Course Analyes

Three courses were completed while teaching in order to enhance my previous educational experience and to satisfy the requirements of teaching secondary science. It essential for the secondary science educator to be well versed in all aspects of biology as well as chemistry and the earth sciences, because one could be called upon to teach a variety of science curricula depending on the needs of the school.

The first course that I completed was DNA, Chromosomes, and History. This was a graduate-level course in which one class period was devoted to the history of genetics and the other to the mechanics of genetics as well as current research in the field. This was a very information intensive course, providing extensive notes and readings from historical and textbook sources. It was beneficial in terms of the historical information presented because I was teaching a section on the same topic for the Advanced Placement Biology class. The information gained during the course would definitely be more geared towards an in-depth AP biology unit on genetics but would have to be greatly diluted for use in the general biology classroom.

Biogeochemistry was the second course completed. This graduate-level course served to synthesize every piece of scientific knowledge I have been exposed to throughout my educational career. All aspects of the earth and its intricacies were examined. The focus of the course was the relationships between the biota and substrate of the earth in terms of their physical and chemical interactions. This course was especially relevant as I taught chemistry, and I was able to directly relate the information I gained in class to the lessons I was preparing. The course was very demanding in terms of the quantity of information to be processed. The textbook was very comprehensive as were the notes given in class. The reading and summarizing of four scientific journal articles were also required each week. As a result a great deal of experience was gained in processing an enormous amount of information, maintaining it in an organized manner, and then synthesizing this broad range of scientific information into a cohesive body of knowledge.

The final course completed was The Genetic Diversification of Animals. This was a graduate-level seminar which explored the genetic influences upon and causes of the divergence of the animal kingdom. Journal readings from specific genetics-related, scientific journals were required as well as the written summary of each article and the synthesis of the articles to each other as well as to all of the previous articles and discussions. Although most students in the class had an extensive genetics and developmental biology background and the information presented was very advanced even for the AP classroom, the professor was excellent at making sure that everyone understood the concepts and never made me feel inadequate in my attempts to explain and understand some very complicated topics. Not only did I gain a great deal of scientific knowledge from the course content but my professor also provided me with an effective model of how to develop confidence and understanding in my students.