Density Curriculum

Introduction

Instructional Approach

The activities in this module are based on a set of pedagogical assumptions and are best supported by a certain type of classroom culture as outlined below:

• Gear your classroom culture towards developing understanding, instead of "right answers." Deep understanding takes longer to develop, but the pay-off is greater in terms of being able to apply the learning more broadly.
• Encourage students to talk to each other when discussing ideas rather than directing all their comments to you. This encourages greater involvement on behalf of the students and supports the development of a community of learners.
• Provide opportunities for students to engage in the kind of scientific inquiry that scientists engage in—where the process of learning the subject matter mimics the process of "finding out." However, not all learning can be inquiry-based or constructivist. Students also need exposure to the models that scientists have evolved during centuries of scientific inquiry.
• Students already hold general principles about how the world works. Often students don't explicitly know what assumptions they are making. They need opportunities to reflect on their own thinking.
• Students won't really change their minds until their objections have been dealt with and the evidence is convincing to them. Their most challenging questions can drive a discussion towards more sophisticated models.
• Science involves the systematic discard and revision of models for ones with greater explanatory power. Understanding evolves in a similar way. Expect students to move towards scientifically accepted models, but realize that they won't all accept the scientific model before the end of the unit.
• Encourage testing and revising one's model over "getting it right." Students who adopt the "right" model without deeply reasoning it through are likely to revert to their less evolved models as soon as the unit ends.
• Encourage students to take risks in their thinking and to test their ideas in a social context. Instead of shooting ideas down, consider the relevant evidence.
• Encourage students NOT to just accept ideas because someone else says they should. They should change their ideas when the evidence is convincing to them.
• Some models have more explanatory power than others, but no model explains everything about a particular phenomenon. Each model fits in some ways and not in others. Critique models as a regular part of class discussions.

Encourage students to generate "rival models"—two different ways of explaining the same event—as often as possible. This helps them to view the models more flexibly and to resist becoming overly invested in one model. However, if students already have a firm idea in mind, they often aren't able to generate two possibilities and need to grapple with their current model.