Rodger Dusky
Rodger Dusky's Independent Study Unit (ISU) in chemistry puts students at The London Central Secondary School in London, Ontario in touch with the scientific community and allows them to gain scientific knowledge while carrying out practical scientific work. The ISU has become a model for similar units in senior and OAC (Ontario Academic Credits, formerly Grade 13) courses across the curriculum at the school.
Rodger's belief in the value of independent learning led him, along with his colleagues, to define the Independent Learning Skills Continuum, which outlines the skill set that students must acquire in the transition and specialization years of secondary school.
He also developed a cooperative science education program that began in 1993 with 18 students and 60 science professionals and doubled in size the next year.
Approach to teaching
"Meet students where they are and move them beyond where they expect to go."
I see myself as a teacher who makes developing the skills of self-directed inquiry, not the inculcation of subject matter, a priority in the classroom. This emphasis shifts the focus in education to the lifelong process of learning and growing in knowledge, skills and attitudes that allows students to enjoy the continuity and change that they will experience during their lives.
I want my students to think, work and discuss science, and that happens when they work with "real-life" scientists. The students who experience work and learning in the community under the supervision of a professional, and possess the skills of independent intellectual inquiry, will be able to make informed decisions about their futures.
Transferable experience
The Independent Study Unit in chemistry that I developed takes approximately 13 out of the 88 class periods in the year (about 15 percent of the time) and accounts for about 15 percent of the students' final grade. The final product may take the form of a 2 000-word scientific report and an oral presentation on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the teacher.
My initial task in setting up this program was to find and encourage community professionals who were willing to contribute to a secondary school science program. Once a nucleus of resource people was established, the process of increasing the resource base snowballed through personal contacts among community members and the students themselves.
The community professionals that we find are the key to making this program work. They are a valuable resource for me and act as mentors for the students with whom they work. My role is to support and steer my students through the process and product phases of the project. The interdependent relationship that develops among the student, the teacher and the mentor ensures that the students are not isolated.
The in-class portion of the ISU in spent in a number of ways: with me speaking to the class; as one-on-one conference time between the student and me; in oral presentations; and as peer and teacher evaluation time for the oral presentations.
The students practise and refine independent learning skills during the year, including problem solving/decision making; selecting and retrieving material resources and working with community professionals; preparing effective notes; organizing and synthesizing information; communicating knowledge; managing time; and evaluating.
It is important to introduce the ISU right at the beginning of the school year and to set out expectations for the project. For most students, the major stumbling block in an ISU is defining a research topic. This can be alleviated by conferring with the teacher and contacting professionals in the community. The student-teacher conferences also ensure that a mentor relationship is established with a community resource person and that the timelines for the process phase of the project are met.
At the end of the unit, a peer must edit the report to ensure that the evaluation criteria for the written product have been met. The mentor should then validate the science content of the report. I evaluate the report on the basis of presentation, coherence and comprehension of the information and findings in the report. The final mark for the unit is split 50-50 between the product and the various steps of the process leading to it. The evaluation of the written product by peer, mentor and teacher helps to ensure a balanced evaluation and leads to a student's appreciation of what is entailed in the publishing of a scientific article.
We are very fortunate to be located in a community that is rich with science professionals who are willing to support and enhance the autonomous learning projects of our senior students. In smaller communities, the task of facilitating the development of mentorship relationships will be more challenging. Enterprising teachers and students, however, may tap into the resources of the Internet and find the necessary information and support for independent study projects.