Transforming Pedagogical Content Knowledge through Technology

Based on years of observing their previous teachers and professors, graduate students enter educational programs with preconceptions about how to teach. Technology has the potential to transform content for diverse learners (Rose & Meyer, 2002; Angeli & Valanides, 2008), but most graduate students do not know how to teach with technology (Ertmer, 2005). This presentation will explore how graduate students increased their ability to help diverse learners and thus, their pedagogical content knowledge. Blogs, Wikispaces, and Storybird will be the featured technologies.

Presenters: Sherri Weber, Jing Zhang, Christopher Shively

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Conference Presentation: PDSF + (TCs+BSCP) = SL; Tracing the Development of a STEM Unit

When Professional Development School faculty (PDSF) work with teacher candidates (TSs) and a SUNY Buffalo State professor (BSCP), fifth grade students learn (SL) how chemistry and physics influence an engineering project The content of this presentation explains how a summer conference idea from a Lake Shore 1st grade and 5th grade teacher and elementary principal led to the development and implementation of a STEM unit. In the fall 2015—spring 2016 semesters, Buffalo State teacher candidates and a math/science methods professor planned the unit and tried out the lessons.

When the unit was ready, a 5th-grade teacher, a Buffalo State TC, and the college professor taught STEM unit lessons to 5th graders and helped them engineer “squishy,” electric circuits that sent messages over a distance using light.

Presenters: Dr. Christopher Shively, Mary Brumagin, and Jill Clark

[link to presentation]

Conference Presentation: Does Actual Teaching Mirror the Task 4 Requirement of the edTPA Assessment? How aligned to actual teaching is the edTPA assessment?

In this presentation, a teacher candidate, Samantha Hoggard, described the teaching task assigned to her by her cooperating teacher. She was asked to “grade” math fact fluency tests for several weeks. As she methodically scrutinized the data, Samantha unknowingly mimicked many of the Task 4 requirements of the edTPA assessment. This presentation will highlight the connections between real teaching and Task 4, uncovered by Samantha.

Presenters:  Samantha Hoggard and Dr. Chris Shively

2nd Graders and Ms. Hoggard
[link to presentation]

Conference Presentation: Making Invisible Science Concepts…Visible: “Hands-on” Investigations Are Not Enough

Elementary school students cannot see electrons flowing through a closed electric circuit or the forces acting on a floating boat. When elementary school students participate in “hands-on” investigations regarding these two phenomena, it is very hard for a teacher to know what concepts students have assimilated.

This presentation described how teacher candidates planned, taught, and analyzed three science lessons intended to improve elementary students’ conceptual knowledge of electricity and forces.

Presenters:  Kelly Beller, Natalie Galvin, Jenna Murphy, and Dr. Chris Shively

4th Grade Student and Natalie Construct a Physical Circuit
[link to presentation]

Important Website

[PhET Circuit Construction Kit]