Boston After School & Beyond

Subscribe to our Newsletter
 Facebook Twitter YouTube Find a Program: Boston Navigator
  • Boston After School & Beyond
    • About Us
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Funders
    • Annual Report
    • Financial Info
  • Our Approach
    • Achieve-Connect-Thrive (ACT) Skills Framework
    • Measurement for Quality Improvement
    • Professional Development
    • Boston Learns Together
    • Closing the Opportunity Gap
  • Our Initiatives
    • Summer Learning
      • 2018 5th Quarter of Learning
      • The State of Summer 2017
    • After School Learning
    • Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative (PSELI)
    • BoSTEM
    • Skill Badges
    • Teen Expanded Learning Opportunities
  • Our Impact
    • Boston Beyond’s Network
    • Boston Beyond’s Impact
    • Press Coverage
    • Program Profiles
    • Testimonials
    • Reports
  • Resources
    • Insight Center
    • Blog
    • Newsletters
    • Videos and Photos
  • Join Us
    • Donate Now
    • Partner With Us
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Upcoming Events

June 12, 2017 by Aja Watkins 1 Comment

HMS MEDScience: Think Like a Scientist!

This post is part of a series about the workshop presentations delivered at the ACT Skills Summit.

HMS MEDScience is a high school STEM program that operates as an embedded component of students’ anatomy, biology, and physiology classes. During the program, students in these classes travel to Harvard Medical School to apply classroom content to simulated health care scenarios involving Stan, the HMS MEDScience interactive mannequin. Through these scenarios, students learn about organ systems and practice real techniques utilized by healthcare professionals including collecting subjective data from a patient, checking vital signs, and administering IV.

During the ACT Summit, HMS MEDScience Executive Director Julie Joyal, along with Program Coordinator Sally Noteware and Instructor Gretchen Warland, modeled strategies employed by HMS MEDScience to support the Achieve Skills: critical thinking, creativity, and perseverance.

“The thing that makes our program successful is not the biology,” says Noteware, “but the way we engage our students.”

Strategy 1: Design roles for multiple skill levels

HMS MEDScience is purposeful in offering multiple opportunities for students to participate and engage during lessons. For example, HMS MEDScience instructors may designate students to take notes on the board, communicate with the patient, or read vital signs to the group. These roles help students that may be less fluent in academic content feel confident contributing.

Strategy 2: Welcome ALL forms of participation – “no wrong answers”

In order to encourage participation, HMS MEDScience makes sure to value anecdotal experience along with textbook knowledge. They provide students with opportunities to make connections between activities and their real life experiences via questions like:

  •         “What questions does a doctor ask when you go to an appointment?”
  •         “Who knows how to use an inhaler?”
  •         “Who knows someone with diabetes?”

Strategy 3: Offer opportunities for students to learn real STEM skills

In HMS MEDScience programs, students wear real scrubs, learn real healthcare skills, and tackle real problems. The authenticity of these experiences helps students stay engaged while learning about real careers they can pursue.

All workshop materials can be found here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ACT Framework, Hands-on Learning, Partnerships, STEM

Trackbacks

  1. New Skills Framework Unveiled for All Boston Educators at the ACT Skills Summit | Boston After School & Beyond says:
    June 21, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    […] HMS MEDScience: Think Like a Scientist! […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tags

ACT ACT Framework ACT Skills ACT Skills Summit Amalio Nieves AQP Arts Attendance Badging BoSTEM Boston Public Schools Brooke Childs Chang College Readiness Commissioner Critical Thinking Dorsey ELL Growth Mindset H.2868 H.D. 3024 H4033 Hands-on Learning High School Mayor Measurement National News Story Outdoor Learning Partnerships Peisch Policy Program Profile Rahn Dorsey Report Reville Social-Emotional Learning STEM Summer Summer Learning Superintendent Teen ELOs Video Walsh Youth Leadership

Contact Us

89 South Street Suite 601
Boston, MA 02111
t 617.345.5322

Donate

Looking for Something?

Copyright © 2019 · Boston After School and Beyond · Powered by ThriveHive