Effective Teaching of Secondary Science, The

John Parkinson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781138432079
• eBook ISBN: 9781317893714
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

The Effective Teaching of Secondary Science encourages the trainee teacher to develop effective skills for teaching science to secondary school pupils. The comprehensive coverage of topics and issues provides good foundations for trainee teachers who are encouraged to test and evaluate different techniques. Practical advice is offered in areas such as lesson planning, the preparation of worksheets, planning practical activities and safety in the laboratory. The book also discusses the use of information technology as well as multicultural and gender issues and the teaching of pupils with special needs.

Much of the work covered is undepinned by areas of educational research such as educational theory and psychology and sociology of education. Information on the requirements of the national curriculum and on post-16 science courses is given and includes a number of assessment techniques for the problematic area of assessing science attainment target 1.

CHAPTER 1

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Getting started

1.1 WHAT IS SCIENCE TEACHING ALL ABOUT?

Every reader of this book will have spent some time, and in many cases a great deal of time, attending science lessons of one sort or another and will have a mental picture of what is understood as science teaching. The purpose of this section is to get you to reflect on these thoughts and start to consider how you, as an individual, will approach the teaching of science. Many of the teaching techniques used in the past are valuable but there are many new ways of helping pupils to learn. As you are learning about science teaching, approach each technique with an open mind and make your judgements on its merits as you and your tutor or school mentor find them.

Why teach science?

Everyone would agree that there is a place for reading, writing and arithmetic in the school curriculum but can you, as a scientist, put forward the case for including science? Obviously somebody must have thought it was important as the writers of the Education Reform Act¹ (ERA) and the National Curriculum² (NC) have put it alongside English and mathematics as one of the core subjects for all pupils.

There appears to be two main reasons for teaching science to pupils in schools. First, it is reasonable to accept that in any society we would like the citizens to be able to look at situations from a variety of standpoints. There are occasions when individuals have to make decisions based on their feeling or their gut reaction to a problem. But there are also occasions where people need to think things out in a clear, logical fashion, weighing up the evidence before making a decision. Science education does a lot to help people to think in this sort of way. Secondly, we are living in a society where we come in contact with new developments in science on an everyday basis. The development of microelectronics has revolutionised the way we live, drugs have been produced that alleviate pain and prevent disease. There is no doubt that science has done a great deal in recent years to improve the quality of all our lives. But not all of this scientific growth has been to the benefit of mankind and in areas where human greed has outweighed reason we have been left with environmental problems on a massive scale. Pupils need to be aware of how rapidly science can progress and should be able to argue for positive scientific development, having learned a basic level of scientific literacy at school. It should be taken as every pupil's right to have some understanding of the world around him/her and the way things work.

It is surprising how many of today's adults find difficulty in explaining even the simplest of scientific ideas. Historically, science has been seen as a difficult subject on the school curriculum and because of this many pupils have shied away from it. As a world hanging on the verge of environmental disaster we need all the scientific brainpower we can muster to try to get us out of the mess. It is essential that, through good teaching, we encourage our pupils to study science.

Pupils should be able to see that the science taught them in schools is relevant to their world outside school and the adult world of work. There have been great strides forward in curriculum development to remove the more erudite aspects of secondary science and introduce topics that are of interest to young people.

Things to do

1. Why do you want to teach science? Write down a list of reasons. You will find it useful to talk through your thoughts with a friend.

2. Spend a few minutes listing the way a knowledge of science can be of use in our everyday lives.

What is science?

This may sound like a silly question to someone who has pursued a science degree course but sadly very few of us spend the time to reflect on the nature of our subject. You may go on to say that not only is it a silly question but what does it matter anyway, all that we have to do is tell the pupils what is written in the syllabus or textbooks. However, it is important that we have an understanding about the nature of science because it will affect our attitude towards science and thereby the approach we use to teach it. The answer to the question, ‘What is science?’ is not a simple one and is a topic that has kept the philosophers arguing for the last 400 years or so.³

In the past science has been depicted in schools as a list of statements, rules and laws to be copied down and learned by rote. Teachers have often ignored the personal side of science and the way in which individuals, with all their different strengths and weaknesses, have contributed to our present state of knowledge. It has also been customary to present a picture of science as a list of facts that have been ‘proved’ to be correct and will remain as the truth for ever. Science is not fixed or set in tablets of stone but is changing and expanding as we learn more about ourselves and the universe we live in. It is important that these aspects are reflected in today's approach to teaching. The humanistic side can be presented to pupils through a study of the contributions made by famous scientists, indicating their failures as well as their successes. In addition, pupils will experience both the frustration and the elation of the research scientist when they carry out investigative practical work as part of their NC studies.

Things to do

1. Reflect on your views about the nature of science by writing down a scientific law or principle that you are familiar with, such as Boyle's law, and consider how it was established and how it has changed, or might change, as further investigations are carried out.

2. Write down the meanings of the words: theory, hypothesis, principle and law as used in science.

3. Discuss with colleagues the way in which research scientists in the different science disciplines, chemistry, physics and biology operate.

4. Think about how you would teach: evolution, and the nature of light (wave properties and corpuscular nature).

Science teaching in school

Science teaching in schools has undergone many changes during the last century but perhaps none so significant as those that have taken place in recent years. The General Certificate of Education (GCE) O-level examinations of the 1950s and 1960s were criticised by some as being only suitable for those pupils who attended grammar schools. The large school population attending secondary modem schools were not catered for until the introduction of the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) in the late 1960s. The aim of this examination was to provide a different type of assessment to meet the needs of the less-academic pupil. In practice the CSE became a watered-down version of the GCE with the top grade being given equivalent status to the C pass of the GCE. Many employers did not recognise it as having sufficient academic status for employment, even at the top grade. There were also changes afoot in the way secondary education was organised. Comprehensive schools replaced the grammar and secondary modem schools in many Local Education Authorities (LEAs). The principle of educational equality brought with it new ideas about grouping pupils for teaching purposes. It was thought unsuitable to stream pupils on the basis of their ability into different classes for science. Rather it was thought that pupils would benefit from being taught in a mixed-ability situation. With the implementation of all these changes it seemed natural that the two examination systems should amalgamate into one and in 1985 the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) was introduced. The main aims of the GCSE are as follows:⁴

● to improve the quality of education

● to raise standards of attainment by stretching and stimulating pupils throughout the ability range and to bring at least 80–90% of all pupils up to the current (in 1985) average level of GCE grade 4

● to produce a system that is fairer to candidates both in the award of grades and in access to examinations

● to motivate teachers and pupils by setting clear targets and by provision of stimulating and engaging courses

● to enhance the esteem in which examinations are held and make the results more intelligible to users

● to promote improvements in the se...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• The Effective Teaching Series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Editor's Preface
• Author's Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• Chapter 1: Getting started
• Chapter 2: The science curriculum
• Chapter 3: Planning your work
• Chapter 4: Working with pupils
• Chapter 5: Practical work
• Chapter 6: Reading, writing and talking
• Chapter 7: Using information technology
• Chapter 8: Science for all
• Chapter 9: Assessment techniques
• Chapter 10: Beyond the laboratory
• Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
• Index