Indeed, you are the best science educator that I know. I think that 'hands-on' learning is a great idea in principle, but difficult to do well in practice. Your SciSpark work is some of the best that I have seen in this regard.
Shawn McCaslin
Parent
One of the greatest challenges in science education today is teaching students how to think creatively rather than having them just memorize facts. The SciSpark program introduces an assortment of exercises that teach students how to think differently about problems and how to do 'real world' science with open ended questions rather than do activities where they are expected to get the correct answer or else be marked wrong. These activities are a valuable supplement to any standard science curriculum.
Sheri Fallacaro
Parent and special education teacher
SciSpark.com, by Jan Pechenik, is an exciting new resource for science teachers. Teachers are interested in finding ways to make science more real to students and to develop creative thinking skills. Resources that promote problem solving in biology, and not just memorization of facts and vocabulary, are essential for good teaching and learning. Jan Pechenik, a tenured professor at Tufts University, has long been committed to science education. He has written about science education in The American Biology Teacher and his text, A Short Guide to Writing About Biology, is now in its seventh edition.
As a teacher for 23 years, the last twelve at the high school level, I am excited about utilizing the activities available on SciSpark.com. I am always looking for ways to introduce my students to actual scientific research, but I often do not have the time or the access to scientific journals to acquire the research articles. The SciSpark activities utilize data from published science articles and encourage students to think creatively to answer related questions about experimental design and data interpretation. I plan to use the activities in my ninth grade biology class for group discussions when we cover related topics and also as independent homework assignments. The activities encourage the students to use creative problem solving, to question, and to think like a scientist. As part of my course, students design and execute independent experiments. I believe that after working with the SciSpark assignments, my students will be much better prepared to plan and conduct their own experiments.
Gail M. Lima, Ph.D.
Science Department
