teaching note

1. Royal University of Bhutan
Understanding Science Education (SCA503)
MEd Primary Science
Spring 2022
Paro College of Education, Paro
སྤ་རོ་ཤེས་རིག་མཐོ་རིམ་སོབ་གྲྭ།
Perspectives on Primary Science Curriculum:
Teaching Science Constructively
tw@2022

2. Constructivist Teaching of Science
• … is based on constructivist learning theory ~
Constructivism by Piaget (philosophy of education).
• Learn by constructing ideas and developing
competencies (Skamp,2017).

3. What is constructivism?
Constructivism
• “… is a theory of human learning that is rooted in cognitive psychology and, to
lesser extent, behavioral psychology” (Abruscato, 2009. p. 27)
• emphasize on how a learners construct and learn knowledge to apply or
generalize its meaning to new situations.
• provides an invaluable guidance and answers to questions like what
should I teach? & How should I teach?
• challenges the learner to make meaning through their interpretive
interactions with experiences.
• personal constructivism (generate meaning from experiences basis
of existing ideas)
• social constructivism – social and cultural setting impacts learning
(learning is situated), (Skamp, 2017)

4. Features of constructivist learning
Learners make their meaning
Teacher search learner’s understanding
& structure opportunities by:
Posing contradiction
Presenting new information
Asking questions
Engaging in inquires designed
learning

5. Asking questions
• Can you name any three
tools used by farmers?
• Tell me what you know
about the tools used by the
farmers?
Right & wrong
answers
Open-ended inquiry &
assess where
students are

6. Constructivist principles
• Naive conceptions – learners construct the
beliefs about what is real (an idea that does not fit reality when its validity is checked)
• Assimilation – learners’ beliefs are filtered by the senses – hands-on
experiences makes him or her learn, something that fits into ideas, easily.
• Accommodation – learners’ create a reality and accommodate the new
observation by broadening their beliefs (could be with help of teacher)

7. Approaches to support constructivist teaching
• Make students write beliefs or listen to misconceptions
• Clarify the misconceptions with right information & observations
• Teach students to congregate knowledge to override incorrect beliefs
• Emphasize scientific inquiry (to reason & reconcile beliefs) to make
discovery & construct knowledge
• Appreciate the role of informal leaning science – personal stories,
associative representations (Skamp, 2012)
• Encourage discursive practices of science: ‘meaning-make’, use of
anecdote & metaphor, manipulate representations (Skamp, 2012)

8. Implication of constructivism in Teaching-Learning Process
• Teaching learning is an active process
• Building meaning through hands-on & minds-on experiences
• Teaching learning is a social activity
• Context is important in teaching and learning (construction of
meaning is based on prior experiences)
Chin, Khang, Aun & Kin, 2004

9. Tips for planning (activity)
• Provide platform for scientific thinking by guiding students to
recognize criteria for everyday materials (active involvement &
democratic environment).
• Use criteria to classify/group the materials (facilitates & provide
autonomous).
• Develop the concept of everyday materials.
• Prepare students to evaluate thinking as they explore by
experimentation and observation (interactive & student centered).

10. Video lesson - constructivism
• https://www.whatihavelearnedteaching.com/5e-model-science-instruction/
(5e planning website)
• Read the information from the link (https://ngss.sdcoe.net/Evidence-Based-
Practices/5E-Model-of-Instruction) and design learning activities
• Learning task: in groups of three/four members, plan a lesson on the given topic
and share using Google docs as a sharing platform (template shared via mail)

11. Constructivist teacher and students’ role
Teacher is:
• a presenter & observer
• a question or problem poser
• an environment organizer
• a public relation manager
• a theory builder
Learners actively
• construct new knowledge by
reflecting on the experiences
(cognitive constructivism)&
interactions (social constructivism)
• analyse & interpret data to
construct meaning, relationships &
explanations
• apply the knowledge in the new
situation

12. Physical environment
• Adequate space for movement
• Flexibility in the use of the space & furniture
• Accessibilities of materials encourages self-directions
• Reciprocity between learning areas can encourage creative
problem solving
• Practical considerations
(Braitain & Chaille, 2003)

13. References
Abruscato, J. (2004). Teaching children science: A discovery approach (6th .ed.). New
Jersey: Pearson Printice Hall.
Braitain, L., & Chaille, C. (2003). The young child as scientist: A constructivist approach to
early childhood science education. (3rd.ed.). New York: Pearson Education Inc.
Chaille, C., & Britain, l. (2003). The young child as scientist: A constructivist approach to
early childhood science education. Boston: Pearson Education Inc.
Chin, Y. K., Khang, G.N., Aun, T. K. & Kin, B.H. (2004). Teaching primary science.
Singapore: Prentice Hall
Skamp, K. & Preston, C. (2012). Teaching primary science constructively (4th ed.).
Melbourne: Cengage Learning.
Skamp, K. (2017). Teaching primary science constructively (6th ed.). Melbourne: Cengage
Learning.