Middle School and Informal Settings

I found the article by Miele and Adams to be useful in gaining a deeper understanding of how teaching students in informal settings look. The article gave cited evidence in the introduction ... See More

I found the article by Miele and Adams to be useful in gaining a deeper understanding of how teaching students in informal settings look. The article gave cited evidence in the introduction to why informal learning experiences are essential to students and their engagement in science. This is important to me because I like to see sound evidence to go along with ideas and other information published in articles. The article continued with informative sections about what informal settings are and how they can be implemented in the science classroom. I found this helpful to read about some specific ideas on how to use informal settings, not just the day of, but also prior to and after using the setting. The article even gave specifics on how to create a 5E lesson out of the use of an informal setting. The examples given made it easy to understand how a teacher could incorporate the 5E model with the use of a field trip. I especially liked the examples of how to get students talking while using informal settings. The authors spent a good deal of time giving conversation stems that can be adapted for use in the science classroom even when not in an informal setting. Overall, I feel this article has much value for the middle school science teacher.