STEM
Reinventing STEM
In a typical day at Sonoma Academy, visitors popping into our STEM classes might find physics students conducting experiments in velocity with flying pigs suspended from the ceiling; stats students huddled together, seeking consensus as they discuss possible solutions to a problem; biology students examining plant cells under microscopes; chemistry students dipping alkali metals into water and recording the reactions they observe.
Of course, these are not typical days, and our STEM department is reinventing their pedagogy to engage students in math and science from home. Our teachers are excited and intrigued by this massive experiment in learning. As they reimagine their teaching, they are guided by the tools of science: data, feedback, research, and above all, a lot of patience.
STEM Department Chair Lisa Zavieh says, “Teaching remotely has challenged me to be creative in delivering content. I’ve had to find ways of getting at the heart of things quickly, focusing on the nuggets that are most important.” Many of Lisa’s classes are lab-heavy, but she has been successful in identifying virtual environments that can simulate the experience of a hands-on lab or activity. “I’ve even had students investigate their own surroundings,” she says. “I am doing as many hands-on activities as I can find just to get students away from their computers. In Physics, they are examining the motion of objects not only in virtual labs, but also with things they can find in their home, which actually makes the learning of those things more impactful.”
Robotics is another course that is typically very hands-on, and Ramsey Musallam has figured out how to bring that experience home. Students have kits to use at home, and they are working through programming and engineering challenges, posting videos of their progress each day online. “Robotics is more hands-on than any class I have ever taught, actually,” says Ramsey. “The students are doing projects with their robots daily, individually, and no work is offloaded to any other group members. I think working side by side, but with individual materials, can be more valuable for the students than collaborating around a group and one set of materials. I will be considering this moving forward after distance learning is over.”
There are many aspects of online teaching that are more challenging to adapt. Teachers in all disciplines mention how challenging it can be to “read the room” and check for understanding in Zoom. Math teacher Daniel Karbousky says, in an in-person setting, he relies on many cues from his students. “When checking for understanding I stay away from the questions, ‘does that make sense?’ or ‘do you understand?’ because students either tend to say yes simply because they want to please the teacher or because they would simply rather move onto something else. So to really see if they understand, I can look over students’ shoulders to see their work, I can read their body language if they seem to be understanding, or ask one of them to go to the board to share their answer.”
Teaching online means that teachers must find creative ways to make sure their students are following and understanding the content. Dan has asked his students to give feedback in the form of a thumbs up/thumbs down/thumbs sideways spectrum to express their understanding of a lesson. He has also figured out a way to keep the whiteboard work space that is so helpful in seeing how students are thinking through problems. “I was able to purchase and send home whiteboards for all my students before the start of the semester. Because of this, I now have the ability for them to write answers to problems on the whiteboards and hold them up to the screen. It works well enough, and in my daily “exit ticket” emails they always say that a highlight of the class is writing on the whiteboards!” says Dan.
Several STEM teachers mentioned that asking for more explicit feedback in class discussion or in the form of daily “exit tickets” has been crucially important in helping them teach effectively. And organization and planning are more critical than ever. Lin Yeu says, “I thought I was organized before, but now I have to be much more on top of things to ensure that students feel supported. This means that I can’t just have a class discussion going through answers, because time is so limited. Now, I make sure that I provide answers in a written format so students can learn to be self-reflective and compare their own answers to the solutions.”
As scientific thinkers, our STEM faculty will continue hypothesizing, observing, experimenting, and evolving as teachers as the year goes on. Although they may keep some of these new techniques and strategies, they look forward to being on campus again. “I will say that online teaching makes me appreciate the multi-sensory richness that in-person teaching can offer,” says Dan.
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...the only private, independent, college preparatory high school in Sonoma County. On our beautiful campus nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Southeastern Santa Rosa, our students are able to explore their interests and passions in a rigorous and inspiring environment that develops a lifelong love of learning and prepares them for college and beyond.
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