by Melissa Dorfman
Blair Buck used the technology that brings educators from all over together, known as the AP Biology list serve, to read about a writing process called “CER” (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning). He was looking to improve the writing of his 9th graders, many of whom were having trouble writing complete explanations to answer his essay questions. This scaffolding process guides students through the logical thinking process. The question that students had to answer and provide evidence for was, “Should Mendelian Genetics be taught in high school class?”
Mr. Buck says that using this process has made the students’ responses more cohesive and persuasive than prior essays once they were guided into supporting how their evidence backs up their claims and relates to underlying scientific principles. Mr. Buck pulled from several different sources (BSCS and NSTA) to put his activity together and to get his students solving his question on Mendelian Genetics. He also provided several supporting worksheets and a sample problem to provide students with practice at working through this process. Here is one such sheet that Mr. Buck used to explain the CER process and give some examples of how it is used. Mr. Buck continues to show, along with others previously highlighted in this blog, that some of the best technology for being innovative exists in our heads. The most important thing is how we are trained to use it!
Blair Buck used the technology that brings educators from all over together, known as the AP Biology list serve, to read about a writing process called “CER” (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning). He was looking to improve the writing of his 9th graders, many of whom were having trouble writing complete explanations to answer his essay questions. This scaffolding process guides students through the logical thinking process. The question that students had to answer and provide evidence for was, “Should Mendelian Genetics be taught in high school class?”
Mr. Buck says that using this process has made the students’ responses more cohesive and persuasive than prior essays once they were guided into supporting how their evidence backs up their claims and relates to underlying scientific principles. Mr. Buck pulled from several different sources (BSCS and NSTA) to put his activity together and to get his students solving his question on Mendelian Genetics. He also provided several supporting worksheets and a sample problem to provide students with practice at working through this process. Here is one such sheet that Mr. Buck used to explain the CER process and give some examples of how it is used. Mr. Buck continues to show, along with others previously highlighted in this blog, that some of the best technology for being innovative exists in our heads. The most important thing is how we are trained to use it!
