PeBLES2 (Place-Based Learning for Elementary Science at Scale) participant Patrick Conley is featured in a recent episode of the podcast Unpack Everything: Science Education Reform in the Real World.
As a pilot teacher with PeBLES2, Patrick shared about his experience: “The PeBLES project has incorporated a lot of time with us to meet with the researchers—the people that developed and piloted these units—and to meet with the other teachers that are taking part in the project…Just last week, we had two hours where we sat with other people who are teaching the same unit that we are, and they got to present the lessons that they’re doing, bring up some of those questions—we just spent two hours talking about the work they’re doing in science and sharing our own experiences, and that was just incredibly valuable and something that I wish we had more opportunity to do right in our own school.”
This episode is a follow-up to a previous one featuring MMSA’s own Kate Cook, who is a lead researcher on the PeBLES2 project. Other members of the project include Rhonda Tate, Alex Brasili, Adrienne Hanson, Leonard Kenyon, Lisa Kenyon, Phil Chung, and Ruth Kermish-Allen. During this episode, Kate shares insights on 3D science teaching and learning for elementary students, and speaks about the challenges, opportunities, and significance of PeBLES2.
Kate describes the genesis of PeBLES2, which was started about five years ago with collaborators at BSCS Science Learning this way: “We thought that we might be able to find a really amazing sweet spot where we can partially develop curriculum materials that act in educative ways to help teachers learn the paradigm shifts in science education, while also empowering them to make those curriculum materials their own.”
Both podcasts go into more detail about the work that PeBLES2 researchers and teachers are doing to advance locally led science education, so be sure to check them both out!
