You are about to immerse yourself in a gorgeously readable and engaging account of how teachers can move science instruction from “hands on to minds on.” Wendy Ward Hoffer describes how teachers can extrapolate what is known about good thinking strategies instruction to science teaching and learning. Hoffer illuminates the path for thousands of teachers (in science and beyond) who today work with those who will lead this country’s efforts in energy, health care, the exploration of sea and space, and the protection of our planet. What work is more vital to our future?
—Ellin Oliver Keene
Coauthor of Mosaic of Thought, Second Edition
This book by an experienced teacher takes professional development to a new level. Many authors of books designed to improve education try to integrate best research with best practice. Few succeed as well as Wendy Hoffer.
—J. Myron Atkin
Stanford University
Inquiry is how we learn about the world. Every day we ask questions, gather evidence, make observations, and draw conclusions. Science as Thinking shows how powerful instruction can connect the natural curiosity students bring to class to the science curriculum.
Wendy Ward Hoffer uses the fundamental scientific principles of constants and variables as a framework for highly effective science teaching. She begins with constants, the basics of science instruction: Inquiry, Big Ideas, Workshop, Assessment, Culture. Hoffer shows how building a teaching foundation on these constants ensures that all of your planning, lessons, and interactions spark students’ interests and support deep thinking about science.
Hoffer’s variables are the practices you select from every day—labs, demonstrations, lectures, projects, and other classroom staples. She illustrates how these variables can be carefully manipulated to maximize student engagement, thinking, and understanding.
Science as Thinking is a wonderful resource for new teachers, but it will just as soon be sticky-noted and dog-eared by veterans. It helps you:
- get started and sustain progress with classroom-tested strategies for implementing, teaching, and refining high-quality instruction
- make direct connections between theory and practice through planning questions
- conduct meaningful assessment with sample rubrics.
If you’re as serious about improving students’ learning as they are curious about their world, then read Science as Thinking. In it you’ll find highly effective and satisfying ways to teach science and turn any science curriculum into the turning point of a young scientist’s life.
