A Review Of Teaching & Learning In Science

The resources used to support the new information include short investigations (finding out if you are fit), Q&A related to short videos on the topic, internet (IT Session on Muscles and Skeletons), textbooks, information leaflets and their own research material.

In this module there is support material for the SoW and there are help-sheets and extension work for the mixed ability groups. I was really able to experiment and keep the pupils interested with the range of activities given and the high pupil interaction was a positive bonus.

The Use Of Whole-Class, Group & Individual Work

A common problem to overcome is student participation. Whole-class teaching can encourage participation by students or students may undertake a passive role and not put a lot of thinking into their work. The approach to the lesson would determine pupil engagement.

There are opportunities for role play (which are aimed at Kinaesthetic learners), whereby pupils prepare a presentation of a topic in whatever form they choose (e.g. songs, short play as a blood cell, group presentation). Since there is a background of drama productions at the school, pupils tend to enjoy these activities a lot and are willing to give their own time into producing a good presentation.

There is always a place for individual work, not every pupil likes to be interactive. Worksheets and small tasks still allows them to think for themselves and work at their own pace, relieving negative stress. There are also times when pupils have to copy work from the board, or construct their own spider diagrams. These activities allow individual assessment.

From what I have observed and from analysing the SoW, there seems to be a good balance of whole-class, group and individual work. Pupil engagement is the main factor and I think this module does it very well.

Assessment Opportunities

Assessments can be summarised as the following:

* Formative

* Summative

* Evaluative

* Informative

Pupils are formatively assessed during question and answer sessions, as groups or individually. The opportunity for assessment during the activity depends on how well the questions are asked and is an important tool during lessons to gain immediate feedback. Initially it was difficult to engage all the pupils in the Q&A session, the same few pupils would put their hands up and I would grab the first answer. I would only be able to assess those few pupils and neglect the others but how could I strategise it to gain maximum pupil feedback? I found the following tips very useful and started implementing these to my lessons to good affect:

* Give pupils time to digest the question

* Rephrase and repeat the question to engage more pupils

* Keep the pace by personal motivation and reinforcement without sacrificing time given to answer

* Use names to pick out quiet pupils for feedback - Teacher directed questioning!

* Relieve negative stress - anything goes, praise for input even if wrong.

Books are usually marked every fortnight for each class depending on the frequency of their lessons. When I started my placement I marked the books to gauge pupil knowledge and ability. I marked according to effort (and ability) but it is difficult to be consistent from pupil to pupil. The standard method of assessment is A, B and C where D is not recommended and a comment would be made instead.

End of Module Tests are carried out in the class and allows the Teachers to assess what the pupil has learnt. Collective data from these tests are compared with the Cognitive Ability Tests (CAT) that are carried out within the first six weeks pupils start at the school. In addition, KS2 results are used to relate a pupil's performance to their potential. If a pupil were found to be underachieving then it would be investigated further. On average an EMT is carried out every 4-6 weeks and within some modules there are interim tests, which are meant to check that the pupils are on the right track. In this module there are many opportunities to assess given the resource of prepared Homework sheets. There is a short test following the first main topic to assess pupil understanding so far, which is summative assessment.

At the end of the Autumn Term, Y8 pupils take a Christmas exam for which they have to revise all the science they have done for KS3. The exam is to determine their levels for attempts to band them towards the end of the year and could be classed as an evaluative assessment, to be used by the faculty. I prepared them for the exam toward the end of my placement by introducing them to various revision techniques. A faculty meeting preceded the exam and focused on strategies for increasing memory and recall (notes on the meeting are in appendix C).

The module I have chosen is an exceptional one since not all the SoWs are as well resourced or as easy to follow. It would have been a good learning opportunity to observe the module (Lil3) being taught by the teacher who wrote it because how it is written and how it is interpreted doesn't always concur. Unfortunately timetable constraints didn't permit it.

Section

Analysis

2

ANALYSIS OF PRACTICAL AND WRITTEN WORK

(i) Practical Work

The quotation below summarises the main issues and questions facing the study of practical work.

Practical work is one of the distinctive features of science teaching and one of the great expectations of pupil learning. How best should practical work be organised and conducted? What types of practical work can and should be done? Why do we do practical work at all in the science curriculum?

(J. Wellington 1996, 128)

Pupils are lured into chemistry and science by what's on TV and the excitement of doing something different at school. In my experience I find this affects pupils motivation during the first year of science since there are not many practicals to do at all. An audit was conducted for Y7-Y9; the order of practicals during Y7-8 would differ since the order is staggered. Full details of the audits are in appendix. Focusing on Y7 there are not many practicals for pupils.

During the first month, all pupils do a short course introducing them to Science at the school. This covers basic skills and investigative write up techniques. The first two lessons introduces them to the basic skills e.g. reading a thermometer, measuring water in a measuring cylinder, setting up apparatus to heat water etc. This is done in a circus of experiments and they are promoted to record their results. During this initial period, pupils are introduced to the safety aspect in science. The pupils work individually to spot the hazards in a picture and identify how to correct it if appropriate. The following three lessons are based on a short investigation:

Lesson 1 - Introduction, concentrate on planning and stating aims

Lesson 2 - Results and Drawing a Graph

Lesson 3 - Discussion and Feedback

These lessons are focused to promote basic skills in writing up experiments and inspire investigative ideas.

The main aim between Y7-Y9 is to arouse and maintain interest in science (Kerr, 1963) and the aim is still highly relevant today. So how does the school's SoW fit into this statement? The introduction course aims to introduce investigative skills yet the skills are not used until Y8. Lets look at the outline for 7E:

)

) Physics 1 (Phys1) - Light, Sound, circuits, energy transfer

2) Looking into Life 1 (Lil1) - Cells

3) Chemistry 1 (Chem1) - Classifying materials

4) Physics 2 (Phys 2) - Being reviewed

5) Chemistry 2 (Chem2) - Separation

6) Study Skills and Revision

7) Looking into Life 2 (Lil2) -

8) Activities and Team building

)

) The first module for 7E is Phys1 when they investigate circuits (Parallel and Series) and realise how to draw circuit diagrams and set up their own circuits and investigate light and sound. This module is very heavy in content. There are a lot of concepts that they have to grasp and only a short time for each sub-topic is given, awaiting to be built upon during Y8 and Y9. This module has recently been rewritten so updating work up the spiral has yet to be followed.

2) Lil1 reviews work on the seven life processes (MRS GREN) and extends to cells and then organs that facilitate the life processes in humans and plants. The main practical activity of the module is using bio-viewers as an identification exercise of cells and how cells are adapted to its function. Pupils are given the majority of a lesson to draw the various cell types and label them correctly. This develops the basic skill in drawing and labelling for biology and illustrates that all living things are made up of cells. There is an opportunity here for pupils to do the practical looking at onion cells. Lack of microscopes means that it is not viable as a class practical (risk of pupils damaging the objective lens is also a concern); however, a small camera has been used to project the image on a TV screen for the teacher to demonstrate. This is a new addition to the SoW and only some teachers, depending if they are confident in using the equipment, have taken it on. Discussions into the appropriateness of using onion cells have been debated and young moss will be used to strengthen the concept of cells and the presence of chlorophyll for photosynthesis.

3) During the Chem1 module, pupils have an opportunity to investigate physical properties. This is unfortunately tied with chemical properties in the SoW. This leads to confusion because pupils find it hard to distinguish between physical and chemical properties. Concerns about this have led to the revision of the Chem1 SoW and is currently being reviewed and edited.

Further details of practical types and modules are on the audit table. Looking at the Y7 SoW as a whole the main emphasis is to teach basic practical skills and illustrating theory or concepts. In my view, the SoW as it stands does not challenge pupils enough nor enthuse pupils. In reality it depends on the teacher as to how each module is taught and how challenging it is. This goes back to the use of revision guides; if pupils are allowed to take bullet points from the books the answer is too readily available. The lack of experiments between Phys1 and Chem2 tends to dampen pupil enthusiasm, whereas another order of modules may maintain motivation in science for other Y7s.

Although the main aim for Y7-Y9 pupils is to maintain or arouse enthusiasm, the focus in the SoW is to gain basic skills and techniques by using practicals and demonstrations to support theories or concepts. Motivation of pupils is a major concern in primary and secondary continuity and this follows with the need to update parts of the SoW. For example, the Lil1 SoW covers Y6 work (MRS GREN, Plant reproduction) and pupils feel that they have done it before and find it boring. When pupils visit the school in Y6 they see demonstrations of science that are fun and interesting. The task is to maintain this. By observing various Y7 classes I find that teacher enthusiasm and teacher pupil relationship are the main factors in pupil motivation. Teacher enthusiasm leads to choice of content that may deviate from the SoW, to entice pupils thinking.

(ii) Written Work

PURPOSES OF WRITTEN WORK IN SCIENCE

When I started the placement I found it difficult to balance my time between teaching pupils, developing concepts and allowing them to produce written work so they have something to revise from. The point I took home was that in Y7 the emphasis is to understand the concepts and notes for revision is secondary. So how do I go about this? Written work is a necessary literary skill required in the National Curriculum (ACCAC, 2000). A balance is required between writing notes for revision and writing exercises to help pupils learn, to avoid it becoming mundane and boring.

What is the feasibility of written work in the form of dictation?

Copying or taking down dictation is not going to help pupils to learn. They will only learn if they get the opportunity to think about ideas in science, reflect on them and put them down in their own words.

(Parkinson, 1998, 135)

How can written work be incorporated into science whilst helping pupils understand science? Cloze type activities are common in the faculty as filling in the blanks promotes them to think about what they put down. It is questionable as to how written work should be marked. Should every spelling mistake and grammar be corrected? A low-ability pupil would be discouraged if work was returned covered in red ink. Cloze activities tend to be easier to mark, and preferred for low-ability or young pupils who are developing their scientific vocabulary. There are many more types of writing exercises that could be employed and not being fixed to workbooks there is flexibility for teachers to decide which ones to try. During department meetings, teaching techniques are addressed. Teachers are able to exchange details of the successfulness of various methods.

Written work can be more imaginative or pupil dictated to inspire pupil input. However, pupils may write down mistakes and learn incorrect science. Although it may be tempting to stick to cloze type activities because of the above, there is still a need for pupils to learn from writing exercises. Writing activities are also an opportunity for pupils to work in groups.

AUDIT ON WRITTEN WORK

Frequency

3 = very often/often

2 = sometimes/ occasionally

= rarely or never

Types of written work

Year Groups

KS3

KS4

KS5

7

8

9

0

1

2

3

. Note writing:

* Copying, dictation

3

2

2

2

2

2

2

* Cloze (filling gaps)

3

3

2

2

2

* Composing own

2

3

3

3

3

3

* Other?

2. Writing up practical work:

* Pre-structured standard format

3

3

2

2

2

* Own way/ less formal account

2

2

2

2

3

3

3. Answering:

* Test/ exam short answer questions

3

3

3

3

3

2

2

* Long answer questions/ essays

2

2

2

3

3

4. Other:

* Spider Diagrams

3

3

3

2

2

* Posters

3

3

2

2

2

* Concept Maps

2

3

3

2

2

Focusing on KS3 I have categorised written work into 3 main topics.

Note writing

(i) During Y7 pupils need to copy work but the work copied tends to be constructed by the pupils. They may be asked to research on a topic or feedback on snowball information, which is transferred to the board for them to copy. Potentially this activity could be purely passive but they key is to integrate as many pupils as possible when constructing the work to copy.

(ii) As discussed, cloze type worksheets are used frequently throughout Y7 and Y8 but its use declines after Y8. The help in the cloze worksheets also declines since a block of key words could be taken out.

(iii) During Y7 pupils may engage in more role-play activities and enjoy being interactive. During Y8, students are introduced to bulking down information and to use bullet points as an activity and as a revision technique. This is further developed but I did not see it used much with work from the board only with notes from textbooks. When marking books I have noticed the temptation of pupils to copy from their revision guides, hence the effectiveness as a learning exercise is reduced.

Writing up Practical Work

There seems to be an imbalance of methods in structuring practical write-ups. Practicals are presented in the form of worksheets and pupils have to answer questions and fill in the blanks. They would be required to interpret results as required by the NC but I have not seen full experimental write-ups in the form objectives, aim, method, results and conclusion during KS3. Although it is a pity that pupils don't get a chance to do full write-ups, time constraints of the KS3 schedule has to be considered. At this stage pupils are given the opportunity to develop various aspects of investigative skills but the emphasis is on thought and understanding rather than writing scientifically.

Answering

Throughout KS3 and KS4 short answer questions are the norm in science tests. It would be interesting to know the development of pupils essay writing skills in their other lessons especially English to determine pupil capability. There are no long answer questions in KS3. Generally in KS3 pupils have tick boxes and they would need to read short descriptive paragraphs to answer questions in addition to short answer questions. The emphasis is for pupils to read questions thoroughly and use correct science words.

Revision/ Elicitation

Spider diagrams are used frequently throughout KS3 an becomes more self guided as pupils become more experienced. Concept mapping is introduced in Y9 as a development of revision techniques. The use of posters as an elicitation technique is common during Y7 and possibly overused. Pupils may become resistant to the method if they do not like drawing or conversely may spend too much time colouring in rather than producing content.

Section

Summary

3

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT

There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to teaching based on a SoW. The SoWs in the faculty are not to the same standard, with respect to support material and assessment opportunities. It may be beneficial to revise and standardise the SoWs however heavy schedules and time constraints may mean such a task would be long running. Given the same situation it may be a good idea to choose workbooks to use with the SoW to improve variety and ideas for new teachers and set a baseline for teaching. I would certainly be more cautious about using the revision guides since it is too temping for pupils and teachers to use them as textbooks since information in revision guides are limited and written for the test. The language used may be pupil friendly but may not improve and challenge their reading and comprehensive skills in science sufficiently.

Although the principle of multiple intelligences is appealing in targeting teaching styles to all pupils need to develop all aspects of intelligence. It is common sense to say varied teaching techniques are beneficial for all pupils independent of their preferred learning.

The range of teaching and learning activities in the SoW chosen is very thorough and provided me with something to build on. Being constructivist in its approach, elicitation exercises and my use of feedback information are essential in making the method work. I would need to improve and develop elicitation exercises such as Snowballs and Give Me 5 focusing on maximum participation. To organise or use any method Class Room Management and Control is a concern since it can stun effectiveness of an activity.

The organisation of practical work is questionable because there seems to be no flow or a common aim. Head of Departments constructs SoWs independently and there is a need for them to collaborate and decide on structure of practical exercises. The focus seems to be more on breakdown of content rather than progression of learning outcomes. It is necessary for the teachers to know the focus of the practical exercises for each topic and for each year. This would be a valuable inclusion in the faculty handbook and will also help to focus further developments of the SoWs. This has surfaced the questions I need to ask in my next school to help me focus my teaching on choice of practical work and the overall development objectives.

It is tempting to provide notes for revision however I quickly realised that pupils do not respond to it and find it very boring, even in short periods. The balance of notes for revising versus writing to aid learning leans greatly to the latter. Finding or making opportunities to change passive activities to learning activities is an important role teaching. To further this the ability to pitch levels and keep written work challenging is vital. There is also a need for formal written work, which is unavoidable in science. Being able to write up an experiment fully in KS3 is necessary to develop good writing techniques early on since it is an assessed skill in KS4. Although the availability for me to alter the frequency of formal write-ups is limited the need to make written work active, not passive (copying), is an important consideration.

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