Exemplary Practices 2008

Channeling Challenge

Most would think that rock climbing, rappelling and sea kayaking would be challenging enough for the average student. But for Ian Fogarty, who teaches high school chemistry and physics at Riverview High School in Riverview, New Brunswick, it is just the beginning. "My students don't like me very much," he claims, "because I challenge them." But there is a difference, Fogarty insists between making school hard and making it challenging. The difference is providing the right stimulation where students are engaged.

Fogarty runs three programs that embed the concept of challenge in his teaching and student learning. They consist of an outdoor program called appropriately, the Cape Challenge, in-class puzzles and a 'weird idea' called Grand Projects. All are designed with the same set purpose: challenge.

In class, Fogarty designs 'puzzles and wonder'. "Trying to find a puzzle for each individual kid is tough, trying to find a puzzle that's difficult enough but not too challenging is the fine art of teaching," he says. So, he continues, "We do some really cool things like jumping off diving boards into a pool with an underwater video camera for measuring forces. We measure the speed of sound using GPS (Global Positioning System) and Probeware. We do gravity experiments where we drop candles and videotape them to see how they change. We go to a play park with elementary school kids and do physics and chemistry." The puzzles require teamwork. Fogarty believes Harry Wong's (author of The First Day of School: how to be an effective teacher) thesis that learning is an individual activity but not necessarily a solitary one, so his students work in teams and groups, which in itself, is a valuable learning experience.

The Cape Challenge is an outdoor adventure program where students learn character development through rock climbing, rappelling, sea kayaking, and obstacle courses. "It is a challenge for the body, soul and mind," says Fogarty. His students say he 'pushed them off a cliff' but he maintains that if they can jump off a 180-foot cliff, then they can certainly do a Physics class. Finally, the Grand Project gives students a chance to build character, solve puzzles and showcase their abilities in a program that is an alternative to the standard science fair. The projects are teacher-mentored. Students pick a topic of interest and every science student is required to do one. Students work on their projects at lunch, after school and/or weekends. No class time is allotted. The range of projects is astonishing, from astro-photography, biotechnology, bird watching, cancer, computer modeling, a chemistry road show and a myriad of field trips.

What has all the challenge achieved? Fogarty's students have had scientific findings published in credible journals. A group of students placed third out of 900 contestants in an international space settlement contest and won a trip to California. In first-year university some former students worked on Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Canada (NSERC) grants. In astronomy, students captured the image of a meteor's impact on the moon using the school's telescopes. Five international institutions now have those images and the findings were presented at the annual general meeting of the Royal Canadian Astronomical Society. Fogarty is on track to provide 1-2 PhD students from his graduating class each year and at least four conduct research at the undergraduate level.

But perhaps most importantly, Fogarty's students have learned to challenge themselves and developed the skills they need to handle just about anything life might throw at them. Challenge, it seems, has its rewards.