Brandi Beneke

Dr. McKenzie
EDUC 424 S15
26 February 2015
Final Reflective Narrative
On the very first day of this course, Dr. McKenzie told us that if we only remembered to
do one thing during each class period, it needed to be to wear our student hat and our teacher
hat. I strongly disliked science throughout my school years and did not feel all that confident
about learning approaches to science instruction and about activities that can be used to enrich
the learning experience when science was never a pleasant experience for me. Over the course of
the last six weeks, however, I have developed an appreciation and love for science. It has been
refreshing to lead and participate in inquiry teaching activities as I have gained insight into
various methods of teaching science content from my fellow classmates. The activities that we
have done in this course have had me thinking about science in a different light as well as ways
in which to effectively incorporate such activities and approaches to instruction into my future
classroom.
One of the major reasons why science was never a pleasant experience for me was
because we were never able to learn through exploration. I believe that the most effective
approach to instruction when it comes to science is the 5E Instructional Model. I think it is
important for teachers to pique student interest and get them personally involved in the lesson
while pre-assessing their prior knowledge. It is more effective to teach science by getting
students involved in the topic and providing them with a chance to build their own understanding
by exploration before providing students with facts and explanations. I plan to use this model in
my future science classroom in order to foster an interest in and a love of science in my students
so that they dont have the same experience that I did when I was in school. I am very

appreciative to have had this course because it has lit a flame that was neglected years ago; that
flame is the passion for science and the desire to share this passion with children.