Summer Reflection Paper

Michael Maita
Michigan State University
The summer session of the MSU-Wipro STEM & Leadership Fellowship proved
not only to be educational, but inspiring. In my notes from the first day I wrote: It is
clear the MSU team has a serious intent to help us better our practice and is very
knowledgeable. This enthusiasm and capability is exciting. There is also an emphasis
on play and experimentation that is very welcoming. Im looking forward to this
experience. My learning in this session was quite broad in scale, from little tips on
useful technology that can be repurposed for the classroom, to reinforcing my notions
of pedagogical strategies with research, to pushing me to see how a little wonder can
change ones daily perception of the world. Even before the sessions start, with the
reading of Cosmos, the idea of wonder came into focus as a central tenet of this
program. The idea was echoed on the first day, with the World of Wonder activity
modeled by the instructors, and the discussion around the Ollo Clip and changing
perceptions. This immediately grabbed my interest, at a personal and professional level.
If I were to describe fundamental changes required in teaching aligned with the new
Next Generation Science Standards, phenomena-driven (wonder-driven) teaching would

probably be the first. Research around learning pathologies described as amnesia,

inertia, and fantasia call for change just as the Framework for K-12 Science Education
does. One of the first guiding assumptions of the framework is that children are born
investigators - that they are naturally curious and seek to understand the world without
coercement. The framework also pushes a disciplinary approach to teaching, as
described by Mansilla and Gardner in Disciplining the Mind, in what the authors call core
ideas and practices. The alignment of this program with the changes called for in
science education by the new standards gave me confidence that this would be a
fruitful experience.
Looking Back
One of the most striking aspects of this program was the uncovering of class
content. So often education classes say one thing and do another, like teaching about
inquiry-driven instruction through a traditional lecture. Here, we came to understand big
ideas by engaging in them and seeing tangible examples presented both by the
instructors and eventually our peers. A case in point: the world of wonder activity was
interesting from the start with Punyas description of perception and example of
cooking lentils. This perceptual shift was then made the analogue of how technology
can change ones perception of the world, such as with the Ollo Clip. The context
provided by these activities made the reading about the disciplinary mindset come alive,
in that it was clear how ones perception could be changed, and that most teachers wish
to provide their students with much more than content knowledge - to give students a
lens with which to see the world in new ways. Participating in the Alphabits photo
challenge of finding letters in the environment further exposed the idea. This slow
unveiling, approached in multiple ways through different activities over a time scale
larger than a single lesson, demonstrated the power of these pedagogical techniques by
example, in a much more impactful way than a simple reading or lecture ever could.
From my journal: The world of wonder mentality is really starting to take hold. I find
myself often noticing small things in my environment and wondering how they work - I
want to take this back to the classroom.
My fear of the presentation of technology as a cure-all was also relieved on the
first day of the session. It was made clear that technology in itself is nothing new in the
educational realm. The forms may be new, such as the array of digital tools and internet
connectivity available today, but books, pencils, and paper are tools just the same. In the

reading on 21st century learning, the conclusion that nothing has changed and
everything has changed describes technology as just a piece of the much larger puzzle
of high quality teaching, as can be described with the TPACK framework. This is not to
undermine the power of technology. I saw digital tools used in very impactful ways, and
this did not require expensive equipment or intensive training. Going along with the idea
that most educational technology is repurposed, what it took to use technology
meaningfully was just the right amount of creativity to bring the content to life. For
example, the video story problem Quickfire challenge really brought into focus how
much more engaging a video presentation can be than a traditional text-based story
problem. Not only is the media engaging, but the content is literally brought into the real
world through video, fighting the static and disconnected feel that classroom content
can have. This also pushes the wonder-driven inquiry cycle in that the presentation
engages students natural curiosity, and prompts students to lead the conversation with
questions.
Looking Forward
The summer session has reinforced many of the ideas I previously held regarding
teaching, such as using inquiry-based strategies, sacrificing breadth for depth, the
necessity of context for learning, the power of students preconceptions, and the value
of teaching a disciplinary mindset that is more than content. Although these ideas were
not new to me, my experiences this summer have emboldened me to implement them
with confidence, knowing that they are supported by research.
Another of the biggest take-aways from this summer, and one that I plan to
incorporate in my classroom, is the idea that learning is more powerful when made
public. This was never something that I thought of explicitly, and I saw its power
throughout the session, ultimately leading me to focus on it through my ImagineIT
project. Knowing that our work would be made public, whether published through our
websites, books, or just shared with each other in class, gave a concrete motivation for
completing high-quality work, not only because the work is a reflection on us, but
because we were beholden to the learning community we formed. This sense of
collaboration and community is what I hope to instill in my classroom, along with
increasing engagement through the use of authentic audiences outside of the teacher
and class peers. This context, along with inquiry-driven, project-based learning, will hit

the sweet spot in the TPACK framework, and will push my students to see the world
through a new lens by experiencing the scientific discipline, just as we experienced the
ideas in our summer session, walking away changed in our perception of the teaching
discipline, and the world at large.

Bibliography
National Research Council Board on Science Education (2012). A framework for k-12

science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, D.C.:
The National Academies Press
Shulman, L.S. (1999, edited by instructors). What is learning and what does it look like
when it doesnt go well? Change, (31)4, 10-17

Kereluik, K., Mishra, P., Fahnoe, C., Terry, L. (2013). What Knowledge is of most worth:
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Education, (29) 4, 127 140.
Mishra, P. & Koehler. M. J. (2009). Too cool for school? No way! Using the TPACK

framework: You can have your hot tools and teach with them, too. Learning & Leading
with Technology, 36(7), 14-18.