COLLEGE PARK, MD (February, 2016) Dr. Daniel Levin, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, will be a plenary speaker at the 18th Annual Science and Mathematics Educators Conference (SMEC 18), to be held at American University of Beirut on March 12, 2016. Dr. Levins talk is to be entitled Responsive Teaching in Science: Implications for Teaching and Teacher Education.
An emerging area of research in science education supports pedagogical approaches that are responsive to students’ ideas and reasoning. Recent science education reform in the United States calls for teachers to shape instruction in response to students’ ideas while integrating key concepts, principles, and scientific practices.
In his talk, Dr. Levin will review the emerging field of responsive teaching and synthesize existing research to describe the state of the field, using examples from classroom discourse in K-12 science classrooms. Fundamentally, he is seeking to address what responsive teaching means for teachers and teacher education. How can teachers develop responsive practice? How can teacher education and ongoing professional development support such practice? What are the constraints of institutional systems in schooling, and what affordances can be leveraged to create responsive science classrooms?
In June 2015, Dr. Levin gave a related lecture, “Science Education Reform and Responsive Science Teaching in the United States,” at the invitation of the Faculty of Education at Southwest University in Chongqing, China.
SMEC 18 will be hosted by the Science and Mathematics Education Center at American University of Beirut.
Dr. Daniel Levin, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, is the coordinator of the undergraduate and graduate middle school science and mathematics teacher education programs. He also coordinates a program to prepare practicing elementary teachers to earn an add-on endorsement in elementary STEM education. He taught secondary science for nine years in public schools in the Washington, D.C. area. His research interests include responsive science teaching, formative assessment, socio-scientific issues, science and mathematics teacher education, and students’ engagement in scientific practices.
Click here to learn more about Dr. Levin’s work.
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