CONT954: Teaching Biology in Grades 11 and 12
Are you interested in taking on the exciting task of teaching BC biology? This course will prepare you to take on this inspiring role. While exploring Life Science 11 and Anatomy and Physiology 12 curricular documents, you’ll develop a personalized methodology that is diverse and learner-focused and seeks to demonstrate biology from multiple perspectives. You’ll reflect on your own culture and perspective and that of your local community and examine how they affect your practice. You’ll consider methods to indigenize your biology curriculum and discover ways to assess and report on student learning.
You’ll work individually and collaboratively throughout the course to culminate your learning by developing a personal philosophy for teaching biology that you’ll apply to a unit of study you design. This framework for planning will prepare you for future biology unit planning and instruction.
Learning Outcomes
What You Will Learn and Do
In this course you’ll have the opportunity to
- diversify your instruction through an equitable, diverse, inclusive, and accessible (EDIA) lens
- explore pedagogies that facilitate teaching biology from multiple perspectives
- critically examine BC biology curricular documents for implicit, explicit, and null curriculum and use this to plan a framework for units of study in Life Science 11 and Anatomy and Physiology 12
- create learner-focused activities
- explore formative assessment practices to inform your practice and allow students to self-assess
- evaluate and apply summative assessment practices
- develop a personal philosophy for your approach to teaching biology and apply it to a unit plan you design
Assessments
Module 1
Supporting an EDIA Biology Classroom
Module 2
Understanding the Biology Curriculum
Progress Update 1
Module 3
Learner-Centred Teaching
Module 4
Teaching from and with Multiple Perspectives
Formative Assessment
Module 5
Harnessing Community Connections
Progress Update 2
Module 6
Assessing and Reporting on Learner Progress
Module 7
Teaching Biology Framework
Summative Assessment