| "Instructional Strategies" focuses on teacher involvement in actual instruction that integrates vocational and academic education. Instructional strategies consist of (1) initiating integrated instruction such as incorporating vocational and academic skills in instruction and approaching instruction through application; (2) teaching cooperatively by making joint assignments, teaching units at the same time, and team teaching; and (3) sharing community resources in instruction. |
During math class, Jennifer noticed that Greg Morgan, a student involved in auto mechanics, was familiar with the vernier calipers and micrometers that she was trying to explain as a unit of instruction. Jennifer was extremely uncomfortable teaching the use of these tools. She explained, "I was doing a really poor job of teaching. I was trying to teach how to use these tools from the book and it was not working." Greg explained to Jennifer that he had used vernier calipers and micrometers in his auto mechanics class at Pace Vocational School. Then, Greg explained the use of vernier calipers and micrometers by actually demonstrating their use to other students in the class.
Greg enjoyed helping his math teacher and the other students learn the practical use of vernier calipers and micrometers. He was proud of himself and what he had learned about the use of this equipment in the auto mechanics laboratory.
After school, Jennifer went to the auto mechanics teacher, George Jones, and told him about Greg teaching students in her math class how to use vernier calipers and micrometers. George proceeded to assist Jennifer to better understand the use of these tools. She appreciated his help.
Jennifer continues to talk with George about the equipment and tools that he uses to teach math concepts. When she reads something in the math book that is technology oriented, she visits with George and asks him to explain the procedure. Jennifer explains "I feel very comfortable asking for help from George. However, George says he is intimidated because he feels I know so much more math than he does. But I feel that he knows more math because he uses the hands-on approach to teach math every day. I have been teaching math using the theory approach."
After having taught applied math for almost two years, Jennifer feels the students view math teachers differently. The students are pleased that their math teachers have taken an interest in learning more about their vocational preparation. Jennifer also feels that the students have more respect for academic skills that are necessary to be successful in vocational classes.
2. Did Jennifer and George, the auto mechanics teacher, work together to create a positive climate for the integration process? What more could they do?
3. Why does Jennifer feel that George has knowledge about math that she does not have? Why does George feel that Jennifer has knowledge about math that he does not have?
4. Some vocational teachers are intimidated with the theoretical knowledge that academic teachers have while some academic teachers are intimidated with practical know-how that vocational teachers have. What are some strategies that can help vocational teachers and academic teachers work together without feeling intimidated?
5. What might be happening throughout the school system to upgrade deficient teacher skills?
Jan came up with the idea to implement the integration by requiring each of the five business teachers to plan at least one activity per month with one of the math teachers or one of the English teachers. He sent a memorandum to the business, math, and English teachers explaining this new instructional activity. Further, he explained that the activity had to be written up and turned in to the principal's office by the end of each month.
Sharon King, a business teacher, thought that it was a natural blending to integrate business and English. She chose to work with the English teachers. However, she had to spend extra time to plan and integrate these activities. She explained, "I had to figure out when the English teachers were going to do certain things and then I could plan my lessons around that. Further, I had to teach ways of doing things that the English teachers preferred." Sharon felt that the integration activities were taking a lot of time away from her traditional instruction in the classroom.
Sharon also felt as if she was forcing some of the integration activities so she would have something to turn into the principal's office. This extra assignment to plan and integrate at least one activity per month was also disrupting what Sharon actually taught. For example, if students in the English classes were writing reports, Sharon would plan to teach the students at the same time how to type reports. She sometimes needed to make adjustments to her schedule to coordinate this type of activity. In other words, she might have to skip around or change the order of content typically taught when planning her instruction.
In addition, differences existed between what the English teachers wanted and what the business teachers taught. For example, the title page the students were doing for English was not the same as they learned for business. Sharon, therefore, had to adjust. She told the students that if they had no other instructions, the way that she had shown them was a good way to do a title page; however, if they were told to do it a different way by their English teachers, they should do so to avoid getting it wrong for English class.
Further, Sharon explained to the students that there were a lot of correct ways to do a title page. But, in the back of her mind she was wondering if the English teachers realized that there were several acceptable ways to do a title page for a report. Sharon felt that the English teachers were too rigid in their instruction.
2. Is it common in high schools for two teachers to teach the same lesson using different rules? Give examples.
3. Suggest some activities that Sharon and the other business teachers might arrange to make the integration of business and English instruction more meaningful.
4. What might be done to improve communication between the business and the English teachers?
5. Suggest some activities that the business and the English teachers might undertake together so they can align their respective curricula more effectively.
6. If you were the principal at North High School, how could you encourage the vocational and academic teachers to integrate their instruction?
7. How might reports generated by local businesses be used to facilitate instructional integration?
Later in the semester, Larry was preparing to introduce the topic of calculating interest in the computer applications class he was teaching. He came to Jim in the math department after school and asked which formula he was using to calculate interest. Together they decided to begin with use of the simple interest formula. The next day Larry introduced the formula in computer applications class. The students did substitutions using calculator capabilities on their computers to solve problems.
Two weeks later when Jim taught the unit on calculating interest, he reinforced the topic. He briefly introduced the formula because the students had seen it before. Then he had the students manipulate the formula. They started solving problems to find interest using calculators. Then they moved away from using the calculators. For example, Jim would have the students solve for rate, time, or interest.
After Larry introduced the topic, Jim did the follow-up. The two teachers communicated throughout the process. At the end of the unit, Larry thought there were some areas that the students did not understand. He shared that information with Jim. Therefore, when Jim introduced the topic, he focused on those areas that the students did not understand in the computer applications class. For example, when the time period was a fraction, the students did not understand how the fraction was converted to a decimal. So, Jim made sure that he put several fractions into the problems the students were to complete. Jim addressed what the weaknesses were after Larry had introduced the topic.
Jim and Larry believed that this approach was successful. They openly shared information. They met several times throughout the year, mostly on an informal basis in the teacher's lounge, in the hallway, at lunch, or before and after school in their classrooms. They agreed that Larry would be the introducer on this project and Jim would be the reviewer. Further, Jim actually used Larry's teacher's manual to provide some of the same examples Larry had used previously. Jim and Larry agreed that the students' skills on calculating interest improved after approaching instruction as a team. In fact, test scores showed that students' skills in calculating interest related problems improved by 70%.
2. What was the key to Jim and Larry working successfully together on this integration activity?
3. What learning approaches are Jim and Larry using in their teaching that seem to benefit their students?
4. How often do teachers visit with one another to share instructional strategies? Give reasons why they do not visit with one another.
5. How did Jim and Larry overcome some of the barriers that prevent integration? Discuss other approaches they may have taken.
6. What can Jim and Larry do to assure their integration activities will continue in the future?
After much thought, Joe came up with the idea of assigning teams of students to write a business letter taking the role of an insurance company representative who had found safety violations in an auto mechanics business. Joe felt that this would be an excellent review for the safety unit, however, he had one problem with the assignment. He did not know very much about writing business letters. Joe kept wondering how he was going to teach the students to do something that he knew very little about.
The more Joe thought about the letter writing assignment, the more excited he became. However, he knew he needed help with the assignment. So Joe went to the English Department to ask one of the teachers, Lisa Jones, for her help. He had met the English teachers the previous summer during a curriculum writing institute so he knew which teacher he wanted to talk with. In addition, Lisa knew Joe well enough so that he could get straight answers from her.
Lisa was helpful to Joe. She gave him a book on letter writing, and she reviewed with him the standard format for writing a business letter. Lisa also explained to Joe how she taught letter writing to her students.
After reviewing the materials Lisa had shared with him, Joe assigned teams of students to write a business letter as a representative of an insurance company. In the letter, the students were asked to outline the safety violations in an auto mechanics business and then summarize how to remedy the violations. The safety violations had to be real-world problems. In addition, Joe asked the students to write about hazards that might be extraordinarily dangerous.
Joe thought that the assignment would work well because it would provide an opportunity to find out what the students knew without making them take a test. It also gave the students a chance to review the safety materials. Joe assigned the students to work in groups of four to five. He believed this would help the students because they would be able to sit and discuss the safety issues as a team.
During the assignment, there was a lot of information interchanged among the students. The students discovered that they could write business letters. They also learned that nothing serious was going to happen to them if they misspelled a word or did not use the proper punctuation in their draft letters. In addition, they were successful at working together in groups. Joe felt that this was important because assignments in the auto mechanics lab require students to work together repairing cars. Further, when students enter the work world, they know they will find themselves working with others.
After the students finished writing the rough drafts of the letters, Joe asked Lisa to review them for grammar while he reviewed them for content. Lisa was more than happy to help Joe by reviewing the letters. This surprised Joe. He thought Lisa would think the review of letters was another burden on her busy teaching schedule.
After the students revised their letters, Joe graded and returned them. He encouraged the students to revise them again as needed and advised them that the English teachers had agreed to accept their revised letters for extra credit. But none of the students submitted the letters to the English teachers. Joe kept after them for a long time, but they would not revise and turn in their letters for extra credit.
Joe later told his principal, Larry Graz, that the writing task was one of the best assignments he had ever made. He noted that the assignment opened up a number of what he called "teachable moments." For example, a group of students wrote a letter citing a worker's smoking marijuana on the job. Joe was then able to discuss the implications of drug use in the workplace.
2. After Joe made the arrangements for the auto mechanics students to receive extra credit for the letter writing assignment in their English classes, none of the students submitted their work. What are some teaching strategies that might motivate these students to submit their work for extra credit in English?
3. Joe knew he needed help teaching the students how to write business letters so he asked Lisa, an English teacher, to assist him. What are other resources Joe might have used to help him feel more comfortable teaching letter writing?
4. What did Lisa gain from working with Joe on the letter writing assignment?
5. How might student use of computers be integrated into this activity?
6. Joe was looking for nontraditional ways of testing the students about safety procedures and he chose letter writing. What are some other nontraditional strategies Joe might have used that involve vocational and academic integration?
7. In what ways might Joe assist Lisa in integrating some of the English content that she teaches?
The first year Glen was at the Center, he began a project that involved team teaching with two vocational instructors in the pre-engineering course. The class met three periods a day. Glen was assigned to assist the vocational instructors in teaching the students mathematical skills.
One of the pre-engineering instructors, Sylvia Mace, was teaching a unit on scale drawings for surveys the students were doing. Glen noticed that the students were having trouble calculating the scales and computing angles for survey triangulations. Sylvia agreed with Glen that the students were having difficulty with these calculations.
Glen thought of himself as a support person that was in the pre-engineering course to assist students in understanding basic mathematical information. Sylvia admitted that she did not have the mathematical expertise to teach the skills these students needed. Glen jumped right in to teach the students the mathematical skills necessary for them to complete the unit. Glen was excited because he felt needed. He commented, "Sylvia and I put our heads together. We were real flexible in planning the needed instruction. If a problem came up and we needed to deal with it, we would take the time to work on it."
The organization of the class worked very well. After Glen provided the basic instruction, he would then work with the students during the last two periods while they were doing their actual scale drawings. Once the students computed the scales in an applied situation, it became second nature to them. Glen circulated throughout the room to assist the students with their calculations.
Glen noted, "The students thought of the mathematical skills as just a part of what they were doing. I felt particularly good because I was able to help the students with an actual application of advanced mathematics. I became a part of all this madness they were doing. A lot of people feel inadequate and afraid of teaching technical math. This situation gave me an opportunity to explain the use of math skills in a practical mode."
2. Glen appeared to be very excited about working with vocational teachers in their laboratories. How might more team collaboration and teaching be encouraged between vocational and academic instructors?
3. What are some of the more common basic skills that academic teachers might assist vocational instructors in teaching to their students?
4. What are three basic academic skills that academic teachers might assist vocational teachers in teaching their students. Give an example of how vocational teachers could teach each skill.
5. What can be done to assure the continuance of team collaboration and teaching so teachers do not go back to their old ways of teaching?
To prepare for the vocational research paper assignment, John met with the business teachers to solicit advice on making the assignment. The interviews with the business teachers were positive. John incorporated a number of the business teachers' ideas into his assignment. John assigned all students (vocational and academic) to prepare research papers that dealt with their vocational areas of interest.
John and the business teachers met on an almost weekly basis for an entire semester to discuss progress on the assignment. They soon realized that the library did not have up-to-date resources (books and pamphlets) for the students to use. The high school did have some computerized information but there was not enough available to prepare a paper. John felt very frustrated about the situation because Glenwood High School is located in the largest city in the state, and he felt materials about the different vocations should be available and up-to-date.
John and the business teachers decided to contact people in the community to ask them to provide information to students. The feedback from the community was not rapid. By the time the papers were due, John and the business teachers had not heard from all the people in the community. Unfortunately, the students who were involved did not take the time to call the employers themselves or to go to the businesses. John had assumed that because these were the vocations the students were interested in pursuing, they would jump in to find relevant information. But they did not. John noticed that some of the vocational students did not take the initiative to search for materials like the academic students. He felt that the vocational students needed to learn these skills.
John now realizes that he and the business teachers will have to plan this assignment a little better. They felt that the problem was not finding the vocations in the community, but that they had not helped the students learn how to properly approach the businesses for the information needed. John commented, "The business teachers and I will interact more with the employers the next time we make this assignment. Further, we will prepare the students to get information they need from business people. Also, next year I am going to try to work with more teachers, perhaps science and health occupation teachers, to expand the extent of interaction between the students and people in the world of work they are preparing for."
2. What approaches might be used to motivate students to become more involved with the community?
3. How might John work with science and health occupation teachers on a similar project?
4. What are some strategies that John and the business teachers might use in the future to work with businesses in soliciting information on vocations?
Jan and Karl decided to use an integrated activity to study diabetes. Karl helped Jan design classroom activities to teach the math students about diabetes and how to use math calculations as a diabetic. Jan had some students in math class that had already studied diabetes in health occupations. When she presented the diabetic material to her class, the students who had already studied the subject got really excited. Jan capitalized on their knowledge from the health occupations class. Students were teaching one another about diabetes.
Then, a diabetic student actually showed the other students how she measured her blood sugar and how math was a part of the monitoring process. For example, she showed the students how she tested her blood, how to give herself injections, and how she recorded numerical data from the testing.
After the class was over, students were talking to everyone at school about what they had learned. Karl believed this activity was successful because his students knew the background information on diabetics, and they were eager to present the material to the other students. The health occupations students were proud that they were part of the health occupations classes, and they wanted to tell others what they had learned. Jan commented, "Now if there are any health-related issues in my professional magazines, I go to the health occupations teacher and ask him if he can help me teach the activity."
2. What enabled this application approach to work?
3. What other activities might math and health occupations teachers plan together?
4. How might Jan and Karl work together in the future to plan a teaching activity? What are some common barriers to teachers working together that Jan and Karl might encounter?
5. Why should teachers take advantage of knowledge students have to enhance instruction in their classes?
The business teachers gave each of the math teachers a checklist stating the interviewing skills business teachers were helping the students build and what they wanted the students to achieve. For example, the business teachers explained to the math teachers what was meant by body language and how to read it, since body language was one of the skill areas the business teachers were trying to build. The math teachers were assigned the responsibility for conducting the interviews.
In addition, the teachers decided that the math teachers would assign the students interview grades and count those grades for both the math and business classes that day. One of the math teachers, Angela Gray, commented, "The students were very uneasy with me giving them grades for the interviews." She felt the students were not comfortable with these grades being assigned for both their business and math classes.
Angela also felt part of the problem was that students were not informed prior to the interviews that she would be assigning the grades. The students' levels of frustration were extremely high. Angela admitted that the problem was not entirely the grades, but they were part of it. She also believed that sometimes teachers make decisions and do not inform the students of the outcomes.
On the day of the interviews, the students were upset that Angela took the interviewing so seriously. She believed that the majority of the students were upset because she was evaluating them on interviewing skills even though she did not teach them the skills. The interviewing took the whole class period. At the end of the class period, Angela said to the students, "You will be graded on your interview skills for this class even though they are not math."
When the other math teachers took the interview evaluation sheets back to the business teachers, they had the same experience as Angela. In fact, students continued to complain about the interviewing process and the grade assignments. The business and math teachers were also frustrated with the outcome of this activity.
2. What would be more effective approaches for the business and math teachers to use when working together to build students' interviewing skills?
3. How might these teachers have involved students in the grading process so that students did not feel frustrated?
4. What were the primary weaknesses of this cooperative teaching effort?
5. How should grades be assigned for projects completed for more than one teacher?
Jesse and Fred believed that these students needed to have reading, writing, math, and oral communication skills. These are important skills in the horticulture laboratory and the workplace. For example, students must write legibly to fill out an order form or a receipt, and they need math skills to calculate costs.
Over the years, Jesse and Fred have worked out a fairly good process for their students to follow. The horticulture students are assigned to choose topics for their research reports and have them approved by Jesse. Fred gives the students relevant laboratory literature, and Jesse allocates time in English class for the students to visit the library and research the topic. Jesse also lets the students come to the horticulture laboratory during English class to use Fred's books.
Jesse and Fred also work together to grade the reports. When students finish their reports, Jesse assigns a grade. Then he sends the papers to Fred for critique. Jesse and Fred have been making this joint assignment for four years and they feel it has been extremely successful.
Jesse believed that this assignment was going to be more of a hassle for him because instead of having a classroom of students over whom he was in direct control, now he has to send them to the library or laboratory and he loses a little bit of control. Also, Jesse now finds that he sometimes grades reports on topics unfamiliar to him.
Jesse thinks that he is naturally critical of the technical report assignment. Even after using the assignment for four years, he doesn't feel it is what he would like it to be. Sometimes, he thinks the students' reports are a little too simple, and other times he thinks they really do a great job.
2. What concerns do students have when teachers give them joint assignments?
3. Communication between teachers appears to be a major concern when making joint assignments. What are some communication strategies Jesse and Fred might implement so the joint assignment will be less of a hassle?
4. Why might Jesse feel concerned about giving the horticulture-related writing assignment instead of the one he would traditionally give?
Last summer all the teachers at Rural Advance High attended a curriculum writing institute. At the institute, Sarah told Curt Gray, the computer laboratory teacher, about her plans to better utilize the students' computer skills in her applied physics course. Curt replied, "Well, that's what I teach. Why don't I come in and help you out with that." Curt knew exactly what Sarah wanted to do and he was excited about helping. Drawing from past experiences, Sarah believed that when a guest speaker teaches the class, the students believe this speaker more than the regular teacher.
Curt and Sarah set a time when he was to teach the applied physics class. Sarah believed that setting a specific time was especially important because all too often teachers talk about a new project but fail to carry their plans forward. Next, the two teachers met to coordinate the lesson. Curt shared his handouts with Sarah. And Sarah gave Curt some examples of problems that were provided in the temperature conversions unit the students were currently studying. Sarah also gave Curt the correct answers to the sample problems.
When Curt taught the class, it went great. The students learned about spread-sheets and spent some time on the word processor. Sarah was up-front with the students. She told them that she didn't know how to do this activity and that they were all going to learn together. She thought that it was especially effective for the students to see their teacher going through the learning process with them.
Sarah doesn't think that all teachers are comfortable learning with their students. For example, some teachers will buy a new piece of equipment and keep it in the corner until they get time to learn about it. Sarah prefers to throw away the lesson plans for a day and get out that new piece of equipment. She likes to sit down with the students and try to figure out how the equipment works.
Sarah and Curt felt that the temperature conversion lesson was very effective. Since that time, the students have been applying the information that they learned to other learning settings. The two teachers plan to work together again in the near future.
2. What are some of the teacher attributes and skills that contributed to the strategy's success?
3. Because computer technology is progressing rapidly, it is difficult for teachers to stay current. In addition to what Sarah did to learn about computers, what are some other ways that teachers can comfortably learn lessons with their students?
4. Sarah believes that it was important to establish a common time for teachers to meet and plan. Given that some teachers have hectic schedules, how might teachers get together to plan common teaching activities?
5. What are some examples of other lessons that Sarah and Curt might plan to team teach?
At lunch one day, Sue discussed her apprehension with the computer laboratory teacher, John Katz. John recognized Sue's anxiety and offered to be present to assist her with the word processing instruction. Sue gratefully accepted the offer.
On the day of the initial word processing instruction, Sue and John decided to present the material to the students in the computer laboratory. First, John presented instructions about the software to the students. Sue knew how to use the software package, but she was afraid the students would ask her questions that she would not know how to answer. John assured Sue that he would be in the room to answer the students' questions. Sue felt more confident having John in the room to answer the questions.
By the third period that day, Sue added comments during John's instruction. John and Sue started switching roles. John backed off and let Sue take the lead in presenting the material. When something came up during the instruction that John knew the students were going to have trouble with, he would interject and help them get through the experience. By the afternoon, Sue was presenting the material on her own. She even remembered the points that were going to be problem areas.
Sue enjoyed the fact that John was still in the classroom during the afternoon. He was serving as the facilitator and helping the students individually. John felt that academic teachers were not used to having students work at different levels. He helped Sue get through the process of having a lot going on in the laboratory at different levels. John felt that if he had not been in the classroom to help Sue, students might have been confused during the instruction.
Sue has been using the computer laboratory to help her students with word processing assignments for the last two years and is accustomed to working in a laboratory environment. John commented, "I knew how to teach in a laboratory setting, but Sue had to feel comfortable in allowing for the appropriate learning to take place in the laboratory."
She is no longer hesitant about teaching in the computer laboratory and would like to teach in the laboratory more often. Sue and John created a schedule to teach in the laboratory so the students can compose a letter of application and write a research paper on the computers. Sue encourages other academic teachers to utilize the computer laboratory. John commented, "I feel as if Sue was successful because there was a change of behavior in teaching that was for the benefit of the students."
2. How often do teachers feel anxiety about teaching an unfamiliar subject such as word processing because they don't feel they have time to master the skill?
3. Is it common for academic teachers to feel uncomfortable when teaching in a laboratory setting?
4. Can you think of other instances when vocational and academic teachers might "switch roles"?
Jim had recently talked to the math teachers at the school about algebra problems and he discovered that he was not presenting the correct material to students. The math teachers gave Jim some ideas about how to present the theories in his classroom. Jim asked the math teachers to share strategies for teaching trigonometry.
When teaching the unit on trigonometry, Jim used kites. He included the construction and production of kites. The underlying principles related to the construction and production of kites include math and science theories. The scientific principles involved everything from Bernouilli's Principle and aerodynamics to wind velocity. Even though this course was designed for junior and senior students, approximately 50% of the students in the class had not completed any math classes beyond basic algebra.
Jim assigned the students the task of calculating how high in the air they would be flying their kites. He provided the students with procedures for determining this calculation. What Jim did not tell the students was that they were using trigonometry. About a week into the unit, students began using Jim's procedures for determining how high the kites were flying. He had one student come to him and say that he did not understand the procedures. One of the other students said, "Well, it is just simple trigonometry." This student and probably ten others became very upset and said they could not do trigonometry. They said they never had a trigonometry course, and they stopped their work on the exercise focusing on determining how high the kites were flying.
Even after three successful days working on the project, Jim felt the students had the perception that they could not work with trigonometry. He helped them see that only then did they decide they could not understand trigonometry. Jim tried to counsel the students on an individual basis. He told them that there was no reason for them not to continue doing the problems related to flying their kites. He helped the students understand they could solve the problems.
If Jim had to do this assignment over again, he decided that he would tell the students up-front that they would be doing trigonometry and then make some presentations related to the theory. Jim said he would emphasize that doing trigonometry would not be threatening, and he would help students with any problems that they might encounter. He had a number of students master the principles of trigonometry even though they were unaware of the content. These students were surprised that they had performed a direct application of trigonometry so easily.
2. What are some other approaches that might be used to teach various subjects through application?
3. What does this case communicate about the possible advantages and limitations of teaching students application before they are taught theory?
4. What are some approaches teachers might take to help students feel more comfortable learning about perceived difficult subjects?
Due to ammonia buildup created by overstocking the tanks and improper water temperature, the fish became stressed. That stress led to an outbreak of a fish parasite known as ick. Once John and the four agriculture students realized that the fish were stressed, they transferred the fish into new water.
At that point, John asked two science teachers, Beth Hays and Cathy Muth, if they would like their students to be involved with identifying the parasite involved and applying treatment. Beth and Cathy agreed that the activity would be beneficial to their students so the agriculture students and the science students began to work together on the activity. They spent two laboratory days identifying and treating the parasite. Beth and Cathy were excited about working with John on this project. Beth was very cautious and reserved because her science students were a little nervous about experiencing a new technology. John commented, "I think Beth is a little nervous because of the unknown."
A technician from the local fish hatchery, Roy Dobbins, was contacted and agreed to assist the students with the project. Roy spent two days at the school assisting with analyzing the problem and instructing students on microscope use. During his first day at the school, Roy helped the students review the potential problems. Roy also showed students what different parasites looked like using some of the fish he brought with him that had known parasite populations.
The second day was devoted to actual hands-on laboratory work consisting of catching the fish and determining which fish were infected and which fish were not infected. The students liked the roles they assumed in the decision process. Actually, the four agriculture students, who had ownership in the fish project, made the final decision for the group based upon scientific data gathered. Cathy commented, "We need to do more of these joint activities that allow the students to apply their knowledge in a practical setting."
It was easy for the students to see the application of scientific principles instead of just looking at slides under a microscope. In this activity, students were able to identify a real problem and then solve the problem. John overheard the students comment that they were fascinated with the movement of the parasites under the microscope and liked being able to handle the fish.
The solution to the parasite problem was treating one of the tanks with copper sulfate. The second tank did not have enough parasites, so it did not require treatment. Even more important, John is planning to expand on this program next year and involve additional students and people from the community.
2. Why might a science teacher feel uneasy participating in the exercise to identify and treat a fish parasite.
3. What other community people might be of assistance in teaching students relevant agriculture skills? List resources in your community to assist with agriculture and science projects.
4. How might John expand this program next year?
5. How might Beth and Cathy actively involve John in their science instruction?