Trustees Approve Finley Science Course Modification
Advanced Topics in Science, an eighth grade course at J. Taylor Finley Middle School, will be modified after changes were approved by the district’s Educational Development Committee and signed-off on by Huntington School Board members.
The modifications will be implemented in November when the second marking period begins. “A discovery methodology will be used, while the primary focus will be project based learning,” said David Casamento, director of science. “Students will select which projects they will participate in from a list of 18. The projects are chosen by a committee of teachers from other school districts.”
Assistant Superintendent Kenneth A. Card, Jr. said the three Finley faculty members who teach Earth Science will also teach the Advanced Topics course and will specialize in six of the projects, assisting students in the successful completion of their projects. “The teachers will act as coaches to help prepare the students for the competition,” Dr. Card said.
The change was initiated to make the course more rigorous and to better engage students. The longer term effect should result in a stronger research program at Huntington High School.
About 90 Finley students are registered for the half-credit course. Teachers have opted against attending state training sessions, believing they can handle such staff development needs in house. The faculty members are working on curriculum projects during their preparation periods and have been meeting with Mr. Casamento.
The science department feels the course’s new hands-on approach will help prepare students to participate in the middle school Science Olympiad competition that will held in early March in the Half Hollow Hills school district. Finley expects to send two teams of 15 students to the competition based on the outcome of a school competition between classes.
The grading for the course will be changed to pass/fail. The teachers and Mr. Casamento have worked to develop a rubric designating the requirements for a passing grade. There will be an award ceremony at the end of the year for students who excel in the course.
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