In this episode, Mark talks with middle school modeling teacher George Nelson. They talk about the importance of building skills, rather than just focusing on making it through the assigned topics. Additionally they talk about the importance of classroom community and connecting with students. Guest George Nelson George has taught middle school since 2009, and has been using modeling methodology for the past seven years. George became acquainted with Modeling Instruction from the 3rd Masters of Natural Science program at Arizona State University under the leadership of Colleen Megowan-Romanowi ..read more

In this episode, Mark talks with Dan Peluso about his time teaching physics and astronomy and the work he has done to help develop the modeling instruction materials and workshop for astronomy modeling (the next one is coming up in January!) They talk about the work he is doing at the SETI Institute with citizen science and bringing access to scientific data and telescope images to classrooms as well as ways that teachers can use astronomy in an inquiry-driven way. Guests Dan Peluso Daniel Peluso is an astrophysics PhD candidate with the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and Education As ..read more

For this episode, Mark caught up with physics modeler Bryan Battaglia, during a modeling instruction workshop on computational modeling, physics first with bootstrap. They talked about Bryan's teaching journey and how modeling meshes quite well with the IB curriculum. They spend time talking about things we may do as teachers that actually stand in the way of student understanding, and talk about things we can do that help lead students to deeper understanding. Guests Bryan Battaglia Bryan Battaglia is a 24 year science teacher from Macomb, Michigan. He earned a B.S. in Genetic Biology from Pu ..read more

In this episode, Mark talks with Jess Dykes and Melissa Girmscheid, who are both modeling instructors and have spent time developing the modeling curriculum for Computational Modeling Physics First with Bootstrap, CMPF-B. They talk about that project as well as a number of other things going on in their schools and at AMTA. Guests Melissa Girmscheid Melissa has been a fan of Modeling Instruction since she learned physics through Modeling in high school. She is a graduate of Arizona State University where she was fortunate to learn Modeling as her teaching methods course and has since returned ..read more

In this episode Mark talks with Dr. James Vesenka about his journey into discovery with Modeling Instruction and his experiences with Atomic Force Microscopy, education research, teaching physics to Life Science students, and much more! Guest Bio Dr. James "Jamie" Vesenka He graduated with high honors from Clark University, moved to California for graduate school at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. in physics in 1989. Jamie landed an assistant professorship of physics at California State University Fresno (CSUF) in 1995. His research focus was the characterization of quadruplex DNA using the at ..read more

In this episode, Mark talks with middle school teacher David Bates about his experience with modeling instruction at the middle school level. They talk about how middle schoolers are developing as individuals and as learners, and they talk about how modeling gives each student a voice, regardless of their prior experience with science education. Guest Bio David Bates David Bates is an educator who has served in a variety of educational settings over his 34 year career. He earned a BS in Special Education and MA in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University. He has taught Special E ..read more

This month, Mark talks with John Baunach, a modeler and teacher of ninth-grade physics. He talks about his career journey as well as the ways that modeling changed his teaching. They talk about computational modeling in physics first using code to help students understand mechanics. They also talk about the flow of courses at John's school and the newest modeling workshop, modeling astronomy. Finally, they talk about tips for new modelers and advice to all teachers. Guest Bio John Baunach John has been teaching for nearly a decade, in public, private, and parochial high schools (and briefly in ..read more

In this episode, Mark talks with Jeremy Secaur, a modeling instructor and physics teacher from the Cleveland, Ohio area. They talk about his introduction to modeling, bringing modeling workshops to the Cleveland area, whiteboarding, and Socratic questioning methods. Jeremy talks about being aware of societal norms about "who does science," and how we need to be both careful and intentional about managing discourse in our classrooms. Jeremy's description of how he communicates to students the importance of every voice is particularly worth hearing. Finally, they talk about the importance of sup ..read more

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