Mrs. LaBorn recently traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to attend The Association for Science Teachers Educators (ASTE) conference with two of her fellow graduate classmates from Loyola University Chicago. The purpose of ASTE and the conference is to support and promote innovation in science teacher education.
At the conference, she presented on a qualitative research project. The project (“Disequilibrium in Secondary Science Teacher Identity Through a Dialogical Identity Framework: A Comparative Case Study of Different Career Stages”) looks into times of stress a teacher faces related to teaching. The experience of sharing the work with others, hearing feedback (both positive and constructive) and encouragement from fellow colleagues was invaluable in continuing the work.
While there, she was introduced to several professors who study topics similar to her own future research interests. She was able to attend sessions that were both applicable to her current teaching as well as to her future teaching of teachers. Topics included teaching strong student explanations with evidence, science misinformation, rubric analysis, and so much more. She is looking forward to incorporating a student nature journal into the upcoming weather unit.
