Hello! I wanted to begin this blog with an introductory post of sorts. My name is Arianna Mamer, and I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of Calgary. I am in the concurrent Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education program. My specialization is secondary physics education. Essentially, I like science. A lot. Through my summer research project, funded by The Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE), I am really looking forward to applying knowledge I have gained from my background in science to develop pedagogy I can bring to my future classrooms.
What is my summer research?
This summer I will be developing a series of four workshops for pre-service teachers on integrating critical literacy education into science classrooms. Specifically, how teachers can do a better job of this. I have two main objectives with this research project. The first is to discuss the reasons why integrating critical literacy into science classrooms is important. The second objective is to discuss tangible ways in which teachers can integrate critical literacy education into their science classrooms. In the first year of our BEd at the University of Calgary, all pre-service teachers take a course, EDUC 435 Literacy, Language, and Culture, wherein critical literacy is discussed in a general sense. The introduction in this course is the main factor which inspired me to pursue this research. While the course itself offers lots of information about literacy and language and why it is important to foster it regardless of grade or subject, I found myself wanting to study more with regards to critical literacy, especially in the context of critical science literacy. I also noticed that though the course objectives of EDUC 435 were to discuss the importance of literacy across all subjects, strategies to do so were focused mainly on humanities classrooms. So, critical literacy and its importance was discussed, but through a humanities lens. This summer I will be focusing my research on critical literacy through a science lens.
This project will follow a Design Based Research (DBR) framework where the goal is to build a stronger connection between educational research and real-world practice (Amiel & Reeves, 2008). I will draw on literature to develop materials for my proposed workshops. I will share the materials with others in the educational community for feedback.
Why is this important and of interest to me?
It is evident from the COVID-19 pandemic that misinformation can spread seemingly faster than the virus itself. As a society in general, most of us do not possess the skills to accurately filter scientific information we come across from false information presented as scientific information (I say we, as these are skills I am currently learning as well, because in my experience these are not skills generally taught in schools). Much of this misinformation is spread easily because we tend to believe anything that is labelled as “science” (Braund, 2021). I would like to discover ways to prevent this line of thinking. This isn’t to say I want to teach people to be wary to trust science, but I do want to teach people to be wary of trusting everything they see and hear. Through critical language study as one way to disrupt the commonplace (Lewison et al., 2015), we are constantly being positioned to perceive information in a certain way, regardless of context. In a perfect world this wouldn’t happen in discussions of science because science should be objective. Of course, we do not live in a perfect world so the best we can do is develop the skills to critically analyze the information we are given.
The role that social media plays in the spread of misinformation and/or disinformation is of great interest to me, especially because I seek to enter a profession (teaching) where young minds are continuously bombarded with social media. I would like to discover ways in which myself and fellow teachers may help students navigate social media and what is real and what is not. Based on my Field Experience this past year I am aware that social media plays a large role in the lives of students, and I think that should be embraced however with the caveat that students have the media literacy skills necessary to navigate it without being sucked into the misinformation trap.
Thank you for reading. I look forward to having you follow along on this journey!
References:
Amiel, T. & Reeves, T. (2008). Design Based Research and Educational Technology: Rethinking technology and research agenda. Educational Technology & Society, 11 (4), 29-40
Braund, M. (2021). Critical STEM literacy and the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 21, 339-356.
Lewison, M., Leland, C., & Harste, J. C. (2015). Creating critical classrooms: Reading and writing with an edge. Routledge
