PITTSBURG, KS – When teacher Caleb Boulware was approached
to beta test Pitsco’s new STEM Expeditions curriculum in his eighth-grade
science classroom at Pittsburg Community Middle School, he was
enthusiastic. He embraced the ideals of the Expeditions right away.
At the same time, he was hesitant. Boulware had facilitated Modules
previously, and, though he respected the platform, he wished for more
flexibility in implementation. The structure hadn’t been quite the right fit
for his teaching style. He knew he was being invited to help make the STEM
Expeditions into the best solution they could be, and he knew that providing
tough – even blunt – criticism would be part of that.
Of the curriculum Pitsco has produced, Modules stand apart, having
the weight of a dynasty. Boulware understood he was being asked to
lend himself to the creation of what could be a new dynasty, and to his
credit he recognized this as not a light decision. Even after he agreed
to beta test the STEM Expeditions, he inwardly hoped he would be up
to the task of providing the kind of difficult criticisms that were being
asked of him. His breakthrough moment came all at once.
“One morning I was reading in the Bible the scripture that iron
sharpens iron, and that is what opened me up. I won’t be doing Pitsco
justice if I’m not honest.”
Now, deep in the beta test, Boulware is on the phone with Pitsco
writers practically every day, letting them know what works for his
students and what needs work. Though (spoiler alert) he loves the
STEM Expeditions, he understands that he and others must dig deep
now to make the Expeditions truly be all they can be when they reach
teachers across the country in Fall 2016.
FLEXIBLE
The cornerstone of the STEM Expeditions is the powerful flexibility
of the curriculum. The Expeditions are designed to be implemented
either rotationally or in a whole-class fashion. The rotational scheme
works much as Modules do – student pairs proceeding through one
Expeditions after another within a seven-day rotational window, with
separate pairs working through different titles.
However, the whole-class implementation is what appealed to
Boulware. In this scheme, the students still work in pairs, but all are
working on the same project simultaneously. Teacher-led instruction is
an essential component, blending with the student-led portions. In this,
the teacher has the freedom to control the flow of the unit.
“We spent an entire day off the Expeditions to work on Ohm’s law,” said
Boulware, “breaking it down on the board and doing a test and a worksheet
over it. We spent another whole day talking about series and parallel circuits.”
Teachers who embrace student-led discovery but who still wish
to guide the class together and customize the experience might
prefer the whole-class implementation. Teachers who wish for a more
thoroughgoing student-led model with diverse projects occurring
simultaneously might prefer the rotational implementation. Of course,
both implementations have at their core hands-on projects, critical
thinking, data gathering, and problem solving. Neither is absolutely
preferred. The demands of the classroom and the educator’s preference
determine the proper path. But Boulware didn’t have to pause – he
knew it was the whole-class scheme that he favored.
“I liked the concept because everybody is on the same page. We’re
not doing five different things at one time. Everybody’s doing the same
thing at the same time. I love that.”
ENGAGING
It’s a mild late-winter morning, and the lively eighth graders in
Boulware’s class are using multimeters to test wind turbines they
constructed on a previous day. Students are noting results in their logbooks and recording the data in tables and graphs, which must
themselves be interpreted.
“It makes me work,” says Cooper, a student. “It doesn’t give you the answers
clearly. . . . It gives you information about what to do to get the information.
It doesn’t tell you what to graph. It just gives you hints about what to do.”
In this way, students are pushed to understand the concepts, not
to just parrot them. Reflecting on his experience, Boulware remarks
that there is no way for students to game the system. “If they aren’t
listening to the Expedition, they are done.”
Student Kiven agrees about feeling pushed. “(In this title)
you have got to assemble the turbines and do a whole bunch of
experiments with them. This is testing our limits.”
Students are conditioned for problem solving and critical
thinking, and this means more teacher freedom. Eighth grader Austin
perceptively considers the Expeditions from a teacher’s standpoint. “It
doesn’t require a teacher to be standing behind you when another kid
has a genuine question or needs help.”
RIGOROUS
The STEM Expeditions are challenging. Practically every student in
Boulware’s class brought up this point. Now here is a fact that might surprise
those who are pessimistic about the ambition of today’s students: the vast
majority of those students indicated they appreciated this challenge. The
reason is clear. The students are making the connection between their work
in the Expeditions and their own futures.
Logan, looking toward a math-intensive future in computer design,
reported, “When we started, we had no idea how to interpret data. This
is getting us to the point where we can.” Kiven, his partner, chimed in on
the point, “It’s something we’ll need to know when we go to high school.”
They aren’t wrong. The Expeditions are correlated to a robust set of
standards, calculated to help a teacher get at those hard-to-reach places.
“The fact that it meets math, ISTE, NGSS, and ELA standards,” said Boulware,
“we’re meeting standards that need to be met. Math, NGSS, and ISTE, I can do
that. ELA, I can’t. They are not my strength.” But the Expeditions give him the
power to focus on his strongest areas and the comfort of
knowing that the other essential skills are still being addressed.
At its most fruitful, rigorous education not only inspires
students to think of the relevance to their own futures but also
prompts them to think of the world around them. The Urban
Wind Farm unit compelled student Austin to think about
the realities of wind technology. “I talked to my family about
the viability of wind farms. I think it is definitely something
interesting to talk about. Done right, it could save money.”
WORLD IN MOTION
The realities of the classroom continually evolve. Expectations
change, and needs change too. The Expeditions grew from what teachers
have told Pitsco are their needs. Pitsco’s success depends on this insight
from its partners – educators. They move forward together because the
challenge is too great for any one person or organization to meet alone.
Pitsco pools its expertise to create new solutions and along the way trusts
in the wisdom and the integrity of teachers providing feedback.
Pitsco has learned a great deal from the beta testing comments from
teachers such as Boulware (and their students as well, who have been
encouraged to critique the Expeditions at every turn). Among other things,
his comments have led to planned improvements in the teacher’s version
of the logbook, adding more resources. The Expeditions aren’t in their final
form yet, but the core is here and the rest is being polished now.
“Once the wrinkles are fixed, I love the Expeditions,” said Boulware.
“I can honestly say I don’t even like them, I love them. . . . If I were
to leave the middle school and become a principal somewhere, the
Expeditions would be something I would push in my departments.”