show that It is important to consider students’ personal constructions since no student enters the lecture hall as “tabula rasa.” Science classrooms are common settings in which analogies are used to enhance concept learning; therefore, improving the way analogies are used in science education has important teaching and learning consequences. At the end of the third week you should be able to choose good analogies for teaching science and implement them fruitfully.

This week we want to show you how we can frame our science teaching to increase interest, motivation, and understanding of the students. In the first lesson we ask how the framing of science teaching can help students see the relevance of science for society. We look at problems from everyday life and their potential to foster students understanding of science. Activating our students is one key to reducing failure rates in our classrooms. We look how to design a new course by setting the goals our students have to achieve and how to foster learning when supervising a thesis. Finally we look how to communicate risk and uncertainty in an appropriate way to foster understanding. At the end of this week you should be able to frame your science teaching to make it relevant for your students.

This week we focus on improving students’ learning in a lab or in the field. In the first lesson we show you how to design a lab class, then we focus on delivering a lab class. We show you how you can use design principles (known as “gestalt principles”) to present experiments in a manner which is easy for your students to understand. Then we look at a model on students’ competences on experimentation that you can use to track the development of your students’ conceptual development. From research we know that students often hold inadequate conceptions about the nature of science and the scientific endeavor. We show you how you can address these conceptions to enable your students to understand the meaning of experiments, models, and theories in science. Finally we focus on the role of models in science education. We look at a model for model competence you can use to analyse where your students stand and to train different dimensions of dealing with models. At the end of this week you should be able to design a lab class that improves the inquiry skills of your students.