No Series: Scientists & Scholars: What's in a Name?

Scientists & Scholars: What's in a Name?

Lesson Objective: Use language to encourage academic success

All Grades / All Subjects / Motivation

2 MIN

Discussion
Supporting Materials

Thought starters

How could you draw attention to your students' scholarly and scientific behaviors?
Why is it important to point out the ways in which you see students being scholars and scientists?
How does this strategy affect class culture?

23 Comments

Michael Stires Jun 18, 2020 5:16pm

Students look up to their elders no matter if one will want to admit it or not, and clarity of the two behaviors is where misinterpretation stems from. Showing value with words of support from the teacher is important. The student’s environment in which they learn in is important for one to see their value and believe that they can put their mind to anything they want! Great work.

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Rachel Theodorou Sep 7, 2019 10:11am

Pair this work with that of Citizen Science and your teaching of science K-12 will TAKE OFF! Follow my colleague Colleen Hitchcock (@science_hitch) on Twitter for more!

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Chris Rennie Feb 19, 2015 11:29am

I've seen schools where the students are called scholars, but they were never told what "scholar" means, so the positive effect was lost. I think Kali's idea would lead to better group work if each role has a deliverable from the project, as well as the team.

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Kali Kurdy Feb 15, 2015 12:03pm

Wouldn't it be great to divide groups into various roles, like scientist, sociologist, market analyst and call on them based on their roles in the team?

Recommended (1)

Rose Wehrenberg Sep 13, 2014 5:50pm

The kids WILL mirror how we act, and this a great way to foster their self esteem and show them how awesome they are - love it!

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Materials

Transcript: Scientists & Scholars: What's in a Name?

Transcripts

Scientists & Scholars: What's in a Name? Transcript
Interviewer/Interviewee

Interviewer: At our school, we really stress the point of calling them

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Scientists & Scholars: What's in a Name? Transcript
Interviewer/Interviewee

Interviewer: At our school, we really stress the point of calling them scholars.

Interviewee: All right, scientists, scholars, you’re climate change researchers. That is what you are.

Interviewer: They love it. They respond to it, because already, you’re holding them to high esteem.

Interviewee: Before you go to computers with your jasper-rich folder so you can work on your blog, you’re going to say to your partners, “Nicely done.”

Interviewee: Nicely done.

Interviewee: You are going to say to them, “You are a scholar.”

Interviewee: You are a scholar.

Interviewer: They really take that and internalize it in a way that I didn’t expect them to, but they rise to that word.

Interviewee: We decided that we wanted to do an experiment to see the greenhouse effect actually happening in our very own eyes—right in front of our very own eyes, and we know as scientists, we can’t go look at the earth, and we can’t take the earth and saw it in half.

Interviewer: By calling them a scientist, they feel that they have to fill the shoes that would be worthy of that name.

Interviewee: Right now, in your own words, write down your hypothesis, okay? It doesn’t have to be right. It’s just what you expect with the scientific knowledge that you already have.

Interviewer: They do—in their posture and their behavior—

Interviewee: Scientists, we are about to take our data.

Interviewer: - even the way they speak during science class—

Interviewee: Twenty-six.

Interviewee: Ours is 26.

Interviewee: You just have control, right?

Interviewee: Confirmed?

Interviewee: Yeah, confirmed. Awesome.

Interviewer: It does make a difference.

[End of audio]

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