In my previous post, I addressed the topic of resistance to change that both new and veteran teachers are facing when encouraged to incorporate 21st century skills into their classrooms. Some of the common arguments that float around in my science teaching context include lack of time, an already heavily loaded curriculum, lack of resources and support, and a lack of will, or an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion. It is argued that several of these arguments stem from the fact that “teaching in secondary school science classes is very often highly teacher centered and is characterized by a lack of variety in teaching methods” (Johnson & Johnson, 1983; Becker 1994; Poepping & Melle, 2001 as cited in Eilks, 2002, p. 11) and, as a result, teachers are feeling the strain that this traditional pedagogical approach may cause.
In order to deal with the strain my department is feeling, I began to introduce teaching through “stations” which is something that I had been using even during my field experiences and my year teaching grade 2 in the UK. Even though station rotation has been around for some time, it is seldom implemented in the secondary science classrooms (p.11). Therefore, this lent itself well to incorporating innovation into our stagnant pedagogy. Stations involves the physical rotation of students from one area of the class to another whereby materials and a different independent activity lay ready for the group to tackle collaboratively at every station. “[H]ands-on activities are an effective way for children and adolescents to acquire knowledge” (Costa, 2003 as cited in Bulunuz & Jarrett, 2009, p. 87). In addition, the teacher is usually situated at one of the stations whereby they are able to work with the students on a more personal level. In science, this approach is extremely effective for several reasons:
Reduces the amount of material needed.
Allows a more focused and learner-centered approach for laboratory skill attainment under the watchful eye of the lab technician for safety concerns and the teaching of lab techniques in a more structured way.
Allows for differentiation in both the activities and the way in which the teacher engages the students. For example, as Alison Doubet indicates, “[s]tations allow [the teacher] to group … students according to their needs so [the teacher] can provide instruction specifically tailored for those learners. Using this technique with small, manageable groups allows [the teacher] to teach, re-teach, extend, or have students practice based on their immediate needs” (2020, par. 4).
Allows the teacher to work with every student in the class when the group arrives at that station. This, in turn helps teach self-regulation since the teacher has a decent amount of time to assess students through discourse, offer feedback, and offer extra support when needed.
Draws upon 21st century skills such as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication since students are actively engaged with each other and being encouraged to dive into the activities that utilize these skills.
After several years of creating and implementing station activities in my class, I was able to successfully introduce stations to my department, and we have been using this method for lab activities and even common assessments. After taking PME 831 Innovative Curriculum Planning, I added another layer to this approach by introducing the Flipped Learning Model. In the flipped learning model, students are viewing and listening to lessons, that I created, at home before coming to class to participate in the activities designed to reinforce the theory. With the shift to online learning due to COVID-19, the flipped learning model provided training for my students before we were forced into it. It is also possible to do station work through distance learning. Here are some excellent YouTube videos that cover both the advantages of station work as well as ideas on incorporating it into an online teaching scenario.
Video 1: How and Why to Integrate Station Rotation into your Classroom
Video 2: Virtual Station Rotations
An Example of Station Rotation in My Grade 9 Science Classroom
One of my personal favorite station activities is part of my unit on the circulatory and lymphatic systems in grade 9 science. Students move through eight stations over the course of two class periods for a total of 150 min in all. When I created this activity, I took into consideration Bloom’s Taxonomy whereby I ensured that there were different levels of higher-order thinking required).
I also focused on different learning styles. In this particular activity, students will be moving, using their hands, observing, and listening. Creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, 21st century skills, are also incorporated, and I ensured that I differentiate the activity both in the way students are placed in groups as well as how I approach every group when they eventually make it to the station that I am operating from. The following table brakes it all down:
Station work is certainly a successful example of innovation in a 21st century classroom.
References:
Armstrong, P. (2010, June 10). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University; Vanderbilt University. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/
Bulunuz, N., & Jarrett, O. S. (2010). The Effects of Hands-on Learning Stations on Building American Elementary Teachers’ Understanding about Earth and Space Science Concepts. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 6(2), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75230
Doubet, A. (2020). Blended Learning with Station Rotations. Creative Educator. https://creativeeducator.tech4learning.com/2016/articles/blended-learning-with-station-rotations
Eilks, Ingo. (2002). Learning at stations in secondary level chemistry.. Science Education International. 13. 11-18. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37933362_Learning_at_stations_in_secondary_level_chemistry
McAlister, M. (2020). Virtual Station Rotations [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXG-ju6w7KU
McGraw-Hill PreK-12. (2016). How and Why to Integrate Station Rotation into Your Classroom [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY5iXxqe_WU