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Gc presentation
1. Is there a science to
teaching
science?BY CATHLEEN GARCIA, FALL 2002
2. WHAT IS THE STUDY OF SCIENCE?
*what we know-
content
and how we come
to know it-
process
*A way of observing
and thinking about
the world, and
communicating
those thoughts to
others
3. HOW HAS SCIENCE INSTRUCTION
CHANGED?
Early history…exercised students’ minds
through rote memorization of information
1960’s…research by Piaget, Bruner and others
looked closely at learning styles and
environments and suggested changes
Currently…NSTA and other professional science
organizations promote activity-driven, inquiry-
based, thematic science instruction
4. What methods of science teaching are the
most prevalent today?
*CONTENT-BASED programs
(textbook based)
*INQUIRY-BASED programs
(activity-based or hands-on)
The questions of how children learn, what is important to learn
and how learning should take place in a classroom are the
fundamental differences…
5. HOW ARE CONTENT-BASED PROGRAMS
CHARACTERIZED?
Textbooks, lectures and
written assignments
Less integration and a wide
range of content on a
more superficial level
Teaches information through
interpretation of the
printed word
More vocabulary and
factual recall learning
Directed hands-on activities
using the lower level
process skills
Shallow treatment of topic
few opportunities to
apply knowledge
6. HOW ARE INQUIRY-BASED PROGRAMS
CHARACTERIZED?
De-emphasized reading
activities
Vocabulary and rote facts
receive minimal focus
Dynamic-depict science
as an ongoing process of
exploration and discovery
Deep understandings reached
by integrating knowledge
into new situations
Focus is on the higher level process skills of
predicting, inferring, hypothesizing,
experimenting and controlling variables
7. What does current research indicate are
the “Best Methods” for nurturing
intellectual development in children?
*Involvement in learning
(the key to intellectual
development)
*Physical
manipulation
of objects
(enhances early
stages of cognitive
development)
*Direct experiences
(extensions of
natural
behaviors with
natural phenomena)
*Experiential learning
(provides a base for the development
of abstract reasoning/critical
8. WHY WE SHOULD CHANGE OUR
SCIENCE INSTRUCTION FOCUS…
*Hands-on science is intrinsically fun and more interesting
*Hands-on science increases student creativity, positive
attitudes towards science, logic development,
communication skills and reading readiness
*Hands-on science benefits students with learning
difficulties due to ESL, learning barriers or
physical/behavioral deficiencies
9. TOP 5 REASONS FOR NOT
CHANGING SCIENCE
INSTRUCTION METHODS…
*Text teaching is easier to
prepare, assess and
administer
*Text teaching is usually
more organized, disciplined
and predictable
*Content-based programs are
easier to put into place in large
independent school districts
*History has cultivated a
dependency on textbook
use in the science classroom
And the #1 reason for not changing…
10. Teachers’ uncertainty, discomfort
and lack of resources as well as
sometimes-limited backgrounds in
science content and science
teachingIn other words…
Editor's Notes
The science of teaching science has become a subject of much talk among science educators. Research indicates that current public school science instruction is not producing the needed science literacy, especially in relation to the world’s greater scientific needs probable in the future. Science is no longer considered just rote recall of scientific facts. It also involves how we come to know and believe those facts, as well as how we communicate what we know and what we have seen to others.
The early paths of science instruction involved learning and memorizing the known facts in all the areas of the sciences. During the 1960’s educational research began to focus on the learning environment itself as playing a role in learning. The newly developed philosophies of learning styles and environments seems to support the assumption that learners actively construct individual world views based on personal observations and experiences, and that learners responded to instruction in terms of pre-existing intuitive perspectives. Thus, the learning experience is as important as what is learned. Those early theories and philosophies have matured to the point that science teaching organizations such as NSTA have begun promoting more inquiry-based science instruction in the classroom. This new tenet is a philosophical deviation from the traditional science instruction typical in most elementary classrooms today.
Content-based instruction and inquiry-based instruction represent two very different educational approaches to elementary science instruction. Because of the differences in how one answers the questions of how children learn, what is important to learn and how learning should take place, it is improbable to use both in the classroom.
Despite recent research findings, the majority of public schools have adopted a textbook-based, content-acquisition approach to science education. In addition to the facts listed here, content-based program assessments are typically straightforward measures of recall of vocabulary and concepts and are virtually exclusively factually based items. Few opportunities are provided for in-depth coverage of topics. Usually many topics are taught throughout the year at a cursory level, treatment of science topics is broad and the focus is relatively shallow with few opportunities for students to study the information in depth or to apply new knowledge to different contexts.
Inquiry-based programs provide a strong contrast to curriculum that is textbook based. While science information can be taught through books, lectures and memorization, deep understanding of a concept doesn’t occur until students have the ability to integrate the knowledge that they have learned into new situations. Inquiry-based programs engages students in the investigative nature of science. It involves activity and skills, and focuses on the active search for knowledge and understanding. Activities are intended to lead learners to actively explore their environments and develop their own hypothesis.
Piaget and Bruner were the main early proponents of these “Best Methods” of learning. Activity-based theory is based on the premise that humans advance through a predictable sequence of stages of cognitive development over time. As learning moves from experience to abstraction, interactions with objects and organisms provide a foundation for developing needed critical thinking and abstract reasoning skills.
According to current research students who are exposed to an inquiry approach to science express a more positive attitude to learning, increased enjoyment of school, increased skill proficiency in many areas, increased independent thinking abilities and increased perception than those taught the traditional way.
A textbook-based curriculum can be easier to put in place without much guidance in huge independent school districts where there is less control over the scientific training of the district’s teachers. Also, teaching science using a hands-on approach also costs districts more money in materials than just buying a textbook that can be used for five or more years without further investment. Teaching science using hands-on activities in the classroom is harder, more hectic and noisier. But the benefits for the students clearly outweigh the difficulties.
Changing teachers’ attitudes may prove to be a hard habit to break.
