Sam Chiesa's Portfolio Page

About Me

My name is Sam Chiesa (pronounced 'Key-ay-zuh'). I grew up in Clifton Park, NY. I received my BS in Biology from Cornell University in 2021 and my MAT in Secondary Biology Education from Clarkson University in 2024. Currently, I teach biology and 8th-grade life science at Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland, NY. Before getting my Master's, I spent two years researching the role of glial cells in the onset of epilepsy, at Albany Medical College. In my free time, I spend a lot of time skiing, baking bread, playing video games with my friends, and spending time with my family.

My Topic and Purpose

My mini-course is going to be “Academic Research in Science: Online and Scholarly Inquiry”. Especially as we enter into an age increasingly defined by AI, I think it is important for my students to be able to find, evaluate, and use authentic scientific information to support their

understanding of complex phenomena in the world around them. In my own classroom, I strive to teach my students to go beyond simply memorizing scientific information by evaluating and comparing the information they encounter and utilizing it to develop their own arguments. In focusing on academic research, I seek to provide an example of how I will introduce student inquiry and interaction with online and scholarly resources in my own classroom, so that students are able to thoughtfully conduct research and use this research to support their own practices both in and out of the science classroom. Successful practice with this skill will aid students in communicating scientifically, thinking critically, developing information literacy, and becoming life-long learners.

Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Use search engines, academic databases, and AI in order to identify and evaluate sources.
Interpret and summarize important information from scientiﬁc articles.
Synthesize information from multiple scientiﬁc studies in order to develop well-supported arguments and conclusions.
Use APA or MLA formats in order to cite sources.
Communicate clear, evidence-based arguments through research papers and presentations.

Outline for this course:

Module 1: Foundations of Academic Research in Science

Module 2: Conducting Academic Research in Science

Module 3: Analyzing and Synthesizing Scientiﬁc Research

Module 4: Communicating Research Findings

Needs Assessment

The educational problem or opportunity:

This mini-course seeks to address the problem that middle and high school-level students struggle to use modern academic resources to effectively develop their own arguments and compositions within the science classroom. Too often, students at these levels are overly dependent on superficial resources such as Google and AI, without knowing how to use primary and secondary sources for more meaningful tasks than rote memorization and ‘fill-in-the-blank’.

The learners/participants involved:

This course is designed for middle and high school-level students who are seeking to improve their proficiency at completing and utilizing modern academic research in the science classroom.

Analysis of gaps:

Current Reality: Right now, academic research for students in the science classroom can often look like searching a single word, statement, or question into Google and copy-pasting the response that Google Search Labs provides back into an assignment. This represents a lack of practice and clarity on how to find trustworthy resources and on how to properly incorporate research findings into a task or assignment.

Ideal State: Ideally, students should be able to proficiently find, evaluate and use reliable academic sources that will help them to engage with science content, complete meaningful tasks, and develop authentic compositions that demonstrate their findings. This represents a shift from using online resources as crutches to using them as supplemental tools.

Existing efforts:

There are some existing efforts to incorporate academic, online, and library research into the science classroom. However, many of these efforts are at this point dated by even just a few years, so they do not account for newer features of search engines and online tools, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI). While there exist resources to support educators in incorporating some aspects of AI and other new technologies into student work, as well as resources for teaching students academic research skills, it is difficult to find a cohesive guide that incorporates all of these factors into one place.

Intent statement:

This mini-course, “Academic Research in Science: Online and Scholarly Inquiry”, is designed to support the instruction of middle and high school level students in academic and online research now that AI is a major factor in any online inquiry. It will give participating students the tools and knowledge they need to effectively navigate online, AI, and other academic resources, evaluate and synthesize these resources, and utilize them for authentic purposes within the science classroom. My goal is for students to have proficient literacy in how to find and use reliable sources of information, using the most up-to-date tools, within the context of the science classroom.

Analysis of the Learner and Context

Who Are the Participants (Learners):

The participants in this mini-course are middle and high school students who are seeking to improve their proficiency at completing and utilizing modern academic research in the science classroom. They may come from diverse backgrounds but they are all working to improve their abilities to successfully perform and utilize academic and online research within the science classroom. Students will find that many of these skills are likely to be easily transferable to other content areas, as well.

Prior Personal/Cultural Experiences, Knowledge, and Skills:

Participants will likely have a wide range of prior experiences with academic and online research. Some may have had more access previously to digital materials than others, and different past teachers may have stressed the use of online tools more or less—or differently—than others. Culturally, these students may come from a variety of contexts and backgrounds, each with its own challenges and opportunities that may contribute to their prior access and literacy with technology.

Many participants may have a basic understanding of using search engines, AI, and library materials; summarizing and utilizing resources; and citing academic sources, but they might not have synthesized all of these skills into one cohesive research practice, especially within the context of the science classroom. They will likely have experience in using Google and related search engine AI programs, but they may need further guidance in using these tools to find primary and secondary sources, evaluate these resources, and synthesize them toward an authentic goal. Additionally, they may have a personal interest in learning about research and AI as a transferable skill for other content areas and personal use.

Learning Settings:

Participants will likely engage with this mini-course in the context of a science classroom. A teacher might assign students to complete the course individually or in small groups as a part of a unit on learning and practicing scientific skills, or as a lead-up to completing an authentic research project.

Since this is a self-paced online course, participants could learn on their own time, but it is recommended that the teacher at least initiates the course with students during class time. Since some students might complete the course more quickly than others, a teacher might assign completion of the course as homework or provide students who complete the course early with supplemental activities, to allow all students the opportunity to fully complete the material. The flexible online format enables teachers to assign students the course in a way that best fits their teaching style and classroom culture.

Time Commitment:

Participants will likely spend between 4 and 8 class periods on the mini-course, depending on their pace, the depth of their engagement with the materials, and the length of their class periods. This includes time spent watching instructional videos, reading course materials, reflecting on their prior experience and learning, and completing assignments and activities that apply the course content to their specific learning context. The course is designed to be broken up into smaller chunks, allowing participants to complete it over the course of 4-8 class periods, as time permits.

Resources Needed:

Participants will need access to a computer or tablet with a reliable internet connection to access the mini-course content. They may also benefit from having a current research project on hand to be able to readily apply their learning from this course, as this can support their completion of reflection activities and assignments in which they are expected to actionably further their own research skills.

Other necessary resources may include:

Basic note-taking tools for personal reﬂection.
Access to relevant digital tools and platforms (Google, Google Scholar, PubMED, JSTOR, Science.gov, ChatGPT, etc.) that they will use for online research.
Access to the school library and any relevant media or tools that they can use for academic research.
Optional: They might ﬁnd it useful to engage with peers as they work through the course, so that communication and access to collaborative tools (such as shared Google Docs) may enhance their learning experience.

The course will also provide graphic organizers, templates, and sample research summaries that students can adapt and implement in their own research practices, ensuring that they leave the course with actionable resources.

Performance-Based Objectives

After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to:
Accurately identify and distinguish between reliable primary, secondary, and unreliable sources.
Use scholarly databases, advanced search settings, and AI tools to reﬁne search queries and retrieve relevant sources.
Evaluate the credibility of sources using a structured rubric and justify these evaluations in writing.
Write a one-paragraph summary highlighting the research question, methods, key ﬁndings, and conclusions of a given research article.
Construct a clear, well-founded argument using supporting evidence from multiple sources.
Correctly cite and format references in APA or MLA style.
Communicate their evidence-based argument, in the form of a research paper.

Task and Content Analysis

Prerequisites

Before taking this course, the learner:

Should have a basic knowledge of computer usage, ﬁle management, and word processing software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
Should have a foundational argumentation and critical thinking skills in the context of the science classroom.
Must be interested in improving their academic research skills in the science classroom.

Unit 1: Effective Retrieval of Scientific Research Using Online Tools

After this unit, the learner:

Will be able to deﬁne scientiﬁc research and explain its importance in the science classroom.
Will recognize different types of online research tools and AI-powered search tools.
Will be able to use Boolean operators and advanced search techniques.
Will be able to differentiate between primary and secondary sources.
Will be able to identify the parts and structure of a scientiﬁc paper.
Will begin working on a course-long project focused on communicating an evidence-based argument, by settling on a topic and ﬁnding possible sources.

Unit 2: Understanding and Evaluating Scientific Research

After this unit, the learner:

Will be able to recognize bias in both online sources and the search tools used to ﬁnd them.
Will be able to critique scientiﬁc articles for reliability.
Will be able to compare popular science articles to original research.
Will be able to use AI tools to support evaluation of scientiﬁc sources.
Will continue working on the course-long project by continuing to ﬁnd and evaluate sources.

Unit 3: Using Scientific Research to Support Argumentation

After this unit, the learner:

Will be able to summarize research ﬁndings from a given source.
Will be able to make claims supported by scientiﬁc evidence derived from research.
Will be able to synthesize research ﬁndings from multiple sources.
Will be able to use AI tools to support summarization and synthesis of research ﬁndings.
Will continue their course-long project by drafting an argument-driven research paper.

Unit 4: Communicating Scientific Research to a Wider Audience

After this unit, the learner:

Will be able to communicate scientiﬁc information to different audiences.
Will be able to cite sources properly in APA or MLA format.
Will be able to use AI tools to support research presentation and communication.
Will complete their course-long project by ﬁnalizing their research paper.

Curriculum Map

References and Resources

Darling-Hammond, L., Barron, B., Pearson, P. D., Schoenfeld, A. H., Stage, E. S., Zimmerman, T. D., Cervetti, G. N., & Tilson, J. L. (2008).

Powerful learning: What we know about teaching for understanding. Jossey-Bass.

Larson, M. B. & Lockee, B. B. (2020) Streamlined ID: A Practical Guide to Instructional Design. Routledge.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. How people learn II: Learners, contexts, and cultures. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24783

Resnick, M. (2024). Generative AI and creative learning: Concerns, opportunities, and choices. An MIT Exploration of Generative AI. https://doi.org/10.21428/e4baedd9.cf3e35e5