2019 Wyoming Innovations in Learning

Come join us in learning about shifts in science teaching and learning! Since the adoption of Wyoming’s new science standards in 2016, teachers are being asked to re-evaluate what science teaching and learning looks like, sounds like, and feels like. In providing professional development for in-service and pre-service teachers, we have found success in the use of natural phenomena, or observable events, alongside reflective practice as a strategy of introducing/framing units, creating more engagement and buy-in from students. The use of this strategy leads to student questions, which are used to drive the instruction. As a result, students experience higher levels of engagement and connection in the instructional units. Participants will spend the session engaging in this practice with the facilitators, focused specifically on Wyoming-centric phenomena.

Upon completion of this session, participants will have gained personal understanding regarding:
1. Phenomena-based instruction
2. Place-based (Wyoming-centric) instruction within science teaching
3. Fundamental ways that science teaching and learning is changing in light of the new science standards