还记得中学科学课上难记的术语、枯燥的图表,还有老师催眠般的讲解吗?这很可能就是中学科学课给你的印象吧。其实科学课也可以很好玩,很浪漫的,当然,前提是如果你有一个好老师的话……
美式发音 适合泛听
Extreme Biology 极端生物学
Host: The science classes in junior high or high school, you know they’re 1)notorious for being boring, but they don’t have to be that way. Today we’re going to talk about what good teachers do to teach science. Stacy Baker is a high school biology teacher at the Staten Island Academy in Staten Island, New York.
And one of the things that you do on your Website is that you use, as you put it, cool online tools.
Stacy: So one of the things that I use in my classroom, the first thing that I use is a blog, and our blog is called “Extreme Biology.” And what the students do is they communicate with each other about what they’re passionate about in biology.
So rather than me telling them exactly what they need to learn, instead, they’re given an option to pick what topic in biology they find fascinating and what they want to share with their 2)peers. And as you said, you know, typical science classes, yeah, they tend to be boring because you’re learning about what has already been discovered, and students hate that. They want to be part of the discovery. And so even if they’re just blogging about some current news in biology, they, they feel a part of something special. And oftentimes the scientists will, you know, through Googling themselves or whatever, in looking for who’s talking about what they’re writing, will actually find their blog posts and leave comments to their blogs.
Host: You know, that’s what’s interesting because I’m looking on your Website. What’s interesting about this is you have a topic called “adaptation and 3)acquired characteristic,” and one of your students asks a question: “I was reviewing for the test, having trouble 4)discerning between adaptation and acquired characteristic. Can someone help me out, please?” And it wasn’t you who helped out, it was a student, right?
Stacy: Yes, yes, oh, absolutely.
Host: It came on and explained the whole thing, and then you came back and said, “That’s perfect.”
Stacy: I know, it’s wonderful. It’s a wonderful example of what I’m trying to do in my class, which is have a peer-review process where the students themselves are working. Rather than having it being teacher-focused and I’m just up in front of the classroom just lecturing away, it’s student-focused, and the students themselves are helping each other learn.
And then they also see that I’m part of the learning community. So when they’re picking blog-post topics to write about, they’re informing me about new discoveries in science and in biology that I’m not aware of.
主持人:大家知道,初中和高中课程中的科学科目以乏味无聊而臭名远扬,但这些课程并不是一定得那样。今天我们来说一下出色的老师是怎样上科学课的。斯泰西·贝克是美国纽约州斯塔滕岛上的斯塔滕岛学院的高中生物教师。
用你的话说,你在你的网站上做的一件事就是你使用很酷的在线工具。
斯泰西:我在课堂里用的其中一个工具,我首先用的是博客,我们的博客名叫“极端生物学”。在这个博客里,学生就生物这门课里最喜爱的内容进行相互交流。
因此,事实上不是我告诉他们,他们究竟要学哪些内容,他们可以选择在生物学中他们很着迷,他们想跟其他同学分享的内容。正如你提到的,你也知道,通常科学课往往很乏味,因为你教授的是已经被查明的事实,而学生都很讨厌这个。他们希望参与科学探索发现的过程。所以他们在博客上讨论生物界发生的一些新闻,他们会觉得自己是某个重要事件中一部分。你知道吗,科学家们常常在谷歌上查找自己或其他什么信息,想看看有谁对他们写的东西有什么评论,他们确实会看到学生的博客,还会在博客上留言。
主持人:你知道吗,那就是在看你的网站时有意思的事。有意思的事是你们有一个讨论的话题叫“适应与习得的特性”。在上面,一个学生提出了一个问题:“我正在为测验作准备,但我搞不清楚该如何分辨适应与习得的特性。有谁能帮我?”而伸出援手的并不是你,而是你的一个学生,对吧?
斯泰西:是的,是的,噢,正是如此。
主持人:学生的答复把整件事解释了一遍,然后你在后面跟帖说,“回答正确。”
斯泰西:是的,这很棒。这正是我在教授这门课时的一个很好的例子。这就是建立一个同学间讨论的过程,让学生自己学习。这样,课程就不是以教师为中心——我一个人站在课堂滔滔不绝地讲个不停,而是以学生为中心,学生自己相互帮助,学习课程内容。
而且,他们可以看到我其实也在学习。就在他们挑选博客话题发帖的时候,他们也是同时让我知道科学界和生物界的一些我并不知晓的新发现。
Romantic Geology 浪漫地质学
Host: When Johnny Cash sang Ring of Fire, geology was probably the last thing on his mind.
(Singing) And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire…
Host: But when you factor geoscientist Richard B. Alley into the equation, a song about love becomes a learning tool for budding geology students at Penn State University.
Prof. Alley: (Singing) Around a burning ring of fire…
Host: This man in black appears on a homemade educational video, one of many Richard B. Alley has made as 5)the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University. Hey, professor. So I saw some of your stuff on the Web. How long have you been doing this? Does this work?
Prof. Alley: Oh, a couple of years, and we hope so. Seems like the students are having a good time, so that’s worth something.
Host: So, what gave you the idea to do it this way, when, sing and dance and, you know, talk about earthquakes?
Prof. Alley: Well, I love music. And I’m trying to reach the student. When you go to 900, 1,000 in a class, I don’t know their names. I can’t get into their heads; they can’t get into my head easily. And so, how do we personalize it? How do we give them something that’s extra, in exchange for them putting up with this big class?
Host: And the students in class, do you find that their grades are improving? They’re actually learning the stuff that you’re teaching?
Prof. Alley: It seems like the grades have come up. And we put a big smile on that.
Host: You’re working on a new song?
Prof. Alley: We have a few around. This one should be done by piano because we’re trying to channel Billy Joel here, a little bit, with the Piano Man.
Host: Oh, so, is this called Geoman?
Prof. Alley: It is, indeed, called Geoman. (Singing) Sing us a song, you’re the Geoman. What was and what is and will be on this blue-green ball spinning as fast as we can, with rocks, water, air, you and me.
主持人:约翰尼·卡什在演唱《爱的火圈》的时候,他的脑子里绝对不会想到地质学。
(歌曲)它燃烧,燃烧,燃烧,火圈……
主持人:可如果你把地球科学家理查德·阿利也考虑进去,一首关于爱情的歌曲就成了美国宾夕法尼亚州州立大学初学阶段的地质专业学生的学习工具。
阿利教授:(唱)围绕着正在燃烧的火……
主持人:在这个自制教育视频中出现的黑衣男人是宾州州立大学地球科学系曾获埃文·皮尤教授奖的理查德·阿利教授,这是他制作的许多视频中的一个。教授,你好。我在网上看到你的东西了。你这么做已经有多长时间了?这种做法有效吗?
阿利教授:哦,有两年了,我们当然希望这种做法有效。看起来学生很开心,这很重要。
主持人:那么,你是怎么想到这个做法的呢?你知道,也就是在讨论地震时又唱又跳?
阿利教授:呃,我自己很喜欢音乐,同时,我也想把知识传授给学生。如果你教的一个班有九百到一千名学生,你不可能知道他们的姓名。我不了解他们,他们也不可能轻易地了解我。于是这就带来一个问题:我们怎么样才能让教学更个性化呢?他们来上这种大课,我们怎么样才能给他们一点额外的东西?
主持人:那你有没有发现你这么做后,学生的成绩有所提高?他们是不是真的学到你教的内容?
阿利教授:成绩似乎上来了,这一点让我们感到欣慰。
主持人:你目前在写一首新歌?
阿利教授:有好几首。这一首应该用钢琴表演,因为我们想借《钢琴家》稍微宣传一下比利·乔。
主持人:哦,那你的歌就叫《地质学家》?
阿利教授:是的,确实是叫《地质学家》。(唱)给我们唱首歌,你就是地质学家。在这个有岩石、水、空气,有你和我的飞快旋转的蓝绿色星球上,它的前世、今生和未来是什么?
