Twenty-first century science education focuses on Inquiry. Rather than being given facts and rules, students conduct investigations, evaluate results, develop models/rules for their observations, and then test these models with new investigations to see if they ‘work’—or if they need to be revised to match new observations.
Three common practices that direct inquiry-based science instruction are the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the 5E Model, and Modeling Instruction™.
In inquiry classrooms, students interact with each other more than they do with the teacher. The teacher is there to guide the students when they need support, but many times students may be frustrated by the teacher not providing ‘the right answer.’ In inquiry, the teacher’s role is to lead the students toward their own knowledge and conclusions, and work with explaining this to their group mates.
My instructional practices, and those followed by many of your teachers, are based on Modeling Instruction™. Initially funded by a National Science Foundation grant and developed in the 1980’s at Arizona State University, Modeling Instruction practices and support improved and expanded upon by the The American Modeling Teachers Association.
My experience in Modeling Instruction will guide me to match the teaching style of your teacher. A tutor unfamiliar with modeling might ‘give away’ the answer to a question; my tutoring will help students review what they know and have seen, and help them derive models from their observations.
Note: The American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA) does not endorse tutors; all references to AMTA here are not meant to imply endorsement by AMTA.