Accessible Terminology: How do you make science terms stick?

Posted in: Aha! Blog > PhD Science > Implementation Support Getting Started - PhD Science > Accessible Terminology: How do you make science terms stick?

For students to advance in the sciences, they need access to scientific terminology that promotes conceptual understanding. Rather than simply memorizing—and quickly forgetting—definitions of key science terms, PhD Science® students acquire deep and lasting comprehension of scientific concepts and terminology through accessible hands-on activities and evidence-based learning.

In this video, PhD Science Implementation Support Associate Molly Fife unpacks the role of terminology in student sensemaking and knowledge building. The video explains the benefits of using the Activity Before Concept > Concept Before Terminology method to meet the diverse needs of students. It also provides examples of terminology learning routines that give students multi-modal entry points to new science terms.

Molly Fife

Molly Fife is an implementation support associate for PhD Science. Before joining Great Minds, Molly taught elementary school for seven years in Washington, DC, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Throughout her teaching career, Molly found that it was during science instruction when her students’ natural curiosity and engagement really shone but that resources and support for science educators were often limited or nonexistent. Her passion to see that all students should receive a high-quality education, including in science, ultimately led her to join the PhD Science team, where she gained a deep understanding of the curriculum’s learning design while helping to develop the Great Minds in Sync continuous learning program in the early days of the pandemic. Molly looks forward to working with teachers through coaching and professional development sessions this summer and into the 2021–2022 school year. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

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