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13489 results in Education, history, theory

Page 311 of 675

  • Chapter 11 - Material world: Learning and teaching chemistry

  • from Part III - Putting Primary Science into Practice
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 185-207

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Plan lessons that help students experience, describe and explain some abstract concepts in chemistry;

  • Describe ideas about the chemistry of materials in terms of the particle nature of matter;

  • Be familiar with strategies used in a guided inquiry approach to teaching;

  • Focus on the use of representations that are particularly suited to the abstract concepts in chemistry to provide learning opportunities; and

  • Describe some practical examples of the teaching approaches and strategies that can be applied in classroom settings to engage students in learning chemistry.

    • Introduction

    This chapter focuses on the learning and teaching of chemistry in primary school classrooms through the use of representations and appropriate vocabulary. It will examine ways of organising knowledge and linking scientific models and theories to observations and experiences. The Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2012) and the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education (MoE), 2007) cover common chemical concepts, under the banners of Chemical Science and the Material World respectively, related to the composition and behaviour of substances. Central to this are the ideas of matter, the changes matter undergoes, and the energy involved in these changes (ACARA, 2012; MoE, 2007).

  • Chapter 14 - Making science work in the primary classroom

  • from Part III - Putting Primary Science into Practice
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 247-260

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Highlight indicators of high-quality, effective science programs and science teaching;

  • Discuss major constraints when implementing an effective science program in your classroom and school; and

  • Consider ways that these barriers can be overcome.

    • Introduction

    While the learning and teaching ideas explored throughout this book make sense on paper, the challenge for many primary school teachers is implementing and sustaining these strategies and approaches in their everyday practice. You will have already read about many of the problems that you might come across, but we hope that you have also made sense of the many ways that you can overcome these potential barriers. This chapter will offer some further suggestions as to how you can make science work in your primary classroom and school.

    This book is crammed with ideas, theories and practical tips to ensure that you have the coni dence and ability to teach science to children in primary classrooms. Science is central to our lives in the 21st century and a vital learning area in the primary school curriculum. We all know that the primary curriculum is crowded, with literacy and numeracy dominating teaching time (see chapter 9 for an approach to how this can be overcome). Teachers are also aware that there are high expectations of what schools should be able to do with an increasingly diverse student population. We recognise that there are more assessment, reporting and public accountability measures in place than ever before. Even though science is recognised as a priority for governments on both sides of the Tasman, few primary schools currently provide science education programs that are considered to be generally, let alone highly, effective. And yet, this is a crucial time in a student’s education. They will either be encouraged and turned on to an endlessly fascinating subject, or they will view science as a collection of boring facts and useless information which is all too difficult to understand.

  • Chapter 13 - Physical world: Learning and teaching physics

  • from Part III - Putting Primary Science into Practice
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 226-246

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Identify forces and the way they work in everyday life;

  • Identify your own alternative conceptions about forces;

  • Understand the power of multimodal representations as a means of understanding forces;

  • Structure and plan constructivist learning and teaching sequences to build on primary school students’ prior knowledge about forces; and

  • Develop confidence in being able to plan and conduct science inquiry into forces.

    • Introduction

    This chapter aims to help you as a primary school teacher to better understand key ideas in physics, particularly force, by exploring how they are relevant to everyday life. It also aims to provide you with a range of ideas about how you can help your students to connect physics ideas to their own lives through the use of hands-on investigations and multiple ways of representing their ideas. This will open up opportunities for a range of learning styles and approaches. In particular, this chapter takes a constructivist approach to learning and will help you to develop a deeper understanding of force and motion. Ultimately, you should be able to design learning and teaching activities that help your students to make connections between their experiences and scientific explanations of how the world works.

  • Chapter 8 - Learning and teaching science through assessment

  • from Part II - Thinking Like a Teacher of Primary Science
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 127-144

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Discuss the different purposes for and teacher orientations to assessment in the classroom, and take a stance on your own view of the different roles and merits of these;

  • Describe some of the ways classroom assessment can contribute to and intersect with inquiry-based approaches to science learning;

  • Analyse the impact of different assessment tasks and approaches in relation to current ideas about what constitutes quality assessment; and

  • Identify and take a position on some of the issues and challenges inherent in classroom assessment for teachers of primary science.

    • Introduction

    Talk of assessment often conjures up images of formal testing, but this is only one small aspect of the assessment activity that takes place in a classroom. Assessment can be observations made as students are working on a task or sense-making during a whole class discussion. It can be teacher feedback written in student books or offered during an investigation. It can be embedded in the student action of asking questions to clarify an idea, comparing their work with peers in order to improve it, and conducting another trial when the result of the first was a surprise to them. As these multiple images of assessment suggest, within any classroom, assessment takes on many forms and is undertaken by teachers and students for a range of purposes. However, it is the notion of assessment for learning that is integral to teaching, because it is responsive to student needs and interests as well as being a core professional competency and capacity for teachers to hold and work towards (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2011; New Zealand Teachers Council, n. d.). This chapter aims to do the following four things in supporting primary school teachers to better understand this concept:

  • Elaborate on the different purposes for classroom assessment;

  • Illustrate how the different purposes and forms of assessment can be brought together to support and showcase student science learning as something of relevance and value within students’ lives;

  • Explore some innovative and interesting ways that assessment can be used to empower students in the learning of science; and

  • Offer some suggestions for teachers who are seeking to enhance their practice of assessment in primary science classrooms.

  • Chapter 10 - Living world: Learning and teaching biology

  • from Part III - Putting Primary Science into Practice
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 165-184

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Articulate your understandings of a biology-focused primary science curriculum;

  • Use instructional structures, such as the 5E model, to develop units of work;

  • Make links between biology-based science concepts and daily life; and

  • Understand the importance of the local environment in the learning and teaching of biology in a primary school setting.

    • Introduction

    While previous chapters have acknowledged that science as a learning area is often minimally taught or avoided in primary school classrooms (see chapter 2 for an explanation of the barriers to teaching science), biology is an area of science that is widely covered. It is considered that this area may be a particular focus because primary school teachers can more easily relate to the science content, find themes that generate curiosity and interest amongst their students, and create links to daily life. The Australian Curriculum refers to this area as Biological Sciences (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2012), while the New Zealand Curriculum uses the term Living World (Ministry of Education (MoE), 2007). Throughout this chapter, the more generic term ‘biology’ will be used. This chapter will explore the science curriculum requirements for learning and teaching biology at a primary school level. It will also outline a learning journey, which uses the 5E instructional model (Bybee, 1997) as an approach to biology-focused science learning and teaching in primary school classrooms.

  • Chapter 7 - Tools for supporting the learning and teaching of science

  • from Part II - Thinking Like a Teacher of Primary Science
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 109-126

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Explain the impact of digital technologies on the nature of representation in primary science;

  • Identify and construct multimodal learning opportunities for primary science students; and

  • Develop effective strategies and questioning skills for establishing and facilitating a representational challenge with primary science students.

    • Introduction

    Learning and teaching in primary science can be enhanced through the use, construction and interpretation of a variety of representations of science phenomena. Introducing students to both multiple and multimodal representations of scientific concepts can assist with their understanding and integration of ideas as part of their science learning journey. This chapter explores a variety of representational forms in terms of how they can support you the teacher to teach science and your students to learn science. It provides strategies and approaches that teachers can adopt to help students to learn, by using talk, to share, question and express their understanding of science ideas.

  • Chapter 12 - Planet Earth and beyond: Learning and teaching Earth and space sciences

  • from Part III - Putting Primary Science into Practice
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 208-225

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Introduce high-quality, effective Earth and space sciences learning and teaching opportunities in the primary classroom;

  • Address any concerns about content knowledge and pedagogical confidence when implementing an Earth and space sciences program;

  • Ensure that scientific integrity is not compromised when learning and teaching Earth and space sciences in socially relevant contexts; and

  • Enhance primary school students’ and teachers’ scientific critical inquiry skills and scientific literacy regarding Earth and space sciences.

    • Introduction

    When we first start learning how to teach, it seems that confident primary school teachers have a bag of tricks that they dip into to help them teach specific aspects of science. It follows that if these teachers simply shared this bag of tricks with us, it would be easier for us to teach science too. Initially we feel that if we are confident, engaging, well-informed, and armed with a number of different strategies, then we can teach science well. It doesn’t take us long to realise that even if these teachers swamped us with resources we would be only marginally better prepared than we were before. This is because, even though we have a pivotal role in conceptualising, creating, coordinating, implementing, scaffolding, assessing and evaluating learning and teaching experiences, it is only when we focus on our students’ interests, desires and existing ideas and skills that we can figure out which approaches might actually work.

  • Chapter 2 - Breaking down the barriers to learning science

  • from Part I - Looking at Learners of Primary Science
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 19-38

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Recognise ways in which primary teachers overcome common barriers to teaching science; and

  • Identify factors that limit students’ engagement and learning in science, and ways that these can be overcome.

    • Introduction

    Modern curricula internationally promote science as an essential learning area that supports students in becoming scientifically literate. Scientific literacy enables citizens to participate knowledgeably in science-related debates and issues (see chapter 1). Science is an essential learning area in the Australian and New Zealand curricula, with scientific literacy promoted in both curriculum statements (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2012; Ministry of Education (MoE), 2007). There is considerable agreement amongst science educators that scientific literacy includes understandings of science concepts, the processes involved in scientific investigations, and the nature of science (Goodrum & Rennie, 2007; Hodson, 2009; Monk, 2006). However, scientific literacy is still a contested construct which is debated in the literature, with Roberts (2007) providing a useful summary of the various ways it has been defined (as discussed in chapter 1). The nature and importance of each of these aspects in relation to students’ learning are explored in chapter 6, and have also been debated in the literature (Abrahams & Millar, 2008; Wellington, 1998).

  • Chapter 3 - Engaging all learners in science

  • from Part I - Looking at Learners of Primary Science
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 39-52

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Discuss the implications of science curricula, and teaching practices, that give (or do not give) consideration to the backgrounds of diverse students, especially those from Indigenous backgrounds;

  • Conceptualise what science education might look like when authentically embedded within students’ lived and everyday experiences;

  • Identify how presented examples of science teaching embody a culture-based approach to science education;

  • Discuss the value of a planning framework that can be used to plan and teach in a manner responsive to the cultural backgrounds of students and their communities; and

  • Apply your understanding to critiquing science lessons you have taught or in developing lessons of study for your current or future teaching context.

    • Introduction

    In addressing the decline in student engagement and differences in student achievement, especially for students from Indigenous, minority and lower socio-economic groups, school science needs to be better connected with students’ lives out of school. This suggests that instruction should emerge out of everyday experiences. At a time when classrooms are characterised by diversity, this raises questions about the ways in which primary school teachers can ensure that all students develop the science knowledge and skills they need to be active participants in society. This chapter will uncover strategies and approaches for engaging students who have a variety of cultural backgrounds, learning styles, needs and interests in learning science.

  • Chapter 4 - Making links between science and the learner’s world

  • from Part I - Looking at Learners of Primary Science
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 53-71

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Discuss and debate existing literature and theoretical works on primary school students’ everyday worlds and contexts;

  • Identify and discuss the concept of everyday science in the context of students’ lives;

  • Understand the concept of sustainability as a socio-scientific reality in students’ learning of primary science;

  • Discuss and critique literature on student-framed participatory learning in the context of learning and teaching socio-scientific issues such as sustainability; and

  • Understand, apply and consider the implications of socio-scientific learning (specifically sustainability) utilising student-framed participation learning models.

    • Introduction

    We have all been children once but this does not mean we understand what it is to be a child in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The mechanics of growing up, of negotiating rites of passage may bear some similarities but the contexts are entirely different. A driver of a Morris minor in the 1950s could not immediately jump into a Toyota Yaris … and manoeuvre his or her way around the M1 – there might be two cars involved but the road conditions are entirely different. Perhaps the first thing we have to do, therefore, when rethinking what it means to be a child in the twenty-first century is to acknowledge that we have much to learn

    (Kellett, 2010, p. 5).

    Many of the views that students hold about science centre on the lack of relevance that science has to their everyday lives. In learning and teaching primary science, opportunities are opened up for students to be supported in the exploration of scientific phenomena that occur in their daily lives and as part of their world. Teachers need to be mindful of these connections and develop strategies that make links not only with their students’ prior learning but also with their everyday contexts.

  • Chapter 9 - Integration and innovation in teaching science

  • from Part II - Thinking Like a Teacher of Primary Science
    • By Wan Ng, University of New South Wales
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 145-162

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Understand the concept of curriculum integration, including intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary integration;

  • Design and implement approaches to integrating teaching across several learning areas in the curriculum; and

  • Recognise the benefits and issues pertaining to integration in science teaching.

    • Introduction

    Primary school teachers raise concerns that a lack of time and space to deliver science within an already overcrowded curriculum impacts on their willingness to teach science. In resolving this concern, teachers may consider working with the curriculum in more creative ways. Science is well positioned as a learning area because its topics provide a context into which different learning areas can be integrated, such as literacy, numeracy and the Arts. This chapter will bring to life some innovative and interesting ways in which science can be taught in an integrative way to enrich learning across several discipline areas. It will discuss the concept of the integrated curriculum, approaches to its implementation and the benefits and drawbacks associated with it.

Learning and Teaching Primary Science
  • Angela Fitzgerald
  • Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013
  • Learning and Teaching Primary Science brings primary science to life through the stories and experiences of pre-service and practising teachers. It explores the roles of the teacher and the learner of science and examines major issues and challenges, including: engaging diverse learners, utilising technology, assessment and reporting, language and representation, and integration in the 'crowded curriculum'. Each chapter contains examples, activities and reflective questions to help readers create relevant and meaningful lesson plans. Dedicated chapters for the areas of chemistry, physics, biology and earth and environmental science will give confidence to those without a science background. Practical strategies and skills are underpinned by relevant theories and evidence-based research. Written by experts from Australia and New Zealand, Learning and Teaching Primary Science is an essential resource for those beginning their journey of teaching science in the primary school classroom.

  • Chapter 5 - Capturing the interest of the technologically savvy science learner

  • from Part I - Looking at Learners of Primary Science
  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 72-88

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Articulate a sound rationale for the inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in your approach to primary science teaching;

  • Identify the types of ICTs you can incorporate into your teaching;

  • Recognise elements of different ICTs in the shared examples, which are transferable to other science teaching contexts; and

  • Develop some ways of engaging your students in authentic science inquiry using ICTs.

    • Introduction

    Today’s digitally aware learners are confident and competent in engaging with and exploring different information and communication technologies (ICTs). While students gravitate to gadgets and digital social media, the challenge lies in harnessing these innovations to support and enrich student learning in science. Science education in primary schools provides numerous opportunities for teachers to integrate technology into the learning environment. This chapter will examine some of the ways online and digital tools can enhance the teaching of science as well as maximise opportunities for students’ learning of science.

  • Chapter 1 - Making sense of primary science

  • Angela Fitzgerald, Monash University, Victoria
  • Book:
    Learning and Teaching Primary Science
    Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    20 May 2013, pp 1-16

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

    After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Clarify the purpose and intention of the primary science curriculum and of science teaching;

  • Outline existing primary teacher expertise in teaching primary science; and

  • Identify the conditions which enhance effective science learning in primary school education.

    • Introduction

    At a recent professional learning program, the question, ‘What is science?’ was posed to a group of primary teachers. The teachers asked for clarification: ‘science’ as in ‘school science’ or ‘science’ in the ‘real world’? The facilitator’s response was to ask: ‘Is there a difference, and should there be a difference?’ This conversation is interesting because it captures some important considerations for understanding science education in primary school settings. Firstly, a range of opinions, assumptions and understandings may shape teachers’ thinking about science, and these have potential implications for student learning. Secondly, school science often does not mirror how we see, experience or use science in the world around us.

    It is often said the only place you see Bunsen burners is in schools. The only place you write up a prac (sic) report is in schools. The only place you wear white lab coats, memorise the periodic table, mix bi-carb and vinegar, or make a volcano, is in schools; just in case you ever need to – which most of us don’t. Somehow we’ve remained stuck representing to students an outmoded, irrelevant, and possibly inaccurate perspective of science

    (Lindsay, 2011, p.3).

    These considerations resonate with primary teachers who openly express specific concerns about their science teaching – in particular, their sense of having an inadequate personal knowledge of science content and the influence of this when they teach science. This tension unnecessarily suggests that because primary teachers are generalist teachers, they may be less effective science educators. This is far from the truth, because as generalist teachers they bring a range of pedagogical strengths to science education which are often not recognised. They understand how to successfully contextualise the nature of science as a human endeavour by creating classroom conditions which value student-centred learning, nurture curiosity and creativity, and support the social construction of knowledge.

Page 311 of 675