Experience It!

Engaging In The Teaching Practice Through Student Service

Learning

Student Service Learning is a high impact teaching practice that has shown to benefit college
students from diverse backgrounds (KUH, 2008). The LSC-CyFair AAT has embedded this
active learning approach into the curriculum of the EDUC 1301 and EDUC 2301 courses.

According to The Bureau of Labor and Statistics,STEM occupations have had an above
average growth rate between 2009-2015 and it continues to be on the rise. In order to generate
the skilled workforce to fill these positions, we as educators will:
a. Need to develop students that will be interested, motivated, and skilled to enter
these fields.
b. Need well trained teachers to teach the youth

In 2015, STEMtastic Stations came to life in an attempt to address this need at the pre-service
teacher level. Pre-service teachers were tasked with designing a 10 minute STEM lesson using
the BOPPPS lesson planning tool. The lesson was multi-layered and took students through the
process of designing and executing an effective and engaging lesson. The final product
included:

● A Bridge in or hook to draw students into the activity

● Objectives aligned with the TEKS for the appropriate age groups. The objectives
embedded Blooms verbs from each of the levels of cognitive thinking.
● Pre and post assessment questions that were designed to encourage deep thinking.
● Demonstrated real world applications for students.
● Culturally responsive components
● Development of a take home enrichment assignment.
● Development of a resource guide was created in the form of a bookmark to increase
parental engagement and to facilitate learning at home.
● Bilingual letter to parents introducing the activity and sharing ways parents can
encourage and get involved in their childs’ learning. This letter was in English and in
Spanish.

Our pre-service teachers had the opportunity to conduct a Mock Lesson for the class that was
recorded using the Swivl Robot Tool. Students received constructive feedback from their peers
and watched themselves engaging in teaching the lesson. The reflection piece was key to
enhancing the actual lesson and students demonstrated a new sense of excitement and growth
from the experience. Once the event was over, our students were asked to reflect on their
experience and share their learning moments.

Sandra Medrano comments that “Stemtastic Stations helped me enhance and further develop my skills in
the career. By putting me as the teacher and putting me on the spot when things go wrong, I learned how
to make changes and to adapt to the students and situations. Aside from the station it has helped see a
few of the many things I have learned to do to be a successful teacher.”

“Not only am I learning through my time in the community but I also truly appreciate & value these
opportunities because each one adds more clarity into what I’m doing & how I can improve my teaching
skills,” said Evelyn Cisernos about her experiences with STEM.

In 2015, I applied for a Mini-Grant and was able to acquire some seed money to purchase
equipment that could be used for these labs. Each year I try to expand on what we have and
am working towards a Makerspace in the future.

Now in its 5th year, STEMtastic Stations and STEM PowerHour has served over 650
students in the local community! ​ ​Whether it is slime, magnets, Newton’s Law, kinetic energy,
physical and chemical changes, or solar power cars. The community of students and parents
have enjoyed participating in this program. ​Experiential learning has been a game changer for
many students and students have gained valuable and practical knowledge and skills through
this Service Learning Project. Along with STEMtastic Stations and STEMPower Hour,
STEMtastic Literacy has been added to the list of SSL Projects. Below are two articles by the
Houston Chronicle that feature the SSL projects our students have engaged in.

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/cyfair/news/article/Libraries-play-key-role-in-summer-activi
ties-for-13043343.php

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/cyfair/schools/article/LSC-CyFair-students-provide-librarie
s-for-refugee-13481723.php