Summary of professional goals for Fulbright Program:
Collaborating with other educators, I hope to create more engineering activities to support phenomenon introduced in the science content. I am particularly interested in utilizing limited resources and developing problem-solving strategies to foster an environment that encourages sustainability and entrepreneurial development. Indicators of success will be student work samples, analysis of lesson development, and group reflection.
Motives for the Fulbright Distinguished Teacher Award and goals for future influential impact:
My friend, Milaena Reade, received the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term program award in 2013. During her experience she met educators from Reutlingen, Germany and initiated an exchange program between our high school and their high school. Collaborating with Milaena and participating in the exchange program helped transform my global awareness. Excited about the opportunity to participate in an exchange program, I am eager to forge relationships with colleagues from around the world and innovatively create curriculum that will positively impact students in both the United States and abroad. For the last several years I emphasized the importance of the design process in the science classroom setting. Energized by creating curriculum that is impactful to student learning encouraged me to apply new skill sets over the remainder of my career. Recent research encourages students to engage students in scientific investigations, resulting in an enduring understanding of science and engineering and of the natural and designed world. Utilizing science and engineering investigations and design benefits students, particularly when constructs are relevant to the student and when students can make sense of evidence to understand their natural world outside their classroom. The implementation of instructional practices will require significant and sustained collaboration between colleagues. I am eager to continue with professional development that would advance in practices that are consistent with how students learn. As a recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Teacher Award, I am eager to share my experiences via various mediums. As an avid photographer, I would photo journal my experiences and write about the experiences via a blog. In addition, I will send messages and pictures via my twitter feed. I would provide a PowerPoint presentation of my experiences to share with an interested audience, including local organizations and state science meetings. Most importantly, I would share my experiences with my students. I am constantly searching for creative problem-solving strategies to share with my students. Just recently, I read about a young man in Kenya who created an electric grid for his village with a small waterfall and a bicycle wheel. Other great examples I that I already include in my renewable energy unit is using gravity to provide light in third world nations as a replacement for kerosene lamps via the gravity light. In my travels to Lucerne, Switzerland, I have shown pictures of the Needle Dam in our energy and renewable energy units. Sharing experiences and problem-solving events throughout the world can open doors for solving today’s and tomorrow’s problems throughout the world.
Title of project: Unleashing the Design Process
My primary topic of inquiry is the development of STEM education in Finland. Collaborating with Finnish educators on the development of STEM education, particularly engineering practices would be ideal. I use multiple hands-on methods in the science classroom. I would like to observe how Finnish students apply and use technology in their learning environments. Constantly looking for innovative ideas to draw student interests, I would also be interested the development of sustainable development and particularly entrepreneurship education. Some questions I have include: How does metacognition play a role in student’s interest in science? How many students go into science careers? Does the development of STEM activities encourage student interest in science and engineering? How is sustainability taught or entrepreneurship encouraged? What limits are placed in the development of science education? Has modeling instruction been used in Finnish classrooms? What can I learn about STEM from Finnish schools? I hope to answer the previous questions and plan to have many more.
I am eager to embrace in the learning of a new culture and how science is taught. In reading the description I saw that one key area could be the collaboration of US and Finnish educators collaborating to develop STEM education. Because I am very interested in inquiry-based instruction, I would like to observe classrooms and share ideas. Because STEM education is my primary area of interest, I wanted to observe STEM in one of the world’s finest educational settings. To better understand the education system, I would hope that I could visit multiple school settings or work with individual teachers to gain insight in the educational settings. I would interview teachers and students, make observations and read about various opportunities. I would be interested in surveys for more qualitative data.
Every global experience that I have had has enhanced my educational practice. I have always embraced opportunities to learn and adapt to my surroundings. I am eager to acquire skills that I can share in my own community, state and country.
Many of the students that I teach have not even traveled outside of their own town. They are unaware of the opportunities in the world. Being versed in global awareness helps me ignite student desire to learn differently or provide opportunities for alternative learning pathways. My students could both directly and indirectly benefit from collaborations from the Fulbright program. I am interested in forming lasting collaborations that would be mutually beneficial to both systems.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express a sincere appreciation to Dr. Jerry Riibe, Superintendent of Schools, and the Muscatine Community School District for allowing me to participate in the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching in Finland. I would like to thank my principal, Corry Spies, for his support and facilitation of a smooth transition from the fall semester to arriving in Finland. Likewise, I would like to thank all my coworkers for their continued support and encouragement. Possessing an endless enthusiasm and attention to best teaching practices, Kelly Beale has been my rock during the fall of 2019, and I will miss our STEM Innovator Fridays and “Headline News.” I would like to thank the support of the Fulbright Association in both the United States and Finland and IREX for all of their assistance and professional development. Finally, I would like to I would like to thank my family and friends for their continued support. Especially, I would like to thank my brother, Mike Harper – my go-to person. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Jim Joslyn, for his patience, love, and encouragement.
Be Curious! 